Putting in the work

Assignment: “Take a few minutes and watch a few of these (YouTube videos on a popular entrepreneur, investor, author, public speaker, and Internet personality Gary Vaynerchuck). I’ll expect a recap as a medium post” — Professor Auriti

So, here goes…(although a bit carried away — aiming for an A++)

In the wise words of Gary… “Your talent isn’t enough. You’ve got to put in the work”….you’ve got to “hustle” for the things you truly desire. This theory can be applied to anything in life…even another life theory!

For example, I became obsessed with “The Secret” years ago…to create consciously, through channeling universal forces. Does it really work? It did for me, for certain somethings that would probably have manifested anyway, had I not put in so much thought….or wouldn’t it have? In any case, I still had to put in the thought, the work…because I wanted it to work. I read the book 3 times, rented the movie, drilled the concepts into my brain…focused on being “positive”, which we all know is difficult at times, living in a world of traffic jams, finding another grey hair, or missing the McDonald’s breakfast menu by 5 minutes…my point is, I trained my brain to be a continuous positive-thought-producing machine…to bring to me, what I really wanted…not an easy task.

Positivity plays a key role here. One problem, and I am guilty of this at times…is that most often, negativity paralyzes us. It prevents us from taking risks or trusting our gut…maybe because we fear failure, or rejection. Maybe we are just too comfortable living a calculated, yet aimless life…thinking we can’t do better, be more, have more…we settle, not playing up our strengths, but rather focusing on our inabilities and insecurities…negative shit.

Or, maybe we just set our bars so high that the rate of return we are expecting is just unrealistic….if we don’t put in the work, that is. It’s about taking baby steps… trusting in the process, and that the work will pay off. I understood at a young age that I had to lose 5 lbs. before I could lose 10…and that I had to exercise everyday if I wanted to finally get fit and put an end to the bullying at school…and most importantly, I understood that it would take over 10 years of maintaining my figure before I could have the satisfaction of seeing that very same bully show up to my bootcamp class looking like he just swallowed an Orca.

Applying this concept to tonight’s events….a friend of the family (Pete) requests to come and join in on our yearly tradition of making homemade, jarred tomato sauce. He too, makes his own tomato sauce and follows a similar process…but is not quite sure why his sauce doesn’t taste as great…so he wants to learn our process and “secrets”, in hopes of making a tastier sauce.

Me: “We shop around for the finest Plum tomatoes we can find, waiting for just the right batch!”

Pete: “Eh, but Louie’s shop in Beachurst has a nice looking bunch’a tomatas. I buy them from him every year”

Me: “We grow our own basil in the backyard and throw it in the jars to infuse the sauce with its aroma”

Pete: “Eh, I’m not a big fan of basil, but my wife, she throws in some Mccormic dried basil sometimes”

Me: “We make sure to cut off the stems, and any blemishes on the skin…then we give the tomato a nice wiff to make sure it doesn’t smell sour…that one tomato can ruin our supply”

Pete: “Eh, I just throw everything in…it’s too much work, what you guys do”

EXACTLY!….was my only thought.

Me (grin on my face, thinking about this assignment): “And that is why your sauce doesn’t taste as good as ours, my friend….you don’t put in the work!”

Hard work pays off…but some people expect things handed to them…better yet, they think the money that has been handed to them can help them portray what it looks like to have put in the work. Like that business that has recently been handed down to an heir…where Jr. parades around in his $100,ooo car that daddy has paid for. Does he realize how phony he looks when he’s trying to promote himself as “self-made”?

Or, those Latina girls at my gym who have obviously paid a pretty penny for their “assets”, but still show up to flaunt major cleavage and grotesquely monstrous looking backsides….barely completing their reps. Do they realize that the woman to the left, who has put in the work to achieve that firm ass, toned arms…who has taken this “butt and gut” class consistently for a year…looks 1000 percent sexier than they do?

Some people act like robots, seeing straight, not expecting the unexpected…some complain about jobs, financial situations, relationship status, whatever. But do they dare apply for that dream job, invest in a higher education, or apply themselves in mastering a trade they’re passionate about? Do they try to save money? Stop charging on that high interest rate credit card?….Do they grow the balls it takes to walk over to that cutie they’ve been eyeing from across the room all night? Do they invest the time, patience and energy? Swallow their pride? Bend, at times, for the sake of salvaging a valuable relationship?

Every second, hour, day, week… is given as a gift…every millisecond a challenge to put forth our utmost energy, and apply it towards goals, big or small…to reach our fullest potential towards making things happen…whether that means taking that first step out of bed….becoming a circus Acrobat, or the cirque de Soleil mogul who signs that Acrobat’s check. Whether or not we reach those goals depends solely on us, and our ability to take action on the things that could deliver us happiness, fulfillment, success (in our own right)….if we could only just put in the work.