An elite Golfer, a high ranking Martial Artist and a hand crafted Book Shelf walk into a bar…

Follow me on this, those three things do connect! I once had someone tell me a story about a few golfers on a driving range. As the story goes, a golfer on the range is repeatedly hitting bad shots. His feet were all wrong, his hips had improper movement, his arms flailed horribly out of control and he constantly pulled his head not seeing the ball. Two other golfers walk by noticing the bad technique and consistent inconsistency of the hits. The one golfer then turned to the other and said, “I wonder why he’s practicing like that for? It’s clearly not working.” I found this story to be especially funny considering I am a personal trainer and martial arts instructor. I see people seemingly practice horrible technique with no intent on improvement. Some know they have bad technique and just assume it will correct itself over time, others simply don’t know its bad technique. Both continue practicing bad technique and wonder why they aren’t seeing improvement. One must actively attempt to improve on technique to achieve success of their goals.

Remember those peers from high school that seemed to be naturally good at any sport and put no effort into anything yet still succeed? Where are they now? Did they succeed in life as they did in everything else they did when they were younger? Many have not. Why? Because there was no hard work put into their success and therefore there was no appreciation for the success they received and therefore no incentive to work hard. To do well at higher levels of their sport, they need hard work. At the elite levels, everyone is a natural freak, they no longer stand out like they once did. Natural talent doesn’t do much if there is no hard work behind it when it comes to adult life and careers. This obviously doesn’t apply to everyone, but does apply to most. The point being that without hard work, there is no appreciation for success, and with no appreciation for success, there is no repeat of success. There is no lasting success. There is no content or enjoyment that comes with success. There is no sense of worth. Worse yet, there is a sense of entitlement, so when they inevitably fail at something, they are crushed by the failure. Those who consistently work hard understand that failure happens, and is an important part of the learning process that helps create further success.

This leads me to the book shelf. Think of the book shelf (or any piece of furniture or object in your home) that you purchased from a store. If you suddenly had no books to place in it, would you keep it? What if you needed some cash? What if it breaks? Most would either toss out that book shelf or sell it as soon as it has no use, even if just temporarily. Now think of the book shelf (or again, any furniture or object) in your home that you yourself built with your own two hands. What would the answers to the above questions be? For most, if you had no books for it, you would place objects on the case to make use of it. If you needed to sell some things for cash, it would be the last on the list. If it broke, you’d fix it…or like most, put it aside with intent to fix it later! No matter what happens though; you would fight to keep it, would you not? What’s the difference between the two? Chances are the factory built shelf is better in most ways, yet you still keep the one you made. It’s because of hard work. You yourself put effort and hard work into that shelf. You didn’t just create a shelf; you created a work of art. You created success. You created a sense of accomplishment. You created an attachment to something that you are proud of. That shelf doesn’t just hold up books, it holds up your pride and a sense of worth and is a display of a hard fought victory!

Many of us go through life doing just enough to get by. We study just enough to get a passing grade. We work just hard enough to not get fired. We do just enough to retain our spouses or significant others. Doing just enough does not equal success, it equals not failing. Hard work is what equals success, pride, self worth, and strong relationships. I find the same obstacle over and over again when it comes to training others to work hard with maximum effort, and that’s the fact that most associate hard work with a negative view such as pain, frustration and stress to name a few. While those things can be attached to hard work, it doesn’t always have to be. Ask anyone who has been in a long, loving and happy marriage or relationship, most will tell you the same thing, they work hard at it….AND, they enjoy working hard at it. Even if hard work does involve pain, frustration and stress, that just makes the accomplishment that much more rewarding. I’m reminded of a quote by Mohammad Ali on this subject, he was quoted as saying, “I hated every minute of training, but I said, don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”

I want to pass along something my father, as well as the rest of my family, instilled in me. Work ethic. I remember building a dog house with my father when I was younger. When he mentioned building the dog house, my assumption was to nail 6 pieces of plywood together and cut a hole in it. Boy was I wrong. We spent days, if not weeks on that dog house. 2×4’s across the bottom with a cut edge for easy sliding, a solid floor and foundation complete with floor joist. Fiberglass insulated studded walls. A 12:12 pitched roof with shingles. A doggy door with metal framing to keep it from cracking. A REDICULOUS amount of nails to keep it all together. And to top it off, a paint job to match our own home’s color. It looked amazing! Once finished, it was time to move it into the back yard. Unfortunately this dog house now weighed at least 500lbs, so moving it wasn’t that easy, but with a little more hard work, we got it out there. I was proud of that dog house, and I knew it wasn’t going anywhere. Not just because I didn’t want to get rid of it, but because that thing was build to withstand a nuclear bomb. While nailing in the 300 millionth nail, I remember asking my father, “Why are we putting so much work into this dog house?” He replied, “Whatever you do, do it the best you can and take pride in what you do.” Sounds simple, but so few people put this much effort into anything they do, let alone a simple dog house. So my advice to you, everything you do today, do it the best you can, and do it better than you did it yesterday. You just might build something more than what you expected.

The elite Golfer, the high ranking Martial Artist and the hand crafted Book Shelf all ask the bartender for the same thing, “We would like a glass of the greatest drink ever made!” So the bartender handed all three an empty glass and said, “Then you’ll have to create it yourself.”