Come Home With It Or On It.

In Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield writes, “The Spartans say that any army may win while it still has legs under it; the real test comes when all strength is fled and the men must produce victory on will alone.” Know me for any length of time and you will find that I love reading about the Spartans. I appreciate the training, the discipline and the “at all costs” mentality. It fascinates me really. Consider what was “normal” for these Spartans in society. When born, if a male looked weak, he was left out to die from exposure.  At the age of 7 they were taken from their mothers and assigned to a “pack” with other boys. They were made to walk around barefoot with only a cloak for dress and learned to endure hardship. For the most part they were taught military tactics but also were exposed to reading, to poetry and the arts. At the age of 18, they were considered “adults” and assigned to a military unit. They remained constantly training for battle and all that went with it until the age of 30 when they would be sent out on military campaigns. Their mothers would give them a shield with the words “Come home with it or on it.” 

It sounds extreme doesn’t it? But for them it was normal. I wonder what our “normal” is? For most people that know me well, I’m considered “extreme” in comparison to others. I read something new just about every day. I write every day. I train my body every day through running or strength training. I strive to learn something new that adds to my life every day. I try to eat clean every day. I try to impact someone every day. My mentality is we were never given the promise that life would be easy or even comfortable, so we might as well show up and be ready for anything. 

When I began training for tennis when I was a junior, I had a coach that always pushed me to do better than I did the day before. My “good” never seemed to be good enough. It seemed I would get right to the verge of doing better and I would shrink back and whine about how hard it was. I remember being in so many matches where I was down, I’d come close to coming back and my opponent would pull away again and end up winning the match. I’ll never forget my coach talking to me after one of these matches, he said “don’t worry about it, maybe “just ok” is good enough for you”. That’s all he had to say…I thought about what he said, reflected on my training and asked myself if that’s what I thought about who I was. I made a decision to choose to be better than “just ok” and I would do whatever it took to get there. 

I trained harder, I ate better and I made a choice to cross the mental threshold in my mind to get to the next level. My opportunity came in a match that began just like those before. I was behind early, it usually took me a set to warm up. I began coming back and like clock work, my opponent went into their next gear. Normally, I would have caved. I would have stared at the mountain in front of me and thought it was too steep to climb. But, not this time. I considered my training, I thought about my fitness, I remembered all the situational sets I had played leading up to this and I decided it was worth it to fight with everything I had. It would’ve been a great ending to tell you I won the match, but I didn’t. What I gained though was the realization that I battled. I battled with my physicality and when all that was gone, I battled because I had a will to win. Though I didn’t have a w that day for beating my opponent, I had a w that day that would carry forward for the rest of my life. 

Yes, that day as I set foot on the tennis court, I decided to “come home with it or on it” and every day we all get to choose. It sounds crazy I know, but I’m “extreme” remember? Whether in business or in life, consider what your mental threshold is and dare yourself to cross that boundary. And, when your legs are done and you physically have nothing left, allow your will to produce your victory for you. We may not have been raised in such harsh conditions but I think we can all find a little “Spartan” in each of us.