Evel Knievel, daredevil.
From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com
“Anything, I don’t care what it is … if you really believe that you can do it and you believe in it enough … you can do it … let me tell you something, you’re only gonna be here one time so get the most out of it.”
Evel Knievel, daredevil. From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com
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U.S. Naval officer “Bull” Halsey commanded ships at sea on the first day of World War II, and the last. He was a brash officer popular with both the men he commanded and the public he served. A fellow officer said, “He applied himself to what he thought important and avoided what he thought frivolous.” Of importance to him was spirit, bold action, and swift execution. He prized individual initiative and praised creative solutions that went beyond convention. He was a free spirit who loved the chaos, danger and opportunity for greatness offered on the high seas. He relied on guts and intuition and relished any chance to formulate new plans and discover fresh ways of fighting. He demanded bold, aggressive and swift action from his men and stirred their emotions with rousing speeches which advocated reckless violence, a capacity sometimes lacking in his military contemporaries. Urgency and a sense of impending purpose fueled his every move.
He was viewed as a sea-going version of his Army equivalent, the equally bold and impetuous George S. Patton. Halsey was terse if supportive in his orders. He trusted his men to know their objective then utilize their skills and available information in order to devise and implement a best course of action. “Proceed. You know what to do, ” he said. “{I’ll} tell him what to do, but not how to do it,” Halsey said. He was not a perfect man, of course, and he suffered his share of misfortune and made his share of mistakes. He never wavered from his path, regardless. He lived, commanded and fought with his personal battle cry foremost in mind. “Hit hard. Hit fast. Hit often.” He was a man of greatness and will always be remembered. From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com Joseph Greenstein was a professional strongman for over 60 years. He performed world-class feats of strength in his own inimitable style until he was almost 85-years-old. The 5-foot 5-inch, 145-pound powerhouse astonished onlookers and amazed audiences with his unique look, presentation and delivery. Dubbed “The Mighty Atom,” he always stressed that his prowess came from his mind and not his body. Greenstein believed that when his mind was trained to a proper pitch, that he could exceed perceived limitations of the corporeal body. Anyone privileged to witness his act tends to agree.
Greenstein was obsessed with maximizing his athletic potential. Years of specific and focused training led him to make the astounding statement, “… there is no such thing as an involuntary response.” Meaning, Greenstein linked his body and his mind to such an extent that he was in control of usual autonomous functions such as breathing and heartbeat. “The brain rules the heart; not the other way around,” he said. This sounds impossible; Greenstein insisted it was. His most ardent supporters, with the exception of only his strongman protege, did not and could not believe that even the Mighty Atom had the power to quell, at will, his beating heart. Greenstein hired a registered nurse and vowed to provide verifiable proof during his next act. The nurse accompanied him on stage and monitored his heart-rate. Greenstein proclaimed to the attentive audience that controlling the body was an example of mind over matter, and placed himself in a type of meditative state. The nurse measured his pulse. Greenstein sank deeper and deeper into a certain suspended animation - his breathing stopped, his skin turned ashen, and his eyes went dull. The nurse informed the audience that the pulse was slowing. Greenstein entered his zone of control and the nurse decreed that he no longer had a pulse. Interminable seconds elapsed and the nurse began to panic. Greenstein’s heart had stopped! She ceased her monitoring and moved into position to revive Greenstein. As she began her ministrations, Greenstein snapped alive, leaped out of his chair and said, “Now you know.” Learn from the Atom. Be mighty, and take control! From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com Ask an average ballplayer about the field on which he plays and the response is, “it’s just a field. The players may be special but a field is just a field; it’s all the same, wherever it is. It’s just a game, anyway.”
Ask a man of greatness about the field on which he is privileged to compete and the answer is different. A man of greatness believes, as did the most esteemed gladiators of ancient Rome, that the field upon which he battles for honor and for dignity and for the love of being pushed to his limit, is sacred and holy ground. Treat your playing field with respect. Take a moment and reflect upon all the great players who have stood on the same hallowed ground. Honor them with your effort. Each drop of your precious sweat (and perhaps a few drops of your even more precious blood) germinates the ground on which you stand. Your investment enables growth, improvement and full realization of your potential. Play as if one day the field will be named after you - then go forth and make it a reality! Your field serves as a testament to your greatness; defend it with your life. From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com “Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.”
Winston Churchill, statesman and Prime Minister. From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com Sparky Anderson was the first manager to lead a team to a World Series crown in both the National League and American League. “I got good players, stayed out of the way, let ‘em win a lot, and then hung around for 26 years,” he said. He managed Hall of Famers, All-Stars, phenoms and unknowns. He did it in his own distinct, one-of-a-kind style.
How to make the Hall of Fame, the Sparky Anderson way: Do things your own way and not by convention. There is no guidebook; create your own. Imitate no one, and be unpredictable so no one can imitate you. Do not treat everyone the same. Treat each person as an individual, worthy of personalized attention. Treat each individual in such a way that it elicits and draws forth his greatest performance. Do not butter-up your opponent. Reinforce your own greatness, instead. “I wanted my players to know I believed in them,” Anderson said. Do not present a false image of who you are. If you don’t know something, admit it and move on. Talk about, and do, what you know and love. Ignore everything else. Enjoy yourself. If you can’t derive satisfaction from a challenge and don’t have a great time when you compete, walk away. Find something else. Hall of Famer Johnny Bench said, “If you see him and there’s no smile on his face, he’s probably asleep.” Be loyal to your family, and expand “family” to include “team.” Anderson managed just 9 years in Cincinnati and was unceremoniously let go when he refused to fire any of his coaches, per the advice of management. But Anderson was inducted into the Hall of Fame wearing a Reds hat, by his choice, and never bad-mouthed the team after his exit. Hold yourself to the highest ideal possible. Until he was voted into the Hall of Fame, Anderson never visited it. “I didn’t ever want to go into the most precious place in the world until I belonged,” he said. He belongs. From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com “Doing the right thing instead of just doing things right.”
