Where's My Seal!?

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I recently read Jesse Itzler’s book Living with a Seal: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet. If you haven’t read the book, I strongly suggest you do. In addition to being hilarious, you can’t help but look in the mirror and question whether you have what it takes to be truly exceptional. The determination, the discipline, the guts, the ability to withstand the pain, and the capacity to not give a damn what others think; these are the ingredients to reaching new heights.

As I journey down this new path, the absence of someone to kick my ass when necessary makes my journey that much harder. Sure there are those who can do it alone. For me, external forces and structure have been important contributors to my progress. When faced with the pressures of making a living, meeting the expectations of a professor, or contributing to a team, I’m able to buckle down and get it done. But when faced with an unstructured environment and only myself to answer to, I find the challenges to be much greater. Self-reflection can be really painful. It’s hard to bullshit a bullshitter.

For some of us, we need a coach or strong advocate to support us in our endeavors. That doesn’t necessarily mean we are weak, we just need someone to push us to new heights. Ideally that should be our spouse or significant other; however, those who should be our biggest fan don’t always live up to the billing. That’s for a future post. In the meantime, we need to find someone to kick our ass when we’re slowing down because the headwind is too stiff. As I once read, you are the average of the best five people you surround yourself with. We need to be more selective of the people we spend time with. We also need to invest in ourselves by hiring others who can drive us with motivation and/or expertise. If I had Itzler’s cash, I’d hire my own Seal to hold me accountable. Since I don’t, I’ll have to be more resourceful. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

#Coaches #Advocates #Discipline