How Not To Be "Average."

 If you want to be better than average, you have to give better than AVERAGE. 

 Quick – name the most AVERAGE baseball player in the major leagues today. 

 Who wins the title for the MOST AVERAGE basketball player in the NBA playoffs? 

Who is the MOST AVERAGE  hockey player to ever play the game?

 Do you find it hard to come up with those names? You should. 

Which one do you want to be? 

You know, Children are a great reflection upon society. They are, for the most part, pure innocence and pure, uncorrupted emotion. 

Watch your child playing in the sand experiencing pure joy. You could sit in that same stand and be bored. Or aggravated. 

You could become unmotivated and lie down.

...But if you watch the child digging in the sand – he or she is usually fascinated. They're fascinated by the texture. The feeling. The fact that they can mold and shape to their will. That brings them joy. 

 I bring this up for a very good reason. 

 Think back-- for some of you way, way, way back… To what you wanted and dreamed as a child. 

 When you were a child did you want to be "average"? 

 When you were five or six years old, did you look at the world and say, "when I grow up, I want to sit in a cubicle punching keys all day, work for a mediocre boss, At a mediocre company, doing the same thing, every single day of my entire life?"

                                                   If you did, you were the odd one. 

 Most likely you wanted to be a superhero. 

Perhaps as you got older he wanted to "be like mike (Michael Jordan),  you wanted to be the quarterback of your favorite football team, or some other superstar. 

 If you want better than "average", you have to give better than "average."

 One of MJ's most famous commercials was highlights of him sinking winning shots, winning big games, etc., but the background was Michael Jordan speaking 

 "I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I've been trusted To take the game-winning shot… And missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Michael Jordan used to practice his shooting technique – not just his shot – but his actual "technique" for 2 to 3 hours per day. 

 Tiger Woods hit hundreds of golf balls every single day. 

Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time. He has won 19 gold medals-  and as impressive as that is, his training routine is even more so. 

 He swims 50 miles per week – an average of 8 miles per training day. 

Plus dry land workouts.

He works so hard and so long that he needs to consume 12,000 calories per day just to maintain his body mass. 

 If a training day falls on Christmas, he swims in my house. If it falls on New Year's – 8 miles. Nothing gets in the way of his training. 

Even me, an- I hate to even say it- “average” guy- competed nationally in Olympic Taekwondo.

I trained 3 hours a day, PLUS my regular team and sparring practices.

I never lost because the other guy outlasted me and set a record for most knockouts.

I still work out every day.

I read a book a week and write at least one content piece, published or not, twice a week.

 The important question is, what are you willing to give THIS YEAR  in order to get? 

 One of my most recent articles talked about the state of the outdoor industry – how the gun economy has definitely changed.

How many companies out there are going to look for "average" results this year? 

 How many companies in the gun world are going to, rather than put in their "8 miles" of training – "cut their expenses" (which I've always found ridiculous, as marketing should never, ever be put under your ledger as an "expense)  

Instead of working harder, smarter, and doing MORE, many honestly believe that they will get by with doing LESS.

If you were on any type of sports team, when you really wanted to get BETTER and WIN MORE, did your coach ever say to you, or did you ever say to yourself, “You know what? We need to do LESS! We’re going to NOT WORK AS HARD in order to get BETTER and WIN MORE!”

I didn’t think so.

 The next year will separate a lot of "average" from many new and up-and-comer's that will become "exceptional."

 Which camp will you be in?