About a week or so ago, I stumbled upon an entertaining interview with retired NFL running back Marshawn Lynch on 60 MINUTES SPORTS. One particular segment of the video resonated with me.
Lynch described his methodology for problem solving, handling adversity, reaching his goals, getting to the next step and … winning; “Run through somebody's face. A lot of people won’t be able to take that, over and over and over … and over again.”
Lots of people shared this video because his bluntness and banter in the interview was comical, but I saw something else — Truth. With capital “T.”
Think about it; Lynch’s methodology can be applied to many situations. I have seen it work time and time again in business, romance, personal relationships. The list goes on longer than Lynch’s number of 1,000+ yard rushing seasons.
- Completing a project
- Bringing a product to market
- Asking for a raise
- Getting a date
- Raising startup capital
- Getting them to sign on the line which is dotted!
In a recent chat with Chamath Palihapitiya, he got pretty fired up about my politically correct response to one of our driver policies:
“F that James! That shouldn't be a reason for why you don't capitalise on a huge segment of your driver base!” Palihapitiya said emphatically. The entire time, I was thinking, “I know Chamath, you just wait…”
Another common misinterpretation of this philosophy, whether personally or professionally, is taking it and becoming a bull in a china shop. That completely misses the point. Sometimes it’s as simple as not being overly pragmatic and making a decision that quietly pushes your chips to the center of the table.
I see extremely intelligent people paralyse themselves by falling into the weeds on a single decision….when they could have made several decisions, mistakes and learned from them. More importantly — they could have made progress. Instead, the world passed them by while less intelligent and more confident people made shit happen.
The underlying message, from both Marshawn Lynch and me: keep pressing forward, don't give a shit what anyone else thinks, and don't give up. It is easy to be a pushover, but when you run through some motherf#¢%ers face, it commands respect and attention. By the time it gets around to evoking a reaction, you are already on to the next one.