Imagine a brand new Ferrari. It has a 950 horsepower V-12 engine and will go from 0-60 mph in less than three seconds. Everything about it is designed for speed. Top speed is over 200 mph and it can stop almost on a dime.
Now take the spark plugs out of the engine. What do you have?
You have a very expensive paperweight. Even my little four-cylinder Honda CR-V could out run it.
Last night I took my sons to the local high school for a “Meet the athletes” night. I looked at the student-athletes sitting on the gym floor and thought about their upcoming season. Being a former student-athlete, I know how hard their schedules are right now. They have to balance their school work and practice. It will be hard work. Then I thought about the kids with less talent that’ll out achieve the kids with more ability. They’ll be the Honda CR-Vs that’ll outrun the Ferraris. Why? They have the spark.
What’s the spark? Motivation. The spark plug that fires our internal engine. The thing that moves us forward even when we don’t necessarily want to.
You can get the spark from external sources. A boss. A coach. Anger. Fear. Praise. Criticism. Your friends. Your spouse. All are like sugar highs that can push you hard — for a little while. But I’ve discovered (the hard way) that an external spark is fleeting at best. Bosses, coaches, friends and spouses can be amazing motivators — but believe me, it can be devastating when they are discouraging.
The spark has to come from inside.
I’ve seen it with dieters. They didn’t lose weight until they decided to lose weight for themselves and not for others.
If you want to see a good movie about a person with internal spark, watch Rudy. Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger wasn’t even a Honda CR-V. He was a Ford Pinto running with Ferraris. He managed to play for Notre Dame and was the first person from his family to get a college education. He overcame great odds because he had passion.
What can kill your spark? Fear of failure. Fear of success. Depression. External discouragement. Bad news. Laziness. Disorganization. Poor self-esteem. For years, I’d procrastinate just to get enough adrenaline to get up the motivation to do my work. Trust me, that doesn’t scream quality. Steven Pressfield’s amazing book The War of Art explains what was happening to me perfectly. He calls it the Resistance and it is the part of your brain that holds you back to “protect” you. I fight the Resistance every single day.
How? I’m changing my fouled spark plugs. I am creating a framework to make sure I don’t become the Ferrari without the spark plugs. I’m setting goals and sticking to a pretty rigid daily schedule. I’m cutting the Resistance out of my life. I’m determined to succeed for all the right reasons. For reasons that are in my heart.
I’m probably closer to my Honda CR-V than a Ferrari. I’ll run until my wheels fall off. But I’ll be the little CR-V that could. All because of the spark.