EVERYONE STARTS FROM ZERO
No one can achieve greatness without putting in hard work. All great men and women have to start their journey from somewhere. Mostly, that place is ground Zero.
Top athletes and great personalities get all the attention and glamour. Aspiring basketball players love Michael Jordan’s success story. 6-time NBA Champion, Olympic gold medal winner, 5-time MVP — ‘The Greatest of All Time’.
Most people don’t know that in his early days Michael struggled to beat his elder brother in a one-on-one game in their backyard. In his sophomore year, he was cut off from his high-school Varsity team and told that he wasn’t good enough.
We hit a blind spot when we look at the achievements of great personalities. We look at Michael Jordan’s 6 Championship rings but are too distracted to note that it took him eight years in the NBA to win his first championship.
‘Why did it take him eight years to win his first title?’, we never ask.
As a culture, we love flashes of inspiration and finished products. Very few people want to peek behind the curtains to see the making of a champion. We never get to witness the failures, pain, sweat, injuries and recovery. We only see wins and losses.
But all the “Greats” love that uncomfortable space behind the curtain. That is where they feel the most confident and win every single day. To be great, create something meaningful and a lasting impact — that’s where we have to get comfortable!
So, what’s stopping you from being great?
1. The Fear:
How many times have you heard someone say, I will do XYZ for two more years, and then pursue my dream? When you ask these people about their plan to execute their dream after two years, they don’t have answers, quite simply because they don’t have any plans.
The truth is, people are afraid to start. They are scared of what others will think and the criticism that follows if they fail to go from 0 to 100. They don’t realize that the process towards greatness is not going from 0 to 100, rather 0 to 0.1. What most of us don’t realize is that all winners fail. They have to fail a lot. It is a gruesome climb to the top — full of slips and pitfalls.
But winners, like Jordan, just don’t give up. For them quitting is not an option because the fear of regret is much greater than the fear of failing.
2. Failure and Criticism:
Everyone fails and fears failing — the only way to win is to accept that failure can be an outcome and keep moving. When Jordan got cut from the Varsity team, it limitlessly fueled his desire to succeed. He trained so hard, he grew 6 inches over the summer and returned as the state’s best ballplayer. If Jordan had gotten disheartened when he was dropped from the team and quit basketball, there would have been no “Last Dance”
The great personalities and the free-spirited visionaries often dream of a world where no one can tell them what to do. A place where they are free to express their art, talent, thoughts, ideas and whatever it is that they have to offer. However, this fantasy would be a nightmare because our first draft is rarely good enough and we can never be right all the time. Creators, inventors, authors et al are too close to their work to see it objectively. Whether they like it or not, the feedback and criticism they jump through as part of their growing process are what transforms them into champions.
Zero to Hero
Cristiano Ronaldo is the textbook example of someone who went from Zero to Hero!
Ronaldo’s parents wanted to abort Ronaldo when he was in his mother’s womb because they couldn’t afford to raise another child. Ironically, they were unable to go forward with the procedure because they couldn’t afford it.
Growing up, no one believed in him but he was unafraid to start.
Eight-year-old Ronaldo was already at rock bottom and the only place he could go from there was up.
When Alex Ferguson saw young Ronaldo, he didn’t see a Champion; he saw enormous potential. Ronaldo was booed in his first few games at Old Trafford as he took over the prestigious, “number 7 jersey” succeeding David Beckham. With this, Ferguson made it clear that he believed in Ronaldo. He also knew that a lot of work needed to be done.
So much in history hinges on moments like this. Ronaldo faced the most criticism from the man who believed in him the most. How should Ronaldo have responded in that situation? With anger? Open-mindedness? Servility and desperation? Or careful consideration that separated Ferguson’s message from the noise?
It is one’s choice at this critical juncture that determines the future. Whether the story dies there or transforms into a masterpiece.
Fortunately for all of us, Ronaldo was wise enough to listen. The spectators who witnessed Ronaldo in the ‘Real Madrid Jersey’ thought he was born a perfect player; a finished product! Leaping headers, breathtaking freekicks, talent, and charisma so pure. But without Ferguson, immense hard work, criticism, persistence and most importantly — the delusional belief system of an 8-year-old kid, history may never have a ‘Cristiano Ronaldo.’
Before the pursuit of any great endeavor, discipline, persistence, criticism — the most critical step is to start.
This is me — starting.
