“All greatness comes out of investment”

 This entry was posted on Thursday, June 7th, 2018 at 5:53 pm


“I have a belief that all human greatness is founded upon routine, that truly great human behavior is impossible without this central part of your life being set up and governed by routine. All greatness comes out of an investment in time and the perfection of skills that render you great. And so, show me almost any truly great person in the world who exhibits some kind of extraordinary skills, and I’ll show you a person whose life is governed largely by routine.” (John Danaher – Excerpt from The Way of the Fight by Georges St. Pierre)

John Danaher, the man that this quote is attributed too, has been acknowledged by many in the martial arts community as being a master and brain of the art of jiu-jitsu. Danaher is a highly intelligent individual, who has a Master’s degree in philosophy from Columbia University, and is totally focused on evolution and improvement.

The reason I talk so much about jiu-jitsu is that I have never faced such a challenging physical and mental task such as this in which I did not give up. Jiu-Jitsu is my analogy for what I deem as the perfect life circumstance, and one man’s goal to learn how to persevere and not give up. You fail, you struggle, you have no clue how to overcome, yet you continually keep trying……you keep showing up. That is part of my newfound discipline (i.e. routine).

It is this routine that I have attempted to make more commonplace in all areas of my life. Although I struggle with many areas, I can see tangible differences when I incorporate the discipline / routine I choose to enact within my daily challenges. I want to be good (let’s be honest, I want to be great), whether in my personal or professional life. In order to do so, I have to recognize that what I can control is the investment in time and the development of the skills necessary to achieve whatever I have deemed as “great.” This is why I chase that which is fascinating to me, typically found in people.

Do you want to be good……. errrr, great?

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