It's not the rock hammer

I think about the movie Shawshank Redemption a lot.

I think about it when I'm facing an obstacle or pondering my next steps.

I think about it when I'm dreaming of this business I'm building and this grand mission that I'm on.

I think about it when I'm planning my next steps, or trying to get the hyper energized adrenaline junkie in me to CALM DOWN and FOCUS on the seemingly mundane steps in front of me.

And I especially think of The Shawshank Redemption, and main character Andy Dufresne, when I realize the scope of what I'm trying to do, and the insane level of consistency and will power I need to summon in order to do it.

I must accept that in order get where I want to go, I'm going to have to chip away at it every single day, like I'm trying to chip through 10 feet of concrete with a rock hammer.

Exhaustion and Elation - as a parent of two very young children (3 years and 9 months), a lifelong endurance athlete, and someone in the early stages of building a company...this is where I constantly find myself hovering... somewhere between exhaustion and elation.

I remember that's what it felt like at mile 17 during the marathon portion of the Hawaii Ironman (which is really mile 130...as it's a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and then a 26 mile marathon). 7 Months ago I talked about this in the following video: MILE 17

And I think of The Shawshank Redemption again...and Andy Dufresne chipping away with his rock hammer, little by little, removing barely noticeable bits of rock from the wall that stood between him and his dreams of freedom... somewhere between exhaustion and elation.

As we say goodbye to the 5th day of this brand new year, I consider my commitment to The Compound Effect...and daily, obsessive, relentless, habitual steps towards my goals...

...I can't help but think of Andy Dufresne, and what he accomplished over the course of 30 years...with nothing more than a worn down rock hammer, a poster, and a will that never ran dry.

I know...I know...it's just a movie. But to me it will always be more than that. Andy Dufresne chipped his way to freedom through that rock wall, a little at a time every single day over 30 years...which is 10,950 days. This represents the MOST important method when it comes to reaching our goals in anything...from parenting, to business, to health, to writing a book...to our most audacious dreams and goals.

When the other prisoners could have been thinking, "There's no way for me to escape this place TODAY."

...Andy was thinking, "There's no way for me to escape this place TODAY...however...chipping away at the wall with my rock hammer will allow me to wake up tomorrow morning a little closer to my dreams...and with enough days and enough chipping...one day I will BREAK THROUGH and attain freedom."

And THIS is why Shawshank Redemption is so powerful for me...

How many of us would like to be in better physical shape, but our excuse for not working out is that we don't have an hour or more to go to the gym...when the fact is even 10-15 minutes of continuous physical movement in our home, on a daily basis, would get us closer to our goal.

How many of us have that book idea, but we're afraid to sit and just see what happens when pen hits paper...even for only 10 minutes.

How many of us have an amazing business idea...but we'd rather keep refining the plan, doing research, trying to make it bulletproof...instead of being bold and taking a minute every day to make that one phone call, or send that one email or text message...knowing that with enough of these daily steps our BREAKTHROUGH will most definitely come, and it will make all the difference.

We've overcomplicated the world. Amazon is full of books that will tell us step by step how to achieve success in any category we could imagine. But at the end of the day these books are nothing when compared to the unstoppable willpower and relentless daily commitment we MUST CREATE in order to reach our goals.

I have a grand vision for what I'm working on. But I would be lying if I told you that I know exactly what all the steps are, or how all the pieces will fit together.

I do know one thing however... I will relentlessly chip away at it.

So we find ourselves here...literally RIGHT HERE...in this article as it's being written. I've never written an article on Linkedin. And up until a few minutes ago, I didn't even know how to do it. (this is where you remind me that anything can be "googled"... and yes, that's exactly how I figured it out)

Had I used my OLD approach, I would still be hesitating, pondering, researching. I would be overthinking, brainstorming, doing rough draft after rough draft...and I would have never done what I pushed myself to do right here...which is to just sit down, start hitting the letters on my computer keyboard, and begin "chipping away" at it...trusting in the process...knowing that every chip doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to GET DONE because it gets me one step closer to that big picture I'm building.

Whether or not this article hits home with some...or falls on deaf ears...this is not the point.

The point...is to write it.

The point...is to then Post it.

The point...is to keep chipping away. To keep my eyes on that big goal in the distance, and to know that as long as I keep chipping away every single day, all I need is time, and daily pressure, and one day...one day...I will BREAKTHROUGH.

It's not the rock hammer...it's my unstoppable will to pick it up and chip away every day.

I am Andy Dufresne. #iamBOLDr

A few of my favorite quotes from The Shawshank Redemption:

• "Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes, really. Pressure and time."
• "In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I remember thinking it would take a man six hundred years to tunnel through the wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty."
• "I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying."