The Power of Perseverance - Insights From a Motivational Speaker

What do you do when the going gets tough?

 

When I was 13 I was a little petrolhead.

I loved riding motocross bikes

I had a little Yamaha MX 80

and my older brother Shane

was 15

and he had big 250cc

he was always strong and capable

I was the runt of the litter

 

one day we were doing what we loved

getting lost in the joy of riding

getting a little better

a little faster

honing and polishing our skills

hour upon hour

riding through the trails of

undeveloped forest

near our house

 

it was near the end of the day

I hadn’t seen my brother for hours

I knew we’d cross paths soon enough

and we’d talk about heading home

 

I rounded a corner at speed

at there was my brother

right in front of me

at speed

headed right for me

 

he leaned to veer around me

and I …

let go of the handlebars

and put my hands up

instinctively to protect my face

 

 

I remember the inertia

of going over the handle bars

that’s about all

 

When I came to

I saw a horrified look

on my brother’s face

He was looking at my smashed elbow

It took a 6 inch surgical screw to fix it

I still have it today

 

and when he visited me in the hospital

the first thing he said was

“why did you let go of the bars

all you had to do was veer slightly

and none of this would have happened”

 

I let go of the bars

because it’s what I did

I had a habit of throwing the towel in

and not seeing things through

I had very little confidence in my abilities

and if it looked like failure might happen

I’d just think that’s that

and give up rather than

have to deal with the

public fallout of failure.

 

fast forward ten years

 

I was in the process of slipping into a job

that I thought was tailor made for me

tailor made so I could indulge my

miserable anti social behaviours

and not have to talk to anyone

for days on end.

 

I was just on the verge of becoming

an army sniper

 

I say ‘just’

because I had one more test to pass

To be an army sniper is tough

It’s a 7 week course

where you study 6 subjects

shooting

concealment

stalking

observation

judging distances

navigation

 

You have one exam per subject

every week for 7 weeks

if you fail any exam

at any stage you are out

 

so here I was at exam #42

if I pass

I get into an elite unit

if not

I go back to being private plod

 

 

this last test was camouflage and concealment

there were 5 of us remaining from the 25 that started

we were on a hillside of forest and farmland

with swathes of long dry grass

 

With us were 2 sniper instructors

one of them had a chair, binoculars and a 2 way radio ..a walkie talkie

the other had the other half of the 2 way radio

 

the one in the chair was our target

my test was to go and hide myself

fire shots

using blanks

and for him to try and spot me

if he thinks he can see me

he has to direct the other instructor over the 2 way radio

to walk and stand right on top of me

 

If he can’t do this

I will be an army sniper

 

The rules were explained to us

you have 5 minutes to conceal your self

go

 

I sprint to my chosen spot

but one of the other guys had the same idea

and got there first

 

No problem

I was prepared

I had selected a back up position

I sprinted to it

and found it too was already occupied

 

uh oh

 

so I’m darting across this hillside

quietly panicking to myself

when I hear

2 minutes, 2 minutes remaining

 

I stop in the middle of this long grass

and a wave of resignation

went right through me

I’d gotten so close

then about 5 seconds later

i thought stuff this

I’m not going out without a fight

I’m not letting go of the bars on this one

 

so I dropped where I was

in grass tinder dry grass about knee high

I looked through my telescopic sight

and through the wonders of optics

through the occasional gaps in the swaying grass

I could just make out the top half of the instructor in the chair

he was about the length of a football field away from me

 

Now this was about as far from being

an optimal fire position as you could imagine

but it was enough to begin thinking

I might,

just might

get through this

 

One by one

the others were put through their paces

and I was the last to be tested

 

The instructor called out

#5 take your first shot

Remember I was using blank rounds

it’s not good to shoot instructors

I steadied up

and aimed at this hazy half figure

I could see though my sights

I exhaled 2/3 of the air from my lungs

went into a state of total relaxation

and squeezed the trigger

 

it’s then that the cold shiver of realisation

went down my spine

 

You see there are 2 things that it’s very hard for a sniper to hide

one is the reflection that can come off your telescopic sights

if the light hits it at a bad angle

it can look like someone is flashing a mirror at you

saying, hey. over here

There are ways to reduce this problem

and I had taken those steps

 

