Doing The Impossible
Page 3
“One should never stop being trained. That is a victory.”
— Sun Tzu
Action Item:
Find a couple of books that have something to teach you or that inspire you. Every morning when you get up and every night before you go to bed, read for just fifteen minutes. You can get a list of books that I recommend at www.patrickbetdavid.com.
I probably couldn’t tell you a single song on the Billboard charts right now. The reality is that I don’t listen to the radio much. I listen to CDs that teach me principles to build my identity. I listen to inspirational stories, biographies, and experts on finance and business. I listen and I learn.
Odds are, if you live in a big city, you spend a lot of time in traffic. Most of us spend at least one hour per day driving. That’s 365 hours per year of potential education time. Turn your community into your personal growth seminar. There’s nothing wrong with listening to music—I love music—but ask yourself if you might trade in some of your music time for some learning and growing time.
Action Item:
In your car for the next thirty days, do not listen to anything other than inspirational CDs or biographies of great achievers. Put it to the test and see how you change in thirty days. Share your experience with us on Facebook.
Law 5
Challenge Your Way of Thinking
Sometimes hitting the lowest point in our lives can be the turning point that causes us to challenge and change our current ways of thinking. I remember clearly that low point in my own life. It was in late 1999 to early 2000. I was nearly $50,000 in debt. I had twenty-six different credit cards and my credit score was around 490. I had hit rock bottom financially, emotionally, spiritually, and in my relationships. I felt like nothing in my life was going right. It seemed that all forces were aligned against me. Pretty much everything and everyone was to blame, except for me and my decisions.
It was there in my darkest hour that something occurred that changed my life. I realized that it was my way of thinking that had gotten me to where I was, not some set of outside forces that I couldn’t control. It didn’t long to realize I had to change my way of thinking or else life was going to be the same, if not worse, for a very long time.
“You cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.”
— Albert Einstein
The first thing I did was accept responsibility for my results (or lack thereof). I realized that while I couldn’t control the universe, I could control my own actions and my responses to events. The second thing I did was to allow myself to imagine a better future, with the understanding that I could change to become the person who I envisioned.
I remember hearing once that the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people are the questions that they ask themselves. Successful people ask, “What if my dream can become a reality? What if I can achieve the impossible? What if I can design my own future?” Unsuccessful people ask themselves, “What if I fail? What if something bad happens? What if I am not capable?” If you want to change your answers, first change your questions. The right questions will lead to a motivation to follow through on the answers. Your mind will find a way to make what you imagine a reality once you accept that you are not only responsible for your future but are also capable of making that future a reality.
“The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
— Albert Einstein
Action Item:
Write down five “what if” questions that would motivate you to change your thinking. Then allow yourself to envision those possibilities as your reality. Examples: “What if I got in the best shape of my life?” “What if I started my own business?” “What if I ran for public office?” “What if I had $500,000 in the bank?”
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If you view your “what ifs” as challenges to overcome, you must start by upgrading your thinking to the level that can accomplish those challenges. The books you read, the mentors you listen to, and the associations that you cultivate, all change your level of thinking. As a matter of fact, reading this book is designed to change the way you think. In the empires of the mind, the future is designed mentally before it can be created physically. Challenging your way of thinking means constantly imagining new possibilities, stretching your belief, and daring to try something new.
Action Item:
Make a list of five areas in your life in which you can challenge and change your thinking. Examples might be the way you look at money, commitment, hard work, being a business owner, success, your faith, exercise, politics, etc.
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Law 6
Know Your ”Why”
If your “why” is strong enough, the “how” doesn’t matter.
One of the things that separates advanced placement classes from basic classes in school is the focus on the “why” instead of just the “what.” You can know that the American Revolutionary War started in 1775 between the American Colonies and Great Britain, but that information does little for you. Understanding the why of the Revolutionary War—what each side wanted and why they fought and died for it—offers lessons that can be applied to your own life and the future of your country.
The older we get, the more we turn away from asking the why questions and instead we focus on the how questions. How do I become a millionaire? How do I start my own business? How do I become debt free? The easiest questions are the how questions. There are models and formulas for how to be successful. But the “how” is useless without the “why.” The how is your roadmap, while the “why” is what fuels you. The “why” is what gives your actions meaning. Those who do the impossible are more driven by the “why” than the “how.”
Here are some why questions for you to think about and truly try to answer:
Why did you want go to college?
