CHAPTER 1
Remove the Dead Weight
If you want to become elite, the most dangerous place to be in life is within your comfort zone. I know itās cozy and warm, but that doesnāt make it good. Every living thing in this world is either growing or dying. In nature, nothing is static. A given organism is either improving or in decline, there is no status quo. Strength results from adversity, growth comes from effort and refinement is a product of struggle. Sure, improvement can be uncomfortable but that is okay because the pain will lead to a better product. The best way to remove dead weight is to chip away at the rough edges.
Creating a Masterpiece
I canāt help but think about a large stone in the Italian countryside in the late fifteenth century. There were probably a few like it, but there was only one that would change forever. Somebody took a hammer and chisel to the stone and began cracking away pieces, which fell to the ground. The rock may not have enjoyed the process of having its edges chipped away and given a choice, may not appreciate the developmental process. For almost two years, the stone was afflicted with friction and pounding until it began to change. It had a much different look and was indeed much lighter. It was now a completely different shape, but still rough around the edges. The artist then puts away his chisel and began smoothing the stone until it held a brilliant shine.
There were multiple stones in the Italian countryside, but the great Michelangelo chose only one. He placed only one under pressure necessary to become a masterpiece, and only one is on display at Saint Peterās Basilica in Rome. Michelangeloās PietĆ did not need to increase its size. It did not need more land around it. On the contrary, it needed a chisel placed on its rough edges and for the hammer to drop.
In a world geared toward increase, people are finding themselves with way too much on their plate. More food means more inches on your waistline. More expensive things mean daycare for the kids and more time at work. More square footage can result in less time at home. More digital entertainment means a clouded mind and a sedentary lifestyle. Having more of something is not necessarily good for us. In fact, elite people, teams, and companies know how to remove unnecessary things from their lives and their organizations to function more efficiently.
Learning how to be elite is about applying structures in your life that will make you stronger, smarter, and tougher today than you were yesterday. It is not going to be easy, and it may even sting a little. At times it will make you feel like a fool and also make you want to quit being so hard on yourself. You may even begin to miss your former mentality: living life as it comes, enjoying the game on TV from the couch instead of being on the field; being satisfied with your current condition with little desire for change or growth; applying the mentality it takes to become elite is hard, and that should make you smile. The fact that it is uncomfortable means that not everyone will embrace it. If this is the case, then you may indeed find yourself with the competitive edge against your rivals.
I welcome you to challenge your preconceptions and beliefs. To be open to new ideas and processes that will prove beneficial for you as an individual, and by proxy, those who are around you. I invite you to begin to see yourself as you are: an impressive piece of art. Now itās time to get the excess rock out of the way. The chisel is in place. Let the hammer drop!
Assets and Liabilities
A necessary part of becoming elite as a person, as a professional, or even at the organizational level is to remove the things that are taking more than they are giving. Itās a basic concept. If I have an asset that costs more money each month, then itās not an asset at all ā it is a liability. Only if an investment property I own brings in more money at the end of the month than all the expenses combined is it an asset. Apply this thinking to the way you spend your time and the people you spend that time on. When you do, youāll discover people or activities that take more away from you than they give, and you can begin to eliminate them from your life. After youāve freed up the time you used to spend with these people or on these activities, you have more time to dedicate to people and pursuits that will enable you to become elite.
I know a business owner who admits to spending almost half his day in the office using social media. Heās not in an industry that requires that kind of exposure and yet itās consuming his daily routine. It brings nothing but problems and costs him half a day worth of productivity. A simple press of the āLikeā button invites trolls who subscribe to his feed to comment on his choice, which then requires a well-outlined defense for why he likes a video of a cat falling into uncooked scrambled eggs, despite the fact that those eggs were obviously not āfree range,ā āgrass-fed,ā and never had the chance to go to college. People he barely knows are giving him nothing but a headache and occupying way too much of his time. Arbitrary social media engagement is the first thing this man should eliminate. He needs to place the chisel onto the stone and let the hammer drop.
I have another friend who is a self-proclaimed foodie. If you donāt know, this is someone who enjoys trying new foods and well-prepared food ā a lot. Iām sure he is similar to your friend who chooses to put all his dinners on Instagram or Facebook a few times a week. He admits that nothing gives him more enjoyment than eating. Of course, he uses words like palette, tartare, and chiffonade when he talks about the food he has had. Iām not saying that this is a bad thing. We are so blessed to live in a time where food is so wonderfully crafted, but there is a catch. Too much of a good thing can kill you. His health has recently declined, and his waist size has grown as a result of poor eating habits. Were my friend to choose to eat healthy for 80% of his meals and then splurge on the remaining 20%, he would be able to keep his cholesterol in check while still enjoying his gruyĆØre beignets.
The Backpack
The point is that weāre all carrying unnecessary weight through our lives that we can eliminate. When Iām backpacking on an outdoor trail, I want everything in my backpack to have more than one use. I donāt want to carry around anything I would only use once a day (other than a toothbrush ā¦ always take your toothbrush!). An example of this is my Nalgene water bottle. You might be thinking the only thing it does is hold drinking water, right? Nope. Even my water bottle has more than one use. I like to boil water in my jet boil, pour it into my Nalgene and place the container on my chest, above my base layer of clothing, and under my jacket, before falling asleep. By introducing a heat source into my sleeping bag or puffy jacket, I stay nice and warm, even when sleeping in a snow cave.
I also cut the tags off every article of clothing that I take with me because, believe it or not, ounces do add up to pounds. Apply the idea of weight in our physical world to the metaphorical weight that we all carry around, traditionally known as ābaggage.ā How many ounces have you allowed into your life thinking that they are insignificant? Do you still keep in touch with someone from grade school even though you have both grown in different directions and have very little in common any more? Have you maintained membership in an organization simply because everyone expects you to be there? Are you in constant contact with a family member who always has a need or reason to take something but never pays his or her debts? These situations may seem harmless, but they are not. They are ātime leechesā that suck away from your dayās productivity and financial means. It is extra weight in your backpack that you are carrying around all the time. Why? You are not obligated to carry the load, you are choosing too.
When you allow seemingly small items to add up in your backpack, the ounces become pounds, and before you know it, youāre stuck with the weight. If we eliminate the unnecessary ounces, however, we are free to run at full speed. After all, a significant part of being elite is the ability to outperform the competition.
My challenge for you is to dump the contents of your backpack out on the ground. Empty the pockets, the side pouches, and all the nooks and crannies. Take an inventory of the things that you have been carrying around and ask yourself why you have done so. Take a hard look at the individual ounces in your backpack and notice how those ounces quickly add up and turn into pounds. Next, consider what weight you no longer need to carry. Make sure that the items you decide to put back into your backpack either serve more than one function or that the itemās single purpose is one that will lead you to your long-term goals.
Evaluate the Weight
One thing that I know for sure is that time is going to kill us all. We only have a limited amount of it, and we cannot check our balances. We never know how much we have left so choosing how to spend it is critical to our effect and presence here on earth. We will learn how to value our time more than our money, how to allocate it for max effect, and how to guard it against those who would wish to steal it. This is the responsibility of the elite individual.
I learned how to value my time because I have spent the majority of my life just giving it away. For example, when Iām working on my computer, and someone calls me on my phone, I feel bad if I donāt pick up the call. The person calling doesnāt know that I am working on a project. I like the person and genuinely want to talk, the problem is that I only have so much time to spend in the office, and canāt afford to give it away all the time. I decided that there was no room for my cell phone in the office when Iām working. Leaving my phone in a different room allowed me to take back my time. My backpack started feeling a little bit lighter.
What are the things that you have been carrying around that are liabilities? Why have you allowed those elements to stay in your life this long? It may be time to recognize that you and only you are responsible for deciding what goes in the backpack. If you have been carrying guilt around, and feel the weight holding you down, itās time to dump out the guilt of the past to make room for the future. If you have been carrying around insecurity that has made it hard to walk, let alone run, then itās time to dump the insecurity on the ground so that you can embrace the confidence that comes with taking charge of the weight you are willing to carry. If there are people in your life that donāt believe in you or want whatās best for you, bullies, negative coworkers, or people who never have a positive thing to say about anybody, consider removing them from your backpack and making room for people who will care about you, share in your successes, and brighten your day.
Finally, if you have been clinging to certain beliefs, practices, or habits, and they are no longer working for you, itās time to dump those outdated ideas on the ground. Elite people are lifelong learners. They recognize that they will never have it all figured out, so they take on new ideas and try them out. Make room in your backpack by being open-minded as you approach this book. I will be sharing principles with you that I have observed from other Navy SEALs, Harvard students, and professional sports teams. I will also be sharing from my personal experience ā the things that worked for me and why. Now that there is room in your backpack letās start filling it with the high-performance lessons and habits of the elite!
Becoming Elite!
- Make peace with the fact that you need to remove the rough edges and excess weight from your life and commit to taking action.
- Identify the unnecessary weight that you have allowed in your backpack, realize that you are not obligated to carry it, and dump it out on the ground.
- Value your time, value your experiences, recognize when others are taking more than they are giving and when it is time to cut loose the extra weight.
- Refuse to be bullied by negativity or undue obligation.
