i have found that you need to be relentless in life to get what you want. and even then it is not guaranteed that you will reach your goals. that is how hard it is to get to where you think you need to be. you have to be relentless in your actions to succeed. you have to be a robot that keeps the pressure always on. you have to not even think about it, you have to just do it – over and over and over. and then hopefully you wake up one day with a feeling of hope that you are getting closer – that being relentless is the only way to get there. you have to keep smiling and thinking the corner is coming – you will get to that corner and be able to look around to what is ahead. right now you just see a long road ahead – you don’t see anything in the distance – you only see endless road. you can’t stop because there is nothing to stop for – it would be pointless. so you have to keep going on and on – you have to be relentless in this pursuit of finding a glimmer in the distance to reach for – finding a corner to the road. it is the only way to live. it is a painful way to live and sometimes a boring way to live. but if you do stay relentless, if you do keep pushing no matter what – then you will reach a destination. they say that you never reach a destination and i can believe that. they say that the journey is the real destination, and i can believe that. but there is complete satisfaction in completing the task you are on now. it may not be the end of the journey, but it is a mindset to keep being relentless. you will reach mini-destinations and you will feel satisfaction. that is all we can hope for in life – to be satisfied. to say in that moment “i am satisfied” and “i did it”. and even if you don’t get satisfaction by not completing the task – the next best thing is being satisfied that you tried and that you were relentless. that is all you can ask for from yourself in life and you can find satisfaction with that result as well. we want to be satisfied and to be satisfied, we have to be relentless. if you are relentless, regardless of the result, you will be satisfied.
Category: Work
keep your head down
when you are working, especially at a new job, you have to keep your head down and just work. don’t look up and try to see what lies ahead — just dig into the work and focus on the work. if you keep your head down and put in maximum effort, you will reach your goals. this is a good example of trying your best and not thinking about every little consequence or detail — just work and focus on the daily work –and from that will come success. you must remain calm while you keep your head down – you must remain patient – even if results are not immediate. you must be confident that if you keep your head down and do the work –you will be rewarded and you will go on to have great success at your current venture. but if you do not keep your head down in the 1st year of employment at your new job, then you will have a higher chance of failing. keep calm, be patient and keep your head down. follow this and all will be fine. but this is not easy to do. it requires focus and determination.
working hard
what does this really mean? it is a relative term. some people think they are working hard, but they might not be working hard at all. working hard is doing something at the highest output level. you are giving it your best effort all through the day, week, year. you feel tired at the end of the day and tired when you wake up in the morning – but you still want to go to work and put in the same effort as the day before. we all work hard at times, but what we need to do is work hard all the time. this will allow us to reach our highest potential in our career and in life. there will always be time to not work so hard when we are older. and we always have the weekends to relax. always work hard at your highest level possible and you will not have any regrets in life.
go for it
sometimes in life, you have to just go for it. sometimes in life, you have to take a less calculated risk and go for it. you need to grab every opportunity and make big bets to get ahead. you need to go for it to challenge yourself. if you are not going for it, you are not challenging yourself enough. you need to think about the big picture and how our time is always running to the end. you need to think that this is it – 1 life and in this life you need to go for it. if you do not go for it, then you are satisfied with the life you have and have decided that there is no need to go for more challenges. that is fine. most of the world just wants to be healthy and happy. but if you want to go after more challenges and go after every opportunity to live a fuller life –then you must go for it. you must not think about the consequences of failing when you go for it — you can always pick yourself back up and go for it again. you want to have stories when you get to the end. you want to say that you went for it at every turn – that you lived life to the fullest. you want to say that you are so damn tired from going for it, that you are ready to say good-bye when the time comes. you want to say “damn right i went for it and there is not much more to say or do – i’m done!”
kissing ass part 2
i wrote about this topic in 2010, but now i understand it more. we shouldn’t feel bad about kissing ass – it is part of the natural flow in this world. essentially, everyone has to kiss someone’s ass –even if you are the president of the United States –you still have to kiss ass to get what you want. thus, we should embrace the act of ass-kissing because in order to eventually get what we want or keep what we have, we need to kiss ass. for example, you must kiss your boss’ ass, even if you are the best of friends –you still kiss it a little, so that you each know where the other officially stands. your boss then kisses his/her boss’ ass and so on – all the way to the top. even when you want to tell your boss to “go to hell” – don’t do it –just bite your tongue and keep kissing ass. this is what keeps the world on track. if everyone didn’t bite their tongue a hundred times a year, we would all be living in chaos. the world runs on kissing ass. it has always been this way and will always be this way. get used to it and don’t fight it. just become the best ass kisser and watch your star rise! one day, there will be more people kissing your ass than the asses you have to kiss -but you will always kiss ass. the goal is to kiss less ass as you get older.
