BAT OUT OF HELL: Work Hard, Work Smart, One Foot in Front of the Other (Wisdom from an Ex-Boss. Wisdom from My FEET.)
One of my former employers (my best friend's dad) used to say, in a very dad-like way, to the three of us (me, my best friend, and another friend) as we built houses:
"You know what, boys? There's only one way to get ahead in life, and it's two four letter words:
'HARD WORK.'"
As guys in our teenage years and early twenties, we all used to kind of roll our eyes and groan a bit whenever these pearls of wisdom were delivered. I personally didn't want to think about hard work for a second if it meant framing houses. I wanted to fuckin' play music and write books. Looking back, though, I see that my friend's dad--a kind of second father to me--was absolutely right on. To get anywhere worth going, to do anything worth doing, there really is no "magic bullet." Well, no, you know what? There is. And you know what that magic bullet is? Yep. You guessed it. HARD. WORK.
Now, this all reminds me of running. I ran 37 kilometers last Saturday without stopping and still find myself having moments where I just can't believe I was able to accomplish this. Just two months ago it would not have been an exaggeration to say that I couldn't run more than 2 kilometers without feeling like I was going to die.
You know what made the difference for me? Small steps. I had other seasoned runners tell me to listen to my body, not to push too hard, and just work on getting the miles racked up, bit by bit. I read in Haruki Murakami's book WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING that he took a similar approach, and always stopped his runs before exhaustion, when he felt he could still easily run some more. That way, the exhilaration could carry over to the next day's run, and he wouldn't burn out.
Another thing my friend's dad always said: "WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER."
This may seem to be approaching the realm of contradiction, coming from the same guy who was always advocating hard work, but I think there is an important nuance to be noted here. A critical one, actually. Working hard is a state of mind. A state of body. And a state of BEING. It is a commitment to purpose related to an often furious, and always insatiable internal drive which is part and parcel of said purpose. I could work my ass off trying to do something I am not passionate about, and know nothing about, and at the end of the day I will end up with nothing but a pile of dirt and an exhausted body and mind.
You've got to find what you want, make the work smart and efficient, and then push the motherfucking pedal to the motherfucking floor and WIND OUT THE FUCKING ENGINE LIKE YOU'RE A BAT OUT OF HELL until everything in front of you has been obliterated, and everyone around you is far behind. I speak allegorically, of course, but this is the feeling of drive. A person who is truly driven....Whatever is in front of them will be no match for their resolve, at the end of the day. That, to me, is truly working hard and truly working smart. THERE'S GOT TO BE A PURPOSE AND A PASSION. THESE ARE ONE AND THE SAME.
One step (the most important part of this whole post).
It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. But have you really thought about this? IT'S A GUARANTEE! In life, guarantees are virtually unheard of. When I was working as a barman last year at my buddy's place across town, I used to skip taking a cab home late nights sometimes and just hoof it. It's not a short walk. It takes the better part of an hour to complete the trek. What I noticed one night in the midst of one of the those walks, was the "guarantee" of each step.
With each step I take, I realized, I am guaranteed to be one step closer to my destination. This was a powerful revelation for me, and continues to be so as it unfolds. Think of it. With each small micro-move you make toward your goals, you are guaranteed (as much as life can offer a "guarantee") to be that one micro-move's distance closer. In other words, you don't need to win the lottery. Fuck the lottery. It's a scam, anyway. Just set your direction, start walking, and you are instantly closer to your destination. Fuck "destiny." DESTINATION. It is literally impossible for you to not make progress. If you keep putting one foot in front of the other, pretty soon you will find you are farther than you ever thought you could go.
Of course, life throws unexpected things at us. Life throws tragedy at us. Life turns around. That's inevitable, right? But so what? It is impossible to predict, and while you have life, you ought to live. While I can take steps. While I can run. That is what I will do. I can adapt if something changes. I am guaranteed to go nowhere if I don't move, but if I work hard, work smart, and position myself consistently one step after another, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO END UP WHERE I STARTED.
~KafkA
(All photos in this post free use from Morguefile.com)
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)
There's a misperception among some that simple is stupid. I feel the reverse is often true.
