Anyone Can Do It
861 words | 6.9 Minutes
When I was in junior high, my father purchased a family membership at our public golf course for me to play unlimited golf. I had just signed up for the golf team and he knew learning to play the game would require practice. I remember my dad taking me to practice every day during that summer. While I hit range balls, he would play a round. I remember him walking the course pulling his golf caddy and smoking his swisher sweets cigars. The more we practiced that better we both got and the more fun we had. In fact, he later invited his customers to the golf course each summer for a fun day of networking and golf scramble tournament. I had a lot of friends who were great golfers. Some natural talent and others had to work at it practicing long hours. It’s the same way in business. If you want to be great - you must put in the work…
My uncle Walter Causey was a football coach and each year he would share with his team, “gentlemen, I can give each of you the equipment to play the game: shoulder pads, jersey, shoes, etc…, but what I can’t give you is desire.”
Let us look at a few traits that make impact – and do not require any talent.
Desire – this is where your journey begins.
Vision – knowing what you want to achieve is important, but knowing who you want to be is the gold.
Commitment – high performers put in the work.
Years ago, I heard leadership expert, John Maxwell, tell a story about how he wanted to improve his golf handicap. When he asked his golf coach if he could be a scratch golfer, the coach replied, sure you can. All you need to do is practice four to six hours a day for 6 days a week. John looked at him and said, “never mind.”
So funny as we all want to get better in our career and life – but there are no shortcuts and much of it takes a commitment to becoming more each day.
However, we cannot talk about things that require zero talent without talking about these things: Failure and Ethics. Both require zero talent.
Tiger Woods once shared “the greatest thing about tomorrow is, I will be better than I am today". He was talking about the power of failure and how we learn when we fail. When we fail – we win because we learn to create a better outcome next time… We do not have success without failure.
How about Ethics? This is something we talk about but do not talk about. We all know stories when people are unethical. We see celebrities in the news that enjoyed incredible success, but then got caught up in an unethical situation and it was all over. Think about it. You viewed that person one way yesterday, and a new way today.
Jack Nicklaus says it best… “It takes hundreds of good shots to gain confidence, but only one bad one to lose it.”
Start looking for the traits you admire in people and add them to your everyday. Try not to emulate the people who have success, but what the person did to have success. What you will find is that you also have these traits, now it is up to you.
Lastly – writing/sending notes takes zero talent – but can make huge impact. I remember receiving a note on my kindergarten report card that made me smile. I have received notes from bosses, coworkers, business partners, family, and friends.
Years ago, my VP sent me a note that encouraged me so much, I doubled down on my efforts. Notes are a gift of encouragement and bring energy and life to people. Years ago, I read an article about the CEO at Home Depot, Frank Blake, sent notes to employees after visiting their store. When he retired, he had written over 25,000 notes. Now that’s a lot of encouragement!
Today, I practice sending a few notes a week to people that need encouragement. We can mail a letter, send a text, or share a recommendation for a book on Amazon or a personal note on LinkedIn. You will find these small deeds can be some of your life’s biggest rewards.
Take the Challenge:
Write down people’s names that you admire. What traits do they have that you admire most? Do they require talent? You will find some do, but most do not.
Start making a list and make it part of your day. If you know the person, send them a text, and let them know they are on your list. If you do not know them, consider sending them a letter in the mail. I once mailed a note to President George W. Bush after reading his book “41 A Portrait of My Father” and he later sent me a letter that I framed in my office.
When you let then person know you admire them, they will be encouraged… and you will be encouraged too!
Quote of the day: "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." Michael Jordan
This is “Move To Inspire” with Bruce Waller! For more resources, visit www.BruceWaller.com to learn more about relocation support, keynote speaking, Bruce’s books, and Life in the Leadership Lane podcast. Bruce can be reached at 972-389-5673 or email bwaller@goarmstrong.com.