Why do you work?
Why did you get married?
Why did you want kids?
Why are you reading this book?
Why do you want to be successful?
Why do you want to do the impossible? (Do you want to?)
The most common answer I get when I ask people why they work is to pay their bills. What an empty reason to work! The great ones do what they do for their whys. They won’t give up because their “why” is too strong.
For the past ten years I have said that mankind is lazy until something catches his heart. You have to know what you are fighting for. Your why is what fuels your life. If you don’t have a clear picture of your why to get you through the times when you are tired, overwhelmed, or disappointed, you will run out of gas before you get there. Remember, our natural state is to be lazy and to take the path of least resistance, unless we are motivated by the why in our heart. The bigger your goal, the more powerful your why must be.
Consider the story of two friends, Big Mike and Little Mike:
Big Mike and Little Mike have been best friends and neighbors their entire lives. Big Mike plays football for his school, but he is very lazy. His coach searches in vain for a way to motivate him and tap into his potential, but Big Mike seems content to do the bare minimum and ride the bench. Then one day after practice, Little Mike is hit by a car right in front of Big Mike and dies in his arms. The coach expects that Big Mike will need to take some time off from football to mourn the loss of his best friend. But just the opposite happens. Monday morning comes and Big Mike is on the field early, putting 110% into practice. Friday night’s big game comes and Big Mike asks his coach to start him in the game. He plays like his life depends on it; he gets six sacks, four interceptions, and the winning touchdown. At the end of the game, Big Mike’s coach comes up to him and says, “What happened to you? I have never seen you play like that.” Big Mike explains that it was the first gam
e that Little Mike ever got to watch him play. You see, Little Mike was blind and Big Mike wanted to play a great game for his friend looking down on him from heaven. Little Mike was the why that lit the fire under Big Mike.
Could someone know exactly what they want and why they want it and still do nothing about it? The answer is yes. It will all come down to how badly they want it! That’s what separates those who make it in the history books from those who do not.
So the real question is what is your why? What has caught your heart? Is it your wife, husband, son, daughter, mother, or father? Or just the simple fact that you want to make a difference in this world before your time is up? Why is transformative. You’ll start hearing people tell you things like, “I don’t recognize you anymore.” That’s the beginning of the most exciting years of your life because you’ve made the shift towards truly changing your future.
“A champion needs motivation above and beyond wining.”
— Pat Riley
Action Item:
What’s your why? What are three reasons or people in your life worth fighting for?
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Law 7
Work Like It’s 1880
We have all heard the expression “work smarter, not harder.” The reality is that you can’t substitute working smart for working hard; you have to do both. It is important to work smart, and that comes from experience and wisdom; but who has convinced us that there is such a thing as an easy path to success?
If you go to the book store today you will see all kinds of books promising a shortcut for success: “Lose 30 Pounds in 30 Days,” “The 4-Hour Work Day,” “Fix Your Marriage in These Five Easy Steps.” We are told that if we just click on this website we will find our soul mate waiting for us.
In business, relationships, sports, or anything else, there is no instant trick that will substitute for hard work and consistent dedication. Maybe you can lose thirty pounds in thirty days; but without hard work, you won’t keep the weight off. There is no magic pill that will allow you to lounge around all day and eat pizza and potato chips and simultaneously stay in shape. There is no five step program to transform your marriage overnight. There is no such thing as a successful plan to “get rich quick.” All these things are possible, but they take consistent effort.
“A mind always employed is always happy.”
— Thomas Jefferson
One of the biggest challenges facing American prosperity is the loss of work ethic. It seems that there is a taboo against working beyond nine to five. But it wasn’t always that way. When I studied the history of the work day in the United States of America, I was shocked to see how it has dwindled over time and been replaced by drastic increases in leisure time.
“Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night.”
— Unknown
According to the US Department of the Interior(2), our hours worked have drastically decreased over the past 200 years:
Division of the Day for the Average Male Household Head over the Course of a Year, 1880 and 1995:
Estimated Trend in the Lifetime Distribution of Discretionary Time, 1880–2040:
If you look at any great achiever, he didn’t allow himself to be constrained by the idea of an eight-hour work day. Consider what Thomas Edison said towards the end of his life after the idea of the eight-hour work day had been introduced into American life:
“I am wondering what would have happened to me if some fluent talker had converted me to the theory of the eight-hour day and convinced me that it was not fair to my fellow workers to put forth my best efforts in my work. I am glad that the eight-hour day had not been invented when I was a young man. If my life had been made up of eight-hour days, I do not believe I could have accomplished a great deal. This country would not amount to as much as it does if the young men of fifty years ago had been afraid that they might earn more than they were paid for.”