Both the only thing we can do in the face of unbelievable tragedy, and the only way to undertake the most eagerly anticipated venture, putting one foot in front of the other is always how to proceed.
Leaping to conclusions is overated, and inadvisable. Doing nothing can be just as bad, however, it is also always what we do before we do anything. For this reason I have often said "Don't just do something, sit there.", as before we begin we must have decided on a direction towards which we systematically proceed, by one step, followed by the next.
"Be always sure you are right, then go ahead." -Davy Crockett. As you point out, being sure you are right is not easy, and I also reckon it is proof you are wrong, but it is the only gauge we have of how to proceed. It is the right way to move, as long as we continue to question, so that, if we ARE wrong, we find that out, and can then change our minds and become right.
"Walk a little. Look a lot." This enables us to consider whether we are proceeding in the right direction. "Look near, then far." We can better see what is closest to us, but only if we examine it. "Hunt up - drag down." In every endeavor, good planning eases the work.
The lack of good mentors is amongst the worst causes of bad outcomes in the world today. You were fortunate to have the benefit of such good advice as a young man, and despite it not being immediately apparent, the seed planted in you grew until you could recognize the value of it's fruit.
Thanks for sharing this insight into how one can begin to become a marathon runner, or to achieve any good, but difficult task, by the process of first considering what to do, then to take each step to achieving it, one after another.
There is no other way to do anything worth doing.
Love this, @valued-customer. Thanks for takin the time to comment.
Loved your Post! I also appreciate the smarter work. I usually quote the example of "Stratighning the dog's tail". I cleared my engineering by doing the smart work, many of my fellows work harder but couldn't succeed! Thank you for such nice explanation. Upvoted and Resteemed
Thanks for reading, and thanks for the thoughtful comment!
You are welcome! Followed you
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This is fantastic Kafka, and I unabashedly agree. I write a lot of similarly growth oriented, tough lesson, philosophy type posts and this one resonated as exactly the kind of topic and approach I would take myself in discussing personal advancement and strategy. I was caught in the one boot in front of the other analogy specifically because I literally say that to people I find myself coaching in life, probably a half dozen times a day, word for word. Spooky almost in terms of seeing you post this, because it's so much so a conversation I have with people daily. Do the work, it works if you work it, one boot in front of the other, now march! Oh and uh, always try to do the next right thing, which isn't always easy to determine, but aim for continuous improvement, iterative developments and desired outcomes. You can do it, now get walking, because you won't make any progress sitting still.
Holy crap I loved this post.
I loved reading this comment. Thank you. It's taken me so long to start to really absorb this stuff.
iterative developments :D You got here, no matter how long it took. Wonder where the next step will lead us?
So true when i was in school and college adults keep telling me these same things and i always ignore them but now i realize and tell the same to other childrens :D
It is all about the destination. Starting a new job it's hard to come in and the first 1, 2, and 10 years to start saving the company millions of dollars every year, but you have to take the journey to become knowledgeable enough to start making those decisions.
Thanks for this reminder as I've been frustrated with this very thing recently.
Or, if the job is not right for you, find a journey you are passionate about.
For sure and that's something I'm working hard towards right now!
:) Excellent. Me too.
Many words here you have mentioned in your post which have the immense power to drive our life... Such as "hard work" "efficiency""guarantee "...impressed me lot friend! If we expecting result before performing any work suspecting our efficiency... Than no doubt the percentage of failure will be maximum... But, our duty should attempt first than the reward... Beside these you have concluded the writinngs ,I loved it.. It deals some real facts of life... Thanks for sharing your memories connecting with realities..
Everyone has ups and downs in life..not to get discouraged ..we know if we work hard with dedication and with positive attitude then no one can stop us, like you did in the marathon,isn't it? And work must be done smartly and tackfully..
Anyway ,a very inspiring and motivating post....
Great post, yes if hard work is pillars of success than smart work is the accelerator of it. If hard work, dedication and smart work work together, no one can stop us, even financial crisis blow with its one strokes.Thank you so much for such a valuable and great facts. Have a great time friend happy steeming.
Great work @kafkanarchy84.
Woow