Getting After It

072: Lessons from Winston Churchill's Resilience and Adaptability

• Brett Rossell • Season 3 • Episode 72

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"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never." Those words from Winston Churchill set the stage for an episode packed with powerful lessons in resilience and adaptability.

Broadcasting from Nashville, we're diving into Churchill's fascinating life—from his aristocratic origins and early academic struggles to his unwavering confidence and drive to improve. I’ll share some personal stories and experiences to illuminate why Churchill's relentless pursuit of his goals and his ability to adapt make him an enduring figure for anyone striving for greatness.

In this episode, we’ll recount Churchill's bold adventures across various battlefields—Cuba, India, and South Africa, including his daring escape during the Boer War.

Quotes like, "I am so conceited..." and "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it," show just how confident he was. Despite political setbacks, like his fall after the Gallipoli campaign, Churchill's resilience never wavered. We’ll examine his pivotal role as Prime Minister during World War II, focusing on critical moments like the Nazi invasion of France, and how he turned failures into stepping stones for success.

We'll also talk about how Churchill's motivational speeches during World War II, such as "give us the tools and we will finish the job," can inspire our personal ambitions today.

Drawing parallels between historical events like the evacuation of Dunkirk and our daily challenges, we’ll underscore the importance of small, consistent efforts and maintaining a positive mindset.

Follow on Instagram: @bcrossell

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I hope you've enjoyed today's discussion and that it's ignited a fire within you to pursue your dreams and embrace your true potential. (If it was helpful, share it with someone you think could benefit.)

If you're hungry for motivation, personal development, and career insights, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform. I try to have a diverse lineup of guests, each with their own unique stories and experiences to share.

Remember, this podcast is all about you—the dreamers and the doers. I'm here to provide a platform where your voice can be heard, where you can find inspiration, and where you can learn from the journeys of others who have dared to chase their dreams.

If you are interested in being a guest, reach out.

I appreciate your support, let's connect on social media. Follow us on Instagram (@gettingafterit_) to stay updated on new episodes and behind-the-scenes content.

Remember, your dreams are within reach. You just have to decide to Get After It.

Speaker 1:

Listen to what he says in the beginning. This is the lesson Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never In. Nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in. Getting after it is a lifetime effort. You're always going to be learning how to change. You're always going to be adapting to change. You're always going to be adapting. Getting after it means you're pursuing greatness. It means you're expecting the best from yourself. You're asking the best of yourself. All right, welcome back to the podcast. I'm coming to. You live from Nashville.

Speaker 1:

Today I am taking the trip with my lovely wife, allie, and we decided, hey, why not go to Nashville, because it's a place we've always wanted to and it just seemed like a fun thing. So we've been doing some cool stuff. We went to go see Zach Bryan, who Allie and I both love, and all this other things. But just visiting the town, hanging out, and I realized, hey, you know what Still got to get the podcast on, got some good content coming for you guys and hopefully you learned something from this one, because today it's all about Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill, I've been talking about him a lot on this and recently it's just gotten a little bit more interesting for me to learn about his past life and for those of you who aren't even familiar with Winston Churchill Winston Churchill, he played a pivotal role in World War Two, but he was a huge leadership guy, right, he knew how to grab people's attention, help them like, get excited and all focused on the same end goal. And it's interesting like I love this guy because the other part is his life is a testament of resilience and adaptability. He faced numerous personal and professional setbacks throughout his entire life, yet he continuously reinvented himself and maintained his momentum forward in achieving his goals and getting after it. This podcast is all aimed about helping you achieve your goals, and so, looking at someone like Winston Churchill, who's had so many different experiences where he's had to be resilient, he's had to learn how to adapt, he's had to face so many different personal and professional setbacks, which we'll go into a little bit in this, but he always found ways to adapt to his changing circumstances. He was able to inspire others during that and persist through adversity, and so that's why I think it makes him a powerful example for anyone trying to achieve their goals.

