Last week, I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Jason Selk speak. He is the author of the book 10-Minute Toughness and perhaps most notably around this area, the Director of Mental Training for the St. Louis Cardinals. His hour-long talk was one of the most straight-forward, down-to-earth messages I have heard in a while and the exact message I believe everyone needs to hear at this time of year. Heading into mid-January, how are your goals and resolutions for the year holding up? Have you already forgotten them? I hope not, but in case you are waning, here is a bit of motivation to keep you moving.
Dr. Selk’s talk was entitled “The Heart of a Champion.” The key message was having courage to believe in yourself when the chops are down. It’s easy to believe in yourself when things are going well, but he talked about being the type of person that is prepared and ready for the tough moment. To do this, “one must know that they always finish what they set out to do.” How many times have you set a goal only to not finish it? What are you telling yourself when that happens? We must become the type of people who always finish what we start. But how do you do this? By starting small, focusing on the process, and choosing to attack the things you can control. Dr. Selk’s inspiration comes from wrestling great, Dan Gable. Gable’s wrestling record was 182-1 and included an Olympic medal. Dr. Selk sat down and interviewed him and came up with three steps for creating the discipline in your life that you need to become the type of person that always finishes what they set out to finish.
Step 1: Choose carefully what you decide to accomplish. You do not have to set the bar extremely high. If you aren’t a runner, start with a 5k, not a marathon. Start with getting up early one day a week if you aren’t a morning person. Read 5 minutes extra a day. Choose a goal carefully that is doable.
Step 2: Always finish-no excuses. No matter what happens, finish the goal. Cross the finish line. Crawl out of bed. Stay up 5 more minutes.
Step 3: If you come up short, find the nearest mirror and say, “I’m sorry, there are no excuses, this will never happen again.” Don’t make an excuse. Just admit you came up short and determine to never let it happen again.
As Dr. Selk so aptly quoted, “Excuses make you suck.” They are the antithesis to success. Do not let them become part of your vocabulary. Apologize without excuses. Finish your goals. Admit you came up short, but don’t excuse it. Because we can all be people who do what we say we will do.
One of the ways he talked about this being attainable is by focusing on process goals. Make sure that you are doing daily the things needed to get you to your ultimate goal. Dan Gable wanted to be the best. So he made sure that he practiced harder, longer, smarter, and with more intensity than his opponents. He knew when he stepped up for a match that he was as prepared as he would ever be. He had made sure his process would secure his success.
Another thing Dr. Selk pointed out was that as human beings, we are goal striving, not goal achieving. Sure its great to finish the race, but the process is where the real enjoyment comes. Be the type of person that finishes what they started and learns to set small goals to enjoy the process along the way. Stop making excuses. Because we can all be runners or morning people or readers or better at our job or have stronger relationships. We just have to set goals and do them. We have to get up and stop making excuses or saying “we can’t do it.”
If you want more information, pick up Dr. Selk’s book 10-Minute Toughness. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him and am going to use 2012 as a year to practice ridding my vocabulary of excuses. Perhaps it would be a good exercise for all of us.
