What It Takes to Become Unstoppable According to These 7 World-Class Performers

How would it feel to live out your dreams? To wake up loving what you do? You’re no longer part of the rat race just trying to survive through the day-to day-grind. I’ve researched some of the top performers in their respective industries to understand what has allowed them to become successful.

You don’t become successful by hoping and wishing. Becoming successful comes from following the actions of those who already have what you want. Success leaves clues and you should never settle for anything less than your best. You’ll realize in the names mentioned in the article, every single person wanted a better life than the one they currently lived.

What would your ideal life look like? If you follow the advice given by these world-class performers, it will only be a question of how quickly you succeed.

Aeneas Williams

Aeneas Williams was a professional football player who spent most of his career with the Arizona Cardinals. He was inducted into the pro football Hall of Fame in 2014.

If you want to become unstoppable according to Williams, unshakeable confidence comes from the swagger you have. What is the persona you are giving out to the world? Are you walking with your head down and a frown? How do you expect people to react? Look at what you’re wearing, is it speaking of someone who’s successful?

You need to have a degree of arrogance for yourself. This isn’t being too cocky but rather having confidence in yourself. You shouldn’t be ashamed to tell the world that you will become massively successful. If someone finds you to be arrogant for wanting a better life, then they’re not worth your time. If you want to see an example of having arrogance for yourself, check out any video of Conor McGregor.

Have an attitude that you will be successful. The road to success is never easy. If you ask anyone who has become successful, they’ll tell you about all the obstacles they encountered. These were obstacles they were willing to overcome. If you’re going to attain success, develop the attitude that you will become successful no matter what hard times you will have to endure.

Someone who has achieved success would never count on themselves to be lucky. When you put in the work with a goal in mind, people will soon also be calling you “lucky.”

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it,” – Thomas Jefferson

The last thing Williams mentioned was that you need to control your emotions. You should never overreact to a situation. Too many times we let our emotions get the best of us and we make rash decisions that we end up regretting. If you feel yourself getting angry, take a moment and step away from the situation, your future self will thank you.

Before making a huge decision, take time to think it over. When you make a decision based on emotion without giving the decision much thought, it will almost always end poorly.

Tyron Woodley

Tyron Woodley is a professional mixed martial arts fighter who is currently the UFC Welterweight Champion.

According to Tyron, you need to say positive. He takes this from being in the Octagon and fighting five rounds. He can lose one round or he can be losing all five rounds and land a knockout punch on someone. No matter how much you’re getting beaten down, you need to stay positive, as you never know when an opportunity will arise.

Kill people with kindness. This goes back to being positive. If you’re around someone who’s being negative, keep a smile on your face. Whatever you do, don’t let their negativity affect you. Always be nice to others because it’s a reflection on yourself. When you’re positive, you uplift those around you.

Prove people wrong. Tyron had always been told he wasn’t good enough. He’s used that as motivation to fuel his fire. On your journey, there has been at least one person who has said that you can’t achieve a certain goal. Think of that person every time you think about giving up. You’re using others’ negativity as motivation for yourself. They’ll be the same people who call you “lucky” when you become successful.  

Do what makes you happy. There are too many people out there who live a miserable life. They do it for the money or the status. Why would you ever want to waste the one life that you have doing something you hate?

“When I’m old, how much would I be willing to pay to travel back in time and relive the moment I’m experiencing right now?” – Muneeb Ali

Don’t focus on your current situation, focus on where you can go. When you spend too much time focusing on where you are now, you’ll never be able to get to where you want to go. Focus on the future. Set a goal for where you want to go. Spend every day working towards that future. Once you achieve that goal, think about where you want to go next. The second you get complacent is the second someone will overtake you. Truly take the time to figure out where YOU want to go and not where someone else wants you to go.

Kaleb Thornhill

Kaleb Thornhill works as the Miami Dolphins Director of Player Engagement. He’s with the players from the second they step foot in the league to the last snap they play. Thornhill helps to engage, educate, and empower each individual to reach their full potential.

According to Thornhill and the athletes that he works with, you should never settle. this especially rings true in the NFL. There will always be someone who’d be willing to take your place. If you settle, you’re letting the competition gain an advantage over you.

You should look at the top person in your industry. Study their habits inside and out. Learn what makes them tick. What are they doing that’s different from what you’re doing? By doing this, you’re raising the bar on yourself. This is why so many people don’t live out their dreams because the bar they set for themselves is set by those around them. It doesn’t matter if you never meet the top person in your industry, just consume all the content they put out.

Focus on developing yourself. When you focus on developing yourself, you will improve in all areas of your life. This includes cutting out the bad habits such as social media and television and implementing good habits such as reading books and listening to podcasts. You don’t have to get rid of all the bad habits right away but rather focus on getting rid of one bad habit per week. The person you are today is based on your habits. The sooner you implement good habits into your life, the sooner you’ll become successful.

“Work harder on yourself than you do on your job,” – Jim Rohn

Become successful in more than one area of your life. This will allow you to have balance. You can be successful in your job but a failure in relationships. Thornhill sees NFL players come into the league and all they know is football. They don’t know anything about financial intelligence or life after football. He works with them to develop them in more than one area because he realized that will allow them to sustain a joyful life once they’re done playing football. What can you do today that will improve your relationships tomorrow?

Inky Johnson

Inky Johnson is an American Football player, author, and inspirational speaker. Inky had been playing cornerback at the University of Tennessee where he was projected to be a first-round draft pick before a fluke injury ended his career. He uses his story to motivate others to become the best person possible regardless of their circumstance.

