Successful people seem to have something different in their DNA to make greatness look easy.
And it’s true for some. Lebron was born as a freak athlete, Elon with an unbelievable IQ, and Mozart as a literal prodigy.
But for every naturally gifted success story, there’s a hundred average people to match them. Except their edge in life came as a result of transforming ordinary traits that everyone shares into incredible results.
They prove you don’t need talent to be great.
I attended a conference that featured Tom Brady as one of the speakers. Even though he’s one of the greatest football players of all time, his path wasn’t a straight line. His achievements come from leveraging work ethic, discipline, and control – traits everybody in the world can use to unlock the genius inside themselves.
For example:
Work Ethic Beats Talent
Talent counts for nothing on the sidelines (literal and figuratively).
When I got my first job stacking newspapers together for the Star Tribune. The work was available to anyone who wanted to show up, and they paid a nickel for every Sunday edition you stacked together. It was honest work, but you made as much money as the effort you put in.
My parents never let me slack off or skip any weeks.
Their high standards for me taught me a tremendous amount about working hard, and I ended up being one of the highest performing stackers on the floor as a 14-year old surrounded by mostly working class adults.
Work ethic means consistently applying your best effort, regardless of the circumstances.
It has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with attitude. Whether you’re stacking newspapers, cleaning the bathroom, or negotiating a million dollar deal, the amount of effort you give to the task is entirely in your control. The buck starts and stops with you.
Here’s why it matters: work ethic is something everyone has.
It is an improvable skill, not a superpower. Everyone has it, which means you’ll stick out from the crowd if yours is stronger and more apparent than the guy next to you.
Ryan Serhant, the New York real estate broker, doesn’t claim to be smarter or better than everyone else in the market, but he does outwork mostly everyone around him (if not everybody). His work ethic creates new opportunities because he was willing to do the work in any weather or circumstance.
Talent doesn’t matter if it’s not applied.
Work ethic allows normal people like you and me to reach heights beyond the levels average effort allows.
Tom Brady started behind a few other quarterbacks on the depth chart on every single team he ever played on. Only through putting 100% effort in, 100% of the time did he eventually find success and land (and keep) the starting position.
“If they ever let me step foot on that field, they’re never taking me off.”
Discipline Isn’t Negotiable
Maybe you can do it for a day. But can you do it for a week? A month? Ten years?
Work ethic is what happens when you show up – discipline is the vehicle that gets you there.
Discipline is table stakes for greatness.
There have been plenty of talented folks in professional sports that showed flashes of brilliance before fading into the background. They would have been great but their resume ended up being too short to be included in the top ranks because they lowered their standards and became less disciplined as they got comfortable with their current level of success.
Tom Brady was drafted 199th into the NFL. He was the backup quarterback for his 0-8 high school team (you have to be pretty bad to never see the field when your team is 0-8).
His rise to becoming the greatest, longest lasting player in the league, capable of playing at a high level over the age of 45 is attributable to his discipline.
Showing up. Removing and ignoring excuses and temptations. Creating space for your work ethic to develop.
Whether you’re looking at playing sports, working on your nutrition, or building a career, discipline is required to outlast and out-improve those around you.
Discipline is not something you have, it’s something you do, and it’s hard.
It requires clarity, saying no, and trusting in the little improvements that come with showing up over time. But it’s unnatural, often requiring you to overcome temptations for an easier path through the obstacle.
Strong discipline shows up in the form of our habits and routines. Starting new things is easy, maintaining them is hard, and integrating them permanently into your life is hardest. Some common habits that require uncommon discipline while I build Tetheros:
- Going to bed in time
- Waking up on time
- Protecting working hours
- Avoiding alcohol on weekdays
- Prioritizing exercise
Discipline gives ordinary people time to transform simple habits into extraordinary achievements.
Control The Controllables
The most powerful lesson shared by Brady was the concept of obsessing over and making the most of the opportunities in front of you, not the ones you wish you had.
In college, Tom Brady almost transferred from Michigan to California because it would have granted him a starting position and been closer to home. He’d been frustrated by a lack of repetitions in practice that he felt prevented him from having the opportunity to improve enough to earn the starting position.
Then he met with sports psychologist Greg Harden.
Greg told him to focus on becoming the best Tom Brady he’s ever been instead of trying to worry about the rest of the favors he didn’t have control over. Control the controllables.
Even though he didn’t get to practice as long as the other quarterbacks on the field, he did get two reps.
Greg encouraged him to take those two reps and make the absolute most of them. To treat the extremely limited practice time like the Super Bowl, and show up for it with everything he had. To obsess over the opportunity on his plate, the one he had control over, instead of the opportunity he didn’t.
Tom used his tremendous work ethic and discipline to prepare for his limited play time as the highest priority in his life. Two reps eventually became five, then ten, and eventually led to his place at the top of the depth chart.
All because he put his energy into the opportunity he had instead of the one he didn’t.
The grass is not greener on the other side: it is greener where you water it. At the end of the day the biggest way to influence your situation is to show up for it. Not worry about the other people around you. Or an unfair system. Or the opinions of others.
Worry about you.
When your obsession shifts from how others treat you to reaching for your full potential – the man in the mirror – you’re free from the chains of judgment and worry that come with looking around instead of inside.
Anyone can focus on beating their prior best. It’s not reserved for Super Bowl champions or elite business personalities. Even if that growth fails to be recognized, you can still rest easy knowing you put your best foot forward.
It’s all you have at the end of the day anyway.