Hardwork > Talent.

You could call this the ‘sequel’ to last week’s edition: Trajectory > Position

Story time.

2020, peak COVID times. We had just moved in to our current home.

I got into SSN and all I wanted was to somehow get into the college football team.

I knew where I wanted to be—the level I wanted to be at. I had kinda visualized the type of player I wanted to be, attributes wise: dribbling, shooting, passing you know, all that good stuff.

But I didn’t know how to do it. I had no idea where to start, or what to start with.

Should I improve my fitness first? No, fitness can be done anytime, let me practice dribbling. But it’s just me here, i don’t know anyone else, who do I train with? Okay let me not start with dribbling, let’s try…

You get the idea. I was clueless.

But if there was one thing for certain, I wanted it bad. At any cost, I had made up my mind to get into the team.

Fast forward a year later, I get into the team.

Forward another year, I’m the captain.

Enough tooting my own horn.

My point is, I see so many people either:

1. Giving up when they are closer than ever

2. Not putting in the work even when they are practically guaranteed to win (if they do the work)

But I’ve never really understood it.

Why would anyone not do what’s needed to be done, especially even after you are handed the treasure map to the big golden chest?

You want gold.

You have made it clear to everyone around you that you want gold.

Then as per your wishes, a person comes by and gives you specific instructions on how you can attain gold.

But you don’t follow it?

WHY?

I’ve seen people being given a step-by-step outline to achieve what they want to, but they yet don’t do it.

I have never really wrapped my head around that fact.

I did my fair share of introspection and found out, there’s actually a few reasons why this happens to most of us.

Here’s three main ones:

1. Gratification

2. Comfort Zones & Mediocrity

3. Failure

1. Gratification

“noun: the state of being gratified; greatly satisfied.“

There are two types:

1. Instant gratification

2. Delayed gratification

One of the main reasons why our society these days tend to abandon their dreams, is due to the latter: Instant Gratification.

The modern society has evolved in a way that everything a man needs, he has at arm’s length.

The various primal and societal needs of the human species is met instantly, through the internet, our phones, social media, etc.

We give in to our temporary needs and cravings, throwing the long-term game plan out the window.

You crave sugary foods while on a diet. You give in, saying “This is the last time”

And you reset the clock to Day 1 again, and you break it, again, on day 7.

It’s very easy to give in to something that gives you instant pleasure. (Instant Gratification)

But at the cost of what?

Everything has a price in this world.

Nothing free, ever comes for free.

It’s a world filled with transactions.

Positives and negatives, Pros and Cons, Good and Bad.

Both sides of the same coin.

It may seem harmless while you are doing it, but the repercussions are yet to befall.

Nothing good ever really comes from Instant gratification.

(Unless you are searching and collecting experiences)

But if you really want something bad, you don’t expect to see results on day 2.

You put in the work, so much that it becomes routine, and eventually day ‘X’ will come.

Delayed gratification is where you don’t look for short-term pleasures, but long-term goals.

Figure out what you wanna do long-term, break it down to milestones, and get to work.

Remember to celebrate at every milestone—it’s the little things in life :)

2. Comfort Zones & Mediocrity

People often get too comfortable when they are around things/people they spend a lot of time with.

Some people love living with the bare minimum, with mediocrity.

And that’s absolutely fine.

If that’s what you truly want, go for it.

“If it works, it works.”

But truth is, if you feel you need to ascend to higher levels, get uncomfortable.

As bluntly said, do things that keep you on your toes.

Dabble in uncertainty, in uncomfortable things.

But don’t push yourself, or else you might lose your way home.

Everyday, make sure to one thing that you wouldn’t usually do, and let the Power of Compounding work it’s magic over time.

Before you realize it, you will have reached levels you never thought you could, and the look down from the top of the mountain is always beautiful and comforting, knowing how far you’ve come.

Tread the line of uncertainty day in day out, and slowly but surely, your comfort threshold will increase.

And before you know it, you will have found new mountains to scale.

And the game gets interesting.

3. Failure.

The word we all dread.

Failure. Loss.

There’s just so much negativity attached to the word isn’t it?

Even I thought so too.

No one wants to lose do they?

I mean, why would you WANT to lose?

Turns out, there’s actually valid reasons to.

Failure is a compass.

Treat losses as a way to redirect you towards your goal.

Failure happens when you don’t do things the way you’re supposed to.

So to instead of beating yourself up over it, take a step back and see what went wrong.

• What went wrong?

• Why did it go wrong?

• How can I minimize the chances of this happening again?

Through failure, you’ll see the things in the system that isn’t working, giving you a sign that things could be done better.

You can see this in two ways:

1. Sorrow, cause you’re not where you want to be

2. Excitement, that things could be even better than what you are currently doing.

For me, it’s option 2, all the way.

Because realize this:

Failure teaches a man more than success ever will.

Fail your way to success.

I did all these three things.

I worked in day in, day out to make sure I got into the team.
- (Delayed gratification).

I worked out and trained to the point where I was in constant fatigue and injuries.
- (Outside my comfort zone)

I failed over, and over, and over.
- (Failure)

But I didn’t stop.

Because if you haven’t realized yet,

even success…has a price to pay.

and I paid mine.

If you believe in the saying “Life is a Game“, then you win at this game called life by not quitting.

You win as long as you keep playing.

You lose the moment you give up.

At the end, it doesn’t matter about the wins or the losses, but together they mix to form experiences.

We regret the things we didn’t do rather than the things we did.

Do that thing you want.

Do it to the fullest of your potential.

The Universe awaits my friend.

See you next week. 🧿