If you are still attempting to get ahead in your racing, in your sport or in your career but it just isn’t happening then you might be missing a part of your game that's closer to home.
You may have perfectly set goals, have huge motivation and take action most days but if you are still in the same unfulfilling situation as you have been in all year then now is the time to shake things up and look at yourself.
The Task versus You
You most likely already know what you should do in order to receive the results you need in your life, the ‘Task’ itself is fairly straight forward and the way to achieve it is easy to plan out.
The person who is attempting it however (You) is a whole different story.
We all know people in our sport and in life who work hard on their dreams and careers but they never seem to get anywhere or struggle year after year to make their graft pay off. They spend their days beating around the same bush over and over with very little progression, this is an insane way to live but so many of us do it.
We somehow justify our way of working with a certain belief which may protect us but in fact is paralysing our progress.
From the outside it is often easy for us to see why they consistently fail but to them it remains a mystery. Hence why honest associates or coaches are so popular in sport and business nowadays.
Separating You from the Task
We are often set tasks that we should complete but we let ourselves stand in the way, here are three random examples:
As a driver you have just finished your data debrief and you can see what you need to do in order to be quicker in a certain corner (the Task), but the ‘You’ inside doesn’t fully know how to pull it off. You cannot get yourself to do it or you are approaching it with the incorrect mind set.
You have a very important phone call to make that could change your world, you have your script all written out but you cannot get yourself to make the call, or if you do you fumble through it and deliver it all wrong. You then allow yourself to quit phoning people. Again the ‘Task’ is simple but ‘You’ as a person is screwing this up.
It is fairly obvious what jobs need to be done to accomplish your dreams when at home but instead you end up spending time watching TV or letting other distractions keep you from taking the actions needed.
You are the most important ingredient
If you have a dream that you are determined to achieve then please realise that ‘You’ are the weakest link. All of this swings on you as an individual.
You are the determining entity that will decide whether you experience success of failure.
We can all hold onto the excuses and blame others for it being so hard but in reality you are the one in control of it all.
We all have reasons for why we do not have what we want but at the end of the day if you acted differently in the past and made better decisions then you would be in a better place right now.
This is not to beat you up because you may have needed to make those mistakes to get to the realisation you are having now so don't take this the wrong way, but still as a person on a quest this type of strict outlook and view about yourself is essential.
It’s all on you.
Success is fully your responsibility, so own it.
People who have this outlook are often the ones who bathe in victory whilst the other 99% of the population go around pointing fingers to why they haven’t got what they deserve.
You are the instigator, the creator and the only person who cares enough to make it happen. No one else really cares about your dreams as much as you, it’s your own matrix.
With this in mind if you are seriously going to make things work from this point on you need to get honest with yourself and iron out the behaviours that may be making it impossible for you to win.
A Lesson from Richard Branson
Richard Branson is considered as pretty damn successful in the world of business, he has an amazing life story (I suggest you read his book Screw It Let's Do It to understand what it takes) but most of his success didn’t come from a business course he did in college, instead a lot of his success was simply due to the person he is.
He will tell you first hand that he breaks all the so called ‘business rules’ in the book, his competitors hate the way he works because he goes against the grain and challenges their beliefs.
People try and copy his ways but they find it difficult because they are not like him as a person.
Branson is where he is today because of the person he is, everyone who met him in the early days knew that he was going to make something of himself no matter what, either that or he would be a bum, due to his outlandish ways.
I want you to take that on, to spend less time on the theory and more on the practical. Sure you need to do your homework but do not get lost in trying to make things perfect before you take action.
Most successful people took the action and learnt the details on the go, they had confidence before competence which is probably opposite to what you have been taught to do up to now.
Bring out your inner Gorilla
From now on I want you to beat your drum as loud as you can, I want you to become the Silverback Gorilla and beat your chest as you stare criticism in the face.
The Silverback is the ruler of his group and what he says, goes. Like us Silverbacks have different personalities but when they want something they all stop at nothing to get it.
They are often attacked but never back down and neither shall you. You will get many obstacles and people trying to prevent you from getting what you want but you must persist. Take on every challenge head on and battle through.
Take on this approach, live it and aggressively seek out what means most to you before it's too late.
To add to this I want you to make sure that you never hide your dreams from others, instead shout it from the roof tops (tree tops in Gorilla land). Let everyone know what you want to do.
Never be shy or secretive about your dreams because the more you voice it out to the world the more chance you have of accomplishing it.
Why?
Because you will hold yourself accountable and you will attract people who can help you. Simple really.
Wear your heart on your sleeve more and create that inner drive that beams through to the outside.
Never fear what people will think because you are only here for a very short time and you are allowed to live how you want whilst here.
These are all over-used sayings but they are the kind of beliefs that the person who you need to be will say to themselves every single day.
You have to be ‘out there’ in order to get what you want. To be exciting to people around you and your goal should be - To be the most driven person that people know.
If you can do this and show it from the outside you will see things start to happen very quickly.
I am saying this because too many of you have great dreams but you phrase them with a little mouse voice both internally and externally.
Come on it's time to let rip for god's sake.
Or live like the masses and spend your life fitting into everyone else's dreams, the choice really is yours but if you are here then I think I know what you prefer.
Overview
So stop being a fraud in your own life and let yourself be your true self, in doing so you will be astonished at what you can claim whilst on this spinning rock.
You will also inspire the pants of everyone around you and help them be more.
We are waiting for the real you to step forward.
Your Assignment
Find out what character traits are holding you back, there will only be one or two core ones, then address them immediately.
Every time you feel like you have underachieved, instead of looking for external excuses to blame, truthfully ask if you could have done something differently.
This could be with your actions or how you approached it mentally, your thought process.
"Did fear hold me back?"
"Was I double thinking?"
"Why was I lazy today?"
"Do I hold a belief that is misguiding me?"
Just spend the next few days asking yourself these questions to get to the root cause of why you are not getting what you want or being who you want to be.
If you do this 5 days straight you will have a good understanding of who is sailing this ship and what course you must take to get back on route.
This honesty will set you free and you will never look back.
