Success is a very, very lonely road

Greg Plitt was known for giving some of the most powerful motivational quotes, snippets, speeches, etc. For those of you who don't know Greg Plitt, he was a world famous bodybuilder, personal trainer, author and spokesperson/model. Greg was also a graduate of West Point and served our country as a Ranger for 5 years. He tragically passed on January 17th, 2015 at the age of 37.

There is something that Greg said that stuck with me the moment I heard it for the first time and resonates with me every day. Greg said, "Success is a very, very lonely road. Very few people are willing to make the sacrifices and take the pain to be successful. It’s an uphill battle and along that road, you’re not going to see too many friends. You’re going to see your shadow most often. You gotta trust in the heart of hearts – inside that what you’re doing, what you believe in is a worthy cause and a winnable fight. See, the thing is for many people – they’ve tried the same path that you’re on and they failed. As you walk this journey you’re going to see carcasses of people that walked this place. People that didn’t quite have it… And that should inspire you because you got further than that person and that person. But you’re not looking to get further than them, you’re looking to finish. But how do you know you’re on the right path? Where do you go to ensure that?"

Success – many will love you for it. The majority will hate you. Because your success makes them feel insufficient in their current endeavor. Reminds them of how they could’ve done it but came up short and didn’t revisit it, where they went at it and failed and didn’t revisit it again. The difference between a winner and a loser – the failure is there every time, but the winner gets back up and does it again and again until it goes his way. So now you’re on that path all alone… but how do you know you’re on the right path? How do you know what you’re doing is the right way? If you’re wondering if you’re on the right path – look at the small things in life. When you wash your car and you’re washing for a good hour and you put the hose and everything away and come outside to look at the job you did and notice a spot you missed – what do you do? Do you grab the hose and pull it all out and finish the job right or do you say “nah that’s good enough”? The thing about good enough is we don’t know about what good enough is. We don’t know until the nth hour, the final hour, when everything is on the line. That’s when we find out if that’s enough. And if we come up short – man doesn’t that suck?

I promise you guys if you never say “good enough”, tomorrow you will always have enough. It’s the character of who you are – it’s not the title that makes you, it’s not the success that makes you. It’s the character that defines the success and defines the fame and it starts right there. Championships aren’t won in the theater of the arena. They are won in the thousands of hours of training and the 5 AM runs in the rain when everyone else is sleeping. That’s where it’s won. The heart of a champion is a light switch that’s always on – it doesn’t go on and off when someone’s watching – it’s constant. It’s how you look at something if your name is attached to it – that you do it right – every single time."

Thank you Greg Plitt for leaving us his legacy. His words will always inspire me to be the best that I can be. Most people stop short of their dreams and success because they let fear and procrastination keep them behind. As another year draws to an end and a new year is set to begin, stop and ask yourself what legacy you're going to leave?