Goals For Personal Development
6. "Good Enough" Is Never Good Enough
Discipline yourself to always strive for excellence. Never settle for "average." Business writer Lou Vickery put it this way: "Nothing average ever stood as a monument to progress. When progress is looking for a partner, it doesn't turn to those who believe they are only average. It turns instead to those who are forever searching and striving to become the best they possibly can.''
My daughter Karyn and I ran in the Chicago Marathon in October 2007. That marathon made headlines because of a record-breaking heat wave. Temperatures topped 88°F, sending more than 350 runners to the hospital. As Karyn and I ran, we saw runners dropping like flies all along the route, victims of heat prostration. Emergency helicopters thundered overhead, and the wail of ambulances was almost continuous. Coming from Florida, Karyn and I thought it was a lovely day for running. We had worked out in the 95°F summer heat and 100 percent humidity of Orlando, so we were fine.
But for most of the runners, temperatures in the high eighties were truly dangerous. Aid stations ran out of water. Runners dropped out with cramps or nausea. Some fainted. The course looked like a war zone, with casualties strewn on either side.
When Karyn and I were near the sixteen-mile mark, the Chicage Fire Department put up roadblocks. The marshals of the marathon waved people off, saying the marathon was terminated.
They pointed to the left and shouted, "Go this way! Go this way! Head straight to the finish line!"
I called out to one of the marshals, "Do we still get a medal?" "Yes," he said, "you still get a medal."
So we took the shortcut. As we crossed the finish line, I felt a sense of great joy. We had cut two hours and ten miles of our run – and I still got a medal for participating. We returned to the hotel with two extra hours to rest and freshen up before dinner.
For me, the highlight of a marathon weekend is always the dinner after the race. Karyn and I had reservations at Miller's in Chicago (the favorite spot of the late Bill Veeck). It was an excellent meal – but as we ate, I felt something was missing. Though I enjoyed relaxing and sharing wonderful father-daughter time with Karyn, something nagged at me, something was wrong. Then it hit me: I wasn't tired enough!
Normally, on the evening of a marathon, I could feel every bone and joint and muscle barking at me. I would feel pleasantly exhausted – and the meal felt like a fitting reward for having pushed myself to the limits of my endurance. I would always wear my medal proudly at dinner – but on that night, I left the medal at the hotel. Why? Because I knew I hadn't earned it. My body missed those final ten miles. I even felt a little guilty, almost as if I had cheated, though I hadn't done anything wrong.
Marathon runners are allowed to wear their medals for a twenty-four-hour period called "show-and-tell." When you complete a marathon, you have bragging rights, and you wear your medal so that people can gape and know what you've accomplished. But on this occasion, I had simply tucked my medal away in my suitcase. I knew deep inside that getting a medal for running a "good enough" race wasn't good enough.
We should never be satisfied with "good enough." Anytime we give less than our all, we should feel a nagging sense that something isn't right. Those who are truly focused on a lifestyle of self-discipline should never feel right about getting paid in full for doing half a job. We should only accept a reward for doing the job right and doing it completely. "Good enough" is never good enough.
7. Be Disciplined in Your Work Ethic
Paul "Bear" Bryant coached the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team from 1958 to 1982. During his twenty-five seasons at Alabama, he coached his teams to thirteen conference championships and six national championships. He retired in 1982 with the record for most wins of any head coach in collegiate football history. Bear Bryant had a ten-point "Winning Formula" that he taught to his players. Two of those ten points were about the importance of maintaining a disciplined work ethic:
Work hard. There is no substitute for hard work. None. If you work hard, the folks around you are going to work harder. If you drag into work late, what kind of impression is that going to leave on your fellow workers? If you leave early, what kind of impression is that going to leave?
Don't tolerate lazy people. They are losers, people who come to work and watch clocks and pass off responsibilities will only drag you and your organization down. I despise dock watchers. They don't want to be part of a winning situation. They won't roll up their sleeves when you need them to. If you have lazy people, get rid of them. Remember, it is easy to develop the bad habits of lazy people.
When I interviewed Joe Namath, he told me, "The man knew how life worked. His message was, 'Life is hard. You've got to do hard things whether you like it or not.' He stressed that it takes effort to be successful. As young athletes, we thought we knew it all, but still we took his word for it. I have two daughters, ages nineteen and twenty-four, and I can relate a whole lot better now as to what Coach Bryant was telling us."
Retired NBA star and former senator Bill Bradley learned the importance of a disciplined work ethic at an early age. At fourteen, he attended a weeklong basketball camp that was run by "Easy Ed" McCauley, who was a star forward for the St. Louis Hawks. In addition to basketball technique, McCauley and his staff taught their players the fundamentals of a good attitude and a strong work ethic. "If you are not practicing," McCauley told them, "just remember – someone, somewhere, is practicing, and when you two meet, given roughly equal ability, he will win."
Those words stuck with young Bill Bradley. "I decided I never wanted to lose simply because I hadn't made the effort, and I intensified an already intense routine," He set a grueling practice schedule for himself that he maintained throughout his teen years and into his professional career, He ran long distances to improve his speed and stamina. He wore weights on his shoes and practiced his jump shot to improve his vertical leap. He practiced dribbling with blinders on so he could learn to dribble without watching the ball. He practiced ball-handling around folding chairs to master his crossover dribble, and he shot over stacked chairs to simulate play against a seven-foot center.
Bill Bradley even sacrificed his love life for the game. "When a fifteen-year-old female classmate telephoned one night to flirt," he recalled, "I somewhat doltishly protested that my real giftfriend was basketball." Now, that is self-discipline!
The habits and self-discipline Bradley acquired as a teenager have served him well throughout his adult life and career. "In the U.S. Senate, along the campaign trail, or on any number of projects I became involved with after Princeton," he said, "it was the same story. I was determined that no one would outwork me.
Basketball had lit that fire, and it burned in many directions. As I grew older and met my basketball heroes, and even defeated some of them, I realized that my way of doing things was not at all unique. Most of the pros had developed their skills by paying their dues in practice time. The biggest myth in basketball is that of the 'natural player.' Remember that Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team.''
If you want to discipline yourself for success, then work for it. Surround yourself with hard workers, and set an example of a strong work ethic. As Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Don Sutton once said, "Luck is the byproduct of busting your fanny." There's no substitute for hard work when it comes to reaching for your dreams. To learn more, you can check out Goals For Personal Development.
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