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December 2, 2022 - January 25, 2023
There is no clutch gene. There’s your predatory instinct that tells you to attack and finish the fight, and there’s the readiness to know how and when to do that. Preparation + opportunity. That’s it.
being relentless means constantly working for that result, not just when drama is on the line. Clutch is about the last minute. Relentless is about every minute.
Remember, you don’t compete with anyone, you make them compete with you. You can control what you put on yourself; you can’t control what the other guy puts on you. So you focus only on the internal pressure that drives you. Run to it, embrace it, feel it, so no one else can throw more at you than you’ve already put on yourself.
But the positive view is that pressure is a challenge that will define you; it gives you the opportunity to see how much you can take, how hard you can go.
A Closer takes risks when he can prepare in advance and knows the consequences of failing are minimal. Nothing feels risky to a Cleaner; whatever happens, he’ll know what to do.
I need to make this transition. Major point of holding myself back.
the trademark of a dangerous competitor: he doesn’t have to know what’s coming because whatever you show him, he’s ready. No fear of failure.
That’s not about the myth of “positive thinking”; it’s about the hard work and preparation that go into knowing everything there is to know, letting go of your fears and insecurities, and trusting your ability to handle any situation.
You have to be willing to fail if you’re going to trust yourself to act from the gut, and then adapt as you go. That’s the confidence or swagger that allows you to take risks and know that whatever happens, you’ll figure it out.
“I’m going for this, and if I’m wrong, I’ll make a change and I’ll still be fine.”
You can’t control or anticipate every obstacle that might block your path. You can only control your response, and your ability to navigate the unpredictable. Whatever happens, you have the smarts and skills to figure it out and arrive at the outcome you wanted in the first place.
Create your own pressure to succeed, don’t allow others to create it for you. Have the confidence to trust that you can handle anything.
Cleaners always have the confidence to know they’ll get it right. Accept the consequences and move on.
I want you to put together your own composite of learning, taking what you know and believe, adding what others have taught you, combining everything you’ve learned, and creating your own set of beliefs. Not one directive that was set by someone else, but establishing your own.
A Closer will adjust himself to the situation; a Cleaner adjusts the situation to himself. A Closer has to know what he’s going to do. A Cleaner doesn’t; he never wants to be locked in to one plan.
“But,” I added, “you also have to recognize you’re so competitive that you’re crushing them with your disapproval. You don’t realize the impact you have on everyone else because your wiring is completely different. When you’re shaking your head or yelling at them, they shut down. And I know you love these guys, so they need to feel that you’re backing them, not turning against them.”
The only way you can light other people on fire is to be lit yourself, from the inside.
You suddenly get a great idea, something completely comes alive in your mind, you mention it to a couple people . . . and they stare at you blankly. Suddenly you lose all your enthusiasm. Why? It’s still the same idea you loved a few hours ago. What happened? Stop thinking.
After that first initial thought, that first instantaneous gut reaction, why give in to the weakness of second-guessing and doubt and analysis that inevitably follow?
As soon as you allow yourself to start overthinking your decisions, you start saying things like “I’ll sleep on it” or “Let’s put it on the back burner” or any one of the stupid clichés that mean “I don’t trust myself to make a decision.”
Get the best people around you, know your strengths and weaknesses, and trust others to do what they do best. But in the end, it’s still your responsibility. Make a plan, and execute.
You don’t become unstoppable by following the crowd, you get there by doing something better than anyone else can do it, and proving every day why you’re the best at what you do.
succeed? Are you going to stand by that decision or quit when it gets hard? Will you choose to keep working when everyone else tells you to quit?
It’s not about luck, I don’t believe in luck. There are facts and opportunities and realities, and how you respond to them determines whether you succeed or fail.
You cannot understand what it means to be relentless until you have struggled to possess something that’s just out of your reach. Over and over, as soon as you touch it, it moves farther away. But something inside you—that killer instinct—makes you keep going, reaching, until you finally grab it and fight with all your might to keep holding on.
Anyone can take what’s sitting right in front of him. Only when you’re truly relentless can you understand the determination to keep pursuing a target that never stops moving.
You can’t fight the elephants until you’ve wrestled the pigs, messed around in the mud, handled the scrappy, dirty issues that clutter everyday life, so you can be ready for the heavy stuff later.
People who start at the top never understand what they missed at the bottom.
They can’t deal with being uncomfortable so they seek the shortcut, and when they can’t find it, they quit.
Ask yourself honestly, what would you have to sacrifice to have what you really want? Your social life? Relationships? Credit cards? Free time? Sleep? Now answer this question: What are you willing to sacrifice? If those two lists don’t match up, you don’t want it badly enough.
it takes no talent to work hard. You just have to want to do it.
learning to control whatever pulls you away from your mission.
Cleaner Law: When you’re going through a world of pain, you never hide. You show up to work ready to go, you face adversity and your critics and those who judge you, you step into the Zone and perform at that top level when everyone is expecting you to falter. That’s being a professional.
There is no privilege greater than the pressure to excel, and no greater reward than earning the respect and fear of others who can only stand in awe of your results.
Cleaner has no need to announce his presence; you’ll know he’s there by the way he carries himself, always cool and confident. He’s never the blowhard telling you how great he is; he’s the quiet guy focused on results, because results are all that matter.
A Cleaner knows what he can do and stays with it until he decides to do something else.
What happened with the building was a setback. But dealing with setbacks is how you achieve success. You learn, and you adapt. When everyone else is talking about how you “failed,” you show up like a professional, remap your course, and get back to work. That’s the progression of good-great-unstoppable. No one starts at unstoppable. You fuck up, you figure it out, you trust yourself.
Make the choice to turn “failure” into success.
People who admit defeat and say they had no choice just aren’t serious about success, excellence, or themselves.
Do, or don’t do. Do it, and if it doesn’t work, do it again.
It’s not weak to recognize when it’s time to shift directions. It’s weak to refuse to consider other options and fail at everything because you couldn’t adapt to anything.
In any situation, it’s the courage and confidence to know it’s time to make a change.
You can be good by playing it safe. You can’t be relentless unless you’re willing to take chances. Safe makes you good, chances make you great.
A Cleaner knows when to walk away, and which direction to walk. Never running, always walking; he leaves smoothly and on his own terms. He can lose a battle because he’s still planning to win the war. Lose a game, but win the season. Lose a season, come back and win the next three. Lose a job, start a new business. No one else is getting the last word on whether he succeeded.
Everyone else will tell him he did a great job, and he knows it’s true. But their approval means nothing to him because the standards he sets for himself are so much higher than anyone else can possibly set for him. Win or lose, all he thinks about is how he could have done it better or smoother or faster or some way other than how he did it. So the job gets done, but he’s still always thinking about how he could have done more. That’s the relentless pursuit of excellence, always believing in your ability, demanding more of yourself than anyone else could ever ask of you.
The drive to close the gap between near-perfect and perfect is the difference between great and unstoppable.
Every dream you imagine, everything you see and hear and feel in your sleep, that’s not a fantasy, that’s your deep instinct telling you it can all be real. Follow those visions and dreams and desires, and believe what you know. Only you can turn those dreams into reality. Never stop until you do. The greatest battles you will ever fight are with yourself, and you must always be your toughest opponent. Always demand more of yourself than others demand of you. Be honest with yourself, and you’ll be able to meet every challenge with confidence and the deep belief that you are prepared for
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