REMEMBER THE TITANS

I know many of you have probably seen the movie by this name. It’s a great movie. You should see it, but that ain’t what I’m talking about today. Today I’m talking about the factors that the men we consider “Titans” had in common and that we can use and apply in our own lives.

There are two ways to greatness and most people who get there apply some form of both. The first is to study what those whom you consider great at whatever you want to be great at did and then learn and apply from them. The second is to blaze your own trail. Possibly building on the knowledge you’ve gained by those who came before you, but having the courage and confidence to take a completely unique approach or direction to surpass them.

When you think about people who are great at their chosen profession or work, you almost always see this in action. When you study the history of these people you almost always see this demonstrated. Men like Rockefellar, Carnegie, JP Morgan, Vanderbilt in the business world demonstrate this just like the ancient conquerors Ghengis Khan, Alexander, and Napoleon. It’s not just areas of politics and money it’s a way of getting there in every part of life. Almost all of these men demonstrated relentless study of their chosen endeavor and then the application of relentless energy in achieving their goals. They also all lead their field so to speak not only with personal magnetism, but with being on the cutting edge of new application or new ways of doing what they wanted done.

What is it you want to do? Whatever it is how is your knowledge in that field? If you don’t fully understand something you’ll never get great at it. You also won’t have the tools to be a leader or innovator. Knowledge is the key to success. Knowledge is the key to breaking new ground which is the key to greatness. Energy and decisive action in applying that knowledge are the tools for building your own empire.

Let me also say here that there’s one downfall that all these men and much of the people who achieve greatness held in common. They were willing to do it at any cost. To achieve greatness regardless of who got hurt or by what means they had to do it. I believe we should hold ourselves to a higher standard. In the lifting world many people say, “Well I’ll take drugs, but history will remember me as great anyway.” This is just one practical example of how this plays out in modern life. Refuse to let this be in you. Refuse to believe that you need to do something that stomps on others or cheats or uses some other underhanded action to get what you want. If you gain and apply knowledge, energy and decisive action you can get there without having to stab anyone else or yourself in the back.