Unstoppable

-by Matt Leedham

A very respected peer of mine recently introduced this concept to me as it relates to coaching (thanks Stephanie McDilda!). She’s built a keynote/workshop around the idea of being unstoppable, and although I have not yet heard the content, knowing her and the idea of being unstoppable, I have no doubt it will be a powerful experience.

I would love for Stephanie to write a guest post someday soon (hint, hint!), but in the meantime, let me briefly share what I believe being unstoppable means.

Being unstoppable means…

…that you have a purpose which drives an undying passion.

…that your passion can create undying energy in pursuit of it.

…that you have tenacity and grit.

…that you have encountered, embraced, and fought through external obstacles to your goal (e.g. money, time, connections, etc.).

…that you have faced, leaned into, and conquered internal obstacles to your goal (e.g. fear, insecurities, rejection, etc.).

…that you realize there is a forest beyond the trees, and small setbacks are not deal-breakers.

…that sometimes you have to climb the mountain and sometimes you have to walk around the mountain, and that the only thing that matters is that you get to the other side.

…that there are ebbs and flows to progress.

…that you stay the course in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, etc., etc.

Be your own juggernaut. Be an unstoppable force in your life. Be the purposeful, intentional, unrelenting, tenacious fighter that you are.

Are you there yet? Do you feel unstoppable? Tell us about it!

Be Gritty

-by Jaime Willis

Angela Lee Duckworth, Ph.D. has spent the last ten years researching achievement and believes “grit” is what ultimately determines success.


In a recent Tedx Talk, she discussed her research of incoming freshman at West Point in order to quantify their ‘grit,’ which she defines as “tenaciously perusing something over the long term.” The survey asked students to respond to questions like “I finish whatever I begin,” “I have overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge” versus statements like “My interests change from year to year.”

She found that the 96% students who scored in the highest quartile for grit were able to successfully graduate from West Point. In fact, people who scored highest for grit performed better than the students who were in the highest quartile of the “whole candidate score” which takes into account intelligence, physical prowess, and other factors that West Point believes are attributes of the most ‘talented’ students.

What does this mean for your goals? That tenacity, perseverance, and hard work are far more important in determining your ultimate success than any innate intellectual or physical prowess you may possess.

Do not be afraid! Given enough time and practice, success is yours!