Speaker 1: I want you to imagine a long, polished table set
Speaker 1: with the finest silverware, expensive china, and plush chairs, reserved
Speaker 1: for the power players in your field, those who make
Speaker 1: decisions and shape destinies. For years I dreamed of being
Speaker 1: granted a seat at that table. I believed if I
Speaker 1: impressed the right people, met the so called standard and
Speaker 1: checked all the boxes, they'd slide me in engraved invitation
Speaker 1: and say congratulations.
Speaker 2: You've arrived.
Speaker 1: But guess what, that invitation never came, and it might
Speaker 1: never come for you either. And that is the best
Speaker 1: news you can hear today, because the moment you realize
Speaker 1: you don't need anybody else to recognize you, you become dangerous.
Speaker 1: You're free to operate with zero limits. You become your
Speaker 1: own organization, your own authority, and your own leader.
Speaker 2: That is what true self leadership is all about.
Speaker 1: And that's what I'm here to challenge you to become
Speaker 1: the kind of person who sets the bar so high
Speaker 1: that people are forced to wonder how you do it,
Speaker 1: The kind of person who redefines what's possible, the kind
Speaker 1: of person who doesn't give a damn about external validation
Speaker 1: because they're too busy validating themselves.
Speaker 2: As far back as I can remember, I felt like
Speaker 2: a nobody.
Speaker 1: I was a punk kid, lost with zero respect for
Speaker 1: myself or anyone else. But there was a deep craving
Speaker 1: inside me, a craving for recognition, for respect, for the
Speaker 1: feeling that I was someone. That seat of ambition burned hot,
Speaker 1: and when I was young, I was drawn to special operations.
Speaker 1: I figured if I could just meet their standards, if
Speaker 1: I joined an elite unit, then they'd have.
Speaker 2: To notice me. Then I'd matter. But let me tell
Speaker 2: you something. If that spark of desire to.
Speaker 1: Prove yourself is fueled only by external rewards, badges, uniforms, compliments,
Speaker 1: your tank will run empty faster than you think, because
Speaker 1: there will come a day when nobody notices how hard
Speaker 1: you work. There will be times when you believe you
Speaker 1: deserve that seat at the table, Yet all you're doing
Speaker 1: is serving those who got there first, even the ones
Speaker 1: who aren't as qualified as you. And you'll ask yourself,
Speaker 1: where's my invite? Why is no one pulling out a
Speaker 1: chair for me? Here's the cold truth. The greatest leaders
Speaker 1: I've ever seen weren't waiting on anyone to anoint them.
Speaker 1: They didn't wait to be recognized or be told they
Speaker 1: were special.
Speaker 2: They just were special.
Speaker 1: They commanded respect by the way they showed up every
Speaker 1: single day, no excuses, no disclaimers, no days off. I
Speaker 1: encountered one of these individuals in Air Assault school back
Speaker 1: in the day. It was a ten day crucible run
Speaker 1: by the Army known as the ten Hardest Days in
Speaker 1: the US Army. If you failed the initial physical test,
Speaker 1: you were out before the program even really started, and
Speaker 1: if you made it today one, you'd spend your next
Speaker 1: ten days humping rucks, hauling gear, mastering sling load tests,
Speaker 1: all under relentless physical and mental pressure.
Speaker 2: That's where I crossed paths with a man named Happened Connolly.
Speaker 2: On day zero.
Speaker 1: I noticed him only briefly, but on day one everything changed.
Speaker 1: Before dawn, we had to do a set of five
Speaker 1: and dimes, five pull ups, ten push ups every single
Speaker 1: time we passed under these metal arches. While everyone else
Speaker 1: was content to meet the standard five and ten, Connolly
Speaker 1: was still on that pull up bar. Long after we
Speaker 1: dropped back to the ground. He knocked out pull up
Speaker 1: after pull up, then he fell forward and punched out
Speaker 1: push up after push up. I was like, what the
Speaker 1: hell is he doing. He knew that same day we'd
Speaker 1: be pummeled with miles of running, weighted rucks and more
Speaker 1: upper body work. Yeah, he didn't care about the risk
Speaker 1: of burning out because his mentality was if you set
Speaker 1: a standard for me, fine, but my standard is higher.
