In an interview with Lewis Howe, author and podcast host Tim Ferriss was asked who some of the people were in his formative years that he was thankful for having known. His two answers were his wrestling coach, John Buxton, and his resident advisor in high school Reverent Richard Greenleaf.

He went on to say that he believes there are two types of love and support that you can give and you can typify them as motherly love (unconditional) and fatherly love (conditional). Although all of us can safely say that we are grateful for unconditional love, we must also learn to see and appreciate conditional support as well.

It is often through struggle and hardship that we learn to push our limits and achieve our true potential. Tim’s coach John Buxton would push all of his players to their breaking point to prove to them that they had more power inside of them than they were aware of. Undoubtedly this stuck with them throughout their lives and, according to Tim Ferriss, most of the members of that wrestling team went on to be very successful adults.

On the reverse of that, you also need people in your life who will love and support you regardless of fair or poor circumstances. Ferriss’ resident advisor Richard Greenleaf gave him the unconditional support to ignore the other counselors and teachers who tried to convince him that he couldn’t get into Princeton or that his goals weren’t achievable.

Knowing that someone has your back no matter what can give you a great boost of self-confidence and motivation to persist through hardship; having others who push you to do your best no matter how sad or physically drained you are can show you where your limits are and what you need to do to push them beyond what you previously thought possible. Both are forms of love although the second type may at times seem mean to us and both are essential pieces to the human puzzle that enable us to live a life full of gratitude and fulfillment!

Article written by GratitudeSpace’s very own Brian Grubba

This was taken from, “The School of Greatness” podcast.  I recommend that you check out the whole interview titled:

Become Superhuman at Any Skill with Tim Ferriss

Connect with Tim Ferriss HERE and Lewis Howes HERE.

We at GratitudeSpace Love Lewis Howes!  Thank you for the exclusive interview,

“Family, Health, and Dreams” and for the exclusive gratitude video for Gratitude Day New York!