Who is David Reid?

 

I am an optimist, a leader, an person who has reinvented myself and 1000's of others mentally, physically, and spiritually over 25 years. Having trained and worked with every day people, athletes and CEO's, I have seen first hand what it takes to succeed in life. All this exposure to different people and personalities has given me a very unique insight on why few people succeed and so many fall short of their goals. Are they born different? Are they smarter, more talented, or more gifted? Sure there are people in this world who are born to succeed at what they fix their sights on; we aren't talking about those statistical outliers. From Michael Jordan to Elon Musk, what separates them from the masses is their ability to set their sights on a goal and work insanely hard in the face of great adversity. In short, they went on the GRIND! That is the true difference. Is Elon Musk gifted? Without a doubt, he is highly intelligent. His thinking is only a part of that equation. His single minded driven mentality is a hallmark of his success. He looks for huge problems and finds solutions. Elon Musk is unafraid to dream big and work manically to achieve his goals. Michael Jordan is considered the greatest player to ever play the game. As a sophomore in high school, he tried out for the varsity basketball team. He didn't earn a spot, so he played down on JV. Adversity made him great. That event put a burning desire in him that drove him to the top. There are many people who are as talented as Jordan, but few who have his drive to win, to be the best.

As a young kid growing up in Troy, Michigan, I loved boxing. I started that sport due to getting bullied up by older kids as a young boy in Royal Oak, Michigan. I just loved the primal element of the sport. At our cottage up in Elk Rapids, Michigan, I said to my step father "one day I want to win golden gloves." He replied that white kids from the suburbs don't win the golden gloves; black kids from the city do. I asked why? He said "they have more heart and determination from their harder lives." That just didn't make sense to me. I told him you can't measure my desire, or how hard I will work. I said they are human just like me. What does skin color have to do with it? I never forgot that comment. I worked tirelessly toward that goal and at 16 years old, I won my coveted title of golden gloves champion. I remember putting the trophy on his work bench and saying "remember you told me I would never win this? Well, here it is! I always like when people say I can't do something. I work very hard to prove them wrong.

As a young kid, I would go through different phases as I grew older. I was a freckle faced kid with some reddish tint to my super wavy hair. It seemed every time I would have a growth spurt, I would get chubby. Then I would sprout a few inches. I got teased some and was self conscious about how I looked. I used to look at super hero comics and think "one day, I will look like that." In reality, I was pretty normal in every sense of the word. Good athlete, but not great. Mediocre student right square in the middle of the bell curve. I was always a leader though. Kids would follow my lead often. I was always the QB playing football with my friends. I relished having the game in my hands. As I grew older, I followed my own course in life. I strived to be different, to excel in all I did. I went to college and graduated Magna Cum Laude. I started bodybuilding while in college so I could be that super hero I dreamed of as a kid. Through much hard work and dedication and a GRINDING MENTALITY, 30 years from the start, I won my IFBB Pro Card in bodybuilding. I did it through perseverance more so than raw talent.

What I learned through all these years is that talent is great, but that hard work is better. The saying that hard work will beat talent that doesn't work hard is very true. For every person born with natural talent, there are 10 who achieve as much through their GRINDING mentality. They never give up, they always find a way. These people embrace the GRIND! They fall in love with the process, not the result. The idea of quitting is unacceptable. As Henry Ford once said "If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right!" These profound words have defined my life. Nobody will ever say David Reid took the easy road. They might not have understood the path or the challenges, but they won't say he quit. My Mother was a ferocious GRINDER and she passed that on to me via her spirit and upbringing. For her, I am forever grateful. To achieve great things, you must first ask yourself "What is your GRIND!"