I see a very big disconnect from what people expect out of life, work and the universe and what they are willing to do to achieve it.
What I mean is this: you aren’t owed anything. You earn what you earn…continually. Until you can, you can’t just stop grinding, hustling, and earning. If you aren’t getting what you want, figure out how to make it happen. Maybe it means more hours, maybe it means reading more books. It definitely doesn’t mean “ensuring you have your play time”.
FALSE PROMISES
Let me tell you how I see it when we have motivational speakers or tycoons or whomever telling you that you “need to take the time for you and do the things you enjoy” or “do what you love and get rich”. The people telling selling you that are getting rich doing it, because they are telling you what you want to hear. They started taking time off after they got where they wanted to go, not during.
Here is a quote that has never ever been said by someone telling you what it is they did to get successful “I made sure to only work 40 hours. Take 2 days off each week, take my vacations, and do everything I wanted to do”. NOPE. It is more like “Yes I made sacrifices. I basically slept in my office for 2 years, and that’s how I got to where I am now. I made sacrifices.”
Increasingly, it seems as though people think they are owed things without putting in the work: be it more money, more time to do fun things, a promotion etc. I wonder if this is because of all the motivational speakers, infomercials, and other “promisers” telling everyone what they want to hear.
A little balance
Now, I’m not saying there isn’t merit to doing what you want in life. You absolutely have to have some balance. But the expectations seem askew to me. Everyone will have a different ratio of work to leisure time that they need. The people who run shit, seem to have a better ability to withstand a more demanding work schedule. They have better copability in general. Don’t whine about not getting what you think you are owed if you aren’t doing everything you can to make sure it happens. That’s little kid stuff aka bratty.
You have to take care of your loved ones as well. Often times it is they who are the ones distressed most by long hours and other demands. I get that. But they should understand why you are doing what you are doing-that being hustling and setting up a future. They should be supporting you to succeed instead of guilting you into feeling like you are making bad choices.
Do what you “love”
No. Do what you don’t hate. Do what you are good at. Do what you can handle doing, and provide for yourself and family. If you hate it, then definitely leave. But if you think you are gonna get ahead playing video games, you are likely gonna be broke. If you think you’re going to get rich being a food critic, you are gonna be disappointed. This is a foolish expectation.
Do something that has “meaning”
WTF is meaning? My meaning is providing in such a way that my people and I can eat how we want to, do things when we want to (assuming it doesn’t take away from what we need to do first), and save a little. If you “need” to feel like you are having a positive impact on the world, I guess you could go be a very annoying green peace sign holder in front of Trader Joe’s. And then whine about how you don’t get paid enough or that you’ve been holding a sign for 40 hours these last 4 months and you want to be promoted to the whole foods lot instead of the trader joes lot and it isn’t fair that you have to stay in the trader joe’s lot because you’ve worked so hard.
I love seeing people get fitter and healthier. That’s a goal of mine in fitness. It’s tied with the fact that I’m good at teaching it. And that I happen to really be interested in how the body works.
wow, clif is sure cynical!
maybe. maybe just more realistic. maybe not a whiner. maybe not a sissy 😉
All I am saying here is: nobody owes you anything. If you did a couple good things in the past, put in work in the past, congratulations and good for you. But what are you doing now?
I used to spend 5 hours/week playing basketball, 2-3 nights a week hanging out with friends. I had fun. I saved no money. Those days were good days, and I don’t regret what I did at all. I was in a job where I worked 50 hours a week enthusiastically and would’ve done more if CA allowed it, and I moved up through the ranks really fast. I left that job, and started with another, where I worked everyday and flew around the country for 16 months. Now I’m with Fitwall and I recently took one day off-to get married. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me in this post. I don’t expect others to work like me, or like the CEOs and successful people work-but I don’t expect to see those others move ahead either.
Now that I’m done with my morning rant, it’s back to work. We have more people out there who need to try Fitwall so we can open in other cities.
Do as much as you can handle. Don’t do more. But understand that if someone can handle more, and produce more-that is the person who is moving forward. I’m not letting anyone work harder than I. Some will say-you stop being effective after a certain point. I agree. That’s when I rest, go to the gym, watch a movie, or go to bed. And then I get back at it.
I feel like this should end with “stay thirsty my friends” even though it doesn’t really make sense.
“stay thirsty my friends”
BA training. 