For those who succeed they may be underdogs to others, but it’s their self belief and want to succeed that sets them apart from the rest.
So I was away in Miami a few months ago.
Sounds glamorous but we worked hard. To be fair, the Miami surroundings were pretty refreshing compared to a dull Dublin. It was a great experience. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to so many different places around the world, blessed some would say. We’re a small little Emerald Isle and what I’ve noticed so much when I travel is a common comment
Ireland??? Really… Wow I love Ireland
Don’t get me wrong it’s mainly positive yet there’s always a hint of ‘aw little old Ireland sure what do you really know and how come you’re not drunk’
I love that us Irish are always the underdog. Punching above our weight time and time again. I’m used to it being the underdog especially being from Limerick living in Dublin. Like the rest of our country we’re just simply adding a bit of character to this city while we work our asses off.
But why should we be the underdog? Why have we as a nation accepted this?
So many Irish people have paved the way for Ireland and Irish people to be amazing countless of times, and still some people are surprised when an Irish person rises to the top. Look at Swift, Wilde, Yeats, Lewis, Lynnot, Geldolf, Collins even Bono to name a few.
Lately the most talked about Irish person across the globe from Brasil to Tasmanian is The Notorious Conor McGregor.
Love him or hate him he’s another Irish person to put Ireland in the spotlight again. On countless of occasions he’s backed up what he’s said in and out of the octagon.
While his shot to fame was refreshing and exciting at the start, he literally was the embodiment of the fighting Irish, people now expect it and are beginning to criticise him.
Why??? Because we’re not used to it. It makes people uncomfortable, it makes people resent him, it makes people jealous. He says and does what he does without a care in the world. And typically it’s in our Irish psyche to put people down? Is it jealousy or is it something else. All that we see is on the TV, when he has to promote himself, his brand, however, those who’ve met him when the cameras are off say that he’s incredibly respectful and a genuinely nice guy.
It’s not just McGregor, we’ve done it with actors, musicians you name it. When people do something different people have a tendency to knock others. There’s a nastiness in society which we could do without and even with this it’s the people who have the self-belief will ignore the begrudgers along the way and achieve what they set out to.
I believe McGregor’s attitude has been a catalyst for some people in this great country. He has admittedly said he’s not talented he’s obsessed. If you want to succeed you must be so focused that nothing deters you.
Prove people wrong, be an underdog to those who don’t believe in you, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks because it’s all down to you anyway. It’s down to your own self-belief. Have you got what it takes to give everything and be happy doing it?
What I’ve been guilty of in the past is saying I want something but not actually putting in the necessary effort needed. It doesn’t take a genius to realise I didn’t ‘really’ want it so I can’t complain afterwards.
What does get to me is when I actually do want something so bad and I give everything to find my first or second or even third time around it’s not good enough. That’s ok because each time I reset and try to learn from the previous time. I’ve no doubt this happens to many people; we simply don’t always get what we put our minds to or what we dream about (the first time around).
It’s like exams, if you want an A you’ll do whatever it takes to get that A, if you want a D you’ll do the same and if you don’t want to do the exams at all then you won’t do them. Ask yourself what you want and then go about making that a reality.
And that’s the key if we don’t get to it the first time around, regroup, reset your mind and go again. That’s why the likes of Conor McGregor are successful. Even most recently he’s been knocked back, he didn’t succeed in the first time of asking but he’s going again.
I didn’t walk into my job now, I worked hard especially when I didn’t initially get the promotion I wanted or the raise or whatever, I just regrouped, refocused and went at it again because it was what I wanted.
So often we think we should get the breaks, or be given a shot in sport, jobs, a life you name it. All we have to do is create the opportunity. Well, I think if you want it enough you’ll work your ass off so much that it won’t be possible to go unnoticed.
It reminds me of a phrase that I’d say whenever I was training
If it was easy, everyone would do it
So let’s go back to the Irish psyche that sets us apart from the rest. We’re usually the underdog, but like Conor McGregor, that underdog status should be our drive to achieve what we want. No one thought Ali would be the greatest but he was. No one thought Obama would be president of the US but he is, no one even thought Leicester would win the premier league but they did.
I’m sure no one thought I’d work for a creative advertising agency but I do.
You see I think the biggest challenge for people is to find out what it really is they want, throughout all their aspects of life. Some want a family, some want to be successful, some want happiness, some want to be on their own, travel, whatever it is, only you can answer.
Recently we had sad news for our family and it put a lot into perspective for me. In a flash, your life can change and it can be out of control. The learning for me is not to waste any more time waiting for something to happen, don’t wait for someone to give you a chance, make your own opportunity and take it.
