By Craig Hysell
I sincerely believe there is nothing in life that you cannot do, but there are certainly things in life that you do not want to do. Your happiness will lie in doing (some, or even many of) the things you do not want to do so you can be successful.
This is simple, not easy.
A majority of people will avoid hard work. A majority of people will quit. A majority of people will start out thinking they are not in the majority.
It’s not really hard work that most people steer clear of in this society, at least I hope it is not (I have no metric to go off of one way or the other), rather it is “sustainable” hard work that I believe kills most people’s spirits. The trend is to quit when things get challenging. This stems from one thing really: not doing what you love to do. If you love it, you will grind. If you do not love it, you will fail.
There is a lot of entitlement today. People think they deserve success just because they want it or paid for a slip of a paper from an establishment somewhere that says they’ve been trained to ask for it. You can order up and receive anything you want at the click of a mouse these days except lasting success. Intent MUST match implementation if you are to be successful.
Many people equate disorganized scrambling as working hard… it is not. Disorganized scrambling is tantamount to learning and nothing more. If you are frazzled, you need to keep reaching and learning and applying. You need to read, study, implement and fail forward (re: learn) until you get it right. This is simple. Not easy.
You must earn the right to make it look easy. You must learn from others while never comparing yourself to others and continously making your own way forward. You must see one thing through at a time instead of thinking you can do it all at once. You must not become frustrated. Frustration is for the weak: it stems from entitlement and the feeling that you belong somewhere you have not yet earned the right to be.
If you would not do what you are doing in your life for free, without anybody watching you or honoring you with “accolades” you will eventually fail at your pursuit. It will take too long or become too difficult. You will have no love to see you through the breadth and depth of the hardships you will face and you will quit.
If you want an easy life then you should accept mediocrity as your standard and settle in for what will most likely be a fun and pleasant ride that will always seem to be “missing” something. This is fine if this is what you want. I do not judge and nor should anybody else. It’s your life, do with it what you please. But remember this: accept your decision. You “missing” something is not anybody else’s problem but yours.
If you want to affect change, you MUST constantly seek simplicity and understand this is a lifetime pursuit that does not come with an “easy” button, a quick-fix or a slip of paper you can pay for with anything but sweat equity. It is a bumpy road that never ends with many curves and wrong turns.
And if you want that change you make to be a positive one, you must always ask: am I treating others the way I would like to be treated?
If you don’t like being critiqued; if you do not have your why, your purpose and your love; if you are not durable then you should reflect on these things deeply and challenge yourself to cultivate these things. Life is going to challenge you whether you like it or not.
Will you be successful? Or will you wish it were easier?
Good luck, train hard, have fun and live with Conviction. I’m rooting for you. Go earn the right to live your dream.