You have to go deep. Playing on the surface is safe and easy. You have to dive in and take risks. You have to go deep, risk drowning, and push your limits if you want to figure out who you are and what you are made of.
I don’t care if you are an athlete, artist, or entrepreneur. You have to focus on your craft. You have to push past everything and go to that dark place that requires everything you have to get thru. You have to do the work others won’t. This is what is required if you want to go beyond ordinary and become exceptional.
If you are an athlete, you have to go beyond your threshold and perform at the highest level while suffering in the worst conditions. If you are an artist, you have to practice your craft no matter the internal or external obstacle. In business, you have to shut off the noise and do the right thing against all obstacles. In doing these things, we find out who we are. Thru the discipline of hard practice, we figure out all of it.
You want to get rid of the barriers? Do the work. You want to know, not just believe, do the work. You want more than the rest, do more work than all of them combined. Dead tired, moving forward is where we break through and develop something great, something worth remembering, something of value.
The people I know that have achieved great things all cared less about their well being than the thin they were going after. Due to this commitment and lack of caring about their self, they went further than the pack and achieved great things. The thing too is that most did this with less physical harm than those that fell short. In not caring, they found a freedom of action that created better performance, not reckless action.
There is an old Samurai maxim “The Samurai most prepared to die will live the longest”. Don’t know who wrote this but it is true. When we are prepare to die we are free to take action with less hesitation and a greater focus on the problem at hand. When we are prepared to die, we are acting accordingly. We do the thing we are ok with doing and are proud to die trying.
The best of us know that we will be judged by our actions. Thru going deep and challenging ourselves within our chosen professions, we know that we are doing things worthy of a positive judgement. It is ok to go after the things we have passion for. It is right to go deep on those things where our talent exists. It is demanded of those that want to be remembered to go all in on their developed skills.
I would much rather be dead tired at the end of my day knowing who I am and what I am capable of than restless because I didn’t do what I know I can and should do. I would much rather live with scars acquired while challenging myself than living comfortably on the sideline. Greatness can be had by all but only those that will do the work, pay the price, and go deep will ever have the privilege of being remembered.
Stop floating on the surface and dive in.
Brian Wright