Relentless - The path of the Super Succesful! Is it really for you?

Do you want to be successful?

Of course, you do, everybody does. In fact, the question most young people spend trying to answer is “What should I become successful at?” or “What do I want to do for a job?”. If done correctly the answer to both of these questions should be similar, if not the same.

But let’s say that today, right now, as you are reading this you are fully aware of what you want to spend your time on.?In fact, you are dead certain.

Now I want to ask you another question.?

How successful do you want to be?

Define it for me, right now write it down.

Now you have a rough answer, let me introduce you to your first and greatest obstacle.?

Yourself - The human condition.?

Humans are messy. We have feelings that make us do totally contradictory things. We have competing thought patterns, a conscious and unconscious mind and a whole host of other factors that are internal, all fighting one another to get control over you.?

Let’s say that there are precisely 1000 forces internally within us. And each force wants something slightly different from every other force.?

Each force wants you to do what it wants. This is the human condition that we have to contend with every day. But much like a parliament, these forces can sometimes form groups that try and get you to do what they want.

To simplify, let's say there are two main forces within us.

One force that wants us to work.

The other wants us to stop and watch the latest episode of that Netflix show we've all heard so much about and that everyone is telling us to watch, oh you know the one!

So there is always one force that is pushing you to move. And one force that is obstinately telling you to stay exactly where you are.?

When the secondary force (the balls-deep in Netflix force) wins, we begin to lose the progress we have made. In some circles, this is called slippage, but it can also be called procrastination and distraction. Either way, these opposing forces will use any number of tricks to gain power over your time and attention.

The reason for this is very simple: the brain greedily uses 20% of all energy made from the body. Therefore it’s always trying to conserve energy, and there is nothing more energy-intensive than doing something different.?

That’s why the most difficult part is starting the journey.

We all know it’s possible, so how do you go about fighting against our very own relentless biology and against the inertia of starting something new?

The answers can be found by looking at those who have achieved greatness in their field, any field. Take Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Albert Einstein, or Michael Jordan, for example. Each of these icons unlocked something within themselves that pushed them harder and further than anyone that came before, and as a result, they changed their respective fields forever.

“Starting something new is the first battle. Maintaining it is the second. And turning it into an unconscious habit is a war all by itself.”

Earlier I mentioned a parliament of 1000 forces all fighting inside for control over what you do. But don’t believe for one moment that you are powerless to change them. While these forces exist, they exist inside of you! Which means you have ultimate power over them.?

Now I'm going to throw some arbitrary numbers your way so please try and stick with me!

The more of these forces you have under your control the more power you have in the world and the more successful you can become.

For example, let’s imagine that the average person has around 300 of these forces under control at any one time. Anything less than that and a person descends into self-inflicted oblivion of mental health troubles and very few accomplishments to show for themselves.

A person with around 300 forces under control is doing the bare minimum to get by and enjoy the rest of their time engaging in pleasurable activities and pursuits (this is the “average” person, the 9-5 worker who clocks in and clocks out and lives for the weekend.)

Then let’s say that anyone who has 400 forces+ under control is starting to move from average to good and anything that’s 600+ is in a great category. These are people that love to work, they enjoy what they do and the real long-term impact is being seen and felt in the world. It’s not easy but it is fulfilling.?

For you see, when climbing the ladder of success in any area, you have to gain more and more control of these internal forces. While some forces can be ”negotiated” with, the most stubborn and obstinate must be wiped out and utterly defeated.?

These are your inner demons, the bad habits from childhood, anything and everything that holds you back. You may even love having them and feel like they make you “you”. But when it comes to your success, these forces are either with you or against you, and if they are against you, then it’s either “negotiation” or annihilation.?

This is the reality of extreme success. The more you wish to achieve the harder the internal battle becomes. Therefore, anyone who can manage to wrangle 800+ internal forces under their control becomes the best in their area of expertise. Anyone with 900+ will quickly go down in the history books as legendary.?

The truth is of course that all these numbers are arbitrary representations of something we can’t actually see. But the point still stands. That inside you have forces that are either working for you or against you. The more forces you have working for you, whether that’s good habits, skills, a great mindset etc. The greater success you can achieve.?

You will find that there are certain forces, that if leveraged and focused on, you will be able to achieve success at whatever you put your mind to rapidly.

So what exactly makes these people achieve more than everyone else??

They seek out the Razors Edge.?

The razor’s edge of anything is the extra few percentage points which can make all the difference in any field.

Or to quote one of my favorite writers Paul Rulkens.

“Wildly successful people do not know more than you do. They also do not work necessarily longer hours than you do. They only do a few things slightly differently, with a few small advantages in certain key areas, which are systematically, consistently, and relentlessly leveraged.”

They have a razor’s edge that carves a significant chasm between prosperity beyond imagination and the struggle that the majority have grown so accustomed to.

Their whole perspective on how to achieve success is completely different and always flexible. Looking for the best and most effective way of getting the job done.?

