OK guys, let’st talk about this…
I’m a 5%er. And I don’t mean that in a good way.
Now, I know there are motorcycle clubs out there who call themselves 1%ers. I can’t speak to that. I was never in a motorcycle club. But my 5% moments weren’t a positive thing either. My 5% moments were tied to emotional impulsivity. That’s the reality.
95% of the time, I was a rock star. I did very well as a young enlisted military member. I was a young leader. I continued to do well. The problem was that 5% of the time, I would do something impulsive that made my leadership go, “What just happened?”
And guys, so many people live their lives this way. They’re squared away. They do well. And then they allow their emotions, their circumstances, or impulsive behavior to get the best of them, and suddenly they step all over their own toes and mess everything up.
That was me, and it really hindered my growth at a young age.
Here’s the question I want you to sit with: how many of you are 5%ers? You’re a rock star. You do really well. You find yourself rolling forward, success after success, and then all of a sudden, something happens. Some train wreck comes along, slaps you in the face, and you’re like, “What just happened?”
The reality is, for many of us, including yours truly, it took a long time to figure that out. I had to crash and burn and fail at an epic level. I had little failures along the way, but I never really owned them. They were just hiccups. Moments where I allowed my impulsive behavior to drive my decision-making instead of taking a breath and asking, “Hey, is this a good decision? Does this really help me?”
For me, alcohol played a part. When I was younger, I’d drink to the point where my decision-making wasn’t in a good place. Those were the things that negatively impacted me as a leader. And here’s the deal, guys: it doesn’t matter if you’re out drinking or having fun. When you’re a leader, you’re a leader. You’re always a leader. You don’t get to take off your leadership hat and say, “Yeah, I’m not a leader right now.” Once you become a leader, you’re always a leader. Once you become a parent, you’re always a parent. Once you lead a business, you’re always leading that business.
So those 5% moments negatively impact you, and they impact your credibility.
Here’s the good news: you can fix it. How? You have to become aware of yourself. Too often, what I find in 5%ers is that they want to blame everybody else. They don’t want to take ownership of those 5% moments. “It’s other people’s faults.” That’s a victim mindset. We can’t control all the external factors, but the one thing we can control is us. If you can take control of those 5% impulsive moments, I’m telling you, you’re going to watch your career start to soar.
I call these “margins of peak performance.” There are positive ones and negative ones. We want to amplify the positive ones and get rid of the negative ones. For me, alcohol was a major negative factor. I won’t say I never drink anymore, but I’ve cut it back significantly, because when I was drinking, it massively impacted my decision-making and allowed me to make impulsive decisions that damaged my credibility as a leader.
Maybe that’s not you. Maybe you’re the guy who can have a drink and it doesn’t impact you, good on you. But I know a lot of people where that’s not the case. Or maybe you’re in a situation where you feel yourself emotionally building up, about to blow up on people. You need to take ownership of that. Take that breath. Step out of the situation. You control yourself, your actions, and the words about to come out of your mouth.
Manage those 5% moments. That’s emotional intelligence. If you have the ability to be physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially aware of what’s going on in your life, and you can take a moment to not let yourself make those mistakes, that’s where you start to soar.
So here’s my challenge to you this week: sound off. What’s the ONE thing you could get done this week that would make you a rockstar close to 100% of the time? Reply and tell me. I read everyone.
And if you want a daily reminder of the standard you’re holding yourself to, grab some Overcome gear from the shop. The “Get Off The X” and Overcome apparel is built for people who refuse to let their 5% moments run their lives.
👉 Shop Overcome Gear: https://jasonredman.com/shop
Reduce that 5%. Set yourself up for greater success.
YOUTUBE LINK:Â https://youtu.be/OAonF1wvjdc