Pictured Above: Henry Ford - Founder of Ford Motor Vehicles.
From The Desk of Maverick Brenton.
Subject: Becoming The Exceptional Individual.
Outside, it was around five degrees.
From where we sat in the kitchen, drinking coffee - you could hear the wind blowing through the trees.
The man sitting across from me was heavy set, with a powerful jaw, thin grey hair and thick forearms from years of lifting weights.
He always had the same composure, no matter what was happening around him: **total calmness.
**
All I know about money, came from this man.
He drilled into my young and curious mind, the thought patterns, the principles and the habits that he used to become and remain wealthy.
And what he taught me, saved me from a life of slavery to the fourth element: money.
On this particular day - we were discussing people who came from the bottom and rose up to become titans in the world.
I wanted to know how I could be one of those titans.
Just like the man pictured above: Henry Ford.
Back then, and even further back, to the times when I was a young boy - it was all I ever thought about.
When the sun set and the stars came out, I would wander outside and gaze up at them in awe, haunted by a voice deep inside myself that told me I was sent here to do something different.
I hadn’t read a single book at that age. I didn’t have the internet. I didn’t have any mentors. I didn’t even have electricity.
That voice I heard - was the voice of my spirit.
And it told me I wasn’t supposed to grow up and do what everyone else does.
I was supposed to do something else.
18 years later that voice is still inside me, speaking in a mysterious language that does not consist of words.
Only now it’s different, because now I know how to listen to it.
Before I listened to it - I would listen to other people.
And they would tell me I was not special.
They would say:
“Stop thinking you deserve something different from everyone else. Stop thinking you are special - we are all the same. You’re entitled to nothing.”
I never agreed with them.
And back then I never said anything - I was too afraid.
But god help the person who tells me that, these days.
I will bite their fucking face off and chew on it like it’s BBQ Beef Jerky.
Now I am who I am.
I’m no longer something else.
Who I was is dead.
He was buried in the dirt with my old way of living.
I have always believed every human being on earth is special in their own unique way.
We all have something that only we can do.
From the man sweeping the streets, to the guy who makes more money than half of the world combined - we all have a gift, that we either use or we don’t use.
And despite the idea that we are entitled to nothing in this world, I believe we are entitled to one thing in this world.
What is it?
It’s the right to pursue our destiny and become who we are mean’t to become in this life.
The seeds of that destiny are sprinkled inside us all - the moment we are born.
These seeds remain as seeds until they sprout.
Some sprout early. Some sprout late. And some don’t sprout at all.
You don’t get to choose what time of the day it is, or what age you are, or where you are - when you see the light.
It just happens when it happens, but it only happens if you really want it to happen.
So, as we sat in the kitchen and listened to the wind - I asked him a question.
And I learnt two things from his answer:
1) Greatness does not come without a cost.
2) Exceptional people become exceptional by doing exceptional things that are outside the norm.
So, what exactly was my question?
Well I asked him how I could become like the great men I looked up to, in the world: Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller.
Guys who came from nothing and rose up to become titans.
Guys who were exceptional.
Normal people think these fellas are special. They think they are geniuses - and they speak about them in awe and admiration.
But.
They are just men - to me.
And back then I believed with firm resolve, that if I wanted to become like those men - all I had to do was figure out what they knew, what they did and how they applied what they knew to what they did.
Looking back, now - there was and still is a lot of truth in what I believed.
And while I wasn’t wrong, I wasn’t completely right, either.
For I was not aware of what it took to become great.
I didn’t see the price tag that my wise old friend spoke of until I actually met and became the student of a great man.
Only then did I discover that the cost of greatness was time, pain, sacrifice and a tremendous amount of focused effort - channelled into something you are naturally good at.
Meeting that great man and studying other great men, taught me something special.
Let me tell you what that special something is:
Becoming exceptional is a choice you make.
And Exceptionalism (being the absolute best) is the end result of a series of choices made every single day over a long period of time.
