The Hidden Hierarchy of Champions

Hi Reader,

💡 Today's Niblit: In Relentless, legendary trainer Tim Grover reveals three distinct competitor types that separate the truly elite from everyone else. Understanding where you fall in this hierarchy is the first step to reaching your highest potential.

🔑 Key Insight: Grover identifies three levels of performers:

• Coolers (good, reliable, but need direction)
• Closers (effective under pressure, but follow established plans) and
• Cleaners (dominant forces who create their own standards and rewrite the rules)

This framework isn't about talent or skill, but about your mental approach and internal standards.

Think of a hospital emergency room. Coolers are the competent nurses who follow protocols perfectly. Closers are the skilled surgeons who excel in scheduled operations. Cleaners are the trauma surgeons who walk into chaos, assess instantly, and make split-second decisions that save lives no one else could save — they don't just perform procedures, they invent them on the spot.

Why does this matter? Because most people mistake being good (Cooler) or reliable under pressure (Closer) for being elite, when there's an entirely different level above them. Recognizing the Cleaner mindset gives you a template for how true dominance operates — not from external validation or instruction, but from instinct and internal drive.

🦉 Nibble of Wisdom: "A Cooler can become a Closer, and a Closer can become a Cleaner, but a Cleaner never goes backward." — Chapter 1

🛠️ Practical Tip: Track your decisions for one week, noting which were "safe" choices (Cooler), which were pressure responses (Closer), and which came from pure instinct and personal standards (Cleaner).

🚀 Quick Action: Right now, identify one upcoming decision where you've been seeking permission or validation. Make a commitment to approach it like a Cleaner — decide based solely on your internal standards, not external approval.

🔍 Further Exploration:

• Ask yourself, “When is the last time I did something excellent that no one witnessed or praised?” Cleaners don’t look for outside praise. They perform for themselves first.
• Consider which level you operate at in different domains — you might be a Cleaner at work but a Cooler in relationships, or vice versa.
• Explore the concept of psychological safety and how it contrasts with the Cleaner mindset of comfort with isolation and criticism.

🎬 Wrapup: Remember, the difference between good and unstoppable isn't just skill — it's mentality. Cleaners don't just show up differently; they think differently. They don't wait for opportunity; they create it. Now go make your next move with Cleaner-level conviction.

🔗 Links:

• Check out Relentless by Tim Grover on Amazon
• ​Relentless on Kindle​
• ​Relentless Audiobook​

Dominate your day,

Tom "studying the Cleaners" Bernthal

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