First published 12 September 2022 on Your Best Year Starts Here with Nigel Risner.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
I managed to fluff the intro on this one, nearly 200 episodes in. It felt like one of those DJ rewinds where you pull the record back and start it again. Nigel's take was that you can do 200 speeches and something can still go wrong, because none of us are perfect.
Then he picked up 'crank it up' from the end of last week. He'd heard the Olympic rower James Cracknell talk about rowing at 36 strokes a minute, and when the cox called for it the crew would go to 38. There was always a bit left in the tank. Cracknell's line, which Nigel has borrowed a few times (with credit), was 'make sure your worst is better than everyone else's best.'
So Nigel's challenge is to write down your top 10 strengths, personally and in business, and ask if you've really cranked them up or spent your time on the weak spots. Work hard on your weaknesses and you get strong weaknesses. He used me as the example. He doesn't do the tech on this show because I'm better at it, so he hands it over.
I brought up the death crawl scene from Facing the Giants. I've never seen the whole film, just that clip, loads of times, and I've used it at events. Go and find it on YouTube. Nigel told a story from an unemployed centre where you had to be seated by 9:59 and 59 seconds or you didn't get in. Would people have been on time for £5 million? Of course they would. We didn't fully agree on the money bit, though. He reckons offer someone a million to get their parkrun under 30 minutes and they'd train like mad. Mine's already under 30, so I asked where the cheque was.
I finished with the Edinburgh Marathon in 2013, my first. I'd slowed almost to a walk when someone tapped me on the shoulder. His shirt said Ken in big letters, with the same charity I was running for. He said 'Remember why you're doing this' and ran off. So I followed him. Nigel reckons I'll spend the rest of my life chasing him.
What I took from this one
- Write down your top 10 strengths, in life and in business, then check how much time you actually spend on them.
- Hand the stuff you're not good at to someone who is.
- Keep asking why, five to seven layers down. If it doesn't make you feel something, it isn't strong enough.
- Decide who you need to be to get what you want, then show up as that person.
If you work really hard on your weaknesses, you just get strong weaknesses.
Nigel Risner
If you've got a good enough understanding of why you're doing it, you'll show up anyway.
Neil Martin
