EVERYDAY HERO MANIFESTO EB

Robin Sharma

• Publisher: Thorsons
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780008312886
• eBook ISBN: 9780008312893
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Leadership

Aim for Iconic

Rise to Legendary

Make History

For over thirty years, leadership legend and personal mastery trailblazer Robin Sharma has mentored billionaires, business titans, professional sports superstars and entertainment royalty via a revolutionary methodology that has caused them to accomplish rare-air results. In this groundbreaking book, he shares this transformational system.

In The Everyday Hero Manifesto you will discover:

· The hidden habits used by many of the world's most creative and successful people to realize their visionary ambitions

· Original techniques to turn fear into fuel, problems into power and past troubles into triumphs

· A breakthrough blueprint to battle-proof yourself against distraction and procrastination

· Pioneering insights on installing world-class routines, including rising early, achieving superhuman fitness and becoming the most disciplined person you know

· Unusual wisdom and knowledge to operate with far more simplicity, beauty and peace

Part memoir on a life richly lived, part instruction manual for virtuoso-grade performance and part handbook for spiritual freedom in an age of high-velocity change, The Everyday Hero Manifesto will completely transform your life. Forever.

1.

A Manifesto for the Everyday Hero within You

“If you have not discovered something you would die for,” said Martin Luther King, Jr., “you are not fit to live.”

I would easily die fighting for the idea that you are great.

I would take a bullet for the concept that you are meant to make marvelous works, experience majestic events and know of the secret universe of mastery that was populated by the advanced souls who walked before us.

As a citizen of the earth, you have been called to harness your primal power to do amazing things, to make astonishing progress and to uplift the lives of your brothers and sisters with whom you caretake the planet.

I believe all of this to be truth. No matter where the hands of nature have now placed you, your past need not prescribe your future. Tomorrow can always be made into something better than today. You are human. And this is what humans are able to do.

Yes, we show up in different colors, sizes, genders, religions, nationalities and ways of being. Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman, Mahatma Gandhi, Florence Nightingale and Oskar Schindler are heroes of the highest order. Yet those who lead quieter lives—the ones who teach in schools or work in restaurants, write their poetry or launch their startups, pursue their trade in bakeries or parent their children at home; those who help within communities as first responders, firefighters and aid workers—may also be worthy of being called heroes. Many of these good souls do hard jobs, with a noble resolve to do them well. They work with smiles on their faces. And grace in their hearts.

I am humbled when my life intersects with such human beings. Truly. I learn from them, am uplifted by them and am somehow transformed upon meeting them.

These are everyday heroes. So-called “ordinary people” conducting themselves in virtuous and honorable ways.

And so, with sincere respect for all the possibility within you longing to express itself, as we begin our journey together, these words flow as my encouragement to you:

Starting today, declare your devotion to remembering the sublime soul, brave warrior and undefeatable creator that your natural wisdom is calling on you to be.

The trials of your past have skillfully served to reinvent you into one who is tougher, more aware of the powers that make you special and more grateful for the basic blessings of a life beautifully lived—splendid health, a happy family, a job that fulfils and a hopeful heart. These apparent difficulties have actually been the stepping stones for your current and future victories.

The former limits that have shackled you and the “failures” that have hurt you have been necessary for the realization of your mastery. All is unfolding for your benefit. You truly are favored.

Oh yes, whether you accept this or not, you are a lion, not a sheep. A leader, never a victim. A person worthy of exceptional accomplishment, uplifting adventure, flawless contentment and the self-respect that, over time, rises steeply into a reservoir of self-love that no one and no thing can ever conquer.

You are a mighty force of nature and a dynamic producer, not a slumbering casualty caught flat-footed in a world of degrading mediocrity, dehumanizing complaint, compliance and entitlement.

And with steadfast commitment and regular effort, you will evolve into an idealist, an unusual artist and a potent exceptionalist. A genuine world-changer, in your own most honest and excellent way.

So be not a cynic, critic and naysayer. For doubters are degenerated dreamers. And average is absolutely unworthy of you.

