American Idol represents dreams, new lives | March 11, 2009

I sometimes get a little misty-eyed watching American Idol. I know that sounds goofy, but I have a good reason, honest. I get misty-eyed sometimes when I see someone who has worked so hard and is now getting a chance to follow a life's dream. And in this case, producers often show little vignettes of the contestants' lives so we get to see why these dreams mean so much. We've seen many stories of single parents looking for a better life, youngsters ready to take flight, even spouses singing in memory of their loved ones recently gone.

Just this season, we have Scott MacIntyre, who is blind but who plays the piano with amazing confidence and Lil Rounds, who was a stay-at-home mom and is now chasing the spotlight. We have Danny Gokey, whose wife died shortly before auditions and Michael Sarver, who is hoping his oil-rigging days are over.When I think of things like that and see a singer doing his or her best to make that dream happen, well, yes, it touches me.

That these contestants put themselves out there for rejection, for critique, for hardship is a testament to the dreams in their hearts. Whether you like them or not, you've got to appreciate the spirit of the show: that anyone can take a chance on pursuing a dream. And who knows where that dream will lead!

I always appreciate those who take a chance on their dreams. I'm living my dream of being an author and entrepreneur and creating a bigger vision all the time. But living a dream isn't easy. It takes guts to do it. Maybe that's why I admire those who do. They have made the tough choice to take a chance on themselves.

What about you? How are you coming on your dream? Are you working on it on a daily basis, taking steps to bring it to you? Are you getting right back up after being knocked down, dusting yourself off to give it another shot? Do you see hardships and even rejection as part of the process?

Or do you let tough times -- and even a few bad comments -- convince you your dream isn't worth pursuing?

Success is about time, not talent | February 18, 2009

I spoke at Texas A & M University Corpus Christi earlier this week about Greatness in You. The aim was to give students the confidence to know they can achieve extraordinary results and to help them develop the right mindset to make goals happen.

After the presentation, one student shared this feedback: “It helped me learn that to be great in the field I want to go into, I have to stick with it. That is hard for me.”

I appreciate this student’s honesty. I think his challenge is one a lot of people face. Like him, many people have a hard time sticking to tasks, so they give up on their hopes, goals, dreams and aspirations. But the key to success is hanging in there. It’s not about how talented you are or how smart. It’s about how committed.

I spoke about something called the Rule of 10 to illustrate the point that real success takes a true commitment to the task at hand. The Rule of 10 says that it takes about 10 years of doing something to become top-level. And often that ten-year rule is a minimum. For some fields, it can take 20 or 30 years. When we look at it that way, we realize greatness isn’t as much about talent as it is about time. And most folks don’t want to invest the time.

Michael Phelps didn’t win eight gold medals in the 2008 Olympics because he was a born swimmer. He won because he put in the time, hour after hour, day after day, swimming the same drills over and over again. He started swimming at age 7. At age 23, he was labeled the greatest Olympian.

Tiger Woods started playing around with golf clubs before he was 2. Sixteen years later, he became the youngest person to win the amateur champioinship. Again, he didn’t become top-class because he was born knowing how to play golf. He became top-class because he put the time into it.

You don’t have to be the most talented to be great. You just have to be the one most willing to put in the time. Consider Jerry Rice, who was turned down by more than a dozen football teams, but because he kept working and putting in the time, he is now considered one of the best wide receivers ever to have played the game.

You may know some pretty talented people who never really lived up to their true potential. A big reason may be because they weren’t willing to put in the time to go from good to great.

Look at any of your favorite athletes, musicians, businessmen or others you admire. Chances are, you’ll see it wasn’t just talent that got them where they are. It was time.

So you’ve got to wrap your mind around your success. If you want to perform at a truly high level, you’ve got to be willing to stick to it.

Success isn’t just about talent. It’s about time. Can you do the time?