Speaker 1:

And if this goes well, if it's received well, if you guys like this kind of content. I think it could be cool to do a way where I'm every week studying a different person and then doing a podcast on them about lessons that we can learn, and I want to kick it off with this. So he has this quote. Lots of quotes are going to be in this, but the first one I want to talk about is he says to improve is to change. So to be perfect is to change. Often that sounds pretty simplistic, right, like, okay, if you want to improve, then you need to change. It's a lot easier said than done, but it is the truth. If you want to get better, there's things that you're going to have to change, and Winston Churchill's life is all about that. So let's jump into this.

Speaker 1:

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill that's his full name. He was born into the aristotic family of the Dukes of Marlborough. So this guy he's born in this very rich family, like very highly known, and his dad was the Duke of Marlborough, his father, lord Randolph Churchill. He was part of the conservative party, wow and his mom was an American Harris. So he just was born into prominence. And it's interesting because, like, even though he's born into prominence, you'll see throughout this podcast and, um, during some of these stories that he always tries to seek ways to improve himself, and it doesn't matter where he's at Like, he wants to make sure that he's always doing what he can to take the challenging route. And Winston Churchill might be one of the most confident young men or people that the world has ever seen. He had unbelievable confidence in himself, and we'll talk about that a lot. But something else to note is that he's he struggled and doesn't take long. So during Churchill's early education he was marked by his poor academic performance and behavioral issues. So I was curious about this and so I did some research on what was Churchill like when he was a kid, what was he like when he was in school and what can we learn from it.

Speaker 1:

So this part, I think, is interesting. This is from the Lerman Institute. It says in many ways young Churchill was a brat. He was rambunctious and willful, a prankster and a conscientious nonconformist. Even Churchill understood that his own bullheadedness tried his teachers and stimulated his advancement. This is Churchill talking.

Speaker 1:

My teachers saw me, at once backward and precocious, reading books beyond my years, and yet at the bottom of the form they were offended. They had large resources of compulsion at their disposal. But I was stubborn. Where my reason, imagination or interest were not engaged, I would not or I could not learn. Bomb dropped, freaking Churchill. That's the first bomb he drops, by the way, before we get into World War II. That's the first one he drops. I'm just kidding.

Speaker 1:

But listen to that last part. I think this is where a lot of people struggle with finding goals, finding things they're interested in. And you know you're in school, you're not doing as well as other people. You start calling yourself hey, I'm stupid. Winston Churchill was called stupid, he was not doing well in school and he had a bunch of behavioral issues.

Speaker 1:

But listen to this last part, where my reason, imagination or interest were not engaged, I would not or I could not learn. So what is he saying there? He's basically saying if he wasn't interested in the subject, he's not going to focus on it and try and learn it, and he's going to go learn things that he's interested in, which is exactly what Paul Graham said in his essay how to Do Great Work, and I quoted it on this. So here's what Paul Graham says about the same thing. So there's a kind of curiosity. That's both the engine and the rudder of great work. It will not only drive you but, if you let it have its way, will also show you what to work on.

Speaker 1:

What are you excessively curious about? Curious to a degree that would bore most other people? That's what you're looking for. Once you've found something you're excessively interested in, the next step is to learn enough about it to get you to one of the frontiers of knowledge. Knowledge expands fracturally, and from a distance its edges look smooth, but once you learn enough to get close to one, they turn out to be full of gaps.

Speaker 1:

He's saying the same thing Churchill was saying. He's saying what are you excessively curious about? Curious to a degree that most people wouldn't care about. So for me, you know I talk so much about running and most people hate running. That's the truth. Like, everyone seems to think that's a death sentence when you know you started the PE line and they're like OK, we're going to do a mile today. People hate running, but I love it, and so I'm excessively curious about running. I'm excessively curious about testing my limits and seeing what that limit is, and it's brought me to so many different paths. And it goes back to that quote I talked about last week from my dad. When he's visiting up here he says you know, I think you should set a goal and see where it takes you. And so if you're interested about something, people are telling you not to listen to it or not to research it. Don't listen to them, listen to yourself, listen to your interests. Don't listen to them, listen to yourself, Listen to your interests, because you'll also see.