It’s not something that is reserved for special people among us.
It is just a choice, that anyone can make.
Ford chose to become what he became.
Carnegie chose to become what he became.
I am what I have chosen to be.
You are what you **choose to be.
**
And you can choose to become exceptional at what you do.
Or.
You can choose to become like everyone else: good enough to get by.
I have chosen the former.
And my work is all about the former.
I have no intention of leading a normal life because I’m not a normal person.
I have never been a normal person. And I will never be a normal person.
I was born to be an exceptional writer and communicator of valuable knowledge - which is exactly what I spend my time becoming.
Now, let’s talk about The Art of Exceptionalism and it’s importance in the game of winning.
My first attempt at making my own money was in product manufacturing: I spotted a need for a new product, I created the product - then I tried to manufacture and sell it.
After two years of split focused, half assed work, I didn’t get anywhere with it.
And that is exactly what happens when you do something without the desire to be exceptional at whatever you’re doing - you get average results.
Here’s the common sense formula to greatness:
Average, unfocused effort over time = average results
Exceptional, focused effort poured into something you’re naturally good at over time = exceptional results
It’s as simple as that.
To become great and make more money than everyone else in a particular field - you must be exceptional at what you do.
And you must be exceptional because money is a by-product of value creation - which means the more value you create, the more money you will make.
If you are not exceptional - you will not make exceptional money.
Exceptional people, who do exceptional work - get rewarded with exceptional amounts of money.
And doing exceptional work requires having exceptional levels of focus because you cannot do multiple things at an exceptional level - at the same fucking time.
It just won’t happen, friendo.
Being exceptional is a two sided coin and there are two important aspects to becoming an exceptional individual:
A) Pick the right thing to become exceptional at because it is impossible to become exceptional at something you were not born to do.
B) Stay FOCUSED on that one thing long enough to produce exceptional results and get exceptional rewards.
I have seen not only myself, but other impatient idiots lose a lot of money simply because we were too impatient to put in the time required to create something exceptional, and then wait for the rewards to come.
So don’t do that.
The 1%. And Everyone Else.
In any field - you have the top performers (the 1%) and then you have everybody else (the 99%).
The top performers get all the perks that come with being a top performer and everybody else gets to have the leftovers.
But.
You must understand this:
The 1% are the 1% because they are willing to do what the 99% are not willing to do.
That is why they are the 1%.
They do what nobody else will do.
It’s not because they’re special.
They just do what nobody else will fucking do.
Do you understand what I am telling you?
They are exceptional because they do exceptional shit: not because they are inherently superior to everyone else.
Sure, some are obviously smarter.
But.
Generally, those who become exceptional know their strengths, they go further, they work harder, they work smarter and they demand more from themselves than anyone else - on a consistent basis.
Over time, as a result of this consistently exceptional approach to living life – they become exceptional people.
Then all the fucking idiots on planet earth, who wish they could be like the winners, talk shit about the winners and say either of the following:
A) They are special.
B) They got lucky.
C) They are evil frauds.
Smart people know that all of the above are false and they study the exceptional - looking for patterns to replicate.
If you do the same, and you look close enough, you will soon discover that the patterns of success are always based upon the same simple principles that lead to success.
Allow me to name a few:
Obsession. Focus. Sacrifice. Commitment. Discipline. And Patience.
These simple principles are what hold the answers that everyone seeks.
But everyone overlooks the simple principles because they are too simple for them.
And instead, they look for the one magical secret to success.
Which is this:
There is no magical secret you fucking fools.
It’s the little, obvious things, that make all the difference.
It’s 20% cause and 80% effect: also known as The Pareto Principle.
At the end of the day: nothing matters except for the basic principles that have always been and always will be.
If you consistently apply them to something you’re naturally good at, you will win, and if you don’t, then you won’t.
To become exceptional - just find what you were born to do.
Then do whatever it takes to become exceptional at it.
There is nothing else required.
Nothing.
Until Next Time.
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