get hands dirty
you must get your hands dirty to accomplish anything in this world. in other words –stop standing around waiting for others to do the job –because they won’t. you must get in there and make it happen. you must do the small jobs on your own and not delegate others to do it –because they won’t. if you start a job and then come up with a plan –and then do not do the things that the plan requires –you will fail. you must get in there and do every little thing that the plan requires. don’t be someone who draws up a plan and then expects others to do the plan. you must do the plan. you must get your hands dirty. yes, it is tedious work. yes, you believe that you have reached a point in your career where you don’t need to get your hands dirty anymore. wrong! if you are the ceo and shit needs to be done –then do it. just keep doing what you have to do to succeed. at the end of the day –if you want to keep getting paid –you must find a way to get things done. if this requires you to get your hands dirty over and over –just do it. waiting for someone else will lead to your failure. get your hands dirty –end of story. oh–and don’t complain so much. this is just another attempt to avoid getting your hands dirty. another way to failure.
accountability
if you don’t have it, you ain’t worth shit. really folks –if your word is no good, then it is going to be a long road for you. you must be true to your word. you must follow through with what you say. you must not break your word. you must not scuttle your promises. if you say it will happen at this time on this day –then, by shit, it better happen…..unless you have a death in the family. that is the only thing that should prevent you from keeping your word. because if you do decide to not be accountable for what you say you are going to do –then your life will end up worth no more than a pile of …. do you get it? be accountable or be non-committal. and being non-committal is no way to live a life. again –another pointless ending. so take the easy road which is actually the harder road –be accountable. it will be harder to be accountable, but it will make your path much easier. comprende?
routine
we all have it –you must have it. the daily routine of life is like a well-worn path that we follow every day. it keeps us sane, it keeps us out of trouble, it keeps us alive. we do it without thinking –we embrace each part of it. it is not a complete line every day –but small bits and pieces that we go to for comfort and sanity. it might be strongest in the morning –where you just follow along half asleep –or it might peak in the evening –pushing you towards sleep time. events of the day take us off the routine –and that is wanted and embraced as well -we don’t want to get bored to death. we do always get pulled back to parts of a routine –wake-up, shower, kids off, breakfast, coffee, emails –work -work -work -work –then go home, dinner, kids in bed, tv, read, sleep. we need these bits of routine after a long vacation too. you love vacation and getting out of routine –but then you long for that old routine –you don’t want to vacation all the time –you would get thrown off your course, you would fall out of moderation and into excess. you need routine, you need moderation to reach your goals, to get to the end of the road in one piece, to live longer, to help your kids. you need it, don’t deny it, embrace it!
“doing my best”
really? well, guess what folks –your best is not good enough. you need to go beyond doing your best and actually make it happen. don’t tell me that you are doing your best and here is the result. don’t tell me that bullshit! you are not doing your best because if your were –then the job would get done and you would go beyond what is expected. that would be doing your best. not this BS that i’m doing my best boss and that is what you can expect –doing my best. impossible! if this is doing your best, then you don’t know how to do your best. you have conned yourself into believing that you are doing your best and it is ok to rest now. that is a con job. it is what gets you through the day and it is what gets you down the road until you drop dead –with a bullshit smile on your face because you thought you were doing your best. but if you did do your best, then your life would have been completely different. you wouldn’t have to adjust your goals to fit your con job. c’mon people –don’t tell me you are doing your best when you know damn well that you are not doing your best. and if you don’t know damn well –then you have been conned all your life and it is partly your parents fault for setting low expectations.
work island
for 10 years –wake up, shower, quick breakfast, get in car, drive 1 hour –pay tolls and go through tunnels along the way –finally get to work. when you arrive at work, you say hello to 10 people, go into your office, work till lunch –with a few meetings in between –saying hello again–see people face to face –work in office after lunch –more meetings, more hellos–a bit of gossip at water tank. get back in car, drive 1 hour–see family, etc.
this is what we call the “rat race” –millions live in it their entire working lives.
stop –enter internet and this process can be changed and is changing –again for millions. now, more than ever, people are working from home. no more driving to work, paying tolls, saying hello, seeing people face to face. you now work on your own little work island from home. at first you think–“fantastic”–no more BS commute, no more tolls –saving money and time. this is all true and it is fantastic at first. but then you fall into the isolation phase –“hey, where is everyone?” –it is just you now and you sit in your home office for 8-10 hrs a day–on your own. you look outside your suburban window–only trees –no one is there except a few stay at home moms walking the dog. you go for a run in the hood at lunch –no one there. you yell out in frustration after a sales call–no one hears you. you are alone on your work island.
to make it on the island, you must come to a turning point in your mind –one that will allow you to say–“this is my life now –working from home –and guess what–it is not so bad–in fact, it is great –you see your family more, you save time, money” but you do need to proactively make the transition in your mind to be successful on the island –make habits out of your new routine –make a new life on your island.