Dodge the Norm Podcast
Dodge the Norm is a podcast that challenges conventional thinking through conversations about healthy lifestyle, mental health, and entrepreneurship. Aaron Dodge shares practical insights alongside guests who've broken away from the expected path to create meaningful change. Each episode offers simple strategies to improve your physical health, strengthen mental wellbeing, and build businesses that reflect your personal values. Join our community of "norm-dodgers" who are redesigning their lives on their own terms.
Dodge the Norm Podcast
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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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 a little bit of another off the cuff episode. We are going to talk about the Masters champion, rory McIlroy. Unless you're living under a rock, you know that Rory took home the green jacket at Augusta yesterday and his story is just too good for me not to talk about it on the podcast, the Dodge the Norm podcast, that talks about perseverance and reaching your dreams and adversity. So of course, I had to talk about Rory today.
Speaker 1:So the cool thing about what happened yesterday is that Rory won what is called a grand slam. A grand slam is when you win all four majors. Now, five people before that have done it and the crazy part about it is very young. In his age, I think by the age of 25, rory had won the other three and everybody was like, oh my gosh, he's going to be the fastest to do it. He's going to be so quick Like he's. It's just like going to be Masters, which, let's be honest, is probably the most prolific of all of the majors. It's the first major of the year. It happens in April. It happens in the spring, the sun is beautiful down in Augusta, georgia, the flowers are out and it's just like a really special time in golf. And so for his last major to be the masters and for him to I hate to say it fail for 11 years Um, it's crazy that he has finally got it done.
Speaker 1:Um, so let's just talk about like things like okay, we all carry dreams that sometimes just fall out of reach. I love that. That's the promotion, that's the race that you wanted to run, that's the personal project you've been putting on the back burner. Um, and the longer that we chase those, the heavier they can become Like I'm never going to get there, or I'm never going to, uh, finish that project, or I'm never going to run that race. And so, thinking about the 11 years that it took Rory, I think about things in my life. I think the first thing that I thought about was like real businessy, and I thought to myself gosh, you haven't sent that email to this brand, or you haven't followed up with this client, or you haven't pitched this. You know company, and Rory's been hitting about a million balls a year for the last 11 years while he tries to wrap up the masters. So you know it's just. It's just a story of mental resilience, year after year coming up, falling short, devastating near misses.
Speaker 1:He's got answers to questions from the media, from the fans, but he just kept picking himself up every single year and just knowing like, think about this, think about going to let's say you just go to work, and just knowing like, think about this, think about like going to let's say you just go to work, and every and this one specific weekend, you know that every single media outlet and every single fan and every single person is going to be like is this going to be the year that you're, you know, going to win this deal? Is this the year that you're going to do really well in that project? And you got people like asking you and asking you and asking you all of these kinds of questions. And I mean Rory doesn't just get that on master's weekend, he gets that literally every single week day. I feel like he probably gets the when are you going to get 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 been eluding you despite, I would say, putting out your best efforts? Um, but what I wrote in my newsletter is what.
Speaker 1:What Rory's journey teaches us is that time doesn't diminish achievement. The victory is just as sweet and, as you saw, with the way that Rory's journey teaches us, is that time doesn't diminish achievement. The victory is just as sweet and, as you saw, with the way that Rory responded, it's very sweet. He fell to his knees and cried it out after he put in the final putt. Consistency trumps intensity. It wasn't a dramatic overhaul that brought McElroy his victory. It was just showing up prepared year after year, and maintaining the belief through disappointment.
Speaker 1:It was a very challenging day on the golf course today and he, you know, lost three strokes on one hole. He put it in the water at 13. You know, he did not play a perfect round. He missed a putt to win it and then had to not play a perfect round. He missed a putt to win it and then it would go to a playoff. And then the obstacle is the way. God, I love that Each previous disappointment in Augusta built the resilience needed for victory.
Speaker 1:Your setbacks aren't delaying your success, they're preparing you for it. Your setbacks aren't delaying your success, they're preparing you for it. Every single failure. I actually just went to doing some research on this newsletter. I just typed in like Rory McIlroy quotes and he said on a podcast failure is an opportunity to learn. Love that there's, no, there's not wins and losses. I mean there are, I hate to say it. There are, like in the wins and loss columns, like in the NBA and in college basketball and in sports and stuff like that. But you know there's wins and then there's learning opportunities. That has been challenging you Instead of focusing on the outcome, commit to the process for, let's say, the next seven days.
Speaker 1:What is a daily action that you can move that gets you closer? Can you stop thinking about that marathon that you have to train for the next 79 days and you just don't think you're going to get there? And let's just talk about what it's like to run three miles on Tuesday and to do your strength workout on Wednesday and to lift on Thursday, like let's stack some bricks. That's another thing. I think Chris Paul said it a couple of months ago on a podcast just stacking bricks just every day.
Speaker 1:If you're consistent, what you want in life is going to manifest itself. And I, I mean I said man, I just said manifest and it came out of my mouth, I was like manifest is not the right word. But if you just stack bricks every single day, you will build the foundation that will get you to the point that you want to be at. So your dreams. They deserve your persistence. So think about something this week. Think about something long-term, a long-term goal. That's been challenging you, and you know I'm a big person about writing things out. I have a a bunch of posters here in my office that, like I think about this video that I have to edit that's going to take forever, and I just have a bunch of check boxes and that one check box equals an hour and if I have 10 hours to edit, it just got to check that box 10 times. And so lay some bricks this week, stay persistent, have a fantastic week and, as always, just like Rory McIlroy, make sure you dodge the norm. See you next time. Bye.