Speaker 1:

In Churchill's life he was told by so many of his peers to stop what he was doing, to not pursue his political careers, and from an early age he had this goal where he knew he was going to be the prime minister of Great Britain at some point. And it's just kind of interesting, he had this belief from such an early age and that's part of the reason why he's like sought out for difficult tasks and things to accomplish. Keep in mind, winston churchill was born into one of the richest families in europe, so he had every right to just kind of take it easy, just study in school, like not really challenge himself. But he knew that he wanted to be the prime minister, and so one of the first things that he does is he enrolls. His determination led him to the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst, where he graduated eighth out of a class of 150. So he takes something he's interested in, like politics, the military, and he comes eighth out of 150 people in his class, which is another testament that if you're interested in something you can probably do a lot better off than most people. And you should pursue that, because that's how innovation happens. The things that you're interested in, you can find the gaps that Paul Graham was talking about. Like turns out, you'll find out that whatever field you go into is full of gaps, and so you might be the one to fill it. But you have to follow that interest and it might be scary, it might be hard, you might offend some people if your interest doesn't agree with their idea of what your life should be, but that's fine. You don't have to live up to anyone's expectations except your own. So one thing that I wanted to note about Churchill is his unwavering confidence from an early age, like I mentioned in the beginning. But since he had a goal to become the Prime Minister of Great Britain everything that he did reflected that goal, his actions that he would take. He would take one step closer to his goal.

Speaker 1:

And Winston Churchill goes and he fights in a bunch of different wars. He saw action in Cuba. He saw action in India and South Africa when he was fighting the Boer Wars. He actually became a POW in one of the Boer Wars as a war correspondent, so kind of crazy. But he's going to the battle, he goes to lots of battlefields and he says this quote about himself that I really I love this one. I tell this all the time, but here it is. I am so conceited. I do not believe the gods would create so potent a being as myself for so prosaic and ending. And that was a quote about him not being able to be killed in combat. Pretty much Like he's like hey the gods, they wouldn't waste their time on someone like me to be killed in combat. That's what he's saying here. So super conceited. And to take it one step further, there's stories of him in these different battles that he's in. One time he was trying to really stand out to the enemy because he wanted the enemy to know that he was their leader and so he got some white pony and he's riding this white pony. Everyone else is like obviously, like Winston's, he's sore thumb. He's like sticking out pretty strong. The other thing that's interesting is, too like there's another story of him grabbing some red Scarlet flag on the battlefield and just holding it. So people knew that he was different, and this is another quote that I think is amazing about the confidence that he had in himself.

Speaker 1:

History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it. Winston Churchill said history will be kind to me for I intend to write it. That's dope, like. Think about that. Like you're worried about the goals that you're pursuing, you're worried about the things that you're doing. Are you going to make a difference in the world? I don't know. But if you firmly believe it, like Winston Churchill did, your actions will reflect that, because otherwise you're just lying to yourself and that's not going to get you anywhere. So you have to take action based on these thoughts.

Speaker 1:

But Churchill knew that he was going to write history because he was going to become the prime minister of Great Britain and change things. But going back to the fact that he always found the difficult path to pursue, when he went down that road, he had every right to take it easy. He was a son of a Duke, but instead he wanted to challenge himself and actively began to seek out this discomfort for himself. So that's the first thing I want to mention about Winston Churchill that I think we can learn from is no matter what happens in our lives, if you're struggling, if you're going after something difficult, it will produce good fruits in the end if it's a good goal. There's obviously times when you need to adapt your goals and change your goals, but there's also times when you just need to double down and get the work done. It really depends on how bad you want it, how far along the journey you are, and a bunch of other factors go into it. But I think that's the most important one is how bad do you want it? Because if you want it bad enough, your actions will reflect that. And we're going to start talking about Winston Churchill going into power.

Speaker 1:

So he escaped from being a POW during the second Boer War. He made this crazy escape where he like jumped on the train and he was hiding in a compartment for three days and he had this whole idea in his head where he's like OK, well, I'm going to use this escape, like this giant, daring escape, to help me in my politics, like I want to. I want it to help me advance in my political career. And so he comes back and he's telling his story to everybody. People are like, oh yeah, like, let's go.

