From Chapter 12 “Indefatigable” in Ingredients of Outliers. The Reasons Why For many, going the distance or emptying the tank is simply for personal reasons, to overcome internal barriers, and to challenge themselves, or to get out of their comfort zones and test the limits of their ability, strength, endurance and courage. They want to discover how far they can go. Gordon Ritter, a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, is another of those profiled in the SUCCESS magazine article mentioned above. In college, he’d been a member of the rowing team and later took up mountain climbing. … [Read more...]
Never Give Up and Never Give In
From Chapter 12 “Indefatigable” in Ingredients of Outliers. Up High at Show Low Not long ago, I participated in my first triathlon in eighteen years, held in a town named for a card game. Show Low sits at 6,412 feet at the base of the White Mountains in northern Arizona. Remember the opening scene in the Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire, where a group of men are running barefoot, effortlessly, through the crashing waves on a beautiful beach, with the orchestra playing an inspiring melody in the background? (If you never saw the movie, or you’ve forgotten that scene, it’s … [Read more...]
Hello Extra Mile, Goodbye Comfort Zone!
From Chapter 12 “Indefatigable” in Ingredients of Outliers. What do I mean by “empty the tank?” Well, it’s described in lots of ways: going the extra mile, and beyond; 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. Most barriers are imaginary. Most people have greater capacity than they ever give … [Read more...]