New columnist Todd Sergeant, Breakfast Show host at 2NURFM (103.7) and Mentor at Mindset 180, discusses how important our actions and beliefs are to our mindset.
So, you think successful people are all naturally gifted? You may just be surprised.
You know, in one way or another we carry the scars of our past and one of the scars that I carry is being an overweight child or, simply, a fat kid.
It’s amazing the terms that can be used to normalise a situation: he’s big boned, he’ll grow out of it, or the classic, it’s just baby fat.
But, when you’re 15 and nearly six-foot tall, that line starts to wear thin, pardon the pun.
So, what does this have to do with the title of this blog? Personally, a lot.
We have all grown up making heroes out of successful people – sports stars, actors, celebrities or successful business people – people we see at the top of their game, the cream of the crop.
And, to make their celebrity appear even bigger, we hear how they are described: she was a natural, he was a prodigy.
Here is something that may shock you: it may not always be the case, especially if it is reported in the media or on the web.
I’m not sure how that belief affects our mindset. It possibly gives us an attitude of: ‘No point trying, I could never be as good as they are so why bother.’
But one thing I have realised is that it’s easy to play the victim card and not take responsibility for our actions and beliefs.
There is the old saying: ‘Before you judge someone, walk a mile in their shoes’ – for some reason, it seems more serious saying mile instead of kilometre, but it’s true.
Here’s an example: when I was learning to fly, one of the first lessons is taxiing the plane on the ground and (you may or may not know this) but you don’t steer a small plane on the ground like you do a car – the yoke or stick has no bearing on the direction the plane is going when it’s on the ground.
What you need to do is use your feet on the brake pedals and apply pressure to either side to steer the aircraft. Try getting that to my brain and through my muscle memory.
Can you imagine my embarrassment thinking: ‘How will I ever learn to fly if I can’t even keep the plane in a straight direction heading for the runway?’
It must have been hilarious to watch.
It wasn’t pretty, as many, including my long suffering instructor Phil, would attest to, but every lesson I got better and better.
Did I think about throwing the towel in? Hell yeah. I was 50 and felt so embarrassed, especially watching 16-year-old’s making it look so easy so much quicker.
But I kept showing up and showing up and showing up and now, not only can I steer the plane on the ground, but can take off and land – a very important factor in longevity of a pilot.
Am I a great pilot? No. Am I a safe pilot? Yes. Am I getting better every time I get in the cockpit? Definitely.
Whether you are learning to fly, play the guitar, dance, learning a new language or changing career, we can all find excuses as to why someone is better than us and reasons why we can’t do it and, more importantly, don’t deserve it.
Stop and realise they possibly are no more naturally talented than you are, but they keep turning up and turning up.
I remember interviewing a band on my radio show whose debut album – remember those black round things – had just gone to number one on the charts, and they said they were proud to be a 10-year overnight success.
It is hard enough to start learning something new, so why would you stop before reaching your goal?
Ninety-nine per cent of success is just showing up.
For more stories like this:
