Diligence
Never really got into New Year’s resolutions but I suppose mine is to write more. I used to love writing, and believe it or not there was a minor abundance of people that seemed to enjoy reading it. Unfortunately the topic was politics and for me politics is poison so I quit – cold turkey. But now I’ll take on other topics (slightly less toxic I hope) with part philosophy, part science and part (major?) BS.
One thing I’ve learned on this journey of life is that diligence is everything. Doesn’t really matter what we’re talking about here – career, fitness, saving money, etc. The wise Kid Rock once said “You get what you put in and people get what they deserve.” Pretty true for the most part don’t you think? For some reason diligence has been at the forefront of my thoughts lately and I wonder how many people even remember what the word means? When was the last time you heard it used in a sentence (outside of “conduct your due diligence”)? The googles define diligence as “careful and persistent work or effort.”
The concept sure doesn’t seem popular now. Try selling diligence against the 4 Hour Work Week and let me know how that works out for you. But just like exercise it always works. 100% effective. You can reach for the magic pill or you can put in the effort and work that is guaranteed to drive results. But it isn’t easy, of course nothing worth having really is. Imagine if you just showed up the gym, or wherever, and were naturally awesome. Might be kind of boring after the initial wow-factor wore off. Even Michael Jordan got sick of dominating and humbled himself with baseball.
Too many people find themselves whining. “I can’t find the time. I’ve always been heavy – it’s genetic. I’ve tried and it just doesn’t work” Are you one of those people? Change is difficult but whining is easy. And for sure we’ve all been there but successful people recognize that destructive behavior and work to change it. So no matter what your goals are for this year or the future just remember that diligence is not a resolution but a solution and it’s the only thing that really works…