Was in a meeting the other day at MLB Network when legendary sports broadcaster and Daily Hustle subscriber Brian Kenny said…
“Dealing with failure is easy… Dealing with success, that is the real challenge.”
He then turned to me and said:
“That better be a Daily Hustle.”
Whoa… I LOVE THAT and BK was damn right, that’s definitely deserving of a Daily Hustle.
Let’s examine. 👀
We have all failed in our life and just about all of us have seen what we perceived to be rock bottom. When we reach this low point, we are immensely humbled and FORCED to do one of two things: make an adjustment and work our asses off to improve, or quit… It’s that simple.
We then become extremely grateful for any moderate amount of success and our goals become completely process-oriented that focus on small bits of improvement. We also know that because we are at the bottom, the only way to go is UP. Typically, we build this incredible sense of confidence in knowing that the situation will undoubtedly continue to improve.
TRUST ME, I get it, we as human beings THRIVE on adversity…
Ok cool…
But what about when we have crested the mountain top and we are continuing to slay one dragon after another??? People are constantly looking up to us with envy and our success comes easy and seems to have absolutely no boundaries and no limits???
Ah shit, we got all the POWER, now what?
Well, just like BK said, this is actually when things get difficult…
This is when true character is revealed…
No matter who you are, it’s only natural that our confidence hangs off the edge of the arrogance cliff. Humility & gratitude have the potential to be overrun by conceit and expectancy. And of course, with great success also comes great expectations to continue to succeed. Lastly, because we are at the top, it is inevitable that we will fall at some point…
F*CK, damned if we do, damned if we don’t…
Well, not really… The solution to this problem is actually pretty simple. The most productive way to deal with both success and failure is by living your life with a consistent attitude of gratitude predicated on a relentless work ethic and the realization that things are never as bad or as good as you believe them to be.
As our dude Abe says:
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Ultimately, if we want to stand adversity and pass Abe and BK’s character power test, let us be consistently humble, grateful servant-leaders whose character remains unaffected by life circumstances…
Good luck, 👍
EB