Charge with the Rhinos…
“Tell me thy company and I will tell thee what thou art.” – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
It seems very fitting that the author of the above nugget of gold was also the man who attempted to re-ignite chivalry in Modern Europe – defending the helpless and defeating the wicked, and probably without the nuisance of the Federal Government – in the magnum opus fantasy El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. In America, it may be better recognized as Don Quixote (Key-hoe-tay) even though Uncle Lester has always mispronounced it “Quicks-oat.”
Translations and mispronunciations aside, this is a wonderful opportunity to step back for a second and think about the people or the personalities within personal circles and/or social groups.
What effect (positive/negative) do they have on each other?
What effect (positive/negative) do they have on the group as a whole?
Most importantly, what effect (positive/negative) do they have on personal mindset, goals, implementation, and outcome?
Red Flag Moment : Are the people in your circle making you more successful or are they holding you back? Are they a hard charger to success or do they find every reason not to find success?
An example that will help…
Upon entering Job #1 at a gym, there were two distinct cliques – the hustlers and the non-hustlers. The hustlers made money, the non-hustlers made excuses. The hustlers were slammed with business; the non-hustlers were still living at home, in their late 20’s, and would retreat to the nest for a daily nap. As an intern in a large operation, one gets placed below the non-hustlers who, within the business hierarchy, are well below the hustlers. It can be very difficult. The hustlers wanted nothing to do with an intern and the non-hustlers were just happy someone other than their mother was “interested” in what they were doing. It was like being the new kid in school and the only person that shows any interest in the new kid is the one that picks their nose and eats it, pops their zits with a compass and scratches the dandruff off their head or the psoriasis off their leg and runs personal taste tests for cohabitation with the human palate.
To make a long story over four and a half years short – the hustlers ended up being selfish, self-centered, narcissistic weasels or in the case of one, an attempted pornographer. On the other hand, during all expenses paid trips to the Riviera Maya and Caribbean, the non-hustlers complained about things like lack of ice in drinks, lack of carbonation in “their” Mountain Dew, and used heat as an excuse to stay in the room and watch SportsCenter on repeat all day. Those experiences over that time led to the conclusion that three cliques would have to exist – the hustlers, the non-hustlers, and the Driven. Being around the other groups was not beneficial to being a CARNIVORE.
That experience proved that maybe the best circle for focused, relentlessly driven, hard charging people is their own. Slow to let others in, fast to show them the door. For that reason alone, entrepreneurial individuals and those chasing limitless triumph can be the loneliest people on the planet, but it is by choice, and often times, necessity. Skip the crap, cut the bull, be no nonsense, if someone is not getting one closer to their goals then they are driving them further away.
Need to be a loner…Read, watch, listen, learn, and immerse in the way of someone that is successful or preaches, teaches, and breaths success, achievement, and attitude and aptitude.
Stay away from complainers; they are time and energy vampires. Have a friend that is a complainer? Wear a cross pendant and carry a sharp wooden stake at all times, flash the cross, brandish the stake and all complaints should end. Complainers are mad about one of two things – their job or their lot. They picked one, they chose the other. The former is probably the issue, they have a job. Jobs lead to dead ends and pissiness, vocations lead to Mountains of Success with endless limits and endless achievement. If the latter is the issue, once they experience enough problems they will eventually get where they want to go. For those hoping no problems will cross their path, expect defeat. Without problems, there can be no identifying chinks in the armor (hopefully the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network is not reading). As long as people are unwilling to identify their weakness they can never sufficiently be prepared to succeed.
Red Flag Moment : complainers complaining get worse when they get around other…complainers. Instead of looking up to find the next obstacle, accomplishment, and success checkpoint, they are nose to the ground like a bunch of chickens bickering with each other because they can’t differentiate the dirt, the small morsels of feed they feel should be thrown their way, and their own barnyard fertilizer…that they are making.
Scott Alexander said it best in his book Rhinoceros Success, “charge with the rhinos, soar with the eagles, run with the cheetahs, and eat with the lions.” Toss this in their also, “attack, conquer, and prevail with the CARNIVORES.” LEAVE THE CHICKEN LITTLES OF THE WORLD ALONE TO DITHER, DAWDLE, DILLY, DALLY, BICKER, PISS AND MOAN TO THEMSELVES. YOU DON’T NEED THEM!
PANKO Strength & Speed, Charging CARNIVOROUS Stewards of the American Dream
