SigmaU Blog

It’s supposed to be hard! That’s something I yell out when I’m feeling exhausted working out. It’s not meant to berate me or demoralize me, quite the opposite. Reminding myself that it requires effort and it’s going to hurt and supposed to be inconvenient is the key to growth.

This lesson keeps popping up for me and so I thought I’d share some ideas around this notion of “hard”. I was recently listening to an excellent podcast and the person being interviewed shared something I found fascinating. He was telling a story about recruits and how at the end of a grueling fourteen days, most would band together and collectively fight back or quit. Under his leadership he was able to retain 90% of new recruits! How did he do it? Did he make it easier for them? Did he let them get away with things? Did he speak nicely to them, cheer them on or coddle them? Not at all. Everything remained the same except for one key thing. He gathered them...

Earl Nightingale shares a story about a father explaining, The Goose and the Golden Eggs story. In this metaphor, the father explains to his son there is a goose producing golden eggs.  The moral of the story is, most people capitalize on the eggs (car, house, boat) the goose produces rather than carefully nurturing the goose itself!

You and I are the “Goose” of Course! It’s important to nurture our minds and bodies so we can continue to grow and improve.  Without the goose, the eggs are worthless. You can have all the possessions in the world, but if you’re not working on improving your health, what is it worth? You have to invest in your personal development growth as well to continuously evolve and grow into an even stronger, capable goose.

How do you go about that?

Motivational books and podcasts are a great way to feed your mind and soul with inspirational stories and strategies for living your best life.  High Performance Habits by...

The good book says that “Iron Sharpens Iron”.  In this case, the message is touching on the importance of selecting associations and friendships wisely.  Hang around people who are sharpening their proverbial axe and they will naturally influence you to do the same.

Think of your iron as your mind and your habits. We have associations that sharpen our iron but we also have control over keeping ourselves sharp with self-discipline.

Some of the ways, in which, we keep sharp are…

• Reading inspirational books
• Listening to motivational podcasts
• Eating clean food and keeping hydrated
• Working out on a regular basis and getting great sleep
• Working on courses or projects that expand our mind and help us grow or skill up
• Associating with high achievers

Some of the ways we dull our mind or self discipline are…

• Excessive eating or drinking
• Consuming garbage food, scrolling social media or consuming the news
• Skipping workouts
• Working overtime and...