Your Setbacks Are Preparing You For Success, Not Delaying It

When Rory McIlroy fell to his knees and wept after sinking that final putt at Augusta National, we witnessed more than just a golfer winning a tournament. We saw the culmination of an 11-year journey marked by heartbreak, resilience, and unwavering determination.

McIlroy's path to completing golf's Grand Slam resonates so deeply because it mirrors our own struggles with elusive goals. By age 25, he had captured three major championships, with everyone expecting the Masters would quickly follow. Instead, year after year, the green jacket slipped through his fingers, transforming from an anticipated achievement into a weight that grew heavier with each April disappointment.

What strikes me most about Rory's victory isn't just the accomplishment itself, but the method behind it. He didn't achieve this through dramatic overhauls or revolutionary changes to his approach. His triumph came through consistency—showing up prepared year after year, hitting millions of practice shots, and maintaining belief through disappointment. As he once said, "Failure is an opportunity to learn." This philosophy embodies what I call "stacking bricks"—focusing on daily improvements rather than obsessing over the ultimate goal.

This week, I challenge you to consider your own "green jacket"—that dream or goal that's been eluding you despite your best efforts. Instead of being discouraged by past failures, recognize how they're preparing you for eventual success. Break down your overwhelming ambition into manageable daily actions. Can you shift focus from that marathon you're nervous about to simply running three miles today? Success isn't about dramatic transformations but about consistent efforts that build remarkable achievements over time.

Your dreams deserve your persistence. What daily brick will you stack this week?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:18):
What's going on, and welcome back to the Dodge the
Norm podcast.
Hope you're having a great day.
Wanted to come to you with alittle bit of another off the
cuff episode.
We are going to talk about theMasters champion, rory McIlroy.
Unless you're living under arock, you know that Rory took

(00:39):
home the green jacket at Augustayesterday and his story is just
too good for me not to talkabout it on the podcast, the
Dodge the Norm podcast, thattalks about perseverance and
reaching your dreams andadversity.
So of course, I had to talkabout Rory today.

(01:01):
So the cool thing about whathappened yesterday is that Rory
won what is called a grand slam.
A grand slam is when you winall four majors.
Now, five people before thathave done it and the crazy part
about it is very young.
In his age, I think by the ageof 25, rory had won the other

(01:23):
three and everybody was like, ohmy gosh, he's going to be the
fastest to do it.
He's going to be so quick Likehe's.
It's just like going to beMasters, which, let's be honest,
is probably the most prolificof all of the majors.

(01:49):
It's the first major of theyear.
It happens in April.
It happens in the spring, thesun is beautiful down in Augusta
, georgia, the flowers are outand it's just like a really
special time in golf.
And so for his last major to bethe masters and for him to I

(02:10):
hate to say it fail for 11 yearsUm, it's crazy that he has
finally got it done.
Um, so let's just talk aboutlike things like okay, we all
carry dreams that sometimes justfall out of reach.
I love that.
That's the promotion, that'sthe race that you wanted to run,

(02:32):
that's the personal projectyou've been putting on the back
burner.
Um, and the longer that wechase those, the heavier they
can become Like I'm never goingto get there, or I'm never going
to, uh, finish that project, orI'm never going to run that
race.
And so, thinking about the 11years that it took Rory, I think
about things in my life.

(02:52):
I think the first thing that Ithought about was like real
businessy, and I thought tomyself gosh, you haven't sent
that email to this brand, or youhaven't followed up with this
client, or you haven't pitchedthis.
You know company, and Rory'sbeen hitting about a million

(03:14):
balls a year for the last 11years while he tries to wrap up
the masters.
So you know it's just.
It's just a story of mentalresilience, year after year
coming up, falling short,devastating near misses.
He's got answers to questionsfrom the media, from the fans,

(03:35):
but he just kept picking himselfup every single year and just
knowing like, think about this,think about going to let's say
you just go to work, and justknowing like, think about this,
think about like going to let'ssay you just go to work, and
every and this one specificweekend, you know that every
single media outlet and everysingle fan and every single
person is going to be like isthis going to be the year that
you're, you know, going to winthis deal?

(03:58):
Is this the year that you'regoing to do really well in that
project?
And you got people like askingyou and asking you and asking
you all of these kinds ofquestions.
And I mean Rory doesn't justget that on master's weekend, he
gets that literally everysingle week day.
I feel like he probably getsthe when are you going to get

(04:20):
the green jacket?
When you get the green jacket?
So, speaking of green jacket,what is your green jacket?
What's that gold that's beeneluding you despite, I would say
, putting out your best efforts?
Um, but what I wrote in mynewsletter is what.
What Rory's journey teaches usis that time doesn't diminish
achievement.
The victory is just as sweetand, as you saw, with the way

(04:40):
that Rory's journey teaches us,is that time doesn't diminish
achievement.
The victory is just as sweetand, as you saw, with the way
that Rory responded, it's verysweet.
He fell to his knees and criedit out after he put in the final
putt.
Consistency trumps intensity.
It wasn't a dramatic overhaulthat brought McElroy his victory

(05:01):
.
It was just showing up preparedyear after year, and
maintaining the belief throughdisappointment.
It was a very challenging day onthe golf course today and he,
you know, lost three strokes onone hole.
He put it in the water at 13.
You know, he did not play aperfect round.

(05:22):
He missed a putt to win it andthen had to not play a perfect
round.
He missed a putt to win it andthen it would go to a playoff.
And then the obstacle is theway.
God, I love that Each previousdisappointment in Augusta built
the resilience needed forvictory.
Your setbacks aren't delayingyour success, they're preparing
you for it.
Your setbacks aren't delayingyour success, they're preparing
you for it.

(05:42):
Every single failure.
I actually just went to doingsome research on this newsletter
.
I just typed in like RoryMcIlroy quotes and he said on a
podcast failure is anopportunity to learn.
Love that there's, no, there'snot wins and losses.
I mean there are, I hate to sayit.

(06:02):
There are, like in the wins andloss columns, like in the NBA
and in college basketball and insports and stuff like that.
But you know there's wins andthen there's learning
opportunities.
That has been challenging youInstead of focusing on the
outcome, commit to the processfor, let's say, the next seven
days.

(06:26):
What is a daily action that youcan move that gets you closer?
Can you stop thinking aboutthat marathon that you have to
train for the next 79 days andyou just don't think you're
going to get there?
And let's just talk about whatit's like to run three miles on
Tuesday and to do your strengthworkout on Wednesday and to lift

(06:48):
on Thursday, like let's stacksome bricks.
That's another thing.
I think Chris Paul said it acouple of months ago on a
podcast just stacking bricksjust every day.
If you're consistent, what youwant in life is going to
manifest itself.
And I, I mean I said man, Ijust said manifest and it came
out of my mouth, I was likemanifest is not the right word.

(07:09):
But if you just stack bricksevery single day, you will build
the foundation that will getyou to the point that you want
to be at.
So your dreams.
They deserve your persistence.
So think about something thisweek.
Think about something long-term, a long-term goal.
That's been challenging you,and you know I'm a big person

(07:31):
about writing things out.
I have a a bunch of postershere in my office that, like I
think about this video that Ihave to edit that's going to
take forever, and I just have abunch of check boxes and that
one check box equals an hour andif I have 10 hours to edit, it
just got to check that box 10times.
And so lay some bricks thisweek, stay persistent, have a

(07:53):
fantastic week and, as always,just like Rory McIlroy, make
sure you dodge the norm.
See you next time.
Bye.