7 Places Where Greatness Really Comes From.
Socrates mentored Plato, Plato mentored Aristotle, Aristotle was a mentor to Alexander the Great in his teens and was part of the reason why he carried wagons of books on his way to conquering most of the known world before dying in his early 30’s!
Your chances of being great at lots of things are very slim. There are a lot of people in the world today. While only about 10% are trying to be great, that’s a lot in today’s global community.
What do these 2 points mean to you?
If you’re going to be remembered in a few millennia’s time you’d better start working with the Socrates of our time.
Now maybe being among the greatest influencers in history is beyond your scope of ambition but regardless of how far you want to go. If you want to be the best you can be it starts with two things.
Desire to be better and the attitude of going to get it, ambition to make an impact and action to see it become real.
What mentors want to see is ambition. What drives you? What do you want to be able to look back and say you changed? If you’re not sure about this then check out the recommend resources in the iChoose Movement post.
Once you know that, then it’s time to go after knowledge.
This article is about knowledge and how to obtain it.
Read. Read. Read. If there is one success in the RealMOVEMENT Community it’s the reading attitude. People who didn’t used to read are reading and it’s changing lives. We have more than 20 facilities opened within a year of me working full-time on RealMOVEMENT and it wouldn’t have happened without the books. Mitch Pike and Darren Bruce were two of the first guys to break the ice of starting their own facilities, both in Canberra and both doing a tonne of learning from guys that influenced me to start what is now RealMOVEMENT Project (John DiMartini and Bob Proctor)
Mentors - find someone that’s done what you want to do, who inspires you, who makes you better than you would otherwise be, & latch on. Getting a good mentor is one of the key steps that almost all leaders in any field will point to . Reading and showing ambition / desire will help you to be worth mentoring in the eyes of those you’d love support from. Working with Mark Bouris for a few months was a massive eye opener for me about how much bigger I should be thinking but it was also about doing more. Our last call, was a rocket that I still haven’t achieved enough since to have the courage to go back to him!
AudioBooks - If you don’t like looking at words, hear them - audible has been a big breakthrough for me in 2015. Tim Ferris is now recommending / sponsored by them and I couldn’t be more glad that I made that decision. I still read and love books but when a book is awkward or not an option learning still is, going for a walk, waiting in lines at airport etc.
Kindle. Ok so it’s about books again. Another barrier to reading decreased, I spent nearly 5 months travelling last year in Europe and Latin America. Getting into using the kindle (a previously unloved gift) meant that I read a tonne of new books and a lot of stuff that getting a physical copy of would be tough for like books from guys like somewhat obscure strength coaches, Steve Justa and Bud Jeffries or legends of strength Arthur Saxon, Eugene Sandow, George Hackenscmidt and the likes.
Peers - Who are your training partners? the people you have dinner with? the mates you watch sports with? the group you hang out with at university? If they’re all low achievers, what are the chances of you being remembered alongside Alexander the Great? The biggest strength of RealMOVEMENT is the - “Dreamer’s Only” sign on the door. We’ve brought together people who want more, now they’re getting it. A lesson from Tai Lopez: that learning is much more by osmosis than anything else. You are your environment. This is much more literally true than almost anyone gives it credit for.
Students - When you teach, then you will really start to learn! I sat down for a day with Dean Robinson, one of the brightest minds in performance coaching in Australia. I told Dean lots about the things that I’d been studying over the months before I went to France to work as the Head of Performance for Catalan Dragons. He was glad that I’d learned a lot but at the end of the day his question was: “But what do you believe in?” I could tell him all about other people’s philosophies and often what influences I thought shaped that. But I was no longer the student. I was going to France to be the teacher.
What would I teach??
From 2010 I have run programs for developing athletes and coaches and as much as I love hearing about the big results lots of the coaches I’ve had the chance to share with over the last 5 years have had, I know that teaching has taught and grown me so much.
YouTube and Podcasts - while I feel these are definitely at the bottom of the list they can be amazing, just make sure you don’t get lost in infotainment to the point of learning from new people most days but implementing nothing. Choose your top resources and learn them. Really learn them deeply.
X. I’m going to put this one out there as the X factor in greatness, I’m listening to Steve Jobs’ 1 book recommendation - Autobiography of a yogi and Mindful Athlete from George Mumford. Both site spiritual powers of the true source of high achievement. I’m delving into these areas via Wim Hof Method and Joe Dispenza’s work and I believe deeply in the power of intention and decisions to influence the source. Belief itself is a factor for better health and performance and is sighted by Blue Zones Solution as a key factor for health.
To inspire purpose, health and performance on a global scale means I need to grow a lot more. I’ve just shared my plan to make it happen. I want to see you achieve your biggest goals in 2016 too, make a plan and make it happen!