Empty Your Tank
Have you noticed that action and success seem to go hand in hand? People of action are the ones who are finding success. Sitting and waiting for it to happen is no way to live life or be an entrepreneur and a leader. You have to work harder and smarter than everyone else. But what happens when the push of everyday life becomes too overwhelming and we find ourselves at a halt. We simply press on. We empty our tanks, we remain indefatigable. That all sounds well and nice doesn’t it, but how does one empty the tank? And what does it even mean? Today I will share with you what emptying the tank is all about and how it can better your life.
What is emptying the tank:
You’ve actually heard of it before, in various familiar expressions: going the extra mile; giving it all you’ve got; going for broke; and, to borrow a term from the popular poker game Texas Hold ‘Em, going “all in,” or betting your entire resources on winning. It’s going above and beyond, to the absolute limits of your talents and strengths, over whatever barriers have kept you from becoming the best you can possibly be.
How to empty the tank:
Develop a never give up attitude: Life will always throw curveballs and if something bad has the potential to happen, it most likely will. Prepare yourself for it. Learn to let the little things roll of your back and press on. The only time something is truly over, the only time that you are defeated is when you decide to quit. So never quit. This is not to encourage you to ride dead horses, simply challenge you to challenge yourself.
Overcome your internal barriers: Most barriers are imaginary. Most people have greater capacity than they ever give themselves credit for. And most of us have never been truly tested. Some, sad to say, never get beyond simply doing what’s required of them. Becoming aware of your personal barriers is step one. To find out some of your strengths and weaknesses, take the Myers Briggs, or DISC Assessment, or a more recently popular personality test, the StrenthsFinder test.
Pursue excellence: One of the most often overlooked aspects of leadership is the need for pursuit. Great leaders are never satisfied with traditional practice, static thinking, conventional wisdom, or common performance. In fact, the best leaders are simply uncomfortable with anything that embraces the status quo. Leadership in its greatest glory can displays the following: the pursuit of excellence, of elegance, of truth, of innovation, of “what if?”, of change, of value, of results, of relationships, of service, of knowledge, and of something bigger than just thinking about “me”. 
Give it everything you have, then push a little more: Have you ever gotten to the point in a venture where you felt like you put everything on the line and had nothing more to give? I think we have all been there. Truth is when we are at our lowest its really just another opportunity to get creative. Many people who have reached extraordinary successes have also endured extraordinary failures. Look at Walt Disney, Donald Trump, and Henry Ford. You may relate these individuals to their many successes however; all of these men went through bankruptcy before achieving their wildest goals.
There you have it. Emptying the tank isn’t a theory that’s applicable to a single venture. It’s a lifestyle. It’s the way you should approach your work life, your family life, and your personal life everyday. By emptying the tank you are sure to get the most out of every experience.
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