It’s fun to be good at something when the people around you care about that thing. The problem is that to get good you have to do it when they’re not around too.
I think about this often with Olympians. Every four years everyone loves that they put in the grueling hours to be really fast at the 100 meters.
But the idea applies to everyone.
The thankless work that no one sees. Late nights you’ll never get credit for. Levels of sacrifice that can’t be put into words. Surrendering yourself to a path most people won’t understand.
It might not be fun but it’s worth it. And it will be fun later.
You keep checking the window to see if granny is pulling into the driveway yet.
Whenever she comes she brings treats and gifts and good surprises.
So you keep checking the window.
Nothing.
And then all at once, there she is!
For all the times you were checking she was always on her way. She was always getting closer and closer. You just couldn’t see.
Of course granny represents the good things that are coming your way. You don’t see them until you see them but they’ve been on their journey towards you for a long time.
By special request I’ve included the new Charlie Puth song. A hot track for sure.
There’s a really cool song by an artist called Joseph of Mercury, which is set up nicely with The Killers just before it. And you know I’m all about the set up.
The song that’s on is helping to set up the context for the next one.
It’s why you can be as good as the Beatles but not as famous.
When unknown causes help cause success, we get way more credit than we deserve. We did a lot of great work which was vital but there was a lot that just fell into place.
When unknown causes keep us from the success we seek we take it way more personally than we deserve. We did a lot of great work which was vital but it just didn’t click and it’s all our fault.
In every case there’s a million more unknown causes than known causes.
When faced with a problem we want to come up with a solution that will be repeatable when a similar problem comes up later on down the road.
If it’s a solution we can replicate, then having the tool already in our belt allows us to fix the problem faster next time.
It would seem there’s more value, more currency in solving a problem in a way that is repeatable later.
However…
I played a gig a couple years ago where we were all required to wear black shoes.
An hour before the show we were hanging out in the loading dock of the venue when the saxophone player realized he didn’t bring his black shoes. All he had were the flip flops he had on. Big no no.
(In fact, as a rule for everyone forever, no flip flops on stage.)
What to do. No one in the band had extras his size. It was later in the evening, no shoe stores were open near by. When someone needs black shoes at a few moments notice what do you do???
And this is completely true, no lies, no stretching the truth…he looked down and to his right at the 55gallon trash can sitting there, and right on top were a pair of black dress shoes exactly his size. He picked them up, put them on, played the show, and as we left the venue he placed the shoes right back where he found them. Problem solved.
It’s certainly not the most reliable, repeatable way to fix the problem of forgetting black shoes.
