Hard work is motivating to be around. It bonds people together and you see respect for others being built the longer the hard work continues. I don’t think there is anything else that brings people closer together, it is the best team builder.
One of the big things I have seen constantly in my sporting life, is that the harder you work along side someone who is putting in the same effort as you and has the same burning desire, the closer you will become. We love to be around like-minded people and we thrive on that feeling of accomplishment that comes when you finish a session and pushed your body to limits that you doubted were possible.
When you keep on going when you thought you had nothing left.
When you are so sore before even starting but end up beating your old personal best.
When you are flirting with that redline.
When you snap a body part but still finish the game and get your job done at the same level as when you are healthy.
Those are the times I feel alive.
You look at yourself and you know you have given everything you possibly could have. In a team environment, you look at your mates and you have no doubts. You know everyone gave their all and sacrificed themselves just as hard as you did. It is a little look into their soul. You know what drives them and what they are willing to do. You are truly connecting.
Because you can’t lie when it gets hard enough.
You can’t fake it when it gets ugly.
You are in, or you are out.
Things get simplified.
No amount of talk, money, followers on social media matter, it strips everything back. Your true character is on display.
We can all talk as much shit as we want, but when that time comes to push beyond comfortable, you either have to go or you are just another number in the crowd.
These people who push to their absolute limits, they are the ones I am searching for in my life. I don’t want to be around the theory talkers. I want to be around the ones sweating and bleeding and getting dirty.
You either find people with the like-minded mentality, or you build it. You build it by working hard yourself and upholding your standards every single day even when no one is watching. Then someone will join you. They will want to be a part of it. It starts as discipline but then people become proud of the efforts they are giving. That is what I see leadership as and how you build culture.
Hard work.
Honest effort.
We need more of it.