But as I read about Jameis Winston, the other highly rated draft picks, and those who have achieved a high degree of success at what they do, one thing started popping out: the term "elite". I've often talked about the little things that take us from being adequate, to good, to great and how with just a little more commitment and effort any of us can become great, or at least very good. But what does it mean to become elite?
Elite means we are the very best at what we do, excelling at what we do and living at the highest levels of performance and satisfaction. The more I've worked with students, observed people, and reflected upon my own life and decisions, the more I am convinced that becoming elite is possible for almost anyone who truly aspires to it and is willing to follow the lead of the very best that came before. You want a legendary life? You want to be successful in ways you have never dared to imagine? Well here are the rules.
Rules for becoming elite.
1) Passion, a burning desire for becoming the best. How badly do you want it? What else are you giving up to pursue your deepest dreams? In order to move beyond good enough to being great, you have to want to become great. You have to want to be the best that ever was. You have to be willing to move beyond the shackles of mediocrity and embrace your own destiny. I won't be given to you, and most around you will give up long before they ever get started, but you, you have to want it so badly nothing will hold you back or stand in your way. Sounds easy? It isn't. Striving to be elite is filled with hazards, and doubts, and setbacks. You are the only person who can stay with it even when your body and brain wants to quit. But in the end, it is your life and you alone are accountable for how you choose to live it.2) Commitment,.not only do you have to want to become elite, you have to do be willing to do whatever it takes to become elite. This is where so many of us fail. We want it badly enough, but not badly enough to give up other things in order to get it. Are you willing to forego the parties and the picnics? Are you willing to give up the television drama, the social media, and the video games? Are you willing to give everything you have even the things that aren't fun? What do Tom Brady, Drew Breese, Payton Manning, and Jameis Winston have in common? They spend more time studying than anyone else in their profession. They are the first ones in to work every morning and the last one to leave in the evening. And when they do leave, guess what, they go home and study some more. You don't get to make the big bucks if all you do is show up. You earn the paycheck by doing the prep work and sharpening your skills every day.
3) Love. You have to love what you do. You can want to be the best at something and you may be willing to do what it takes to get there, but to get to the top of your field. you have to love what it is you are doing. How many people settle for good enough and secretly hate their life or feel it has no meaning? If you'd rather be doing anything else, then it will reflect in your attitude and your performance. If you don't love something, how can you ever willingly give it everything you've got? If you aren't doing what you love, and you wish to become elite during this lifetime, then change directions. Your love or lack thereof is your glass ceiling.
4) Failure. I think the quote says that if you want to do it well, you have to do it poorly until you learn to do it well. Hank Aaron had more strikeouts than home runs. Michael Jordon missed many more shots than he ever made. Jameis Winston threw 18 interceptions last year but led his team to numerous second-half comebacks. No one ever did everything perfectly the first time. They tried, they failed, they learned, then they tried again...and again...and again. If you are afraid to fail, you can never grow. If you wait til you get everything perfect, you never get anything done. You have to take those chances, fall flat on your face, then commit to being better the next time.
5) Coachabilty. You aren't perfect. You never were and never will be. There are others who know things that you haven't learned yet and may never discover on your own. You have to let those who know certain things better than you, show you how to do it, critique your performance, offer suggestions, and challenge you to try new things. I often tell students there is truly nothing that I teach that they cannot learn on their own; however, if they will trust me and take my advice for one year, I can cut 10-15 years off their learning curve. Life on this earth is a finite amount of time. Coaches help us get more out of life and get more accomplished in life than we could ever hope to get on our own.
6) Inquisitiveness. I think it was Einstien who said "the quality of our lives is a direct result of the quality of the questions we ask." How many of us fall short, stumble, give up because we don't know what to or how to do something. I wrote a business plan for iTunes in 1997 but gave up when I couldn't find the funding to bring it to fruition. It happens. But the more questions we ask, the more answers we'll get and if we ask enough quality questions we are bound to eventually get the answers we need. In design I tell students that the foundation for all great design begins with research. Research begins with asking questions. It is the same with everything we do in life. Question everything and never quit asking.
I think we are taught early to hedge our bets, to always have a plan B, a safety net, because we might not succeed with our plan A. Besides the underlying "you aren't good enough" message that we hear from those closest to us, we are encouraged to dilute our efforts, to forever be adequate at many things instead of being amazing at the one thing we most love. You must go all-in with every bit of who you are, holding nothing back, to do become what you were destined to become. Not just good, but elite, the very best there is or ever was.
You can be awesome. You can be amazing. You can be the stuff of which legends are made. If you are willing to embrace it.
