Happy Sunday Everyone:
I’m rereading a book I like a lot, the book is called “Grit”. The topic as you might imagine, is about having Grit, and whether or not you’re born with it or if you can create it if you don’t have it.
One of the premises of the book is around talent, and what people do with talent, and the very simple fact that talent alone is nice but it’s not going to get you anywhere if you don’t use it, through practice. The author then brings up a formula she created that would suggest talent + effort = Skill. She then takes it one step further to say once you’ve developed the skill, the next formula is skill +.effort= Achievement. Perhaps you’re thinking “duh” but the lifelong lesson, and one my boys are probably very tired of hearing about is “effort”. It’s the common denominator to having grit. I’ll skip a full blown book report but purposeful and consistent effort, utilizing skills created through practicing an initial “talent” will end in success, period.
I have a 45 year old student right now, Roger. Roger has closed between 2-2.5 mill in production a month for the past few years. He’s been in the business much longer but not exactly sure on the dates. Roger warned me when we started that he was going to have a rough start to the year as his sister had passed in her sleep, unexpectedly, in late December (they were very close). He made the point of not wanting to make excuses but needed some time, mentally, and helping with her and her son. So we keep going and he did in fact struggle through February on numbers but he just kept doing the work. We did some assignments around things he needed, recognizing his strengths and exploiting them more. He just plugged away, minimal to no excuses, just doing the work. Fast forward to last week, we were doing our review call as we’re ending our semester together, his volume in May will be 8 mill and in June it’s shaping up to be 10+ mill, his business is up 3-4X. By the time the semester is over he will have crushed our initial goals on earning, savings, and giving away. I’m impressed, and I like him a lot, he’s a really good guy. So when I asked what happened? How could he do what he did (I’d like to say it’s all in the coach but not the case), he said something pretty amazing to me, he said he talks to his sister, and he promises her he’s going to be there for her son, financially and as a role model.
As I talked with Roger I just kept thinking how he epitomizes the book as an example of Grit, as well as proving the formula works. a few of my own take aways. What I’ve learned from Roger.
* Cover of the book says “GRIT, the power of passion and perseverance”. He changed his passion to something bigger than selling loans, which gave him a different outlook on his activity. He changed his lens on how he viewed his business.
* Tactically-he recognized where his strengths were, put more structure around those talents, which created a reusable/measurable skill, which he is now reaping the benefits from.
* Proof for all of us, that you can create grit if you don’t think you have it today. Roger is 45, he’s been at this a while, he is now seeing this success in a different light. He’s grateful for it, but it’s also now the new norm, he’s not going back.
* His “effort” is consistent. He doesn’t over think, he just does the work. So many of us just need to do the work. Doing the work feels so much better than not.
Have a great week and hopefully take something away from what Roger has done in the past 5 months.