Good morning J todays blog is inspired by the GREATMAN himself Michael #23 Jordan. As some of you may know I have been reading M.J’s autobiography “Driven From Within” but what you don’t know is that I am absolutely taken with it. Not just with the level of success he achieved but more so with him as a person. Without going into too much detail (as I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone intending on reading it) He himself highlights that ‘Greatness’ can’t be replicated and whilst there may be another player who can play as well as him maybe even better, there will NEVER be another Michael Jordan and I agree because it’s not just about ability it’s about ‘Timing’ and ‘Character’ too. MJ wasn’t trying to be the next best anyone….he was just trying to be the best he could be and in doing so he became great. Therefore can GREATNESS be created or merely harnessed?
I heard once that “…Pressure
doesn’t build character it REVEALS it” and it stuck with me because it’s so
true. I think it’s the same with GREATNESS, pressure merely reveals it which
would imply that it is within us in the first place and not something that we
need to acquire but rather something that we need to tap into. For instance take
two people with exactly the same ‘ability’ or ‘skill level’ and I reckon their
level of success will differ dependent on the factors mentioned above.
M.J isn’t the best because he can jump the highest or is the tallest player or has never missed a shot….he’s the best because he knew “nothing of value comes without it being earned.” His CHARACTER determined his level of success because it was that, that made him practice later than EVERYBODY else, put in more work than ANYBODY else, put practice before partying and pretty much any other distractions. He was disciplined and “Driven from within” so it didn’t matter what was or wasn’t going on around him because he had set his mind that whatever he chose to do he was going to be the best at and in his pursuit of excellence he reached levels that most could only dream of.
Always willing to go above and beyond what others were is what made him comparable to none. I believe it’s not what you do the ‘SAME’ as everyone it’s what you chose to do ‘DIFFERENTLY.’ I don’t know if you’ve noticed but whenever people are referring to those who are deemed GREAT and they are analysing what made them that way, one of the recurring sentiments is that there was just something DIFFERENT about them something that made them stand apart from everyone else. Your difference is where your gift lays not your similarity.
M.J isn’t the best because he can jump the highest or is the tallest player or has never missed a shot….he’s the best because he knew “nothing of value comes without it being earned.” His CHARACTER determined his level of success because it was that, that made him practice later than EVERYBODY else, put in more work than ANYBODY else, put practice before partying and pretty much any other distractions. He was disciplined and “Driven from within” so it didn’t matter what was or wasn’t going on around him because he had set his mind that whatever he chose to do he was going to be the best at and in his pursuit of excellence he reached levels that most could only dream of.
Always willing to go above and beyond what others were is what made him comparable to none. I believe it’s not what you do the ‘SAME’ as everyone it’s what you chose to do ‘DIFFERENTLY.’ I don’t know if you’ve noticed but whenever people are referring to those who are deemed GREAT and they are analysing what made them that way, one of the recurring sentiments is that there was just something DIFFERENT about them something that made them stand apart from everyone else. Your difference is where your gift lays not your similarity.
What are you willing to do
that no one else is? Will you stay at work later? Will you do extra shifts to
get noticed? Will you be conscientious and look for work to do and not just
meet the basic requirements of you? ‘Will you do what it takes to get where you
want??’
Half of us have no idea how
strong we are or can be until a situation presents itself where it requires
us to be. We spend so much time hating the problems that arise and the trials
that we are facing that we sometimes fail to see what they are trying to show
us either about ourselves or our realities.
So the next trial that has
you thinking I can’t do this anymore or that it’s going to break you….just
remember WHEN YOU DO SURVIVE that just when you think you can’t go any further
you always have an extra 10% to give. Anyone who has ever trained at the gym or
is an athlete will know when your body feels like it physically can’t do
anymore it can always do an extra lap or push one more rep and it’s what you do
at this point that counts more than what it took to get you there, ‘pushing past the burn’ as my personal
trainer calls it.
This is where you get results;
this is where ‘Greatness’ is revealed. You only have to watch Olympian athletes
to see that. Setting your mind will ultimately get you further than any amount
of physical strength because the body reaches the limitations that the mind
sets. When you say to yourself ‘ I can’t do it’ you are sending a message
to your body that it has to stop….when your body is saying you have to stop but
your mind says otherwise the body responds to the messages being sent by the
brain and PUSHES further. You see as I have said before the race is won in the
mind FIRST once you can conceive it then you can achieve it but whilst a lot of
us have heard this phrase time and time again how many of us APPLY it and I don’t
mean just for that week…..I mean as a philosophy for life?? It’s not enough to
know what you should be doing if you’re not doing it.
What message are you sending
to yourself?? How about the next time you meet a challenge
or face a situation that you think is beyond you, you trying telling yourself that you can do anything you set your mind to
and maybe try my philosophy that….
“It IS until it isn’t….. I CAN
until I CAN’T”
#Mind-set of a Winner “I call myself a WINNER
because I have already won”
Season Greetings Peeps,
#ALWAYS LOVE <3
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