Today, and for each day that follows of your uniquely glorious, brilliantly luminous and most-helpful-to-many life, stand fiercely in the limitless freedom to shape your future, materialize your ambitions and magnify your contributions in high esteem of your dreams, enthusiasms and dedications.

Insulate your cheerfulness, polish your prowess and inspire all witnesses fortunate enough to watch your good example of how a great human being can behave.

We will watch your growth, applaud your gifts, appreciate your valor and admire your eventual immortality.

As you remain within the hearts of many.

2.

Being Faithful to Your Ideals Is a Force-Multiplier

When no one believes in you is when you most need to believe in you.

Those committed to the fullest expression of their native genius know that self-faith and staying true to yourself and your mighty mission—especially in the face of ridicule and uncertainty, attack and adversity—is the gateway into legendary. And truly a pathway to immortality. Because your noble example will live on long after you’re gone.

The journey to your most heroic life will be colorful, inspirational, messy, marvelous, tumultuous and most definitely glorious. Dedicating yourself to inhabiting your greatness, generating a vast barrage of beautiful results and doing your part to build a brighter world will be the wisest and best ride you’ll ever take. This, I promise you. And stepping into the immense splendor of your most creative, powerful and compassionate self will energize everyone around you to awaken to their gifts, making our planet a friendlier place.

If I may, I’d like to take a moment to share a little about my origin story, so you get to know me better. Because we’re about to spend a fair amount of time together on these pages.

I’m no one special. No guru. Not cut from some special cloth that you can’t wear.

I have my talents, as you have yours, possess very human flaws (don’t we all?) and can feel insecure, unworthy and afraid, as well as brave, useful and hopeful.

I grew up in a blue-collar town of about five thousand people. Near the ocean. In a small house. A child of immigrant parents, with very good hearts. I had no silver spoon in my mouth, that’s for sure.

Full of enthusiasm at age four

Playing in the snow in front of my house

Yes, that’s me at a school play. And in our front yard during a very cold winter. See, no Ferrari in the driveway. No lavish adornments or unnecessary things. All very basic. The best way to be.

In school, I never fit in with the hip crowd. Always loved being in my own head, dreaming up fascinating dreams, marching to my own drumbeat. Doing my own thing, if you know what I mean.

A principal once told my beloved mother that I showed no promise and that it was unlikely I’d graduate from high school. Other teachers quietly warned my parents that I had minimal potential. A few predicted I’d end up as a drifter or a vagrant. Most people simply made fun of me.

Except for one.

Cora Greenaway. My grade five history teacher.

She believed in me. Which helped me believe in me.

Mrs. Greenaway taught me that every human being is born into some form of giftedness. She explained that each of us can be astonishingly good at something, and are born with special strengths, remarkable capacities and dignified virtues. She told me that if I remembered this, worked really hard and stayed true to myself, good things would happen and great blessings would follow.

This kind teacher saw the best in me, encouraged me and showed a form of decency that is very much needed in a society that all too often demeans our abilities and degrades our mastery. Sometimes, all it takes is one conversation with an extraordinary person to reroute the rest of your life in an entirely new direction, right?

A few years ago, I searched for Cora Greenaway online. What I discovered genuinely moved me.

As a young woman, she was part of the Dutch resistance, going behind enemy lines in World War II to rescue children facing extermination in Nazi death camps. She risked her life and honored her convictions to save young kids. Just like she saved me.

Mrs. Greenaway has since passed on. She died the same year I found out about her past. I thank the gentleman in Amsterdam who so generously cared for her to the end, and who kept me updated about this mentor who meant so much to me.

Cora Greenaway was what I call an “everyday hero.” Quiet and humble, mighty and vulnerable, ethical and influential, wise and loving. Improving our civilization—one good deed at a time.

She inspired me to transcend the limited expectations that many had placed on my life and finish high school. And then complete university, with a major in biology and a minor in English. Then secure a seat in law school. Then earn a master of laws, on a full scholarship.

Cora Greenaway at age 101

Trust not your detractors. Pay no attention to your diminishers. Ignore your discouragers. They do not know of the wonders within you.

