Many people have dreams. Many people have ideas.
Few people pursue their dreams. Few people put effort into making their ideas become a reality.
Why is that?
There could be a lot of reasons. Now these reasons could be true, but more often these reasons are really just excuses. These excuses are like the boogeyman. They aren’t real. There’s nothing really stopping you. You’re just using these excuses to shift the blame onto something other than yourself.
Time goes by. Suddenly years have passed and you still haven’t done anything about your dreams or ideas. The boogeyman haunts you. All you have are your excuses.
I would rather live a life where I failed but have no excuses for my failure, then have all the excuses in the world and yet never tried.
A powerful belief mindset that I believe in is “Extreme Ownership.”
We could also call it “Radical Responsibility.”
The principle of Extreme Ownership comes from the experience of Retired U.S. Navy Seal Officer and leadership instructor Jocko Willink.
Extreme Ownership is about taking radical responsibility for everything that happens in your life. There are no excuses. If something goes wrong, you don’t get upset at other people. If life doesn’t go the way you want it, you don’t get upset at the world. You don’t point your finger at anyone else other than yourself.
Willink talks about Extreme Ownership from a leadership perspective. If the team fails, it’s always the leader’s fault for not setting proper guidance, expectations, strategy or communication.
For Willink it was a matter of life or death being a Navy Seal on the battlefield. If he didn’t lead well, his team members could die. If someone died, it was his responsibility being the leader.
In just our regular lives though, Extreme Ownership can help lead us to the life of our dreams. It can help us make our ideas become reality.
Radical responsibility puts the power in our hands to get what we want. Every time something isn’t going the way we want it, we are compelled to reflect and ask, “How can I do better?”
“What else can I do in this situation to get the results I want?”
If you really think about it and are resourceful, you can probably find a solution.
For example, maybe you want to get a raise at work. Instead of saying, “Well my boss is a jerk and would never give me a raise!” Instead of letting that stop you, maybe start asking what you can actually do to change your boss’ mind. Read a book on psychology or negotiation (such as Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss). You could find answers there.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
We have more power over our lives than we truly realize. For better or worse we are the principle catalyst of our own lives. By adjusting our mind to accept extreme ownership of everything in our lives, we take a positive step towards making our lives better.
When we accept radical responsibility for our lives, we get rid of the excuses. When there are no excuses, there’s only the option of taking the necessary action. There will be obstacles in life, but it’s up to you to get around the obstacles. It’s up to you to not let anything stop you.
There’s a boxer named Rocky played by the actor Sylvester Stallone who knows a think or two about not letting anything stop him. When I was younger I used to watch a lot of motivational videos on Youtube. One of my favourites is the inspirational speech from the sixth Rocky movie in which Rocky speaks to his son.
Here’s what Rocky says,
“Somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you’re no good. And when things got hard, you started lookin’ for something to blame, like a big shadow.
Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!
Now if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth! But you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!”
No excuses. Own your life. Be unstoppable.
Stay curious!
-Zach
SHOUT OUT TO JOE! I’m very excited to say I got my first paid subscriber! Thank you Joe for your support. It means a lot! I offer everything with my newsletter for free but if anyone finds that they get a lot of value from my work and wants to support me they can subscribe with a paid subscription (essentially a $5 donation a month). I have a bunch of projects that I plan to release all by the end of this year which you will see through this newsletter. Any support I get through paid subscribers will help me produce these projects and will be greatly appreciated!
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