Speaker 1:

Winston churchill's a war hero and that's what he wanted. He wanted to be seen as a war hero in everyone's eyes so he could use it in his game. But it turned out to be in his favor, because in 1990, he was actually elected as part of the conservative party and from there quickly advanced through his political career and then he bounces around quite a bit. So, like, first example is he had some pretty progressive views on social reform and so he switched to the liberal party in 1904. So that's one thing that he realized pretty quickly too is like hey, the conservatives don't agree with this. I'm shifting over to the liberal party. By the way, back then conservatives and liberals were very different from what they are today. So I wouldn't be covering Winston Churchill if he was a liberal of today, not saying that liberals are bad, just saying anyways.

Speaker 1:

So he had all these different roles where he was trying to become the prime minister, um, and so he's working through his political career and turns out when he's 45, they actually kick him out of office. Um, this, like the failure of the gallup poly campaign during world war one, led to his um, eventual political downfall, but he rebounded by serving on the western front and later as minister of munitions. So that sucks like. People are like starting to call him out because they're like, hey, you failed, um, during World War I. What's going on? You're not this prominent political figure that you say you are, and so he actually gets pushed out. And it's kind of like the story of Steve Jobs and Apple, when Apple actually kicked him out as CEO and then eventually Steve Jobs comes back.

Speaker 1:

Steve Jobs comes back, but at age 45, he's no longer the, he's not on the same trajectory as he has been. He's kind of lost that momentum, but he doesn't stop, he always keeps on going. And here's this quote from him Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. And we're going to talk about a couple of things, but I'm going to skip some of the in-between sections here and just jump into his leadership as Prime Minister of Great Britain, excuse me, especially during the time where it was critical because Nazi Germany just invaded France and they were starting to threaten Great Britain. And so, may 10th 1940, churchill is appointed the prime minister, and I think this is an amazing story. So keep in mind he still has enemies. He is not loved by lots of people in Great Britain at this time. It's not until he steps up and he leads the country during Nazi Germany's rule that he gains the credibility that he needed in order to maintain that momentum of inspiring the country and just keeping everyone engaged.

Speaker 1:

So his very first speech as prime minister was called Blood, toil, tears and Sweat, and this set the tone for his wartime leadership. And before the speech, half of everyone in I'll call them the cabinet I think it might be the House of Commerce or whatever, but House of Commons, I think that's what it is. But half of the people are telling him just give up, we need to surrender to Germany, like there's no way we're ever going to win this. And the other half are saying we can't give up, like you have to push, like we're going to fight this war. And Winston in his head is saying, yes, of course we're going to fight, like that's all we can do. We have to persist, we have to be strong and we have to stay sturdy. Shout out to Sally Vink Ray for stay sturdy. But he's telling everyone this like no, like this is what I'm going to say. And so he goes out.

Speaker 1:

And this is the very first speech that he gives and I just pulled a couple quotes that I want to focus on here. But this first one. You ask what is our aim. I can answer in one word it is victory. Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival. I love that.

Speaker 1:

Obviously this is a different time frame. Like they actually are fighting for their survival against nazi germany, but he's saying like the only way we're going to get out of this situation is if we win. And keep in mind, great britain, compared to germany, looks like there's no way that they're going to win. We're going to talk about dunkirk in a little bit. But they had, like they were beaten down. You got to think about how the, the troops, were fighting. Um, the like the, the britain troops, were fighting people in france, the nazis in france. They were trying to save france and eventually they drove them to the beaches, right, but that's what I love about the human spirit is, all these people were fired up and they knew that they had to give it their all because there wouldn't be a world that wasn't controlled by the Nazis if they gave up and if they surrendered, because otherwise everyone would be speaking German nowadays.

