Kay:

Hey Questers and welcome back once again! It’s Thursday, November 19th and this is episode 229. We have a really cool Arnold Schwarzenegger quote for you today from the bodybuilder, Austrian American businessman, former politician, (oh yeah! I kind of forgot he was our governor for a while huh?!)…Anyways this highly qualified, incredible gentleman has an awesome piece of advice for us today and it might surprise you…

Shi:

He tells us, “The last three or four reps are what make the muscle grow. This area of pain divides a champion from someone who is not a champion.”

Shi:

Now, this is an excellent quote – clearly a fitness quote though. And it also applies to others. But before we get into it we have to just first tell you our dad loves Arnold Schwarzenegger and we kind of grew up with him.

Kay:

Oh, a thousand percent grew up with Arnold in her house be it The Terminator or The Christmas Movie jingle all the way. Our dad loved Arnold. And so, by de facto, we do too!

Shi:

Yes, we do and one of the things that I love so much about Arnold’s story and his journey is really this iteration of you know – if you know anything about his story of starting in Austria as a scrawny guy who really had no confidence. So, he decides to go out for wrestling and weightlifting to build his confidence and strength and he starts to and then he says “I want to be the champion of the world.” And kind of everyone laughs at him but he puts posters up in his room, he comes to America, he works really hard, and he ultimately fulfills that goal like – not just once – but like three times! And then he says “I want to be an actor” and everyone says well you’re crazy and so he does bodybuilding in the day then he works a job in the evening and he goes to acting class from like nine to midnight. He works, he sleeps for like five hours, and gets up and does it all again…and then he has this amazing acting career! And then he says ‘I want to go into politics’ and everyone says you’re crazy and he AGAIN does it! And he works diligently and methodically and anything that he has put his focus on he’s been able to do and I think that this piece of advice right here is one of the key reasons why he’s been able to do that.

Kay:

Well, I think a lot of people think that getting in the whatever bare minimum check mark box is enough – and it is. Look, if all you can get out of yourself today is that 30 minute workout then that’s all you can get but if you’re really looking to grow and to gain and to multiply yourself like Arnold did then it means going just past that point of comfort-ability into the growth zone. And that’s not just applicable when it comes to working out this is applicable to anything. I mean the difference between like the 1% and the point .01% is a massive amount of dollars. But the difference in the execution of those people is actually pretty slight. People who are excellent only do like two percent more than the people who are great. And so, from great to excellent imagine the quality of life that compounds out of that with just a very little bit more effort that goes into it.

Shi:

One of the really helpful ways that we’ve heard this described is the two millimeter shift – which is all it takes to land a golf ball from a sand bar to a hole in one. It’s a two millimeter shift in how you’re holding that golf club and those are the two millimeter shifts that we’re looking to make in our life if we’re looking to grow or achieve something. In other words, we’ve got to do what Arnold tells us here and make that two millimeter shift. It’s something so small, but say you did the 10 out of 10 steps, right? But the person who’s going to beat you or make it is going to do the 11 or 12…And if you’ve already done 10 what’s another two? Well, they’re the hardest two because that’s when you’re the most tired, and it’s when it hurts the most. If growth happens outside of our comfort zone that’s when we’re most outside of our comfort zone. And physically it’s sometimes easier to swallow. Like, “okay I get it like four more reps.” But mentally when you’re trying something new for the first time, or doing something that you’re still getting used to, and you’ve done the bare minimum, or you’ve met the requirement – it’s really easy to say, “well I met the requirement” or, “I can be done now because that requirement and that base level is there.” But that area of pain is those couple of reps, that little bit extra, that two millimeter shift, is what Arnold is telling us divides the champion from someone who’s not a champion. And if we want to be a champion we’ve got to give just that little bit extra.

Kay:

To take this out of the personal realm and just bring it into maybe like a business example for you guys, I want to give a quick example of something that happened while we were staying at the Disney Grand Californian hotel. Now, we were on our way to Disney about two years ago when my daughter (six months old at the time) lost her pacifier – the last Passy we’ve got. The ONLY Passy that is on our trip. And sleeping thoroughly in a new environment really kind of hinges on this pacifier. And so, when we got to the hotel I had asked the managers, “hey I’m having a pacifier delivered here via amazon. We paid to have it rushed overnight.” And the manager said, “Nope! You know, at a mailing center everything needs to be processed and it takes 72 hours.” And I’m like, “oh my kid can’t sleep.” Like you’re telling me my kid’s not going to be able to sleep? And Disney pulled the above and beyond (that two millimeters!) and sent a person down there, went to the mailroom, found the Passy, brought the Passy, and got it to our room just in time! But it’s those little, attention to detail steps that separate a champion of a company like Disney and your regular old best western down the street. (Not to say that the best western isn’t a great company!), but when we’re thinking about champions in the hospitality area Disney often comes to the top of mind.

Shi:

I love that you brought in that business distinction here and really talked about if you want to be a champion in business, in your personal life, in a relationship, and in all the realms of reality. You know, as one of our mentors Roddy Galbraith says, “It doesn’t take more to be a great speaker but it does take more it takes a little bit more.” So, giving that “little bit more” to be the champion is what it takes. Now, you might just say, “I don’t want to be the champion. I just want to be really good, right?” Or, I want to be excellent at something. You know, when Kay and I first got into the personal growth and development space (as a lot of people do) you look at someone up there doing what Tony Robbins does and you go, “I want to do that I want to do that!” I mean, I don’t think you can argue that Tony isn’t the champion when it comes to personal growth and development. But as we’ve gotten farther down the path and observed what his schedule looks like and gotten to know a little bit more about the industry and what the back end looks like we’ve actually said, “You know what, I don’t want to be a champion at that.”

Kay:

I’m super good on being the champion of that.

Shi:

Yeah, I’m good at being good. Like I would love to be one of the greats, but I don’t need to be a champion. So it’s okay to make that decision too. It’s still going to take a lot of work to get to great. But I’m not ready to give up that much pain and those extra reps to be at the level that Tony Robbins plays at. And so, sometimes it’s okay in knowing that too, but understanding where you are and what it takes to get you where you want to go is always a smart step in the direction towards what it is that you’re trying to achieve. So, to remind you of what today’s quest is, from Arnold Schwarzenegger, he tells us, “The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides a champion from someone who is not a champion.”

Kay:

Alrighty gang, so, in honor of the Terminator himself, we have a Schwarzenegger quest for you today! And that is to do 20 push-ups, okay? It’s an easy quest but it’s one that the terminator himself would be proud of! And, if 20 feel easy to you, we want to challenge you today to be a champion and push for just a few more. Are you ready?

Kay and Shi:

Let’s quest!