Speaker 1: He didn't say one word to us. He never said
Speaker 1: look at me, I'm a badass. He just did the
Speaker 1: work silently and consistently. That was the first time I
Speaker 1: saw someone raise the bar so dramatically. It messed with
Speaker 1: my mind. I was used to being the standard. He
Speaker 1: was playing a whole different game. Most people love standards because.
Speaker 2: Standards keep us safe.
Speaker 1: There's something we can see, measure and check off the list.
Speaker 2: You want me to do.
Speaker 1: Five pull ups, great, I'll do my five and go home.
Speaker 2: But you can't stop at five.
Speaker 1: If you want to become elite, you have to dominate
Speaker 1: the standard. That's what Connolly showed us.
Speaker 2: Day in and day out. We'd line up.
Speaker 1: For a six mile rock march with our packs and
Speaker 1: the instructor said, you have ninety minutes to finish. Immediately,
Speaker 1: eight percent of the class started scheming how to walk
Speaker 1: for half of it and jog the rest because ninety
Speaker 1: minutes is plenty of time, right, But Connally took off
Speaker 1: like he was running for his life. He wasn't there
Speaker 1: to impress the instructors. He wasn't there to look cool
Speaker 1: for the rest of us. He was there to explore
Speaker 1: the absolute edge of his potential, and it messed with
Speaker 1: the entire group dynamic.
Speaker 2: We started in.
Speaker 1: A pack of five, but by the halfway mark he
Speaker 1: was gone, disappeared into the hills. When we finished, and
Speaker 1: we felt pretty good about ourselves because we'd beaten the
Speaker 1: official time who was waiting for us. Cracking out pull
Speaker 1: ups under the arches, Connolly, once again, he annihilated every expectation,
Speaker 1: as if the rules didn't apply to him. You'd think
Speaker 1: maybe he'd let off the gas at some point, but no.
Speaker 1: Ten days straight he never stopped pushing. He volunteered to
Speaker 1: be the first to do the dreaded sling low test
Speaker 1: some of the jams half the class because it's super precise,
Speaker 1: extremely technical, but he.
Speaker 2: Just stepped forward, smoked it, and walked away.
Speaker 1: From that day, I learned a valuable lesson The standard
Speaker 1: is a floor, not a ceiling, and if you truly
Speaker 1: want to be an outlier, you must bring a standard
Speaker 1: of your own that eclipses whatever the official rule book says.
Speaker 1: Otherwise you'll be just another face in the crowd, doing
Speaker 1: enough to get by, riding the bell curve into old
Speaker 1: age for a law time. I believe that leadership meant
Speaker 1: having people under you, wearing stripes on your uniform, or
Speaker 1: commanding an entire team.
Speaker 2: That's not leadership. That's a position, that's a title.
Speaker 1: True leadership can belong to anybody, regardless of rank, job, title,
Speaker 1: or status, because leadership is about influence, and the most
Speaker 1: powerful influence you can ever wield is the example you
Speaker 1: set every day.
Speaker 2: It's not about talking a good game.
Speaker 1: Plenty of bosses, teachers, coaches, politicians love to blow smoke,
Speaker 1: get pep talks, and hand out fancy mission statements, but.
Speaker 2: None of that matters if you're not following through with
Speaker 2: real action. People see through the hype.
Speaker 1: They see how you live, how you talk to your family,
Speaker 1: how you treat strangers when the cameras are off.
Speaker 2: That's where the real measure of a leader is revealed.
Speaker 1: If you can't lead yourself, if you can't adhere to
Speaker 1: your own code, why should anybody else trust you to
Speaker 1: lead them? When you're young, it's normal to look for validation.
Speaker 1: You want your teachers, or parents or mentors to say
Speaker 1: you did great, But you can't rely on that as
Speaker 1: your fuel forever because you'll never receive enough praise to
Speaker 1: fill the hole that insecurity leaves behind. The only way
Speaker 1: to fill that hole is to become your own damn hero,
Speaker 1: and that requires adopting an oath to self.