Speaker 1:

And so here's another quote from this talk or from this, from the speech, where he says we shall not fail or falter, we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job. Boom, that's getting after it. In a nutshell, give us the tools and we'll finish the job. I freaking love that. Sorry, I'm drinking a Coke thirsty, but there's a lot to be said about that, and you can look at examples from Michael Jordan, from Kobe Bryant, where they just needed coaching. And I love the book Relentless Drew and I talked about that a couple podcasts ago. But the fact that jordan didn't know he needed to to train harder in terms of like the weights and all this stuff to stand up to the detroit bad boys. So tim grover comes into his life, starts teaching him all this stuff and sure enough he had the tools that he needed and he finished the job. He's one of the. I think, my, he might be the only person sports's one of the. I think he might be the only person sports fans are going to hate me for this. He might be the only person that has undefeated like an undefeated record in the finals. I could be wrong and if I am, I'm sorry, fact check me. But all I'm saying is that he needed to learn new tools and he still got the job done.

Speaker 1:

And Winston Churchill saying kind of something similar here, like it doesn't matter how long this battle is going to go on.

Speaker 1:

You know, vigilance and exertion will wear us out. Excuse me, they will wear us down, but we shall not weaken or tire and then give us the tools and we will finish the job. So I want to pause for a second. What are some tools in your life that you need to get one step closer to your goal? If it's a nutrition goal, if you're trying to lose weight, use a food diary like. Use that as one of your tools, but get the job done. If you want to start exercising more, maybe your tool is signing up for a gym membership, but get the job done. If you want to start exercising more, maybe your tool is signing up for a gym membership Then go get the job done. If it's to do better at work, then you need to find the tools to help you learn and then go get the job done. That's the thing. This quote give us the tools and we will finish the job is an affirmation of adaptability. You are trying to find ways to make it work, and that means you're going to have to adjust at times, and that's okay.

Speaker 1:

I talked about how I wasn't able to run barriers my ultra marathon that I've waited all year to run, but I got incredibly sick three days before and I wasn't able to run barriers my ultra marathon that I've waited all year to run, but I got incredibly sick three days before and I couldn't keep food down for about two days and I wasn't going to go out. And you know, have all this work that I've done up to that point, go out on the trail and just finish the job and like, get it done. I wanted to do my best, so I had to adapt and the tools I needed were one more time, and so my race is actually July 20th, but I'm going to finish the job, I'm going to get it done. It's a matter of time, but I've had to adapt and that's okay. There's also been times when I've had to slow it down, slow my paces down, but you adapt and you still get the job done.

Speaker 1:

Now we're going to shift a little bit, talking about Dunkirk, because there's a lot of lessons that I think we can learn from this. But Operation Dynamo was in May through June in 1940. But it was a significant moment of resilience and Churchill emphasized this as a miracle of deliverance. And if you've seen the movie Dunkirk, if you know the story or read the book, will you know how crazy of a situation this is. So think about this there's all these british soldiers in france on the beaches, okay, and it doesn't matter, like they're sitting there, and then german planes are flying over them, shooting them, dropping bombs on them, blowing up like the ships that are trying to get them out and eventually, like Britain's Air Force, comes in and starts helping take out some of those people. But listen to this quote from Churchill a miracle of deliverance achieved by valor, by perseverance, by perfect discipline, perfect discipline, faultless service, resource by skill, by unconquerable fidelity. And that's what got them across. So if you don't know the story of the troops evacuating Dunkirk, everyone that had a boat pretty much like road drove their boat. I don't know what the term is, but they took their boats and started taking troops back and forth to get them off the Island, to get them safer, like um. And then he also says this, and I thought there's a couple.

Speaker 1:

There's a couple of points I want to make on this next quote, but just listen. First every morn brought forth a noble chance and every chance brought forth a noble night Deserve our gratitude, or who deserves our gratitude? As do all brave men who, in so many ways and on so many occasions, are ready and continue to be ready to give life and all for their native land, continue to be ready to give life and all for their native land. So that's just another testament to like the people were really doing their best to strive to save everyone right. But listen to this first part Every morn brought forth a noble chance. What he's saying there is every morning brought forth a noble chance. Take this into your own life.

