Most of life's great achievements were accomplished against a background of negativity. There's always the other guy, or society at large, who said "It can't be done."

Life's champions are those who are stubbornly persistent, however. No matter what walk of life.

See, champions have intrinsic motivation. They are motivated within themselves. They are responsible.

The masses among us derive motivation externally. They rely on others to tell them what to do. It doesn't mean that good things can't happen, but it's a virtual certainty that great things won't be accomplished.

What, then, is greatness?

It is consistently doing things others cannot or will not do. It's not about being the smartest or most talented. It is about being consistent.

You can be told to do something over and over, but unless you take that responsibility on yourself, you'll never see greatness.

Dr. Jason Selk, who was the Director of Sport Psychology for the St. Louis Cardinals when they won their last two World Championships, says, "If you want to achieve greatness in life, you need to put significant emphasis into what it takes to get there."

Frankly, most people don't put any emphasis on the process. They seek results and when the results don't come, they quit.

However, the timeline and determination level differs for everyone.

Bill Walsh, championship coach of the San Francisco 49ers reflected,

People asked me over the years, "Bill when you became head coach and general manager of the 49ers, did you have a timetable for winning the Super Bowl?" My answer is succinct: "No."

Things were in such bad shape when I arrived that talk of a Super Bowl championship for San Francisco would have sounded delusional; people would have thought I was crazy.

Walsh went 8–24 in his first two seasons in San Francisco. "You can't win in San Francisco. It can't be done," everybody told him.

Well, the Niners won the Super Bowl in his third season and also won two more Super Bowls under Walsh, who is now widely considered one of the top head coaches in National Football League history.

But you "can't win in San Francisco…"

Although Walsh arrived at Candlestick Park without a timetable for a championship, or even for a winning season, what he did instead was a master class in championship-level leadership. "I arrived with an urgent timetable for installing an agenda of specific behavioral norms—actions and attitudes—that applied to every single person on our payroll."

Walsh said that "It began with this fundamental leadership assertion: Regardless of your specific job, it is vital to our team that you do that job at the highest possible level in all its various aspects, both mental and physical (i.e., good talent with bad attitude equals bad talent)."

Champion.

We're developing champions and leaders every day. Stop by and see how we can help you.

I'm never going to tell you what to do. You get to do that for yourself.

Action and attitude.

But sometimes we all need a little kick in the fanny to get started.

As always,

Brian