You learn how to make your work by making your work.
You make good work by among other things making lots of work that isn’t good and gradually weeding out the parts that aren’t good.
Your work is your guide.
Art & Fear
Category: Success
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Passion
It’s hard to think of an example of a very successful person who wasn’t also VERY passionate about his or her work. There are so many quotes about the importance of being passionate about your work if you want to be truly great. Don’t settle on a work path for money or security. Instead, focus on your passion first and foremost. Through that passion, you will find greatness.
“If you love the hell out of what you’re doing, you’re usually pretty good at it and you wind up making your own breaks.” -Chuck Yeager
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. It’s a lot of hard work… and if you don’t love it, you’re going to fail.” -Steve Jobs
According to Steve, the path forward towards greatness is so hard that the only way it’s possible to persevere and continue against all odds is to be so passionate about your work that nothing can stop you.
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Never Satisfied
The common trait among all successful people as they are never satisfied. They always keep pushing to get better and better and improve themselves, their companies, or the people aroudn them.
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Grow or Be Comfortable?
In life, you can either grow or be comfortable. Not both. You choose.
Growing means you’re doing things that you are not good at or haven’t yet mastered. You’ll probably feel like a fool starting something new. But you’re growing. If you can can last through the discomfort then you can grow to new heights.
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Go without…
“Go without and see what you really need.” This is a stoic philosophy of “voluntary hardship” nicely summarized. Too often we get used to living a certain way and develop a dependence on things in our lives. Many of the things in your life you may not actually need. After all, what do you really need to live a good life? Not much if you pair it all down to the basics – safety, shelter, food, health, and family. What else is there?
You can simplify your life and understand your true needs by going without something to see if you really need it. This especially applies to material things, but it can also be routines or people in your life. If after a brief experiment you find that you don’t need something then you can eliminate it from your life.
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Nothing that has meaning is easy
“To get anything of value, you have to sacrifice. The harder thing to do and the right thing to do are usually the same thing. Nothing that has meaning is easy. Easy doesn’t enter into grown-up life.”
-The Weather Man (2005)
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Be a Rocket
You should be like a rocket. Rockets are constantly pinging home to ask if they are on course. They are almost always off course by a little bit so the pings are important to course correct. Every ping back will tell the rocket how to update its course. The rocket constantly receives guidance and corrects problems until it hits its target. On the one hand, it’s easy to point out how many mistakes the rocket makes on its journey and how often it is off course. But if it hits its target then none of that matters if in the end it hits its target.
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What’s the worst that can happen?
This is a great thing to ask yourself when you’re a little nervous to move forward with something.
Thinking about asking a guy/girl on a date, but scared to ask? What’s the worst that can happen? He/she says no… That’s not too bad.
Want to start a business but can’t take the leap? What’s the worst that can happen? It doesn’t work out and you have to go back to your job (never burn bridges)….
You will often find that the answer isn’t that scary when you ask yourself “What’s the worst that can happen?” Think about the downside and you’ll see it probably isn’t that bad.
Conversely, you can also ask “What’s the best that can happen?” Think about the upside. Usually, you’ll find that the upside dramatically outweighs the downside. Yes, asking that guy/girl out may mean you get shot down. But it might also lead to your first date with your future spouse. Little downside, huge upside. Go for it!
Hopefully this helps you push forward and do the things that you really want to do in your life.
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The One Thing They Can’t Take
You can be a professional athlete and get one injury and lose everything.
You can have millions of dollars and get robbed and lose everything.
The only thing people can’t take from you with your mind and your experience. That is the true foundation upon which everything is built. If you have a strong foundation and lose everything, you can always rebuild.
