By Lcid Crescent Fernandez
“And when we put every last ounce of sweat, grit, and toughness into whatever challenge lies in front of us, we build something inside that’s stronger than iron.” – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
This is an excerpt from Under Armour’s “Build the Belief” campaign for their Project Rock apparel collection. It’s a campaign I have all new marketing strategists and interns study for insights, but the message of the campaign itself really resonates with me.
The Rock’s story is quite well-known by now. He was cut from the Canadian Football League after failing to reach the NFL. He moved back with his parents with $7 in his pocket. He had hit rock bottom. At that point, he didn’t know if he had anything else he could do in his life. He had been so focused on becoming a football player. All his friends were already in the NFL, while he felt like he was left behind. That’s when he decided to become a professional wrestler, but he had a ways away before he could even make it to the WWF.
And yet, he became Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, one of the highest grossing Hollywood actors of all time.
Rock bottom taught him lessons about himself and allowed him to build his fortitude to start getting some wins while he slowly made his way to the success he is today. He never knew that he would become one of the most recognizable entertainers of our generation, but he had the beginnings of a spark that he could be. And he built that belief every day, with every win and every loss.
See there’s this misconception that people have: that the process is different depending on whether you win or lose. These moments of success or failure are then things that we use to judge ourselves. However, these moments are just moments. Today is just for today. Now is just for now. Tomorrow, the process is the same: we look at what we were able or unable to do well and we get better. Simple and plain. Win or lose, we get up the next day and get better.
So what happens when you achieve something? People ask me that all the time. The answer is simple. You use that achievement and everything you learned to build the next achievement. You go back and you climb the next hill, and take on the next challenge, try and achieve that next goal. You’re stronger now. You’re smarter. You’ve grown. You don’t know if you’ll succeed but what you do know is that you can take the results, and come back stronger. Build the unshakable belief that you can take it and get back up not as some affirmation, but as fact. You know this to be true because you’ve done it before. YOU HAVE TAKEN IT.
You’ve failed, but you kept going.
You’ve won, and you kept going.
Whether any single endeavor is a failure or a success, it does not define you. The story continues. YOUR story continues. It keeps going so you have to keep going. And it starts with building something that’s stronger than iron: belief.
It’s all about mindset; How you talk to and view yourself in your journey to be a better you. Every monday, we’re going to talk about getting better.
