“Aaaahhhhh!”
“Oh my god, what?!”
“You got it?!”
“I got it!”
“Woohoo!”
Followed by copious amounts of blaring music, dancing and getting Baylor (our dog) riled up.
*
This is how my morning started yesterday. My guy – the crazy genius and long-term student that he is – had just been given a huge award and scholarship for grad school. Not only will this broaden his research options, but it will majorly help our personal finances. Needless to say this is a huge thing for him (and us).
How did we get to this point? Was he just so *lucky* to get this award? Was it just the *luck* of the draw?
No, absolutely not. He got this with a lot of hard work.
It wasn’t magic fairies. He didn’t just close his eyes and wish for it.
Nope. He spent years working and studying. Followed by more years. Followed by uncountable hours writing, tweaking, editing, and rewriting the application.
He EARNED this.
And that’s the point. The people who are successful are working hard. Chris Guillebeau doesn’t just wake up magically with the time and money to visit every country. Tim Ferris doesn’t just lie around and then somehow launch outrageously successful books. Danielle Laporte doesn’t just snap her fingers and miraculously build an inspiration empire.
So why in the world are you sitting around boohooing that everyone is more fortunate than you, when you aren’t even trying?
(*Note: sure there are people that sometimes work really hard, but don’t get the awards/jobs/whatever they apply for. Sometimes this happens and I’m not talking about you here.)
You go to work everyday hating your job, but not making a plan to change. You go home bummed out about your life, but then just sit around watching TV all evening instead of working towards the life you want. You bemoan that you’re just not *lucky* like Ash Ambirge, it’s not your fault that you don’t get to live in Chile, doling out sass-filled advice and living the life. Nope she just has better *luck* than you.
You know what? That’s total bullshit.
It’s no one’s fault, but your own if you’re not working hard enough or risking enough to reach the next level.
And that’s the crux of it.
It takes hard work.
If you want to be awesome – the top dog, the cream of the crop, the queen bee – then you need to start busting your ass. Or as Malcolm Gladwell puts it, you need to earn your 10,000 hours to be a top player. And I can guarantee you won’t get those hours sitting around wishing it would happen.
It takes risk.
You can’t expect to be the best by playing it safe and taking an easy path. You need to take risks. You might need to talk to your supervisor about new projects you want to pursue, take classes or learn a new skill, move across the country, quit a job, quit a habit, quit a relationship.
It’s not going to be comfortable.
And it’s not going to be easy.
But that’s what makes it so fucking fabulous.
When you know that you’ve invested – sweated, cried, laughed, pumped your fist – over this and then you succeed, that’s when you get to scream, crank up the volume and dance like a maniac.
Because you’ve earned it, baby.
***
Spread the love, sugar. It will make my day and probably lead to more dancing 
Image by http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachdavies/” target= “blank”>Squashimnono
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
1st time here. In college, I believed books found me at the perfect moment in my life. And I kinda feel like that w/ this entry. I told my team of 15 year old girls it takes 10,000 hours to be considered a master of a skill (they were very frustrated w/ their current skill level) and that over the course of our season, they were earning 400 hours towards mastering their skill.
It was a good reminder for me today. I’ve come a long way in my skill but am not even close to 10,000 hours. And that is kind of exciting to know that I have about 9500 hours til greatness.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Nicole!
I love the 10,000 hour rule. It helps to remember that a lot of hard work and long hours went into others successes. Keep racking up those hours:)