Wake Up Happy: Rule No. 3

Rule No. 3: Grit, desire and discipline are free and the only equipment you
need to start just about any endeavor you’ll set out to do.

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I used to suck at football. I sucked all through high school. I had no idea what I was doing. And it was the same thing in college until, after my first couple of years, I finally figured it out and started to get better. Even in the NFL, for those first three or four years, I would step on the field every week and think, How am I out here? I don’t think I’m good enough to be here…

I was constantly battling that feeling of not being good enough. And just like when I was in high school and in college, I didn’t know what to do to get to the next level.

Except grind.

All I had was this determination and this confidence that if I wanted it, I did the right things and I kept on grinding and working every day, the results would take care of themselves. Even when I was terrible at football, I always believed that I would become a Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl Champion and a Hall of Famer. I just had to have the grit, discipline and desire to do all the dirty work to make it happen.

It’s a philosophy I got from my dad — one I’ll explain a little more another time — and it’s the reason I never gave up, even when I felt like I had no business being there. There are no shortcuts and there’s no substitute for hard work.

***

Michael Strahan is a Pro Football Hall of Famer who is the co-host of LIVE with Kelly and Michael, a FOX NFL Sunday Analyst and a special co-host of Good Morning America. His book, Wake Up Happy​: The Dream Big, Win Big Guide To Transforming Your Life, is available for pre-order now and hits stores October 13. Learn more at wakeuphappy.com.