Welcome to the Daily Quote, the podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm Andrew McGivern and this episode is brought to you by the Great News podcast. Good news should be heard so click the link in the show notes to listen.
Now lets dive straight in to today's quote from Tom Cruise. Three Academy Award nominations. Three Golden Globe wins. One of the most successful actors in Hollywood history. At first I was going to use a quote that is widely attributed to
Tom Cruise but when I vetted the quote it turns out there is no evidence he said it.
That quote is
”Play your role with everything you've got”.
I thought it would be a good analogy for non actors working and playing in the various roles they play in their lives. But then I found an actual quote that probably inspired the misattributed quote and it is even better.When asked about his approach to work and to life, Tom Cruise said:
”There's no part-way with me on anything in any area of my life.”Part-way is comfortable. Part-way is safe. Part-way lets you say you tried without fully risking failure. You were in, but not completely. You cared, but not entirely. So if it doesn't work out, you have an exit. You were never fully committed anyway.Cruise built one of the most durable careers in entertainment by refusing to have that emotional exit strategy. He has never made a film he didn't believe in. However the picture turned out, he gave everything to it. Not most of himself. Not the comfortable portion. Everything.
Think about what part-way actually costs. The relationship where you're present but not fully invested. The project you're executing but not truly behind. The goal you're pursuing at 70% because 100% feels too exposed. The sport you're playing where you're not going all in and therefore letting the team down.
Part-way doesn't protect you from failure. It guarantees a specific kind of it, the kind where you never find out what full commitment would have produced. That's the worst failure.
The one with no data. The one that leaves the question permanently open.
Full commitment doesn't guarantee the outcome you want. Nothing does. But it guarantees you will find out. And the person who finds out, who gave everything they had and still fell short, learns something the part-way person never will.So here's the question: Where are you currently part-way and what would it look like to go all in?
Because whatever role you're playing right now, parent, builder, creator, professional, partner or teacher. It deserves everything you've got. Not the safe portion. Not the comfortable fraction.
Everything.
No part-way.
That's it for today. I'm Andrew McGivern and I'll see you in the next one with another Daily Quote.
