Elite Minds

Those are the final words from Chapter #1 called “Mind Over Matter” in which we explore the power of our unconscious minds and beliefs.

This line sums it up pretty well: “Who we think we are is not who we are. We are much, much more than our perceived selves.”

And, know this: “In the battle of mind versus body, mind always wins!”

Therefore, we’d be wise to step back and realize that we’re a LOT more than just the little version of ourselves that’s pointing at the moon.

Campbell’s wisdom comes to mind: “What am I? Am I the bulb that carries the light, or am I the light of which the bulb is a vehicle?”

So does Walter Russell’s wisdom: “Early in life I found that to achieve greatness one had to go only one inch beyond mediocrity, but that one inch is so hard to go that only those who become aware of God in them can make the grade, for no one can achieve that one inch alone.”

Then there’s Eric Butterworth: “You may say, ‘But I am only human.’ This is the understatement of your life. You are not only human—you are also divine in potential. The fulfillment of all your goals and aspirations in life depends upon stirring up and releasing more of that divine potential. And there is really nothing difficult about letting this inner light shine. All we must do is correct the tendency to turn off our light when we face darkness.”

All of which brings us back to you. Do you suffer from a case of mistaken identity? :)

How would you live if you REALLY got the infinite power within yourself?

Is NOW a good time to start being that version of you?

P.S. Recall the etymology of the word identity that we discussed in our Notes on Atomic Habits. It means “repeated beingness.” So… Go be that best version of you. Repeatedly!)

That’s from a chapter appropriately called “The Curse of Perfection.”

There’s a TON of goodness in there. First, are you, like me, a recovering perfectionist? If so, check out Conquering Perfectionism 101 and all those Notes. For now, let’s quickly recap the goodness up there and connect it to some other sources of wisdom.

We’ll start at the top: Do YOU think that you’ll magically get to a place where you no longer have bad days? Where you no longer fail? If so, GET RID OF THAT notion. It’s your biggest obstacle to crushing it. We need to KNOW that we’ll NEVER be exonerated. In fact, as we evolve and our standards get higher and higher and we take bigger and bigger risks, we WANT to experience more “failure.”

As Seth Godin says in The Icarus Deception: “If you become someone who is uncomfortable unless she is creating change, restless if things are standing still, and disappointed if you haven’t failed recently, you’ve figured out how to become comfortable with the behaviors most likely to make you safe going forward.”

I love the way another mental toughness guru, Jim Afremow, puts the same wisdom in his classic The Champion’s Mind: “Take a minute right now to think about your performance when you did not believe a good or respectable outcome was possible but you still found a way to make it happen. There is beauty in being ugly but effective (UBE) or having a good bad day (GBD) while you are not at your finest. Keep your head in the game and grind it out.”

So… We need to EXPECT to have bad days. Then we need to master the art of having good bad days. How do we develop that level of consistency and emotional stamina? By working our protocol and trying to do our BEST.

And, remember: If you have a bad day (/a day when you *don’t* do your best), WORK EVEN HARDER to execute your protocol the next day. Remember: Rebound Days.

Here’s to letting go of perfection and tenaciously chasing our Optimus best!

That’s from a chapter called “The Truth about Winning.”

A key idea? Look at the true meaning of the word competition.

The best among us KNOW that if they want to express the best within themselves they NEED people with whom they are striving to reach the upper limits of their potential.

Again: Compete WITH not against other people.

All that reminds me one of the all-time great coaches, Pete Carroll. I love his reflections on competition in Win Forever: “The best performers, whether athletes, entertainers, or anybody else trying to do anything well, are the ones who aren’t trying to win by playing someone else’s game. Each person is made up of a unique combination of strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and talents, and any one of us can only truly maximize our potential in the context of that individual makeup. That’s why it doesn’t make sense to think about competition in the context of any one opponent: If you are really in a Win Forever mind-set, the only comparison that matters is yourself. Your goal should be to maximize your potential and your performance as a permanent way of being, rather than just in terms of individual victories.”

Plus: “What Win Forever means to me is aspiring to be the best you can be, or as I like to refer to it, “maximizing your potential.” But Winning Forever is not about the final score; it’s about competing and striving to be the best. If you are in this pursuit, then you’re already winning.”

Want to be your best?

Step into the arena.

And remember to celebrate others committed to doing THEIR best as you joyfully give us all you’ve got.

Next to the first paragraph of that passage in my copy of the book, you will find a huge exclamation point and equally large “WOW.”

One more trip down Etymology Lane.

Contest.

It literally means “with” a “promise.”

Stan tells us to enter each contest with a promise to ourselves TO DO OUR BEST.

Of course, the ultimate contest is the game of life.

Which begs the ultimate question:

-> Have your made your sacred vow to yourself TO DO YOUR BEST?

And the ultimate follow-up question:

-> Are you keeping it?

Meet your primary opponent: Fear.

And, know that this isn’t just a jumbo-intense mental toughness coach’s opinion.

Aristotle told us basically the same thing 2,500 years ago. Want to be the best version of yourself? Awesome. That’s our summum bonum. The highest good.

Aristotle called that eudaimonia. He told us we achieve that best version of ourselves by living with virtue. The #1 virtue we need to cultivate? Courage.

Why? Because fear is your real opponent.

Sharpen your weapons to conquer fear. Bring it on. Get excited.

And go do what needs to get done.

P.S. This is pure gold: “Fear is keeping you from reaching your potential. Conquering fear should be your primary goal in life.”

That’s from a chapter called “The Hero of Your Own Journey” in which we learn about Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Including the most important hero: YOU.

WHAT DO YOU WANT?

St. Augustine tells us that if we are loving and diligent we can do whatever we like.

Reminds me of Emerson. He tells us: “There’s nothing capricious in nature, and the implanting of a desire indicates that its gratification is in the constitution of the creature that feels it.”

Followed up by: “Our desires presage the capacities within us; they are harbingers of what we shall be able to accomplish. What we can do and want to do is projected in our imagination, quite outside ourselves, and into the future. We are attracted to what is already ours in secret. Thus passionate anticipation transforms what is indeed possible into dreamt-for reality.”

And: “Do that which is assigned to you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much.”

Now, of course, when we actually dare to dream big, we BETTER be more diligent/disciplined than we’ve ever been. Know your protocol. Work it. We’ll need all the emotional stamina we can muster to deal with all the inevitable ups and downs AND all the people telling us we’re crazy.

Which leads us to Jon Eliot who echoes this wisdom in his great book Overachievement. Here’s how he puts it: “You will not do incredible things without an incredible dream.” And…“as soon as anyone starts telling you to be ‘realistic,’ cross that person off your invitation list.” :)

So, back to you. What do you REALLY want to do with your life?

Well… What are you waiting for?

Here’s to being heroically loving AND heroically diligent as we cultivate the strength for two and give the world all we’ve got.