In time, I became a successful litigation lawyer. Well-paid but empty, driven yet creatively unfulfilled, disciplined yet disconnected from who I really was. I’d wake up every morning, look at myself in the bathroom mirror and dislike the man looking back at me. I didn’t have much hope. And I had no intimacy with the natural heroism that I’ve since learned is one of the core benefits to being human.

Success without self-respect is an empty victory, isn’t it?

And so, I decided to remake myself. To get to know a truer, happier, more peaceful and better version of the person I was. By starting a campaign of massive personal growth, profound emotional healing and deep spiritual progress.

You absolutely have this power to make tectonic changes, too. Evolution, elevation and even outright transformation are part of the factory-installed hardware that makes you you. And the more you exercise this inherent force within you, the stronger it will grow.

Regenerating a more creative, productive, inventive and unconquerable version of your self—one filled with more joy, bravery and serenity—isn’t some unreachable gift reserved for The Gods of Sublime Genius and The Angels of Unusual Excellence.

No. Genius has far less to do with your genetics and much more to do with your habits. Stepping into the person you’ve always imagined you could be is a trained result—available to anyone willing to open themselves up, do the work and run the practices that make magic real.

At this period of my life, I set out to rebuild, rewire and recreate the person I was into a human being who drew his power from an inner system of navigation rather than from outer attractions like position, material goods and prestige. One who did not hold back on speaking truthfully (even when faced with unpopularity), one who stood steadfast to his ideals, one whose job never felt like a job but more like a calling, one who did not need to purchase things to experience rich pleasure and one who used his days to make the lives of others happier.

It’s far too easy to spend an entire existence climbing a series of mountains only to realize at the end that we scaled the wrong ones.

… By being busy being busy.

… By being addicted to distractions and seduced by diversions that give us a false sense of progress, yet in reality steal the most valuable hours of our most precious days.

… By the hypnotic allure of filling our lives with items and activities that our culture sells as the authentic measures of success when—in truth—they are as spiritually satisfying as a quick trip to the nearest shopping mall.

My devotion to reforming myself by living more to the point just as I was entering my early thirties makes me think of the words of poet Charles Bukowski:

We are all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.

For a period of three long years, I’d rise early, while my family slept, and experiment with practices that would reduce my weaknesses, purify my powers and more fully align me with my personal destiny.

I’d study books on the great men and women of history—the artistic geniuses, the fearless warriors, the prodigious scientists, the business titans and the tireless humanitarians, learning of the central beliefs, dominant emotions, daily routines and ironclad rituals that generated their luminous lives. I’ll share everything I discovered on the pages that follow.

I attended personal growth conferences and invested in self-development courses.