Speaker 1:

Every day is a new day to do something different. Every day is a new day to make one small step towards your goals. Remember what we talked about with consistency it's not about one big push. It's about the small compounding actions that you take every day that get you one step closer to your goal. So I want you to think about every day as an opportunity, not necessarily as a regular day, but it's a chance to bring forth nobility to you, to your family, to anyone Like. Every day is a gift, so don't waste it. A lot of times we wasted our time with monotonous, with things that don't necessarily matter, but tasks that get in the way, and I want you to think about what you can be doing different in your day, to take advantage of it and to realize that every day is an opportunity to get closer to your goals. So think about that. That's part of your homework today. And then I want to I want to mention this because this is a long quote, but I love what he says, and there's just finding spirit.

Speaker 1:

Churchill knew how to fire people up, and if this doesn't fire you up, good luck, go find another podcast. But here's what it says Even though large tracks of Europe and many old and famous states have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. And even if which I do not believe for a moment this island, or a large part of it, were subjugated and starving, that our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, would carry on the struggle until, in God's good time, the new world and all its power and might steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old. Let that sink in for a second. Damn Churchill. But he's pretty much just saying no matter what, we're not giving up.

Speaker 1:

Quitting is not an option. And if you listen to this podcast, quitting is not an option for you. I'm sorry, but if you're listening to getting after it, that means you're getting after it, you're pursuing goals, and the fact that you're still listening I know for a fact that you're someone who doesn't quit or doesn't like to quit, and so never let it be an option, because I can tell you from firsthand experience, with the worst feeling in the entire world is quitting on yourself before you see it through. Don't quit on yourself, ali, and I talk about this all the time. You need to be your biggest cheerleader. If other people tell you you can't do something, prove them wrong and hold on to that and just don't quit. See what you can do to improve. But I just love that quote. It's just all about you know what, no matter what. We're not giving up. We're going to fight. We're going to do what we can to save this country. We love that quote. It's just all about you know what, no matter what. We're not giving up. We're going to fight. We're going to do what we can to save this country. We love it here. This is where we're supposed to be. So I'm going to do all I can to fight. So what can you do to keep fighting, keep pursuing, get you one step closer to your goal? What can you be doing? These are all questions I think you should ask yourself.

Speaker 1:

And pretty much it got to the point to where Churchill was inspiring everyone, like people would tune into his radio broadcasts and he pretty much knew how to conquer the English English language and use it in his favor to help gather people's attention and then ultimately help him support the goals that are at hand. So he was very good with his speeches and His speeches were actually critical in maintaining the national morale, especially during the darkest days of war. Especially during the darkest days of war. And there's actually a movie, I think it's called Into the Darkest Hour, about Winston Churchill becoming the prime minister of Great Britain and some of the struggles that he would have. Obviously he's not a saint, churchill's not a saint. There's actually a story about him where he was talking or he really likes this type of this brand of champagne, but the small bottle wasn't enough for him to get a buzz and the big bottle would put him on his on his seat for a while Right, like he would knock him out. And so he actually worked with the company to create a Winston Churchill sized bottle, which is like a medium, I guess you could say. But he drank a lot. He drank so much he's chain smoked cigars.

Speaker 1:

He wasn't the healthiest guy, and so there's a lot of things that, like we probably don't want to learn from Churchill. But the thing is, is everyone kind of has that same thing for themselves? Everyone has a vice. Everyone has a weakness, but don't let that stop you Going back to running. My weakness is Hills going up. Hills sucks for me, but look at when I'm on the downhills, cause that's that's where I gained my speed, that's where I'm quick. Um, but that's what I think is important is like make sure that you are doing what you can to step towards your goals and be the best person you can be. Obviously, we're not perfect. The only perfect person on this earth was Jesus, and Winston Churchill definitely was not Jesus. But there's a lot that we can learn from him, and so I broke it down into three main things where I think we can learn from Winston Churchill, the first one being leadership, because Churchill's ability to lead decisively he was able to communicate effectively and inspire confidence in others was critical, especially during World War II.

Speaker 1:

His leadership style emphasized clarity of vision, steadfastness in the face of adversity and the ability to rally people around a common cause. So he had the gift to be able to get people to buy into his vision and his whatever you want to call that. But he understood that if he was going to make any progress in fighting this war is he needed to be a leader. He needed to understand how to stay steadfast in the face of adversity, not lose his cool and just rally the people around a common cause. So lesson number one is leadership.

