Prior to Lockdown 2.0 in Melbourne the team and I finished reading Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins as part of our book club. What a read! Thanks to Jay Kacha who won our office ‘pitch challenge’ resulting in us picking this book up and working through it together.
David Goggins might not be everyone’s style (he is direct, raw, passionate) but WHOA what a story! An inspirational journey through pain, callousing your mind, overcoming challenges and finding your limits. I won’t leave any spoilers here but you should pick this book up – it is confronting, challenging and has practical applications that you can use to strengthen your mind and tackle your next goal, project or dream. It calls you to journey through pain to see what is possible – now that’s my kind of read 😊
This book resonated with me as I love to get outside of my comfort zone each year. In fact it has pushed me to undertake my first Ultramarathon next year.
One thing you will pick up if you read this book or listen to any content from David Goggins is that his phrase is Stay Hard. He uses this to drive himself, it feeds into his mentality and his identity. He also thinks ‘What If’. What if I could pull this off and do something incredible! And if you don’t know what the ‘Cookie Jar’ is (hint it’s not food) or what it means to ‘take souls’ then you need to check this book out.
We used elements of the book as part of our team offsite prior to Lockdown 2 and took it further by working through an exercise as a team for each individual to find their identity at work, (I will write further about Identity in an upcoming blog post) look at their goals for the financial year, and consider their habits/rituals daily that feed or confirm the identity they have for themselves.
We also considered our phrase for the next 6 months that will define the year for each individual, re-enforce their identity and call them to action. We then shared these phrases together (and were putting them on the wall until LD2 hit us) but now we will discuss them monthly and talk about what they mean for each other.
So what was the phrase I chose for the next 6 months? My phrase for the next 6 months for my life is One More Rep
What does this mean for me?
One More Rep is about going that extra mile. It’s about pushing through when it’s hard. One More Rep is about being at a point of exhaustion/failure (like when you are in the gym) and finding something inside you that gives you that last rep.
So where do I harness this? I have looked across my routine and looking for any area where I can apply my mantra of 1 More Rep. Some examples of this are:
At Work
My Team
With the team in these times One More Rep means the following:
One more call – checking in while we are remote, coaching individuals, coming alongside them to assist and add value, be a sounding board
One more training session – we have held onto our training schedule and looking to fast track some of this while we can
One More Rep is about continuing to drive the mindset of the team, keeping us resilient and focusing on the rebound coming at the end of these challenging times
One More Rep is about driving their goals and looking at how each individual can take their own extra step to achieve what they set out in July 2020.
One More Rep calls me as the leader to continue to bring work into our pipeline for our team through my network to assist with delivering results and performance.
As the leader it is about being aware of the temperature of our team, finding ways to keep high levels of engagement and productivity, keeping us together and maintaining/growing our culture in new ways. It’s also about keeping the team informed, (across all key areas of the business) being vulnerable and showing empathy to the different challenges we are all facing at the moment.
Clients
These are challenging times for our clients in a variety of sectors. Sure they are not all in the same boat (some are actually thriving) but there are many businesses hurting and/or trying to chart their way forward through the current crisis and beyond. This is where relationships matter. Our role and One More Rep for me in this area entails providing real market insight and intelligence, being a voice of calm, a listening ear, and partnering with our clients to assist them in whatever challenges this crisis has thrown up for them. (and that’s often not recruitment and that’s ok!) This is where real relationships shine and where creativity can create opportunities for both our client’s business and ours.
Candidates
Similarly to our clients, candidates in this market are finding it more challenging than ever before. In this market it’s about being here for our candidates, supporting them in any way possible. When I think of One More Rep for candidates it’s about making that extra call on their behalf, providing additional guidance on their CV/Brand and positioning, running mock interviews and being available. I pride myself on that list but it’s also about going that extra mile. Where else can I connect them? Are there other recruiters in my network who can assist them in this market? If so, I have no issues connecting them to other strong operators. That might be the difference between them securing a role or sitting on the bench.
I have always believed that recruitment is about relationships – if you get the relationship part right with everyone in your network the rest really does work itself out.
At Home
Family
With lockdown 2.0 I now have more time with my family than ever before as I don’t have to commute each day. This gives me an extra 2 hours total each day to use to my advantage. From a family perspective this means I have a chance to spend more quality time with everyone particularly at the end of the day. One More Rep at home looks like me finding ways to spend quality time with both my children (in a way they value) and giving them my undivided attention. It’s different for them both but it’s about taking additional time each day and appreciating the time I get with them now that I won’t have when we finish LD2.
It allows me the opportunity to have dinner with the family (which used to be reserved only for weekends) as well as spend more time them all in conversation and having fun. This is one of the silver linings of being at home.
Friends
One More Rep with friends is all about reaching out to those around me. It’s about locking in time each week to reach out to various friends in my network, check that they are ok, stay connected and just have a laugh together. It’s about reaching out to an extra friend each week for a conversation. I also find I am messaging people more than ever before just to stay in touch. I have had many a Zoom coffee or general catch-up and just recently had my first Zoom dinner which was fun!
Faith
Making sure I make the time to sit in prayer/meditation. It’s very easy in these times to lose your routine or prioritise other things to do. Finding that extra minute to sit in contemplation with all that is going on in our household is something I value. At the moment I have this tied in with the end of my gym sessions as I find I can take the extra time at the end of the session.
Fitness
From a fitness perspective this is simple. It’s about pushing for that one last repetition when weight training, or running that extra km. It’s about getting to a place where my mind wants to quit and pushing it just that little bit further. That’s where you find what you are made off. I have recently decided to train for my first ultramarathon and the 1 More Rep is more vital than ever! At the moment with COVID I am constrained with where I can train but I have taken to doing laps of the local lake. At the end of each lap that voice in my head says just go back to the car, that’s where 1 more rep (1 more lap) kicks in or that one extra hill run at the end.
From this week onwards I will also be adding stretching into my routine (due to the increased running workload) – I hate stretching so will need my willpower to push through for 1 more minute of stretching that’s for sure!
In the gym I also love the phrase from The Rock of Blood, Sweat, Respect – The First 2 you give, the last one you earn.
So what’s your phrase for the next 6 months? Or this financial year? How can you stay mentally strong and find that next level?
Share your thoughts below.
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