Reap the Benefits of Your Gifts

(Final Push – Your Gift, Part II)

Everyone has a gift. Yet what happens for many is that they never truly reap the benefits of their gifts. One of three things happen:

Some dwell in the past of their ancient laurels. Others deny they have anything to offer so as to avoid the work and effort it would take to capitalize on it. Or some attempt, like I did last Sunday, to exercise it in the wrong game, get hurt, discouraged and give up. But there is a dirty fourth reason why many never achieve their true greatness. I have witnessed thousands of incredible people who never truly achieve their potential. And the reason they don’t is not necessarily what you think.

It is because while they charge hard and start to develop the Tiger Woods inside of them, something wonderful and devastating happens to them at the same time. They become, what my partner Kelly Ritchie calls, “satisficed.” Along the path of development, they achieve something that they may have always wanted. It could be the love of their life, a sum of money, their ideal weight, a great job…whatever. They become satisfied and what they achieved is sufficient. That is when the drive stops. The very gift that got them their prize remains half born, undeveloped, undisciplined and in some cases even, unopened. They never get to realize the true benefits of the best part of themselves.

You’ve seen it many times. Someone finds the love of their life, gets married perhaps and they start putting on weight. Another makes more money than they have before and their numbers begin to plateau and decline. Being able to truly be the person that you are designed to be, to achieve the greatness that has been germinating inside of you, requires a relentlessness to go the distance. But even more than that, it requires making that mental, unreasonable decision to kick it in to the finish line.

It also requires putting yourself in the right game with an opportunity to win. On a track with a bunch of young teenagers running sprints is not a game that I am going to win in a 50+ year old body. Playing football against the Pittsburgh Steelers is not a game I will win no matter how relentless I am.

But building a global business, being a great husband and father, and being a leader in my market are games that I have a chance in. There are some who need to quit the game they are in and get into a game they have a shot at.

(Final Push – Your Gift, Part II)

Remember that ‘greed is having a gift and not giving it.’ If you do not give it, at some level you are treasonous to yourself and others. You hold knowledge and talent that others could benefit from and for which you could be greatly rewarded. Withholding out of fear of the work and sacrifices it might take—because life is good enough and you want life to be ‘easy’ or because you have bought into someone else’s “Little Voice” telling you that you aren’t good enough—are all nails in the coffin of your spirit.

Uncover the gift, be relentless. Celebrate your wins but don’t “satisfice.” You were meant to be great. You were meant to touch the lives of many. You and your actions were always meant for a bigger game. Learn to finish hard. Don’t let up and don’t sacrifice the best things in your life either. That is nonsense. That is somebody else’s “Little Voice” keeping you small. You CAN have it all.

The good news? My legs will heal. My 13-year-old will keep getting faster. We both have games to play in our own lives. My job as his Dad is to help him find his best game. It’s up to me to find and develop mine as well. That will help him.

What game are you meant to play? You’ve been training for it for a long time.

Be awesome and be relentless.

Blair