Do The Work Others Aren’t Willing To Do
Doing the work that feels overwhelming, daunting, intimidating and frustrating requires an internal discipline that is willing to override your own internal common sense.
John F Kennedy, while battling civilian unrest on par with what we are experiencing now, said it best. “We choose to go to the Moon,” Kennedy said. “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
When you are the personality type that allows comforts in your life and experiences in your life to take a backseat to a drive or ambition that pushes you beyond normal parameters, it requires the ability to feel joy for those who are having those creature comforts while you deny yourself some of those material rewards in your pursuit of something more fulfilling or meaningful to yourself.
At face value, this quotation implies that if you go the extra distance, you will get the greater rewards. But I think those rewards are far more valuable than material comforts. For me, I think the greatest reward is being able to look at yourself in the mirror and know that you did it. It’s just that simple. And that becomes the foundation for getting to the next plateau. If Kennedy had not made that commitment, there might not have ever been SpaceX and The International Space Station.
Each step galvanizes the next.
For some it’s easier to take the easy path. For others of us, the easy path holds very little attraction because it’s just too easy. I hope your Wednesday brings you challenges of your choosing?
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