These 5 Things will make you Unstoppable
Number 4 is powerful. My favorite.
Don’t worry. This is not one of those stupid, empty motivational articles.
Instead, I’ve looked at real stars like Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps, the best in their field, and found some characteristics that will help you achieve your goals.
What sets the best in each field apart from all others? Of course, they are most of the time incredibly talented. Certainly, that also plays a role.
But I dare say that every year numerous basketball players come to the NBA with the same or even greater physical potential, talent if you will, like the best of all time. Michael Jordan.
I think I have identified 5 things that set the best apart from the rest. Of course, there are more. But if you take these 5 things to heart, you will become unstoppable.
1. Consistency
Consistency is key.
No matter what it is you want to become successful in. Consistency is essential. You have to keep working on yourself whether you feel like it or not. You have to overcome resistance and keep doing your thing. Just staying consistent will set you apart from most of your competition. Most people give up or are not disciplined enough to stick to certain routines for long periods of time. A little anecdote: Michael Phelps, the most successful swimmer of all time, trained every single day for 6 years straight.
Most other swimmers took Sundays off.
Guess who won the most medals…
We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to be each day
2. Thinking for yourself
If you do everything the way everyone else does, you’re likely to become like everyone else. Average.
To become great, we have to think for ourselves and do things differently. Forget the normal, comfortable way.
What do you want to achieve?
What can you do to become better?
No one became the best by following social norms. If others think you’re crazy, you’re probably doing it right.
Storytime:
Michael Jordan introduced a whole new work ethic to the NBA. That was probably the reason why he was so good. The NBA season is stressful. Several games a week and long trips. MJ worked with a personal coach despite the busy schedule because he found that during the season, training came up short. So he hired his own coach and defied normal practice by squeezing in extra workouts.
For more crazy stories about MJ, check out the two books by his personal coach Tim Grover, who also later coached Kobe Bryant. I highly recommend you check them out.
3. Learning from the best
Only take advice from people you are willing to trade places with
Learning from the best is powerful. This is exactly why I studied the greats like MJ. By doing so, you will gain insights into their thoughts, daily habits, and goals. You will understand what it takes.
- If you are an athlete, watch the best of your sport and try to learn from them. Copy their moves, their mindset, and their training routine. Find out what works for you.
- If you are an entrepreneur, look at what the best in your field do differently. Copying with small adjustments is a great strategy to get started.
- If you are a writer, read the work of the best. Learn about their style. Analyze how they write.
4. Bet on yourself
Winning is the ultimate gamble on yourself
…is the title of one of the chapters of the book “Winning” I already mentioned. Going after your dream usually comes with some risks.
But what is a risk at all?
Isn’t life a single huge risk?
Maybe the biggest risk is not taking any risks at all?
Be bold and bet on yourself. You might be rewarded. And if not, you can at least say you tried, which will prevent you from living the rest of your life with regrets.
5. Embrace failure. Fail forward.
Failure is not the opposite of success, it is a part of success.
Sometimes failure is the best thing that can happen to us.
Failure makes us reflect on things. When we’re winning and everything is going well, we probably don’t. Failure often triggers a necessary course correction.
Some things have to be learned the hard way. I can tell you that from my own experience. I’ve made a lot of mistakes that I actually knew could be problematic, maybe reckless. Yet I hoped to get away with it somehow.
But when you really fall flat on your face, you learn your lesson. The more painful the failure, the more you learn.
I guess you don’t learn that fire is hot without touching it once.
So don’t be afraid of failure. You either win or you learn.
Thank you for reading all the way to the end! I hope I managed to inspire you a bit. Maybe you want to read some of my other stories as well:
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