True Grit
The Ultimate Success Trait
By Mark Fournier
I delivered the following recording for Network Marketing Super Star Donna Johnson in an effort to help her teams gain greater insight and inspiration. It was reportedly very helpful, as such, I decided to post a link to the recording here. You many fast forward past my introduction if you wish to get right to the 'meat'.
And if you would rather READ the recording than listen to it... here is the actual 'script' I used for the session:
True Grit
The Ultimate Success Trait
By Mark Fournier
There will be ‘take-aways’ at the end of this message so make sure you grab your note pads…
We are all searching for that ‘one thing’…
‘The Secret’
‘The 3 Keys’
‘The 7 Habits’
‘The 12 Steps’
The list goes on…
In the end, it seems more like a marketing gimmick than anything…
But there actually IS ‘one thing’… and it’s the single most recognizable character trait of great leaders, game changers, and true heroes.
It’s more important than:
· IQ
· Connections
· Talent
· Resources
· Money
· Even Power
How do we know there is one single thing… and what that one thing is?
Research…
Countless studies have been conducted around this topic…
Studies, surveys and research asking the question… what is the single most important ingredient to success?
What is the one thing that each of the most successful people on earth have in common…
Whether they’re:
· An Olympic athlete
· A professional musician
· A business executive
· A sales professional
· An inventor
· A politician
· A student or teacher
· And so on…
And the answer comes back the same every time…
Its not sexy… its not even all that fun… but it is the one thing that is most likely to guarantee success in anything you do…
And you instinctively already know what it is…
· Perseverance
Call it what you like…
· Grit
· Persistence
· Determination
· Endurance
· Moxie
· Stamina
· Tenacity
· Indefatigability
· Pertinacity
· Resolution
· Or… Commitment
It all comes down to the same thing…
Those who never stop going somewhere… never stop getting somewhere.
I love to ask the question… Did you quite because you reached the end… or did you reach the end because you quit?
I also love the definition of perseverance…
It is the steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc. especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement… it is continuance, in a state of grace, to the end.
In the classic movie Cool Hand Luke…
There is a scene where Paul Newman gets in a fight with the biggest, toughest guy in the prison (played by George Kennedy)… it is clear from the beginning that Paul is outmatched and doesn’t have a chance… but because he never gives up… never gives in… not until he has literally passed out from exhaustion, that he wins the respect and admiration of his peers … even his enemy… and eventually becomes the top dog in the prison. So even though he loses the fight… he eventually wins the war.
This message has been taught thousands of times in thousands of ways… especially in movies…
From Rocky… to Rudy… and from The Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart, October Sky, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Pursuit of Happiness… and countless others… the message is clear… never give up.
And as for real life heroes… those who have listed perseverance as being the single most important character trait behind their success include:
· Nelson Mandela
· Dale Carnegie
· Abraham Lincoln
· Thomas Edison
· Madam Currie
· Vince Lombardi
· Winston Churchill
· Even Gandhi
Winners aren’t the people who find luck along the way… they are people who MAKE their way… the ones who preserver in the face of difficulty… the ones who (as Winston Churchill proclaimed… ‘Never, never, never, never, give up!).
Nelson Mandela wrote:
“It always seems impossible until it's done.”
Dale Carnegie taught:
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
And one of my favorite quotes of all was written by Mary Anne Radmacher…
“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow.”
We love and admire ‘Heroes’… but when it comes to emulating them, we tend to shy away, make excuses, and give in.
Why do we do this (even though we have massive evidence that perseverance can take us almost anywhere)?
Its because of human nature… it is actually in our nature to take the path of least resistance… the easy way out… and this is because it conserves energy… and in the days of saber tooth tigers, it could also save out lives.
But this nature no longer serves us… for we no longer need to conserve energy or face deadly predators at every turn…
So now we get to overcome our tendency to give up and give in…
Not with shear willpower… if we had that kind of willpower we wouldn’t need to learn to persevere… because willpower and perseverance are pretty much the same…
So it’s the ultimate paradox… how do we master willpower when it takes willpower to master it?
And the answer is…
We need to do things that will increase our ability to persevere… and continue doing so until we actually master this character trait… and yes, like any other character trait it can be mastered.
In fact, that is what we do at The Center for Empowerment… help you master the principles and character traits you need to create a happier, more successful, fulfilling, passionate, productive, and purpose-driven life.
Hopefully, you will visit our website at www.CenterForEmpowerment.com to learn more.
So here are some things you can do right now that will help see you through your greatest challenges, difficulties, and obstacles:
We must commit to be committed… Once we FULLY commit to something… anything, the rest is details.
Instead of spending all your time trying to figure out the solutions to every problem, make sure you also spend time learning doing the following and learning how to persevere… once you master perseverance, the solutions will eventually appear.
Goethe wrote: We see what we are looking for…
In our Life Mastery program we help convert perseverance along with many other crucial principles and character traits into permanent habits and I invite you to visit us at www.CenterForEmpowerment.com to learn more…
We are all searching for that ‘one thing’…
‘The Secret’
‘The 3 Keys’
‘The 7 Habits’
‘The 12 Steps’
The list goes on…
In the end, it seems more like a marketing gimmick than anything…
But there actually IS ‘one thing’… and it’s the single most recognizable character trait of great leaders, game changers, and true heroes.
It’s more important than:
· IQ
· Connections
· Talent
· Resources
· Money
· Even Power
How do we know there is one single thing… and what that one thing is?