Looking at the numbers, it becomes obvious that we have replaced many work hours with leisure hours. Part of the reason for the increase in recreation over work is that we have so many entertainment options competing for our attention today: video games, social media, television, movies, professional sports—the list goes on. According the Government Bureau of Labor Statistics (3), Americans spend an average of 2.8 hours per day watching television.
People who know me know I am an avid sports fan. I once went seven years without missing a single Lakers game. One day I realized that by following the dreams of the Lakers with such dedication, I was sacrificing focus on my own dreams. We get so wrapped up in the dreams of the American Idol contestants or the lives of the Kardashians that we let them replace our own story and our own goals.
“The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you are willing to pay the price.”
— Vince Lombardi
We are told that we need to get at least eight hours of sleep per night. But I find that the more I sleep, the more I yawn. We are told to get rest and relax when we are under the weather. But I find that when I am sick and I stay in bed, my sickness lasts longer than when I force myself to go to the gym, work out, and sweat it out in the sauna.
If you are reading this book, you probably want to do something big with your life. This just doesn’t happen with an eight-hour work day. You have to be willing to do the hard work and the smart work if you want to reach for a big dream.
A good place to look for examples of the power of hard work is in the world of sports. Two football greats, Jerry Rice and Emmett Smith, are remembered not just for their talent, but for their extreme work ethic. Emmitt Smith said, “For me, winning isn’t something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream.” John Madden once said of Jerry Rice, “That work ethic is what makes Jerry Rice so special. He’s not only better than any of the other wide receivers; he works harder than any of the others. You don’t see that combination too often: where the guy that’s the best also works the hardest.”
“When the leg does not walk, the stomach does not eat.”
— African Proverb
I love the true story of Chris Gardner that was portrayed in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith. Gardner is the perfect example of the transformative power of hard work. Gardner went from being homeless and broke, raising a young son in shelters and soup kitchens, to being the owner of a very successful brokerage firm in a matter of a few years. He did it by sheer persistence and work ethic—by being the first to the office and the last to leave, by making the amount of client calls in a day that other brokers make in a week. If you haven’t seen the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, I highly recommend it. One of the greatest things about this country is that anyone can make it big with dedication and hard work. We call it “the American Dream.” The first immigrants to the United States were often those who wanted to escape the class system in their country for a shot at success in America based on ability, hard work, and innovation. Americans have always been dreamers, but we must also remain hard workers. Dreams without hard work are nothing more than fantasies.
“If you want work well done, select a busy man; the other kind has no time.”
— Elbert Hubbard
Action Item:
1. How many hours a week do you spend on the following?
Action Item:
2. How would you rate yourself from one to ten when it comes down to your work ethic?_______
Action Item:
3. What are three things you would do in order to be more efficient with your time?
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(2) Source: Fogel, Robert. The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Pre
ss, 2000 Notes: Discretionary hours exclude hours used for sleep, meals, and hygiene. Work hours include paid work, travel to and from work, and household chores.
(3) http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm
Law 8
Elevate Imagination to a Whole New Level
Imagination is one of the things that separates humans from all other living creatures: the ability to see things not as they are but as we imagine they can be. Have you really taken the time to think about the role that imagination plays in your life? Is it a gift or a muscle that can be built with exercise? Where has your imagination taken you?
Think about the imagination that allowed George Lucas to create the universe of Star Wars, or J.K. Rowling to dream up an entire world of wizardry for Harry Potter. Writers and directors by their very nature have powerful imaginations that they cultivate in their art. Books and movies have a powerful effect on our emotions because our imagination allows our minds to treat the fantasy as reality. Have you ever noticed what happens when you watch certain movies? Think about how you feel after watching Rocky. Does a part of you feel like you are in the ring with “The Italian Stallion,” fighting to be a champion? How about when you watch The Notebook? I’m sure no man reading this has ever watched that movie (isn’t that right, guys?), so let me fill you in: A powerful love story makes you think about your high school sweetheart, about the first time you met your wife, or about that individual in your imagination who you can’t wait to meet.