What is it in you, and how do you live your life to which you are connected and committed to continuously being better?
For some, it's improving a past-time skill like golf or bridge. Others may be into personal development from physical fitness to vocabulary.
There is nothing wrong with that version of relentless. But are you intent on getting better at life, and is that pursuit your definition of that challenge?
That was for me, for sure. Back in the day, as a young lawyer with political aspirations, I was relentless in my resume-building and networking. I'm glad I did it, and I'm proud of most of my accomplishments in those days.
I realize now that I was out to succeed at making a living, not living a life.
A deep, dark, and extended recession in the early 1980s found me borrowing to sustain a self-image rather than reimagining who I had to become to survive in the new world disorder. There is little to be proud of in those bleak days.
Today, I'm relentlessly adapting to prepare for troubles ahead, from the consequences of my health to climate change. It's not a bad set of bookends for whatever comes up.
I'm not yet relentless in being prepared for the troubles that will come to me, but I'm intentionally improving my personal health readiness every day.
I see the two sides of relentless now. Before, it was all about me and my effort to get ahead. Persistence, perseverance, and discipline were my metrics. I believed almost everything was, to some degree, in my control.
What I didn't see as clearly as I should have was the relentlessness of the external obstacles bearing down on me. I responded to the devastating recession in the 80s by buckling down and working harder, not smarter.
I've since learned that the obstacles can be the way if you let them. That means reimagining them or, reframing the problem.
Cancer is a relentless enemy with lots of obstacles to throw at you. It absconds with calories to feed itself. And it takes away your taste buds and appetite—serious obstacles.
I reframed food into fuel and mealtimes into refueling times. Then, I had to coordinate those times with my anti-nausea medication schedule.
I'm far from getting it all right, but I am good old-time relentless in getting there.
Another life lesson from working on my cancer cure.
Hey Mark, the idea about relentless cane from you. Thanks .