Speaker 2: For me, that oath is.
Speaker 1: Simple, live with a day, one week one mentality. Stay
Speaker 1: rooted in discipline, personal accountability, and humility. Never stop when
Speaker 1: I'm tired, stop only when I'm done. In a world
Speaker 1: of mediocrity. My mission is to become uncommon amongst the uncommon.
Speaker 1: I've memorize those lines. They guide me when I feel
Speaker 1: weak or aimless. Whenever the world gets chaotic and I
Speaker 1: start losing focus, I come back to that oath because
Speaker 1: if I can't live by those words every single day,
Speaker 1: then all my talk means nothing.
Speaker 2: I challenge you to write your own oath, your own
Speaker 2: personal creed that reflects the values.
Speaker 1: Commitments, and goals you stand for. Don't rely on your
Speaker 1: company's mission statement or a motivational quote you saw on
Speaker 1: social media. Dig down and figure out what you truly
Speaker 1: want to represent. It should be demanding. It should scare
Speaker 1: you a little because it demands that you show up
Speaker 1: at a higher level. That's a good thing because it
Speaker 1: forces you to grow. Leadership in the shadows is what
Speaker 1: I call it. The best leaders often aren't the ones
Speaker 1: in the spotlight. They're not always the CEOs or generals
Speaker 1: medals clanking on their chest. Sometimes they're the ones quietly
Speaker 1: outperforming the standard. They're the ones who arrive early, leave late,
Speaker 1: and never complain in between. They don't need to broadcast
Speaker 1: their achievements because their actions speak volumes. When you live
Speaker 1: like this, you automatically inspire others, whether you intend to
Speaker 1: or not. Most people are stuck in the middle of
Speaker 1: the pack. Law for an example of what greatness looks like.
Speaker 2: Be that example. Don't advertise it, just be it the right.
Speaker 1: People will notice, and even if they don't, it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter because you're not doing it for them.
Speaker 2: You're doing it for you. Here's what happens when you
Speaker 2: start living by your own oath. People will talk.
Speaker 1: They'll whisper he's obsessed or she's crazy because you're not
Speaker 1: playing the same game they're playing. They'll say, calm down, man,
Speaker 1: you're doing way too much.
Speaker 2: But let me tell you.
Speaker 1: There's no such thing as way too much. If you're
Speaker 1: in pursuit of your highest potential. Yes, have balance in
Speaker 1: your life. Spend time with family and friends, read good books,
Speaker 1: or do whatever nurtures your spirit. But never apologize for
Speaker 1: pushing yourself. Never shrink to make the people around you comfortable,
Speaker 1: because if you do, you're training them and yourself to
Speaker 1: accept mediocrity. And once theocrity sets in, it seeps into
Speaker 1: everything you do until you're left living a life of
Speaker 1: regrets and what ifs. Tell them I'm not crazy, I'm
Speaker 1: just not you. Then keep doing your thing. In order
Speaker 1: to maintain that relentless standard, you have to do a
Speaker 1: lot of unseen work. It's in those lonely hours, early mornings,
Speaker 1: late nights, at times when no one's checking on you
Speaker 1: that self leadership is forged. You're the only one holding
Speaker 1: yourself accountable, the only one who knows whether you skip
Speaker 1: the day or fake the workout.
Speaker 2: You can't hide from yourself.
Speaker 1: When the heat is on, your level of preparation becomes
Speaker 1: glaringly obvious.
Speaker 2: If you've been half assing your training, you'll fail.
Speaker 1: If you've been going above and beyond that secret hustle
Speaker 1: will shine through. That's why you never wait for orders, instructions,
Speaker 1: or deadlines to get started. If you're applying to a
Speaker 1: program or know there's a chance you might have to
Speaker 1: pass a test, start preparing now. Don't wait for the
Speaker 1: letter or the phone call. You can gain so much
Speaker 1: ground if you approach life with the mentality I'm already
Speaker 1: in trading, I'm already preparing. That's how you transform into
Speaker 1: someone who sees his opportunities.
