Jerry Rice was one of the greatest (American) football players ever. He was a wide receiver known for his astonishing work ethic and commitment to (and demonstration of) excellence.

He once said: “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.”

I might have been thinking about that this morning as I trained my grip (and core) strength on the setup I installed on my office ceiling. 🤓

Quick context: As part of my chasing excellence Spartan training that is serving as my Zen in the Art of Spartan Training portal into enlightenment, I’ve identified three things I need to master if I want to compete well: 1. Aerobic Speed (a brilliant concept from Phil Maffetone we’ll probably discuss more later); 2. Grip Strength (there are a ton of obstacles that require this); and, 3. Spartan Skills (like throwing a spear, climbing a rope, traversing a wall, etc.).

So…

Spartan Races have “rigs” that you need to get across (go grip strength!). Imagine rings like the ones kids go across at a local park. Then intersperse those rings with ropes with knots at the end of them and other weird things. And, imagine having to do thirty burpees if you can’t make it across and ring the bell at the other side.

Then…

Imagine me hanging from my office ceiling on a rig like that during one of my 1,000-second breaks. (Laughing.)

Yep.

“That’s like me!” this morning. I went back and forth. Ring. Rope. Ring. Ring. Rope. Ring. (The ropes with the knots on the end of them are especially awesome.) At the end of each set, I do 11 leg raise/crunch kinda things. As I did that last part, I happened to be facing my chalkboard that has “SOUL FORCE” written on the upper left corner and I thought to myself, “Exactly. Each one of these little reps is just another expression of my commitment to harness and express the SOUL FORCE latent within me. Awesome.”

As always, this +1 has nothing to do with my obsession with mastering myself via, in part, Spartan training.

It’s all about you.

What comes to mind for you when you reflect on Jerry Rice’s wisdom: “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.”

Let’s remember that the little things aren’t that little. Those micro-moments of mastery are the foundation of all the big things we want in our lives.

Now might also be a good time to recall Jim Rohn’s wisdom that there are two easies that determine our destiny: easy to do and easy not to do. As he tells us: “We will all experience one pain or the other—the pain of discipline or the pain of regret—but the difference is that the pain of discipline weighs only ounces while the pain of regret weighs tons.”

Today’s +1.

What’s one tiny little seemingly irrelevant thing you might want to master?

Here’s to joyfully rocking that as we cultivate our Soul Force one micro-moment at a time!

The Little Things #583

Aren’t So Little

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