Speaker 1:

Lesson number two is the resilience. So, again, throughout his life, churchill faced numerous personal and professional setbacks, going back to the beginning, from his early school struggles to his political defeats. Either way, his perseverance and refusal to give up even in the face of overwhelming, overwhelmingly steep odds, exemplifies true resilience. And I love the quote that he says about failure. Success is the ability to go from one failure to another without the loss of enthusiasm. So that's one too, if you can go. If you fail at something great, what are you going to do to take that and use that momentum to fuel your next, whatever? How are you going to make that happen? Be resilient. That's lesson number two. Lesson number three is to adapt.

Speaker 1:

Churchill's career demonstrated the importance of adapting to changing circumstances, and we've talked a little bit about that. They would lose a battle, so he'd learn how to adapt. He would get shot down in politics, and so he would learn what he needed to do to gain that momentum back and regain the confidence of the people. So he was able to adapt, whether it was his shift from the conservatives to the liberal party, could have been his military strategies during the war, or even, like his post-war vision of Europe. He had to adapt that entire thing. But Churchill showed that flexibility and open-mindedness are vital for long-term success. I want to re-emphasize that point. Churchill showed that flexibility and open-mindedness are vital for long-term success. You need to be flexible, you need to learn how to adapt your goals if you're not seeing that success and you need to be open-minded. Maybe you're doing something wrong, maybe you're not putting in as much work as you think you are, but be open-minded to feedback, because that's the only way that you learn how to improve.

Speaker 1:

I've gotten lots of feedback on this podcast. I've been called you know, not educated. I've had to go and do research. I've been told my voice is weird. I've been told I'm monotone, I'm boring. The topics I talk about aren't for everyone. Well, guess what? That's the truth. The topics I talk about are not for everyone. People don't want to know that. If you want to be successful, what you have to do is be flexible and open-mindedness and just gear in it for the long term.

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I didn't mention this, but there was a 15-year period in Churchill's life, when he was 45, he kind of got out of the political office. He's trying to regain his credibility with the people. And there was 15 years before he was elected prime minister 15 years. But he still had this goal that he was going to be the prime minister of Great Britain. And think about that for a second. If you have a goal, hey, I'm going to get a promotion next year. Doesn't happen, dang it Okay. Well, I'm going to get a promotion next year. Doesn't happen, dang it Okay. Well, I'm going to get a promotion the next year. Doesn't happen, I'm going to get a promotion next year. And that goes on for 15 years until finally, in 15 years from 45 to 60, you finally get that promotion. That's kind of what happened to Winston Churchill For 15 years. He had no idea if he was going to be it, but he kept taking steps. He kept his eyes on the goal. So think about that.

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So the three takeaways leadership, resilience and adaptability. Now, how can you apply these lessons to your own life? How can you apply these lessons to your own life? I think, first and foremost is learn how to embrace challenges, view setbacks as opportunities to grow, because Church's ability to rebound from failures and his relentless pursuit of his goals. Don't forget about that piece. He was able to rebound, but then he kept pursuing. That can inspire you guys to keep pushing forward despite the obstacles that come up. And there's this quote I heard the other day if you're not scared, you're not reaching. So if you're not scared of the things you're doing, you're not reaching far enough along your goal. I think that says a lot too. But learn how to embrace challenges and realize that when challenges come up, you're on the right path. There's a book by Ryan Holiday called the Obstacle is the Way, which is pretty much his entire point of that book is no matter what, when you experience challenges, trials, anything, that means you're on the right path and that means you're taking one more step closer to your goal.

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Next thing that I think we can learn from Winston Churchill is how to maintain a positive mindset, churchill's optimism and determination even during the bleakest times. That highlights the importance of staying positive and focus on your long-term objectives instead of the short-term. So when things don't go your way, say, hey, that's okay, like I'm not at my goal yet. I can, I can be patient, I can persist. So think about that and he has a quote on this that I think is spot on about this topic of how to maintain a positive mindset, mindset and just make progress.