Speaker 2: The instant they appear.
Speaker 1: Eventually, after enough time chasing the seat at the mythical table,
Speaker 1: I had a moment of clarity.
Speaker 2: I don't want to sit at your table. I want
Speaker 2: to build my own.
Speaker 1: That doesn't mean I became arrogant or anti authority. It
Speaker 1: means I stopped seeking approval from an establishment that was
Speaker 1: never going to see me the way I wanted to
Speaker 1: be seen.
Speaker 2: Once I made that shift, my life changed.
Speaker 1: Every training evolution, every challenge, course, every race became my
Speaker 1: personal crucible for growth. Instead of asking how do I
Speaker 1: stack up against others? I asked how do I crush
Speaker 1: my own limitations today? Because when you orient your life
Speaker 1: around that question, you stop comparing yourself to the crowd
Speaker 1: are comparing yourself to your own previous best, and that's
Speaker 1: how you become uncommon amongst the uncommon.
Speaker 2: Before we wrap this up, let me ask you who
Speaker 2: do you want to become and what do you want
Speaker 2: to stand for.
Speaker 1: If you can't answer that in a single sentence, your
Speaker 1: oath is still unformed.
Speaker 2: You owe it to yourself to fine that clarity. So
Speaker 2: take some time. Lock yourself away, if you have.
Speaker 1: To, turn off your phone, Get a notebook and write
Speaker 1: down the values that matter to you. Write down the
Speaker 1: standards you want to embody. Be honest with yourself, even
Speaker 1: brutally so, and craft a personal creed that demands your best,
Speaker 1: committed to memory. Recite it every morning, and hold yourself
Speaker 1: to it in every choice you make. Don't let it
Speaker 1: become empty words on a page. Let it guide your
Speaker 1: actions until it's woven into your character. Once you have
Speaker 1: your oath, you won't need anyone else to lead you.
Speaker 1: Your ambition and discipline will become a self sustaining engine,
Speaker 1: powered by your own desire to see just how far
Speaker 1: you can go. That's when you truly become unstoppable. Look
Speaker 1: around at the world, Look at how many people accept
Speaker 1: mediocre as the norm. Look at how many people are
Speaker 1: willing to do just enough, punch the clock, earn their paycheck,
Speaker 1: and wait for their retirement. Is that the life you
Speaker 1: want for yourself? Or do you want to become the
Speaker 1: kind of person who blazes a new trail, sets a
Speaker 1: standard that most people can't even see, and becomes a
Speaker 1: silent force that lists everyone else higher. The choice is yours,
Speaker 1: and it's not easy. Your family might think you're crazy,
Speaker 1: your friends might whisper behind your back. But when you
Speaker 1: commit to self leadership, you realize you don't need that
Speaker 1: mythical invitation. You don't need anyone else to give you
Speaker 1: permission to be great. You can build a standard so
Speaker 1: high it scares you and become the kind of outlier
Speaker 1: who makes everyone else step up their I'm challenging you
Speaker 1: today to become that person. The person who shows up
Speaker 1: ready no matter what, because they live by a code
Speaker 1: stronger than any mission statement or organizational creed.
Speaker 2: The person who pushes past.
Speaker 1: The standard day in and day out until the rest
Speaker 1: of the world has no choice but to notice. And
Speaker 1: still you won't need their recognition because you've been leading
Speaker 1: yourself the whole time.
Speaker 2: So as you leave here, Ask yourself, what am I
Speaker 2: living for? What oath do I swear by?
Speaker 1: Once you lock in those answers, I promise you you
Speaker 1: will never be lost again because you'll be following your
Speaker 1: own compass, guided by the highest standard you can envision.
Speaker 2: Stand up, be your own hero, be your own leader.
Speaker 1: Write your own oath, and watch your life transform into
Speaker 1: something you never dream possible. Don't just meet the standard,
Speaker 1: smash it become uncommon amongst the uncommon.
Speaker 2: There's no better way to live. Now, go out there
Speaker 2: and make it happen.