Be Your Best

" I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." ~Muhammad Ali

Opening Thoughts

Never miss an opportunity to train! It could be the difference between life and death, winning and losing, or success and failure. People often roll their eyes when someone mentions training. My challenge to you is to enthusiastically embrace training because you know the why behind it.

5 Ps: *Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

You have probably seen people who do not correctly plan; then they blame their failures on something utterly unrelated.

Blame-shifting reveals a character flaw.

I am a football guy, so that I will use that analogy. It is okay if you are not a football fan; you can apply this to whatever sport or situation works for you. Imagine if a team did not practice all week; when they lost the game, they said, "Well, we tried our best, but we just weren't good enough tonight."?NO!?You did not?prepare?for that battle! You just thought your talent was good enough; it isn't good enough when it doesn't work hard. Talent will get beat?every time?it is outworked.

You will only succeed if you prepare; you either fail the main event or you fail yourself and your potential for success.

Let's apply this to our lives/careers. If you are unwilling to get into the "trenches" and grind daily, you?cannot?expect to be ready for the "big game."

That big game may be a promotion, an additional job responsibility, a significant project, etc. If you do not prepare properly, your opportunity will come and you will fail miserably. It's okay to fail if you have diligently prepared to the best of your abilities and given it your best. If it doesn't go your way, you can say, "I wasn't good enough today."

People out there are better than you, and that is okay, but you will?NEVER?accept defeat before the battle starts!

Difference Between Mistakes & Failing to Prepare:

The "5Ps" take blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice; not everyone will subscribe to the "5Ps," which is your advantage. It is frustrating when people say they "made a mistake" due to insufficient preparation. We all make mistakes, which is acceptable; however, there is?NEVER?an excuse for not preparing.

When you?don't?prepare and fail, that is?NOT?a mistake; that is FAILURE! Failure is a bitter pill; you never want to taste it. The failure that comes from your lack of preparation is the absolute worst. You can avoid this disgusting occurrence if you do the work and do everything you can to prepare!

It is?NOT?a mistake if you didn't prepare…that is FAILURE!

Be Your Best, Don't Just Try Your Best:

You could not say that you were or did your best if you did not train/prepare. There is a world of difference between?doing?and?trying. It is simple: you cannot be successful by going out there and trying your best; you?MUST?be your best.

Let's look back at the football example. The team did not practice and then went out and played the game. Then, they were?surprised?that their effort (they tried their best) needed to improve. We will look at this example and say, "Of course, they failed; they didn't even prepare/train!" Then again, we will look at our career and think that "trying our best" will achieve our desired success.

Apply the "5Ps" concept to everything in your life!

You can and should apply this concept to everything you do. You should incorporate this mindset with your career field-specific training requirements, too, because the enemy hopes you try your best so they can defeat you. You should also apply this to your physical training for health and the reasons listed above. If you never prepare or train for your PT test, you deserve the score you get.

Don't try your best;?BE YOUR BEST!

Failure Will Come to Your Doorstep:

Failure will find you. It is only possible to have a successful career with a loss. If this upsets you, well, welcome to life! You will have to put yourself out there at times, and regardless of your preparation, sometimes it will just not work out in your favor.

That failure is bitter, but not?NEARLY?as painful as the failure when you did not prepare. I give everyone a few days (3 max) to dwell on, be ticked off, disappointed, and in the dumps about their failure. Then, they MUST get up, dust themselves off, train/prepare, and enter the arena again.

After a defeat, get back out there, learn what caused the loss, and continue to grow.

You will fail; welcome to life.

You?MUST?look at failure as an:

• Opportunity to grow
• What can be learned
• What can be done differently next time

That is why I push people so hard. If you continue to sit there and roll around in your self-pity, you will continue to fail. I have learned more about myself from failures than I have from any of my successes. You get to see what you are made of when you fail; failure and loss reveal your character.

Do not roll in your self-pity. GET BACK UP!

Discipline:

Yes, all of this sounds good, but if you don't have discipline, you will not adhere to any of this. Be disciplined of the mind and body. Set a routine and hold yourself accountable to that routine.

You can take a day or two off now and again (that is good), but you must stay on course. It is an emotional response when it gets boring, complicated, too complex, or whatever other feeling you have. Engage your discipline and march on.