I spent the weekend with James Malinchak at his Big Money Speaker Bootcamp and my head is still spinning with ideas. James doesn’t fool around at his events. His event start on Thursday morning at 8 and goes until at least 9 PM every day, for four consecutive days. It’s definitely information overload but it’s worth it. This was my 3rd Big Money Speaker Bootcamp and I always leave with a million ideas for my business. It’s ironic he calls it the Big Money Speaker Bootcamp because he doesn’t teach us how to be a better speaker. He teaches us how to make money, a lot of money.
One of the guest speakers this year was Rudy Ruettiger who had a dream to play football for Notre Dame. Rudy was a terrible student and an even worse athlete. He’s 5’6”, slow, not very strong and didn’t meet any of the admission requirements for attending Notre Dame. Rudy’s father even told him numerous times he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell to get into Notre Dame and make the football team.
The odds were stacked against Rudy but through sheer determination and will, they allowed him to practice with the team. Rudy got the crap kicked out of him every practice. Larger players ran over him, tossed him around like a rag doll, and punished him on every drill.
Rudy didn’t give up. He said he almost quit many times but he persevered. Finally in the last game of the season in his senior year, the coach let Rudy play in a game. He was in for two plays and ended the game by sacking the opposing quarterback for a loss. Rudy’s teammates carried him off the field like a hero. They admired his determination and spirit.
If you haven’t seen the movie Rudy, I highly recommend it. It’s an inspirational, feel good movie that you will enjoy.
Poor Rudy had a stomach virus on Saturday and could barely stand up but he went through with his presentation. He told us stories about growing up and shared his philosophy of never giving up, no matter what. He lived by his words because twice he had to run off the stage to get sick but returned to finish his presentation! We felt so sorry for Rudy but he wouldn’t give up. Truly a man of his word!
Rudy’s talk triggered a lot of memories for all of us at the conference. Many of the attendees told me there were times they gave up on their dreams because they hit a rough patch. They didn’t keep going like Rudy did. I remember many times when I gave up on my dreams. I remember a quote from Brendan Burchard that hit me like a ton of bricks. “How many times have you worked hard pursuing your dream and you gave up when you reached the five yard line? If you would’ve made one final push you would have made it across the goal line and achieved your dream”
I can’t tell you how many times I made it to the five yard line and maybe even the one yard line and changed directions before achieving my dream. At the time I didn’t realize how close I was to my achieving my dream but now I realize I made it to the one yard line many times in my life. One more push and my life would be very different today. The good news is I kept going and didn’t give up completely. I kept pursuing more dreams and I did make that final push to make it over the goal line.
How many times have you given up before crossing the goal line? What would your life be like if you would’ve made one final push to get you over the goal line? Leave a comment below and share your story.