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He says every day you make progress, every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey, but this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb. So Winston Churchill saying, hey, you're never going to get to where you think you're going to, but that's a good thing. That means you're always pursuing, that means you're always trying to find ways to improve, to get better, to work on your craft, whatever it might be, but you're taking steps and that's what you should be happy about. So that optimism, that positive mindset, focus on where you're taking steps and that's what you should be happy about. So that optimism, that positive mindset, focus on where you're at and realize that every day you do something that gets you one step closer to your goal is a good day. Because if you I talk about the 30, 30, 30, 10 rule, where 30% of your runs are going to be amazing, 30% are going to be average, 30% are going to be average, 30% are going to be terrible and 10% you're going to hate your life. But even on those days, that 10% where you hate your life, if you get up and you get something done, like Winston says, every day you make progress. And it's like for me I'm going after my first 50k next month or this month. Damn, I move fast. But I'm going after my first 50k this month. But I know as soon as I finish that I'm going to be focusing on a 50 miler and then, as soon as I finish, that it's going to be 100 miles and after that maybe 200, I don't know. But that is the joy and glory of the climb.

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The last thing that I think you can take as a lesson from Churchill is how to adapt and innovate, because you need to be willing to change strategies and adapt to new circumstances. If you move, you're going to have to adapt to new circumstances. If you get a new job, same thing. If you have a kid, guess what You're going to have to adapt. You get married. I'm going through that lesson in. You know, this past year I'm almost been married to Allie for a year, but there's been a lot of adapting and it's been better, like I've gotten better because of it, and church's adaptability can at least help encourage you guys to remain flexible and stay open to new approaches, either in your personal life or professional lives, recognizing that change can lead to new opportunities and successes, and that's why I kicked it off with that quote to improve is to change, so to be perfect is to change. Often. So new opportunities, new successes.

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But it's going to require a lot of change, and I want to leave with this quote from Winston. He says this this is the lesson Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never In. Nothing, great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force, never yield to apparently overwhelming the might of the enemy. Never give in. Listen to what he says in the beginning. This is the lesson Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, petty, never give in.

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Getting after it is a lifetime effort. You're always going to be learning how to change. You're always going to be adapting. Getting after it means you're pursuing greatness, it means you're expecting the best from yourself, you're asking the best of yourself, and the ability to change and adapt to circumstances will get you farther than you think, because during those times of change, during those times of adaptability, you learn how to become better and you learn how to take one more step closer to your goal, how to focus on the end goal and maintain that positivity. And that's why I love studying people like Winston Churchill, because there's these lessons from history about all these amazing people who had to go do incredibly difficult things.

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Winston Churchill led Great Britain during his fight with the Nazis. That's insane. That's like saying your is a nazi and he's coming over and he's trying to take your house, but you're gonna fight him. And that's what winston did. His neighbor was germany, but guess what? He wasn't gonna back down. He wasn't gonna let hitler take over europe and then ultimately take over the world. He's like no, we, no, we're going to fight. We're never, never, never going to give in.

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And I want you to take that same approach with your goals. I never, never, never, never want you to give up on something small, on something large, it doesn't matter, because you're made for greatness, everyone is made for greatness, and greatness is on the other side of fear and discomfort, and if you can get past that, then by all means you're going to do great and you're going to succeed, because success is the ability to go from one failure to another failure without the loss of enthusiasm. There's a lot that we can learn from Winston Churchill. I only covered some of these in about 45 minutes, but I encourage you to try to find ways that you can be a little bit more adaptable, a little bit more flexible with your goals, a little bit more driven. Find ways that you can set up guardrails to help you not give up. But don't give up, because that's when you actually fail.

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And I appreciate everyone for listening to this one. If you like it, please let me know. I liked doing this. This was a lot of fun to be able to study and find things that are from Winston Churchill's life that relate to the topics that I discuss. So it's been fun. If you like it, I'll do another one, probably on Jocko Willink, but it's important to me that you focus on your goals. You can do a lot more than you think and always think about that, but until next time, everyone, I appreciate you for listening to today and keep getting after it and never give up. Appreciate everyone, thank you.