I learned to meditate and visualize, journal and co...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Note to Readers
• A Personal Message from Robin Sharma
• Epigraph
• Contents
• 1. A Manifesto for the Everyday Hero within You
• 2. Being Faithful to Your Ideals Is a Force-Multiplier
• 3. The Final Hours of Your Defeatable Self
• 4. It’s Okay Not to Be Okay
• 5. The Gold Miner’s Paradox
• 6. The Victim-to-Hero Leap
• 7. That Time My Private Journals Were Taken
• 8. Instruction from Heavyweight Mentors
• 9. The Joy of Being Laughed At
• 10. The Orson Welles Memo
• 11. Nothing’s Perfect
• 12. The Chestnut Seller Doctrine
• 13. The IPOP Principle for Accelerated Positivity
• 14. Stop Calling Your Genius Sh*t
• 15. What J. K. Rowling Taught Me about Relentlessness
• 16. Guard Good Health like a Pro Athlete
• 17. My Four Chocolate Croissant Evening
• 18. A Contrarian Philosophy for Mastering Unexpected Change
• 19. You’re Absolutely More than Enough
• 20. The Starter’s Activation Declaration
• 21. The Very Good Bearded Man in the Really Cool Baseball Cap
• 22. Train with Stronger Teachers
• 23. A Red Flag Is a Red Flag
• 24. The Shortest Chapter in the History of Creativity?
• 25. The Rule-Bender’s Hypothesis
• 26. Have Bravery like Swifty
• 27. A Teacher Called Trauma
• 28. The People Builder’s Mantra
• 29. The 7 Threats to World-Class
• 30. Expect Ungrateful
• 31. That Time I Was Left Alone at the Top of a Mountain
• 32. The Peak Productivity Strategies Pyramid
• 33. Join the Hope Brigade
• 34. 40 Things I Wish I’d Known at 40
• 35. The Misty Copeland Confidence-Making Technique
• 36. The 40 Copies of a Single Book Habit
• 37. The Meaning of Disgrace
• 38. A Basic Motto for Stunning Prosperity
• 39. Hug the Monster
• 40. The 4-Figure Dessert Rule
• 41. Don’t Be a Sloth
• 42. Ben Franklin’s 13-Virtue Habit Installer
• 43. The Peacock’s Complaint
• 44. The Most Costly Conflict
• 45. Kill Your Darlings
• 46. Avoid the Third Reward
• 47. To Heal Your Once Wide-Open Heart Makes You a Great Master
• 48. What I Learned from Leonardo’s Private Notebooks
• 49. The “You Won’t Win If You Don’t Even Try” Attitude
• 50. The Hard Worker Who Never Got Any Better
• 51. The Dark Sides of Your Upsides
• 52. The 3 Step Success Formula (and My Broccoli-Eating Behavior)
• 53. What I Think About When I Think About Difficulty
• 54. Why I Write to Heartbreak Country Music
• 55. The Patient Who Blinked a Book
• 56. The Possibilitarian’s Secret
• 57. The Big Lie of Positive Thinking
• 58. That Time I Went Camping
• 59. The 13 Hidden Traits of the Billionaires I’ve Advised
• 60. The 8 Forms of Wealth
• 61. The Algorithm for a Beautifully Balanced Life
• 62. The “Just Because” Code for Everyday Heroes
• 63. Death’s Just a Hotel Room Upgrade
• 64. Why Aristotle Slept on the Floor
• 65. Shatter Your Winning Formula like Miles Davis
• 66. The Antifragile Artist in the Shiny Purple Suit
• 67. The Keep Your Fire Blazing Theory for a Lifetime of Audacity
• 68. How Heavyweights Work
• 69. The Little Things Are the Big Things
• 70. Become a Creative Athlete
• 71. How SuperProducers Do It
• 72. Escape Post-Moonwalk Astronaut Affliction
• 73. Resilience Lessons from the Human Who Lost His Face
• 74. Charles Darwin and the Extreme Agility Advantage
• 75. The Free Money Model for Advanced Prosperity
• 76. Put Down Your Phone and Talk to a Person
• 77. The Shortest Chapter in the History of Productivity
• 78. Business Is a Beautiful War
• 79. Be Serious When You’re Serious
• 80. The 4 Major Communication Practices of Movement-Makers
• 81. That Time I Learned How to Surrender
• 82. You Never Know Who Is Standing in Front of You
• 83. The GCA Index for A-Lister Performance
• 84. Steve Jobs’s Last 6 Words
• 85. When Things Seem Hard, Trust Your Strength
• 86. You Can’t Inspire If You’re De-inspired
• 87. The Six Months Left to Live Question
• 88. Fame and Fortune for a Line on Your Tombstone?
• 89. Resist the Titan’s Decline
• 90. The Necessity of Artistic Unpopularity
• 91. The Troll Deconstruction
• 92. That Time I Met Muhammad Ali
• 93. Don’t Worry about Your Legacy
• 94. A Hero Named Desmond Tutu
• 95. The Life Regrets of People on Their Deathbeds
• 96. The Good You Do Lasts a Lifetime
• 97. Be Happy to See Live People
• 98. Verses of the Everyday Hero Who Can’t Be Defeated
• 99. Windows of Opportunity and Your Second Chances
• 100. Be Not a Dream Postponer
• 101. A Philosophy for Returning to Human
• What’s Next on Your Heroic Adventure?
• Fuel Your Rise by Reading
• Appendix 1: My 25 Books to Read Before You Die List
• Appendix 2: My 25 Favorite Films
• Appendix 3: My 25 Favorite Documentaries
• About the Author
• Other Books by Robin Sharma
• About the Publisher