Research…
Countless studies have been conducted around this topic…
Studies, surveys and research asking the question… what is the single most important ingredient to success?
What is the one thing that each of the most successful people on earth have in common…
Whether they’re:
· An Olympic athlete
· A professional musician
· A business executive
· A sales professional
· An inventor
· A politician
· A student or teacher
· And so on…
And the answer comes back the same every time…
Its not sexy… its not even all that fun… but it is the one thing that is most likely to guarantee success in anything you do…
And you instinctively already know what it is…
· Perseverance
Call it what you like…
· Grit
· Persistence
· Determination
· Endurance
· Moxie
· Stamina
· Tenacity
· Indefatigability
· Pertinacity
· Resolution
· Or… Commitment
It all comes down to the same thing…
Those who never stop going somewhere… never stop getting somewhere.
I love to ask the question… Did you quite because you reached the end… or did you reach the end because you quit?
I also love the definition of perseverance…
It is the steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc. especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement… it is continuance, in a state of grace, to the end.
In the classic movie Cool Hand Luke…
There is a scene where Paul Newman gets in a fight with the biggest, toughest guy in the prison (played by George Kennedy)… it is clear from the beginning that Paul is outmatched and doesn’t have a chance… but because he never gives up… never gives in… not until he has literally passed out from exhaustion, that he wins the respect and admiration of his peers … even his enemy… and eventually becomes the top dog in the prison. So even though he loses the fight… he eventually wins the war.
This message has been taught thousands of times in thousands of ways… especially in movies…
From Rocky… to Rudy… and from The Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart, October Sky, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Pursuit of Happiness… and countless others… the message is clear… never give up.
And as for real life heroes… those who have listed perseverance as being the single most important character trait behind their success include:
· Nelson Mandela
· Dale Carnegie
· Abraham Lincoln
· Thomas Edison
· Madam Currie
· Vince Lombardi
· Winston Churchill
· Even Gandhi
Winners aren’t the people who find luck along the way… they are people who MAKE their way… the ones who preserver in the face of difficulty… the ones who (as Winston Churchill proclaimed… ‘Never, never, never, never, give up!).
Nelson Mandela wrote:
“It always seems impossible until it's done.”
Dale Carnegie taught:
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
And one of my favorite quotes of all was written by Mary Anne Radmacher…
“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow.”
We love and admire ‘Heroes’… but when it comes to emulating them, we tend to shy away, make excuses, and give in.
Why do we do this (even though we have massive evidence that perseverance can take us almost anywhere)?
Its because of human nature… it is actually in our nature to take the path of least resistance… the easy way out… and this is because it conserves energy… and in the days of saber tooth tigers, it could also save out lives.
But this nature no longer serves us… for we no longer need to conserve energy or face deadly predators at every turn…
So now we get to overcome our tendency to give up and give in…
Not with shear willpower… if we had that kind of willpower we wouldn’t need to learn to persevere… because willpower and perseverance are pretty much the same…
So it’s the ultimate paradox… how do we master willpower when it takes willpower to master it?
And the answer is…
We need to do things that will increase our ability to persevere… and continue doing so until we actually master this character trait… and yes, like any other character trait it can be mastered.
In fact, that is what we do at The Center for Empowerment… help you master the principles and character traits you need to create a happier, more successful, fulfilling, passionate, productive, and purpose-driven life.
Hopefully, you will visit our website at www.CenterForEmpowerment.com to learn more.
So here are some things you can do right now that will help see you through your greatest challenges, difficulties, and obstacles:
We must commit to be committed… Once we FULLY commit to something… anything, the rest is details.
Instead of spending all your time trying to figure out the solutions to every problem, make sure you also spend time learning doing the following and learning how to persevere… once you master perseverance, the solutions will eventually appear.
Goethe wrote: We see what we are looking for…
- So look for evidence that those who preserver usually succeed
- And look for evidence that it is possible to achieve your goals … because we also ‘do what we believe’… (jumping off building) … so increase your belief
- If you hate what you are doing, or focus ONLY on the outcome, you will eventually quit… so find ways to enjoy the journey… the more fun you have the longer you will sustain your efforts…
- Develop patience… we do this by learning to wait for our rewards and outcomes… the longer we wait, the better we get at waiting… the prisons are filled with inmates who lake the character trait of ‘sustained gratification’
- Develop a support community… this is easy in network marketing… and it is also crucial… those with the most active support community are most likely to preserver.
- Develop and reinforce passion for your purpose… make a list of what you LOVE about what you are doing… Create a cost and payoffs list and refer to it frequently
- Get emotional about both these costs and payoffs
- Boost your benefits… make the payoffs as wonderful as possible… the more important we can make its attainment the better
- Optimists are grittier than pessimists… focus on the possibilities and the positive benefits
- Create a friendly competition.
- Create short term, achievable goals and monitor their progress… make regular adjustments as needed and celebrate your victories along the way
- Remind yourself and focus on the fact that you get stronger with every setback… and stronger still every time you stay the course in the face of obstacles
- Celebrate your victories!!! Dopamine has been proven to be the number one ingredient in forming habits… the more dopamine you produce around a particular action the faster it becomes a habit… and every time you get excited your brain produces dopamine… so make sure you reward yourself every single time your perseverance pays off!
In our Life Mastery program we help convert perseverance along with many other crucial principles and character traits into permanent habits and I invite you to visit us at www.CenterForEmpowerment.com to learn more…
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