You do the work. You put in the hours. You invest the sweat.
Sometimes, you win. And other times, you lose.
But the product of your work matters much less than the process you go through to achieve it. That was my takeaway from our 90-Day BodyByVi Jiu Jitsu Challenge.
It was an amazing and stretching experience of moving outside of my comfort zone, learning a new skill, and applying it within 90 days.
Moving Past Disappointment
One thing I try to remember is challenge brings change. But things don’t always end up how you want them to. I learned new skills within the 90 day challenge, but it didn’t quite pan out as I imagined it would (find out why in the clip above).
But still, it was an incredible success. Our core team earned 14 medals in the tournament, and we inspired hundreds of people across the country to new levels of discipline. How can you frame that as anything besides a win?
On a personal level, though, this challenge taught me that in all pursuits, its much more important to focus on inputs than outputs. Because you can control the former, but you can’t always control the latter.
I put in the work, I learned the skills, I dedicated myself to the 90 day challenge. But in the end, I lost my first match. Failure? Absolutely not.
The name of the game is challenge and change. If I measured myself on whether I won my matches, I would have set myself up for major disappointment. I can only control my own training, my own determination, my own discipline. The rest is about giving everything you have and letting the chips fall where they may.
I control my own process. If I focus solely on the end product I’m setting myself up for disappointment.
You can make hundreds of sales calls. But you can’t control which ones you convert. You can invest the money, but you can’t control the return.
Consider these final two thoughts as you as you begin your day, your next challenge, or your next business venture:
First, in life, focus on the right processes, and the products will take care of themselves.
Second, in your pursuits, do you have more of a process focus or a product focus?
Our team did outstanding int he Jiu Jitsu Challenge. It was tough, it was nerve-wracking, but it was awesome to stretch ourselves, to reach into the horizon and grab a little bit more light a little further out. That’s where I always want to be. Reaching for daylight in the infinite horizon.
Keep up to date with my process on Facebook!
You can watch our entire Jiu Jitsu Challenge.
Here are the links that chronicle our incredible journey as we learn new skills and put them to the test: