11/04/2018
I recently read an incredible story that’s changed the way I think about what we believe we can do versus
what we can actually do.
It’s a story about a guy named Jesse Itzler.
Jesse’s a billionaire. He started Marquis Jet — the world’s largest private jet company — and that’s a pretty
amazing fact on its own. But, he’s also married to Sara Blakely… the founder of Spanx and a billionaire in her
own right.
Jesse and Sara decided they were getting too comfortable, too complacent in their day to day life.
So, they made the decision to shake things up.
They hired a Navy SEAL to come live with their family for 31 days and train them in mental toughness.
The entire training was focused around one powerful concept… the 40% rule.
The rule goes something like this…
Right at the moment when you think, “I’m done. I’m completely DONE. Nothing left in the tank,” you’re
actually only 40% done. There’s 60% more of you — your energy, focus, attention, drive — that’s still
available.
That’s why people hit a “wall” when they’re running a marathon. They think they’ve nothing left to give.
They believe they can’t take another step.
But even though just about every marathoner hits the wall, 99% get to the finish line.
And it’s because they have more in the tank than they thought.
Jesse Itzler thought he hit that wall on the very first day of his “mental toughness bootcamp”. His Navy SEAL
trainer asked him to do as many pull ups as he could.
Jesse did eight. The trainer asked him to do more. Jesse barely managed 6. And the next time it was 4 and
then 3.
But the Navy SEAL said to him, “You’re not done yet. Now let’s do 100.”
Jesse was like, “NO way can I do 100!”
But you know what? He did hit 100 pull ups. One. At. A. Time.
And it was such an incredible lesson because he realized he could do something he thought was completely
impossible for him.
The SEAL taught Jesse that real success doesn’t start until after you become uncomfortable…until after you
go beyond what you thought you were capable of.
The lesson here for all of us is that we all have this incredible will as humans to do what’s “impossible” for
us. The sad thing is, most of us don’t use that will to achieve everyday greatness.