You ever have one of those weeks where you look up and say, “What the heck is going on here?”
You look around, and everything is upside down.
Left is right, right is left, and that path you were on suddenly has roadblocks all over it.
If you’re like me, that’s kind of how life goes sometimes.
That’s life, right?
Good times. Bad times. Uncertain times. All of it.
I was recently in Nashville and talked with a couple of bandmates who spoke about “hitting a wall” or “getting so close” to making it, only to have that familiar wall pop up again.
The looks in their eyes told me more than their words. That’s how I read a lot of people. It’s what they do as much as, or more than, what they say.
One was a lead singer. One was a drummer. Both supremely talented. Both living out their dreams.
But they both talked about the struggle.
Not the grind.
The grind is fine.
The struggle can get old.
It’s not stopping either guy. In fact, it’s full speed ahead for both musicians.
Talking with both guys really inspired me.
I’ve always been fascinated by what makes certain people quit—and why others somehow ignore the madness and keep going.
That’s one big reason why I started my passion project, Unbreakable.
What does it take to be unbreakable? It depends on who you ask I guess.
Here are some insights from four people we featured in Season One of Unbreakable, which can be seen on Amazon Prime and for free on Tubi, that might help you if that proverbial wall has reared its ugly head to you.
Ben Hayslip, the guy who wrote Blake Shelton’s No. 1 smash hit “Honey Bee,” says:
“To get anything worth having in life, it’s not going to come easy. At some point, you’re going to have to fight for it, and you’re going to have to stand up and keep moving. You’ve got to talk yourself out of quitting. And, you know, I’ve been there for sure. My philosophy was just keep showing up every day. Sometimes you don’t know if you’re on the 1-yard line about to score a touchdown or if you’re about to get tackled in your own end zone.”
Ben also says:
“If you’ve got something you truly love and truly cannot live without, you’ve got to keep showing up every day, be present, and outwork the next guy.
And if you don’t have a relationship with God, you’d better get one because that’s what got me to where I am today.”
Ben continues:
“If you get rejected, you’ve got to look inside yourself and ask, ‘How bad do I want this?’ Is it worth being rejected again and again and again and again? And if the answer is yes, then the heck with rejection. Just keep grinding.”
Major League Baseball agent Rachel Luba has a similar approach. She has backbone and then some.
“I fall on my face time and time again,” says Luba. “But I think I try to view my life, my career, and everything in a very holistic way and realize that every time I fail, it’s just one step closer to success. No person, entity, or outside force can stop you from doing what you want to do if you are disciplined enough and determined enough to accomplish it. Just because you fail doesn’t mean you’re a failure. And it can’t break you. It can’t. It can’t stop you. And if you can just embody that mindset, then failing is okay. You can always get back up and keep going.”
Luba also says:
“You can get bent and twisted and mangled along the way. But you’ve got to get back up and keep going. I live my life failing my way to success. You can’t break me. I’m never going to stop. I will always find a way.”
Finally, the co-owners of Kase x Noko Restaurant in Nashville are as resilient and honest about overcoming adversity as any people we’ve talked with to date.
Jon Murray says:
“I think everybody’s broken, to an extent. I really do. I know I am.
I think you can be broken and unbreakable at the same time. I don’t think anybody—in restaurants or outside of restaurants—who is doing anything worthwhile, meaningful, intentional, or impactful is doing it without having been broken at some point. Broken doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. Broken, in my mind, is unbreakable.
You have to have an intensity, a focus, and a desire to be better than you were the day before, and I think that’s what unbreakable really is. It is simply the willingness to never give up, no matter what.”
Executive Chef/Partner, Dung “Junior” Vo puts it this way:
“If you’re looking to pursue any job, any career, or any dream of yours, you’re going to take a lot of punches along the way. You’re going to scrape your knees. To be unbreakable, you need to believe. It starts with the mind, right? You have to believe that you can do this and that you will do this. And if you don’t believe, you’re not going to be unbreakable.”
So, if you’re going through one of those times, I encourage you to stay with it.
My hope is that these insights will help springboard you toward that thing or those things you desire and deep down know you can achieve. The best advice I can give? Even if you’re the only one who believes in what you want, don’t quit.