According to Johnson, you need to impose your will. Show others that you’re here to say. It’s no secret that 90% of businesses fail. Too many people relegate themselves back to mediocrity based on that fact. When you encounter failure in your business, you need to show everyone what you’re made of and that you’re here to say. No one will take you seriously if you give up when the going gets tough.

Empty your bucket. When Johnson was on the field, he would give it everything he had. It reminded me of David Goggins, a Navy Seal whose accomplished many feats including running 48 straight hours on a one-mile track. You can always do 40% more than what you think is possible. When your mind is telling you to quit, keep pushing forward. You have to break through whatever barrier you’ve set in your mind. Yes, there will be another one but you need to break through the current one you’re facing and that starts with emptying the bucket.

Embrace the process. Becoming successful isn’t easy, if it was, everyone would be successful. Embrace the struggle that you go through. Embrace working when you don’t feel like working and getting up before the sunrise. It’s the little day-to-day actions you need to embrace no matter how hard they might be. It’s the constant repetition over and over again that will allow you to get to where you want to go.

Who are you currently representing? You might think that you represent nothing. That couldn’t be further from the truth. You’re representing your friends, your family, your hometown, anyone, and everyone that knows you. Are you making them proud? Never forget that you’re not just doing this for yourself, you’re doing it for everyone who knows you and everyone who believes in you.

You should never make excuses. We all have excuses. You can make excuses or you can get the work done. The choice will be up to you. Those who are successful didn’t give in to petty excuses. When their mind was trying to make an excuse, they embraced the process. Excuses are lies that you’re telling yourself as to why you’re not good enough. If you keep telling yourself these lies, eventually you’ll believe them. Push past your excuses at all costs.

Become committed to the journey. There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Are you willing to work years without becoming successful? Understand that you’re in it for the long haul. Don’t give up six months in just because it becomes hard. If you continue to put in the work every single day, it’ll add up, and it’s going to allow you to get to where you desire.

Drew Hanlen

Drew Hanlen is the CEO of Pure Sweat basketball and an NBA strategic skills coach and consultant. His full-time clients include Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Bradley Beal, Zach LaVine, and countless other skills.

According to Hanlen, you need to focus on the now with your mind on the future. This goes back to focusing on the future but that future is built today. You can think about what went wrong in the past or what can go wrong in the future but the only moment you can dictate is what you’re doing right now. Whatever you’re doing at the moment, give it your all. By improving the now, that’ll improve your future.

Hanlen gives a simple equation: no work equals no success. You can’t wish for success or for it to be given to you. Do you know how many people wish to become successful? Millions of people do, just think of how many people play the lottery. Whatever you put in, you’re going to get out.

You already have what it takes to succeed. It’s up to you to harness the power inside of you. If you want to become a professional speaker, you already are even if you don’t realize it. That professional speaker is inside of you already. If you work on yourself daily as told before, you’ll quickly realize you already have all the tools you need.

Hanlen always asks, “What are you doing in the unseen hours?” The unseen hours are the hours when people are partying or sleeping. You’ll always have the choice to party or sleep in, it’s your choice not to partake in those activities. Your success is dependent on what you do during those unseen hours. Are you grinding or letting your dreams slip away?

Ben Newman

Ben Newman is a highly regarded performance coach, international speaker, and six-time best-selling author whose clients include top companies around the world, business executives, sales organizations, and professional athletes in the NFL, PGA, NBA, MLB, and NCAA.

Going with Drew Hanlen, Ben is huge on waking up earlier. Too many people wake up, get up, and go straight to their job. They aren’t priming themselves for the day ahead of them. What happens is they are no longer dictating their day but rather their day is dictating them. Circumstances will arise during the day that are out of your control, but if you get up before everyone else you can put in the work before one of those circumstances arises.

Create “I am” statements. I am statements are affirmations for what you want in your life repeated over and over again. If you want to be a professional basketball player, you might say, “I am a professional basketball player.” That could be coupled with, “I am the hardest working player and no one is going to outwork me.” Along with the I am statements, you can visualize what you’re saying to make it feel as if you’ve already achieved your certain goal.

People tend to give up when they encounter adversity. Ben realized that adversity can grow you. When your back is against the wall, you can back down or fight back. The choice you make will determine the outcome of your life. Embrace adversity, as you’re getting knocked out of your comfort zone. And remember, nothing great ever comes from your comfort zone.

You have the choice to become successful. Quit the victim mindset. There will always be someone who had it worse than you who’s become successful. You have the choice to watch television or to read a book. The choice to become successful is already in you. You know that you shouldn’t be watching television, but you do it anyway and for what? Because it feels good. Success isn’t a feel-good story. It’s a choice to show sheer grit and determination.

Donovan Carter

Donovan Carter is a former college football player at UCLA turned actor. He plays Vernon on the hit HBO show, “Ballers”.

Carter learned early on to ask himself the question, “Is where I’m going going to lead me to success?” He’d ask this question to himself throughout the week. Look around where you are. Is it a conducive environment that will allow you to become successful? Most of the time it isn’t, and it’s up to you to make the change. Move away, join meetup groups, do whatever it takes to get around people who will force you to grow.

You should take time to laugh. You can get so serious running a business or chasing a dream that you forget to laugh. Life need not be serious every second of every day. Take a few minutes out of each day and give yourself a good laugh. This could be from watching a quick video on YouTube or asking your friends if anything funny has happened in their life recently. When you laugh each day, you’re going to feel better.

Give yourself a pep talk. The world can be a tough place. People will doubt you. Friends will laugh at you. Your family can dismiss your dreams. Despite all this resistance, you need to be the one to make your dreams a reality. Give yourself a pep talk in the morning. Watch a motivational video if you need to. Do whatever it takes to get yourself going. You are solely responsible for how your life ends up.

Who’s your favorite world-class performer? Let us know in the comments!