The second and really hard thing to conceal

is muzzle flash

this is the 18inch orange flame that comes out of the barrel

when you fire a shot

 

and as I am squeezing the trigger

from my position in the tinder dry grass

I imagine a spontaneous grass fire appearing on the side of the hill

if anything is a good indicator

of a sniper in wait

it’s a spontaneous grass fire

 

no fire

phew

 

they still can’t see me

but because of the sound of my first shot

they know the general direction I’m in

so they’re ready for me now

 

#5 take your 2nd shot

I squeeze off my second and last shot

 

the instructor is looking straight at me

I know

because I am looking straight at him

through my sights

looking at me

 

but he can’t pinpoint me

he knows I’m there … somewhere

he tries to ‘walk’ the other instructor to stand on me

but he can’t actually pin me down

 

I’m starting to feel

a rising sense of hope and possibility

The 2nd instructor walks to my position

kneels beside me

and like jacking up a car and changing a wheel

he slides in under me as I slide out

and takes over my sniper rifle

to assess just how clear and realistic the shot is

 

To his surprise he announces the shot clear

and I’m just about to click my heels and whoop

when the I hear the voice of the instructor in the chair

crackle on the two way radio

Identify colour

 

as a final test that the shot is clear

I have to identify the colour of a random colour card

about the size of a matchbox

that he holds touching the underside of his chin

I have 5 seconds to identify the colour

 

I slide back in under my rifle

and regain control

he holds up a card

and starts counting backwards from 5

 

I’m looking through my scope

and with all the swooshing grass

I cant see any colour

5 4 3

and I‘m thinking are you freaking kidding me

I’ve got this far

to exam #42

I managed to fire off two shots

and you haven’t been able to find me

and I’m digging deep

and trying like all heck

not to let go of the bars

and I have one last thought

If I can’t see any colour

at all

I reckon it must be a green card

and as he’s counting the number 2

I say GREEN

 

there’s a long silence

the radio crackles

I can see through my sights the instructor

speaking into the radio

and he’s staring at me

because he knows I am looking right back at him

He opens his mouth and I hear

Green is correct

 

And that’s how I became an army sniper

I was 2 seconds away

from being private plod again

and the only reason

the only reason

I can add sniper to my list of careers

is that I didn’t throw the towel in early

like I used to do

I didn’t let go of the bars

 

 

What about you?

Are there times

that you could've kept going

and made it through

if you didn’t let go of the bars.

 

and the whole reason I tell you this

is because I am a podcast junkie

I have listened to thousands of them

I especially like ones about creating online business

and I’m always looking out for patterns

or what I call reading between the lines

 

and when it comes to entrepreneurial podcasts

I have noticed a pattern

those who are successful

by larger measure

9 out of 10 times talk about when they started

back in 2002 or 2006 or 2009

there are very few overnight successes

and they have all had times

when they felt like letting go of the bars

but they stuck with it

 

and this gives me enormous confidence

to keep going

learning and refining and getting smarter

 

 

Life is full of forces out there trying to stop us

why add to their arsenal

by sabotaging your own efforts

and giving up

 

but even with no guarantees

and time and effort required to make this work

there is something

I just can’t get with other investments

like real estate or shares

 

I get a say

I get a real say in this

I get to steer this in the direction that feels right to me

I get to call the shots

and that for me

is immensely rewarding

 

self determination for me is an alluring drug

Whether I make it financially bigger or not

is of limited importance

I gotta make money of course

but that I’m

active and invested and engaged

and that you can create opportunity for yourself

is where the real value is

 

and for you

the real value right now

is that it is so easy

to dip your toe in

and test the waters

 

It’s all just a series of steps

I can teach you

if you like

 

all I want from you

is a commitment

that if you feel an inkling

inside of you that you’re interested

then just invest some time

investigating this further

 

 

Change can only come from 2 places

outside of you or inside of you

Outside is where you hope that someday

someone or something will come along.

A lucky break. A windfall. An inheritance. The dream job.

 

This is an inside change

Remember tailor making your own career

is not just about your financial health

it’s about your mental health, your emotional health

The journey is just as important as reaching the destination

 

So hang in there

Keep learning, keep growing, the rewards are there

and don’t do what I did all those years ago

that left me

quite literally

a wreck on the ground

don’t let go of the bars

 

having trouble finding extra time? Don’t worry, I’ve found some for you in the next episode called the 9 year curse.

 

 

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