They Don’t See The Grind They See The Shine

The title of this post is a quote I lifted from a conversation Damon “Dame” Dash was having on the TV show Music Moguls.

Now considering Dash’s failures one might ascertain Dash is not the one to be quoting in a motivational context.

In his heyday, Dash was worth a reported $50 million, only to descend so deeply into debt (thanks to back taxes, back rent and other outstanding bills) that it ate away at his multi-million fortune.

Given all of that I’d argue that Dash could offer up some noteworthy advice on what to and not to do to those with their eyes on the prize of success and prosperity. There’s always lessons to be learned from losing just as there are lessons to be learned from winning.

So when he says something like,

“They Don’t See The Grind They See The Shine”

it’s worthy of thinking about.

The grind is work. Everybody wants the shine but few are willing to put in the grind necessary to get and sustain that shine.

There’s a verse from Jamaican artist Anthony B that comes to mind when I discuss the context of putting in hard work.

Nobody wannu plant the corn
Everybody want to raid the barn

Today’s music industry is a perfect example of shine minus a solid foundation of grind.

Have you noticed there has been shortage of “legendary artists” jumping out in the last decade? There have been no Smoky Robinsons, Ella Fitzgeralds, Patti LaBelles, Marvin Gayes, Lena Hornes, Jackson 5s to come out so strong and so good you knew they and their music was going to be legendary.

Why?

Because too many of today’s artist aren’t putting in the grind. They don’t have to because modern day technology offers them convenient shortcuts to the shine.

There is a caveat to convenience and that caveat is “anything that comes quick and easy often time is lost quick and easy”. Quick and easy is often void of substance sustenance and sustainability.

If you didn’t put in the grind to get the shine that shine with and in itself is superficial. The luster will be short lived because those that take shortcuts have no idea how to maintain that shine.

This observation can be applied to relationships, marriages, writing, home building — almost anything that requires hard word and dedication to achieve a successful outcome.

You have to grind if you want shine with longevity.

The takeaway here is “A quality realistic shine will reflect the hard and dedicated grind put into it”.