You don’t have to be special. You just have to be what most people aren’t
I want to thank Evan Wendt and Jason Sievert for their help in producing the video to promote The Honor Foundation’s Surefox Swim For SOF on September 14, 2024. They understand their mission, and my mission is to raise money to support those who put their lives on the line so we can have the freedoms we enjoy. Please consider donating to The Honor Foundation. I would appreciate any amount you can donate.
After I posted the video, I received many comments. One of the comments pertained to how special I am to be able to swim with our heroes. Their comments humbled me, but I don’t think I am special. I told this person you don’t have to be special to do something like this; you just have to be what most people aren’t willing to be.
Last weekend, I took my son to Chicago to attend Strategic Coach‘s program for youth, The Unique Edge. It was a travel challenge but I’m pretty good at working around travel challenges.
We flew first class because I wanted him to see that when you put the work in, you have the choice of how you travel.
I think he was initially a little overwhelmed, as he was in a totally different space than he had ever been. He got there early, as I wanted him to have the full experience.
He learned many tools and mindsets I wish I had been exposed to when I was 22. I was fortunate to have a mentor who taught me many strategies and lessons, but hearing these strategies in an environment with other like-aged people was unique.
The first thing he told me was about one of the participants who was 20 years old and already owned his own hotel. This really impacted him; somebody who was young had already taken action to create his own flight plan for his future.
If he learned nothing else, he witnessed that anything is possible. You don’t have to be special; you just have to be what other people aren’t.
He asked me how someone who is 20 can own his own hotel.
It’s a very good question.
I asked him if he knew how I relearned to swim to be able to swim 3+ miles with the elite SEALs and Special Operations. He told me he did not. I told him it was the same strategy this young 20-year-old man had to buy his hotel.
This young man is not special and neither am I. But we both are very resourceful. As Tony Robbins teaches
My son asked me what did I do to be resourceful?
I told him I had many experiences in my life that helped me, but there was a strategy on how I learned it, and this young man used this strategy to purchase his first hotel.
First, you have to be consistent. Consistent starts with building your habits and eliminating those not supporting the mission. Your habits determine your thoughts. I pointed out to him what he had drunk on the plane and what I had drunk. He didn’t notice.
I told him he drank Coke. I drank Coke Zero. One of the habits I established to be able to be able to swim the 3.3 miles for this year’s Honor Foundation swim was massively reducing my sugar intake. And that habit has helped me lose over 38 pounds, stave off a knee replacement and build up my swimming endurance.
I told him this 20 year old man probably established positive habits that helped him stay consistent on his mission.
Second, you have to be Determined. As Napoleon Hill wrote, “Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win – essential to success.”
“Persistence is nothing more than Concentrated Effort mixed with Determination and Faith.”
I told him about the past three swims I have done and the one I am training for now. I am determined to complete the swim as I have a bigger mission. This young man he met in Chicago was determined to have his own property as he had a bigger mission. Persistence and Determination.
You can be consistent and determined but if you don’t do the third strategy, it won’t matter,
You have to be WILLING TO WORK FOR IT.
Many people I encounter fail to execute this step. That is why it is so important to have a mentor and coach in your life. Your mentor and coach see it in you before you see it in yourself.
I started my journey to speak, teach, and write because Tony Robbins saw it in me before I saw it. He pushed me ” out of the nest,” which was the kick in the backside I needed.
That is why I am determined that our mentoring program should teach the next generation these strategies early in life so they can accelerate their goals to achieve their missions.
You have to put the reps in. I told him I didn’t know this young man, but I hallucinated that for him to own his own hotel at age 20, he wasn’t going out partying at night, probably didn’t embark on drinking alcohol or other substances, and had a mentor. And what he is doing now is learning distinctions on how to multiply on his success.
That is why it was crucial for him to attend this Unique Edge workshop. If he can learn the basics and adopt the mindset of managing his life and building his own business at age 22, he can have a first-class life that others only dream about. But he will need to put the reps in to get it. He also witnessed someone who was already down the road on his journey.
Don’t settle.
You don’t need to be special to stand out. You just need to be what most people aren’t.
- Be CONSISTENT
- Be DETERMINED
- Be WILLING TO WORK FOR IT
Embrace the uncertainty. It will ignite opportunity. And it will transform your life and you too can
CREATE YOUR OWN FLIGHT PLAN FOR YOUR FUTURE!