The Difference Between Good and Great

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As you’re probably aware, I’m a bit of a rugby union follower and last weekend, the two teams I follow both had wins, the All Blacks over England and Australia over Ireland.  The All Blacks are currently one win away from being the first international team in the professional era to go an entire year unbeaten.  (Here’s hoping this article doesn’t put the mockery on them)  They are the current world champions, currently number one in the world rankings and since Steve Hansen took over at the end of 2011 have only lost one and drawn one with twenty four wins, so you could say they’re on a pretty good roll at the moment.

Interesting that within 48 hours of last weekend’s results two completely contrasting articles circulated the inter web, one about the All Blacks and one about the Wallabies.  The first was titled, “The All Blacks guide to being successful (off the field)” by  James Kerr and the second titled, “Significant Embarrassment After Wallabies Drinking Binge” by Jim Morton.  You can read both articles by clicking on the links above.

 These articles highlight some fundamental differences between the current state of the mental toughness that is required by a good team and a great team and the lessons outlined in these two articles are transferable across all walks of life.  If you lined these two squads up side by side and measured their physicality, I guarantee there would be minimal differences in terms of height, weight, aerobic fitness levels, strength levels, body fat levels etc.  So the difference in their on and off field performances must come back to what’s going on between the ears.

So what’s my point?  In order to be great, not only as a professional player but even in life in general one must have some key principles.  Here’s my take on what it takes to be great!

HAVE A HIGHER PURPOSE THAN YOU.  If you’re living from day to day in a mundane job exchanging time for money just breaking even, with poor health and no time for the important things in life like loving, then you’re not living.  On the other hand if you’re purpose in life is for a higher cause than you, then your purpose becomes your focal point and when you’ve got clarity and single minded focus and determination, great things happen.

 REACH FOR THE STARS WHILE REMAINING GROUNDED.   When setting goals, often we don’t aim very high because of the fear of failure.  On the contrary, goals should be aimed as high as the stars, so that when you don’t quite reach them, imagine the feeling when you look down and suddenly you realise that you’ve jumped higher than you’ve ever jumped IN YOUR LIFE.  We have a saying in the studio, “Aim for the stars, you might hit the top of the lamp post.  Only aim for the lamp post and you’ll only get your foot.”  If fat loss is your goal, don’t sell yourself short because you’re afraid of actually achieving.  Go for the big one!!

 LEAVE YOUR SPACE IN A BETTER PLACE.  The All Blacks have a famous saying.  The jersey is loaned to you, not owned by you.  Wear it for the people who wore it before you and leave a legacy in it for the people that will wear it after you’re gone.  The same is true in life.  All parents (good ones at least) strive to create an environment for their children that was better than theirs.  My Mum was raised in rural NZ post WWII.  Times were tough, food was sparse, work was hard to come by, but she survived major illnesses and poverty to climb up off the dirt and leave a legacy for me to live by and thrive in a predominantly “white mans” world.  I’d say she succeeded, wouldn’t you?  Guess what I’m striving for?  Yep, you guessed it, the exact same thing for my children.

FAILURE IS GOOD, QUITTING IS BAD.  It’s only when you fail, that’s when you learn.  Imagine running a 100 metre race and stopping 2 metres short.  Or you could run the same race and cross the finish line last.  Which would you prefer?

 ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE.  There are always 2 ways to look at anything.   The only difference is the way you choose to look.  I’ve written on this point before and you can read about changing your point of view by clicking here.  There’s also great video circulating on Facebook that highlights this and other great points.  Feel free to check it out by clicking here.

Pat Rae

ABOUT: Pat Rae is a personal trainer, lifestyle coach, massage therapist, motivational speaker, author and presenter.  He is the owner of a boutique PT studio in Brisbane  and an online health and wellness program both of which have been established to help people live healthier, happier and more energetic life through exercise, eating whole real foods and stressing less.  See more at http://www.prpt.com.au & http://www.patrae.com