Relentless. Re…Lent…Less. RELENTLESS! What does this mean to you?
Posted by naxumadmin / February 16, 2018
Recently, I started a new book by Tim Grover called Relentless. I knew nothing about this book but based on the suggestion of a respected person in my life I got it and started listening to it. So for me, the whole point of an audiobook is to be able to multitask, gain knowledge while at the same time accomplishing something. This specific day I decided to accomplish something that I had been putting off for the entire winter. I live in South Carolina where the line for fall, winter, and spring is pretty blurred. Many of the trees keep their leaves until December, and by that time, you don’t feel like raking the yard. Despite the fact that it is only February I have considered the winter season nearly over and am much expectant of spring, coincidentally, the day I decided to rake the leave it was 60 degrees and was the same day that Chicago received over 12” of snow, man I love the south.
I decided that while I raked I would also listen to my new audiobook, Relentless. I don’t know if raking is still a thing anymore, I feel like everyone uses a blower these days, but raking is quite the laborious task after a few docile months of winter. So as I’m raking I’m listening to the words of Tim Grover. In the first several chapters he talks about the high profile athletes he works with and how they have a relentless spirit to win, to be the best, to never stop working, to leave everyone in the dust. About halfway through raking as I’m sweating, my hands have developed blisters and I want to quit he says that athletes come to him expecting the first day to be an “orientation”, by the end they are puking in garbage cans, I can’t help now but be relentless in my raking endeavors. How can I stop with this guy talking about being the best and never settling?
Grover started his illustrious career as a trainer by starting off being a nobody and working hard. His very first athlete was none other than the future greatest basketball player ever, Michael Jordan. Man, what a “slam dunk”…(So sorry, I couldn’t help it) Other athletes Grover has worked with are LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Kobe Bryant. Over the summer, when the NBA season is over, he has many star players and soon to start working out at his training facility in the Chicago suburbs. Because Grover saw the gamut of player greatness, he developed a 3-tiered pyramid, the base he called Coolers, the middle he called Closers, and the top he called Cleaners. Everyone in the pyramid is successful, but when you get to the top of the pack the lines of greatness are blurred. Let’s explore these three areas maybe it will help you more closely identify yourself and then push you to the next level.
“In Order To Have What You Really Want, You Must First Be Who You Really Are”
The Cooler
This person is good and will perform when needed to but when it’s a clinch moment they will defer to the Cleaner. Don’t have negative thoughts if you can really identify with this person most people are Coolers. In fact, it’s nice to be a cooler a lot of the times because you get recognition for what you do, for closing the business, making scoring the goal, or doing what has to be done to achieve the goal, in the end, you can go home the happy hero. If you’re a cooler you will have amazing days in business or games with sports, you will score the big contract, but you also worry about the competition; wondering, what they are doing, how they are strategizing to beat you, they may even take that client that you’ve been working on for months and seal the deal.
The Cooler often is able to see both sides of a situation thus making them an efficient mediator. Unless forced to take a side, the cooler will generally try to be neutral and not “rock the boat”. Typically careful and in what they do and how they do it, the cooler is ready to take action but needs to be told what to do, or pushed in a direction. Once they have the direction though, the cooler is able to handle the responsibility. Every team needs a cooler or even several of them. They can create a situation for the cleaner to come in and “win the game”. The team can’t win with only a cleaner, but they also can’t win without the coolers. If you identify as a cooler, that’s awesome. You are a needed player on the team because you are able to be a good mediator you know exactly how to create the situation in which the cleaner is able to do his job.
The Closer
The closer will take the game-winning shot, close the deal and have amazing seasons. The problem the closer has though is being able to consistently repeat excellence. They are able to create an amazing run of four or five months where they seem unstoppable, where everything they do just works for them when they are on fire. Then something happens. This could be as trivial as the season changes to Winter, or maybe something in their personal life changed, or they got a new office and the new environment messes with them. Whatever has happened it has messed with their head, they begin to think about the process instead of just acting on instinct.
This person studies the competition for any edge they can get. When things go their way they love the attention and credit they will inevitably receive. They understand there are perks and rewards waiting for them once they reach their goal and those are the driving forces behind their actions. The closer ultimately desires financial security more than ultimate success. Remember this is the middle of the success pyramid, fewer people reside here because it’s a hard place to be it’ll require sacrifice and work to stay. Some people stay a while then fall down the cooler status, or even worse out of the pyramid completely. They will get what they need and move on. Nothing is wrong with being a closer, again every team needs them.
The Cleaner
The cleaner is rare, like a snow leopard. He or she doesn’t talk much, and they rarely congratulate your good work. This person operates at a level few people even desire to understand. The reason you won’t get many “good jobs” from them is that they just expect you to always play your best, give your all, and do what you’re supposed to do. While the cooler has a good game and the closer has a great season, the cleaner, they have legendary careers! This person is unstoppable, is always pushing higher and higher, and uses accomplishments as stepping stones to reach new heights. Their goals are 10x above their abilities because they understand that if they don’t set the bar high, they are cutting themselves short of what they could do. If you think they study competition, they don’t. They make everyone else study them. Watching what others do wastes valuable time when they could be working on their next victory.
The cleaner isn’t there to put on a show, even though they will, the perks and rewards aren’t what drives them to action. What drives the cleaner is the absolute obsession with being the absolute very best, and failure, well, that’s not an option for them. They don’t have to tell anyone who’s in charge, everyone already knows who that is, it’s the cleaner. When they set their mind towards something no one really knows what they’re up to, by the time others figure it out, the cleaner has already moved on to the next thing and doesn’t explain.
Being relentless is the act of striving every day to be the best form of yourself. Never being satisfied with what you did yesterday because today has a whole new set of challenges waiting for your attention. Relentless is creating a new goal when you’ve reached your personal best, if you are good, don’t stop until you are great! Whether you are a cooler, a closer, or a cleaner, remember that you are needed.
Remember, you are in the success pyramid the levels are grayed and you are among the best. Focus on your natural abilities and make them work for you. Decide today that you are going to be Relentless in every way and that no matter what, you won’t let yourself be satisfied. In the end, will you be happier that you got to see your true potential or that you reached a plateau and rested?
