I have been fortunate enough to work with many people who have achieved the pinnacle of success in their careers. People often ask me, “What makes the great ones great?” What is it that they do differently that separates them from the rest?
They all have their own styles and personalities, as well as different strategies and approaches to business. But the number one thing they share in common is what we used to call “intestinal fortitude” or “guts”, which allow them to keep going during the difficult times. They seem to function at their best when facing adversity, and they are able to maintain both their focus on the problems at hand and an unwavering belief that they will be able to come out on top.
We see this on display in different sports events like the NCAA basketball tournament and the Masters golf tournament. These are events where the bright lights shine their brightest and we see how certain athletes thrive on the pressure while others falter.
I remember tennis champion Bjorn Borg was once asked what separated him from all the other athletes in his sport. He answered, “I win zee big points.”
Fortunately this trait shared by so many successful people is mostly mental and can therefore be developed and improved on even by those who aren’t naturally gifted at it. You can achieve this by getting out of your comfort zone and taking some chances. You will have some success, and you will have some failures. But as you fail you will develop a mental toughness that allows you to keep your focus while moving on. Developing this skill isn’t a particularly fun process. You will be tempted to give in and quit after the failures. My sister, Sally Allen, gave me some great advice once for how she deals with this in her own life.
She says whenever she’s going through a difficult stretch in her career she remembers what it was like during the absolute hardest, most miserable period of her life. Inevitably, after calling up those times she goes back to working hard on her current situation realizing that this challenge does not even compare to what she was faced with and ultimately overcame during that toughest time. We are a lot tougher than we give ourselves credit for and sometimes we just need to remind ourselves of that fact.
Have a great weekend,
Ro