I was inspired this morning listening to the February 2015 SUCCESS Magazine CD about productivity when publisher Darren Hardy asked a thought-provoking question.

What Separates the Great Achievers from Everyone Else? I was hooked! I ejected the CD from my car, brought it into the office, and started to create a handout that would help my students succeed.

Today is the first day of classes here at Clemson University for the Spring semester, so what better day than today to set the tone and inspire my students to work toward excellence – in school and in life.

One of the best parts of my job is the opportunity the start a new semester. Teachers have a rare opportunity to make changes to their courses that will revitalize, rejuvenate, and reenergize them. They can change their textbook, their syllabus, what they teach, how they teach, and even why they teach. Many other professions do not have that opportunity, so it is easier to get stuck, complacent, or even burned out. What follows is content and inspiration from Darren that I felt compelled to share, along with a few small tweaks of my own.

What Separates the Great Achievers from Everyone Else?

The answer is they GRIND it out.

The grind can be defined as the slow, boring, monotonous, painful process of working toward excellence every day. It is what separates the great achievers from everyone else. If you want to stand out in a culture of fitting in, start grinding!

When you didn’t exercise, they kept grinding.
When you slept, they kept grinding.
When you decided to call it a day, they kept grinding.
When you lost motivation, they kept grinding.
When you think you did your best, they kept grinding.
When you played Angry Birds on your phone, they kept grinding.
When you felt tired, they kept grinding.
When you watched Monday Night Football, they kept grinding.
When the weather was bad, they kept grinding.
When you said “it’s the weekend,” they kept grinding.
When you said “it’s late,” they kept grinding.
When you said “I’ve had a long week,” they kept grinding.
When you said “it’s good enough,” they kept grinding.

Darren encourages us to learn to master the grind, as “those are the moments when you will be gaining strides on everyone else because it is in the mundane where drift happens, where excuses are easy to come by” and where people get off track.

Thank you Darren for your words, wisdom, and motivation, and to everyone reading this, be sure to pick up Darren’s new book, The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster. It is a brilliant book and I’ve read it twice already. It is top shelf and first rate in every way.

My best to you in 2015!