Bernie Marcus, businessman; co-founder of The Home Depot store. From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com Imagine living your entire life convinced you are destined for greatness. Imagine knowing, from the moment of your first conscious thought, that you are on this Earth to do something special. Imagine reading, hearing stories, and dreaming vivid dreams, about your purpose in life. Imagine evaluating everything you do on the basis of “does it help me advance toward my special purpose?” Imagine that you experience disappointment, tragedy, delay and misfortune for decades, without abandoning the certainty that you are destined for a great accomplishment. Imagine that, through human foible, frailty and weakness, you jeopardize your dream with your own reckless behavior. Imagine that, due to a lifetime of planning, thinking and acting, when your moment of destiny arrives you are in a state of complete and total preparation. Imagine that you fulfill your destiny, achieve your purpose, and become a man of greatness in the exact, precise manner you always dreamed.
U.S. Army General George S. Patton didn’t just imagine everything in the preceding paragraph, he lived it. He emerged from the womb with his life purpose etched forever into his DNA. He didn’t just think it, he knew it. He believed with every fiber and every molecule that he was going to be a great military commander. He was convinced beyond reason that he was destined to lead a mighty, conquering force into battle. And he believed in the absolute truth of his destiny to the point that he convinced associates that he was a reincarnation of a soldier who had already traveled the same path. Patton’s entire heart and soul, and almost every conscious and unconscious thought, were obsessed with maximizing his potential as a military man of might and action. His virtual every waking moment was invested in paying whatever cost necessary in order to achieve his objective. Is it a surprise his dream materialized? Is it any wonder that he succeeded? Greatness wasn’t a choice for Patton. It was a foregone conclusion. From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com A man of greatness seizes opportunity and serves as an inspiration to his teammates. A man of greatness knows that his stellar play as an individual can increase the effectiveness of his entire team, leading to a synergistic effect (the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts, i.e. 1 plus 1 equals 3). This possible increase begins when one indomitable man grabs destiny and submits it to his will. Ndamukong Suh, a standout rookie defensive lineman with the Detroit Lions, is not limited to elevating only the performance of his teammates. His impact of inspiration carries far beyond the gridiron.
Days after being selected by the Lions as the #2 overall pick in the 2010 draft, and prior to finalizing the terms of his contract, Suh returned to his college alma mater of Nebraska and donated the staggering sum of $2.6 million to the university. Suh was raised by his parents, an engineer and an elementary school teacher, respectively, to honor and value service and charitable acts. His gift is an homage to their influence. His unprecedented gesture is a shining example of one man and his possible impact. Suh’s gift endows an annual engineering scholarship and provides for the significant upgrade and upkeep of the football program’s strength and conditioning facility. Suh graduated from the school’s College of Engineering, and benefited from extensive strength training during his undergraduate years. He thought it important to thank those facets of the university in particular, and to give back to the university in general. He has performed similar acts of kindness and goodwill in the Detroit area since his arrival. Wherever he goes and whatever he does, this impressive athlete and more impressive man makes positive waves that ripple throughout his community. His impact will always be remembered - are you making a Suh-level impact in your world, too? From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com Some people dislike the extraordinary individual. Some people, many times fueled by irrational jealousy, criticize the achieving non-conformist who dares to rise above his surrounding vast pool of mediocrity and climb his way to the peak of greatness. Some people, often underachievers at life, wish misfortune and ill fate upon everyone else. They want partners in their misery! If greatness be in their midst, they try to tear it down and reduce it to their downtrodden level. They ignore their own unfulfilled potential and castigate any exploit of an uncommon man.
Hugo Danner is an uncommon man, the main protagonist in the fictional taleGladiator, by Philip Wylie. Danner is a human, made a physical superhuman at birth, by the manipulative genetic experimentation of his father. Danner is born with a surfeit of abilities that soon distance him from any peer. His remarkable gifts are evident to all; rather than endear and popularize him, he is scorned as the oddball. He endures vicious taunting and ridicule whenever he displays his remarkable powers. As a consequence and in the attempt to keep his supernatural abilities under wraps as much as possible, Danner lives a childhood filled with seclusion and loneliness. The 2010 fictional animated movie Megamind portrays a similar experience of a childhood endured rather than enjoyed. Danner’s physical gifts render him near invulnerable and make him the strongest and fastest creature in the world. He is mightier than any man and outperforms any machine. His emotional, spiritual and intellectual abilities are not as highly advanced, however. As he moves toward manhood, a terrible, if predictable, temporary lapse in his self-control during a football game results in a tragedy which causes him to withdraw even further. Amidst his perfection, Danner is just as flawed as his human brethren who vilify him. Danner is feared, rather than revered. He is set even further apart from his peers and joins the military. His innate strong character and a compulsion to use his powers for the benefit of mankind make him a stealth protector of his fellow soldiers. Danner continues on his lonely path and is haunted by the angst of being different. A man of greatness is not surprised or taken aback by disbelief or jealousy. If he receives no accolades for his actions, a man of greatness continues them anyway. He strives to change the world, even as its occupants stay close-minded and alienate him. He realizes he may be vilified by the weak, and he stays strong anyway. A man of greatness transforms, rather than conforms. His greatness is its own reward. From October 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com |
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