Most people say they will do whatever it takes to succeed.

“I’ll do anything,"  they say. “Just point me in the right direction, and I’ll follow whatever you tell me.”

But the reality is that…

This is total bullshit, and they will barely scratch the surface of success requirements.

I was watching the Jack Reacher movie last night, one of my favourites, and it reminded me of this.

I forget who the character was, but it was someone who worked for the main bad guy, and he had let him down. The bad guy didn’t think he could be trusted to be allowed to live, as he would spill the beans. A gun was held to his head, but he was given a chance to live. The bad guy, called The Zek, told how when he was suffering from frostbite in a prisoner of war camp, he chewed off his own fingers to prevent the toxic rot from setting in and killing him.

He showed his 10 little stumps to prove it!

He did literally ‘whatever it took’ to survive. So he gave his errant employee the same option. Show you have balls and will do whatever it takes, and bite off some fingers, and then you will be spared.

The guy tried, but after barely being able to suck on his thumb, he gave up and was shot in the head!

Now you may be reading this saying, ‘Shut up, Matt, that’s some fake shit from the movies. Give me a real-life situation, and of course I’ll do whatever it takes’.

Well, let me remind you of a real-life situation that was just the same.

Back in 2003, while hiking in Utah, Aron Ralston was mountain climbing when a boulder fell on his arm, pinning him to a canyon wall.

He cut off his arm, walked to a hospital, and survived.

He realised that no one was coming to save him, and his only chance of survival was to cut his own arm off to get free. 

So he pulled out his penknife and got to work.

Working below the elbow, he started to cut through skin, flesh, ligaments, and eventually through the bone.

He wasn’t able to stop. He wasn’t allowed to pass out.

He cut off his arm, walked to a hospital, and survived.

Hacking your own arm off with a little knife and no anaesthetic can’t have been easy! And if he didn’t think living was possible, then I would imagine he wouldn’t have done it.

But he had belief in himself and his goals, and he truly did whatever it took to achieve them.

There is usually a very clear path to achieving your dreams.

Late nights, early mornings, boring diets, extreme exercise, hard work, missing out on a social life—whatever it is, the plan is usually simple and highly achievable if followed.

Many have achieved it before you, and their system is there to be copied.

So if you aren’t following it, then you simply don’t want it enough to give up your creature comforts. You absolutely won’t do ‘whatever it takes’.

WIT is difficult and uncomfortable, but ultimately it works.

You are fat? Stop eating sh*t and get to the gym every day.

You are broke? Stop wasting money on crap you don’t need, get financially educated, and work hard.

Your business is failing. Find a mentor who knows what needs to be done. Give up your social life, lay off some staff, and take on their work to save money.

Sleep less. Work more. Suffer.

If you don’t want to do that, I get it. It’s not easy. It’s not fun. It requires discipline and sacrifice. 

But if you won’t do it, just stop kidding yourself and saying that you’ll do anything. Because you won’t.

Charlie Munger said:

If Aron can cut off his own arm, we really can do anything!

But maybe you just don’t want it enough.