“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
Over the years as a communications consultant, I have been fortunate to work with many successful first-generation entrepreneurs. Through my time with them and also having started as an entrepreneur myself, I was able to understand their journey and a few elements that differentiate them from the average. I have worked with a 23-year-old founder and I have also worked with 60+ years old founder and many in between that age group. One thing that is common amongst all is their passion to succeed in any given situation.
Whenever we see someone rich and successful, we assume their success because of superior education, connections, or maybe gifted, but that is rarely true. However, if you try to dig deeper, you will find endless hours of work, discipline, determination, mental toughness, solid willpower and perseverance. ‘Never say No’ attitude, leaving behind hesitation, boredom or discomfort and an eye on the long-term goal.
When we see their hustle, we can’t stop wondering where they get their energy, the fuel to burn non-stop. Each entrepreneur has proven time and again that all our limits are self-imposed. Even we surprise ourselves when we achieve something extra-ordinary, the difference is just that we do it sometimes and they do it again and again. Imagine a situation where you had outperformed yourself simply out of fear of something unknown. Or probably a time, when you chased that incentive and got it through sheer determination. It is not that we cannot do it, it is just that we don’t push ourselves enough.
In a book called ‘Living with a SEAL’, authored by Jesse Itzler talks about 40 Percent Rule, a concept created by Dave Goggins. It says that when our mind tells us that we are exhausted, we are just 40% done and you can still push more 60%. It is similar to your car’s fuel indicator, even if the indicator is showing red, there is enough fuel still available for you to drive the car till the next fuel station.
Itzler says, the SEAL who stayed with him and his family for 30 days had a moto, which said, “had a motto: If it doesn’t suck we don’t do it. And that was his way of forcing us to get uncomfortable to figure out what our baseline was and what our comfort level was and just turning it upside-down.” Dave Goggins says, it’s a choice that we have to make each day, whether to continue as we are or to push ourselves a little harder each day. So next time when you say, ‘done’ – go for a few more, do that one more phone call, send that one more email, do better than yesterday.