After sitting for over six hours and conducting business around the world from my laptop and my phone, I got up from my desk with the sense that I deserved a break after a successful day. It is remarkable how much more work I can get done at home compared to working in my business office.

As I left the office, a wicked headache pounded in my head. Have you ever felt the kind that hurts only in your forehead and your eyes—the kind that can last all evening long and even keep you from falling asleep? On my way down the hall, I glimpsed the equipment in the exercise room and remembered that I had not done my workout as planned. But my head is pounding and I’m hungry, I thought. Well, maybe later. But it’s going to be too late, and I’ll feel lazy after eating. Ah, what the heck, I’ll do it now and see how it works.

I spent just fifteen minutes between the trampoline and that body building machine. Arm stretches, body lifts, bouncing, sprinting—I worked up a quick sweat. Remarkably, as I left the room, I noticed that my headache was gone! How is that possible? Don’t you need rest and peace-and-quiet in order to get rid of a headache? When you are feeling less than total health, isn’t it medicine and time-off that your body needs? The answer is, sometimes, but not always.

There are moments when your body leads you to feel that you are unable to exert yourself and perform. In those times, most humans stop and take extended periods off from work. And to be clear, when your body is seriously ill, it is necessary to give it time to heal before you return to proper functioning. However, the power of the human spirit can overcome illness or pain—forcing it back, to ensure ongoing healing and energy.

Do you recall the days when Michael Jordan made basketball seem like magic, due to his remarkable performances on the court? Back then, I read a curious report in the newspaper. During the games when Michael Jordan was not feeling very well, due to some illness he was fighting, he would consistently score more points per game than his average performance when he was perfectly healthy. Isn’t that counter-intuitive? It hardly makes sense until you realize that those people who have a deep passion and zest to win, are not like the average and regular people in society.

Too many people grind to a halt and take a day off at the earliest sign of sickness or discomfort. The average workers in a company are convinced that they cannot perform unless they feel great. In the meanwhile, there is a handful of others in the same company that feel great BECAUSE they perform. And when their good feeling is threatened by physical ailment to the degree that they must take time off to recuperate, they do so grudgingly, anxious for the moment when they will again rise to the task of moving and shaking the world.

Now, you may be tempted to think this line of reasoning is bad because it shows insensitivity to people’s pain. No such thing is intended. Yes, if you break a leg, take a few weeks off and heal. If you have a communicable illness, do not go to work and infect others. And there is a place of surrender where you had best lie down and let medical professionals “do their thing,” and then you stay home and recuperate. But for heaven’s sake, adopt the attitude that gives you altitude—the attitude of the winner.

What is that attitude? It is mental toughness. It is the spirit of being unconquerable; the indefatigable pursuit of what you desire, combined with an unwillingness to surrender until it absolutely cannot be avoided. That drive—that energy itself—can make some sickness turn around in its tracks and flee from you. Many a sickness has made one-day attempts to overtake me—from the common cold to chicken pox to the mumps. I've struggled to maintain my daily activities, fighting to hold onto energy and fullness, and taking every natural remedy I know. On countless occasions, the symptoms have abated within a day.

I expect that hypochondriacs will readily disagree with what I’m about to say here. Sometimes, when you are feeling weak and sickly, what you most need is not rest and repose, but a surge of action and exertion, the end result of which, is a gush of energy that in itself, produces health and power in your mind and body. This is a state of mind that directly affects the state of your body. The mind-body connection is stronger than we sometimes believe.

My children caught this energy for life when they were very young. Darell reminds me that when he was seven years old, one day his head and stomach hurt badly. He recalled that I offered him two choices: “Well, you can stay in bed and let the sickness crawl all over your body, or you can come outside and play with Daddy.” He thought about it for a while, then decided to join me in the backyard. We played for a few hours. He reported that the sickness went away and never returned. In high school, both Darell and his sister, Danielle, expressed surprise when their friends stayed home, due to common childhood annoyances like a headache or a mild cold or flu.

Oh, and while this attitude doesn’t prevent you from having occasional bouts with serious illness, it certainly can help you heal and recover faster than those who simply capitulate and accept the sickness.

Let’s talk about you. Do you hunger for greatness? Do you have a passion to make a larger and more meaningful contribution in life before you die? Then, also consider these questions. How mentally tough are you? Do you have a tolerance for pain? Do you have a commitment to avoid giving up, even when your body shouts surrender? Show me a leader whose life impacts the world—whose influence improves the lives of hundreds and thousands—and I’ll show you someone who practices this attitude of being indomitable, tireless and driven. Examples abound across all fields of human endeavor. What do you have in common with Michael Jordan, Nelson Mandela and Victor Fankl—the Jewish survivor of Nazi concentration camps? They share the same fighting spirit that it tenacious, indomitable and relentless.

Will you be great in your lifetime? Will the influence of your life last beyond the date of your death? Then make a conscious effort to adopt and practice the mind-set of a winner in all your ways, mental, spiritual and physical. Then, you will find that this passion to live is something greater than pain.

Take it from me, this attitude will give you altitude.

Alvin.