So, what exactly separates good from great? And what separates great from the best??

The answer is in the tiny slithers of performance in the most key areas of everyday life.

In the Book ‘Relentless from good to great to unstoppable’ by Tim S. Grover and he details specifically the traits of these people who maximize their performance and achieve wild success. He calls them “Cleaners”

A cleaner is the last person you send in because you KNOW they will finish the job whatever it takes.

Here’s the list -?

1. You keep pushing yourself harder when everyone else has had enough.
2. You get into the Zone, you shut out everything else, and control the uncontrollable.
3. You know exactly who you are.
4. You have a dark side that refuses to be taught to be good.
5. You’re not intimidated by pressure, you thrive on it.
6. When everyone is hitting the “In Case of Emergency” button, they’re all looking for you.
7. You don’t compete with anyone, you find your opponent’s weakness and you attack.
8. You make decisions, not suggestions; you know the answer while everyone else is still asking questions.
9. You don’t have to love the work, but you’re addicted to the results.
10. You’d rather be feared than liked.
11. You trust very few people, and those you trust better never let you down.
12. You don’t recognize failure; you know there’s more than one way to get what you want.
13. You don’t celebrate your achievements because you always want more.

These game-changers gave up absolutely everything else in their life to be extraordinary at one thing. And that is the price of excellence. You can’t have it all.

So if you are not willing to keep on pushing and keep on sacrificing, then your only option is to settle for good and okay. And if you can live with that, then understand that the impact you will have is limited.?

If you're okay with that then I hope you found this little article helpful on your journey! And more power to you for knowing yourself and what it is you actually desire!

But if you are disgusted by mediocrity, if you are driven by something that even you don’t understand and you feel misunderstood by everyone around you.?

Then maybe a normal life isn’t for you.?

To become great, your journey will be more arduous and intense than you can imagine. And if you want to be the very best, take whatever hardships you were thinking about and times them by 100!

By leveraging any single one of these traits that we all have access to, you will see an immediate shift?

So why would anyone ever want to go through this kind of hell?

What if I told you that every single person who has achieved super success has had a psychological neurosis, that if that success obsession was focused on anything else they would be receiving psychological treatment.?

For the majority of people, the reward for doing the work drives the motivation to do the work. You want ￡1 Million then you work “This hard” and get “this result” for “that client”.

But with the super successful, the reward is secondary to the outcome itself. These people aren’t driven by wealth. They are driven by the feeling of success.?

It’s easy to say Jeff Bezos is obsessed with money. But if he was, do you really think he would be working on so many different projects? Blue Origin, The Day One Fund, The Washington Post and even a glass blowing company called Glassybabay!

You can make any number of excuses that you want. But every single one of these billionaires has one thing in common. They don’t care about the money. Sure it helps and it means they have lives that 99% of people struggle to comprehend.

But the truth is that if money was the driving force, these people would have stopped way before their net worth went to a billion.

What truly drives them is the desire for success, the inner yearning for that all-encompassing rush of power that’s only achieved when they turn their thoughts into reality. It’s this rush that has crafted and made them who they are.?

But not only is it the feeling, it goes even deeper than that, it goes into their whole belief system. What would drive a person to work 110+ hours a week, every week for a decade or more?

To my mind, there’s only one answer -

The belief that their self-worth is determined by their level of success.?

Every day by working they are proving to themselves and everyone around them that they are worthy. Worthy to exist. These entrepreneurial juggernauts are rarely happy. Just look at any of the Joe Rogan interviews with Elon Musk.

Elon is consumed by his own inner drive, a deep force that pushes him far past the breaking point and into a whole other realm of performance.?

So why do the super successful keep on earning vast sums of money?

Because they have no other choice. They need to keep pushing themselves to keep being successful, and the money is just a byproduct of that. It’s not easy, but it’s the only way they know how to live.?

I started this post with a question. But the real question isn’t “Do you want to be successful?” The real question is

“Why do you want to be successful?”

How far can you push yourself? How long do you want to push yourself? How many birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays are you going to choose to miss?

Stop asking yourself how to become successful and start asking yourself how much are you truly willing to give up. Because I guarantee you, the level of success you experience will be equal to the amount you have sacrificed times by the amount of time you have spent perfecting your craft.?

Everyone is capable of success. I truly believe that. And that can be success in any field. But not everyone is capable or willing to push themselves to be the best at what they do.?

And that’s okay.?

But decide now how ruthlessly and relentlessly you’re going to pursue your goals. And do it with open eyes. Because now you know what it takes.

Recently while reading the Book ‘Relentless from good to great to unstoppable’ by Tim S. Grover and he detailed specifically?

We all “know” what a mindset is, it’s a buzzword for how we react to the world around us. But what is it actually?

Unlike the body what we can clearly see, mindset can only be observed by behaviour.

Therefore the way success, at any level, is achieved is by unifying as many of these forces as you can and aiming them at achieving a goal.?