Most of us growing up with loving parents probably experienced the following scenario; you're at a social gathering only to have to listen to Mom and Dad brag to everyone how naturally gifted you are at throwing a football or how you are the smartest kid in class without even studying.
They would lovingly tell you how great you played in your 1st grade basketball game even though you had about ten turnovers and didn’t play a lick of defense. From the parent’s perspective, I can see how they want to try to instill confidence in their children. At the end of the day, parents just want what is best for their kids. That is the natural order of things.
The problem is that once you grow up the harsh reality sets in that you are not special. I’ll repeat. You. Are. Not. Special.
The world doesn’t care that you averaged 20 points per game in middle school or that you were the prom queen. The world doesn't care if your brilliant business idea fails; There are 1000 other people waiting to start something similar. If you screw up and bomb out of a weightlifting meet do you know what happens? They still hand out medals regardless if you are on the podium or not.
Outside of your close circle of family… nobody cares.
The good news is that there is the opposite side of the coin to consider. If you are not special, then that means that there is nothing special about the most successful people you know. There is nothing special about the guy leading the company in sales. There is nothing special about the person who built their multi-million dollar company from the ground up. There is nothing that the
National Champion weightlifter did to get where they are at that you are not capable of doing.
In every area of life you get out what you put in. Want to be a world-class weightlifter? Great! Go train your butt off for 10+ years. Want to start a successful business. Perfect! Go spend the next 12 months making something worth buying. Regardless of your desired outcome, you better be ready to pour everything that you have into it.
There is a phrase that I heard recently that perfectly illustrates this concept. Everything that we see around us, tall buildings, endless farmlands, successful companies, cool tech gadgets, etc. are made by two things: hands and daylight.
Put in the work. Stay consistent. Use your time wisely.
You’re burning daylight.