Champions set their goals higher than most people. Their goals are ambitious. Their goals take effort. Their goals take time. If you have a championship mindset, you know this. That’s one reason you set your sights high: you want to separate yourself from the crowd. You’re ready to put the time in to achieve something great.
You know almost every goal of merit – championship-level or not – involves a period of hard work where you might not see huge steps in progress. Even if you know this going in, it can still be frustrating. You may feel you’re not moving quickly enough and not getting the results you deserve relative to the time, energy, and effort you’re putting toward achieving your goal.
This is the phase in any path toward an ambitious goal that separates champions from the rest. This is what we call The Daily Grind. It’s tough, both physically and emotionally. It’s so tough some people never get past this stage. They get frustrated and quit. They never know if they could have achieved their goal, because the simple fact is this: if you don’t finish, you don’t win.
Embrace the Grind
The Daily Grind doesn’t have to beat you down. It can do the opposite, in fact. It’s the crucible through which you must pass in order to become great. To get through it successfully, you need a solid mental plan. One that keeps you a step ahead of the challenges and potential pitfalls along the road to greatness. Before you embark on your mission – whether it’s a training camp leading up to an athletic event of the beginning of a major work-related push – prepare yourself with the following tips to keep you on task:
- Know it’s coming. Prepare yourself for the fact that in the beginning, progress may be hard to see.
- Decide ahead of time that no matter what happens, you’ll use the experience to become a better, more effective person.
- Commit to the others involved that you’ll work together and support one another to beat the grind the first time around.
- Hold your energy firm and consistent. Keep your eye on the ball – which during the grind means each and every daily task – to limit frustration.
- Look for the small, incremental changes that indicate progress. The evidence is there – you just need to know what to look for.
- Adjust your plans on the fly to keep your momentum moving forward, onward, and upward.
When you use the grind to your advantage, success happens. Working through the tough weeks and perhaps months of effort builds internal resilience, self-belief, and strengthen relationships with the people who share you journey.
Go through it one time, and the experience is with you forever: it’s your template for future achievement, and proof positive you can surmount even the most difficult circumstances.
