Talent is debatable. What does it even mean? What does it mean to say someone has a “gift” for something? I’m not denying its existence, I’m just saying it’s intangible and therefore debatable.
What’s not debatable is effort. You can see it. You can judge it. You can measure it. Lastly, you can improve it when things aren’t going your way.
And effort is only one component of “work ethic”, which is the granddaddy of them all. If you have work ethic, you’ll go places. In fact, you’ll be just fine.
Work ethic, unlike effort, is about consistency. It’s like the cliche’ in sports that says anyone can be good on any given day. I suppose you can say that about lots of things in life. You can be good once. Or on occasion. But to be great is to be consistent day-in and day-out, morning-in and morning-out. Show up and perform every day. And in the biggest moments, those who are prepared to be great will shine as opposed to those who are prepared to be good.
For many this is old-school thinking and not in-line with today’s “everyone gets a participation trophy” mentality. I don’t believe everyone trains to be great anymore. Maybe they never did. But today I see a lot of people who do the minimum yet want to be acknowledged as great… want to be paid as great… but they’re not. They’re good. They just haven’t put in the time to be consistent.
Hard work wins. Period.
When I was a kid my Dad used to always say to me “Work hard, Deke-o.” Yes, he called me Deke-o. Most people called me “Deke” back then. Anyway, he used to say “work hard, Deke-o” and I’m not sure if it was a reminder, a cheer, a command, or just plain ol’ life wisdom.
When I had a test coming up in school, “work hard Deke-o.” When I had a football practice or game, “work hard, Deke-o.” Father/Son tennis tournament… “work hard, Deke-o.” Shoveling snow… “work hard, Deke-o.” It was a constant theme. He was a hard-working guy himself. It propelled him from modest means to the top of his field. Hard work. Consistency. Dedication. Effort.
I struggle with it every day in different facets of life. I know when I’m not putting in the effort required and I have guilt. I can hear those words coming from the recesses of my brain saying “work hard, Deke-o.” It immediately changes my mindset to shift gears.
And here’s the thing… you don’t have to be the best at what you do every day. It’s almost impossible. But you have be your best on that day. And the days are going to vary. Some days you’ll be hurting. Some days you’ll be distracted. Some days you just won’t feel like doing it. But you have to TRY to be your very best on that day and the result is what it is.
This 2021 interview of LA Lakers assistant coach, Phil Handy, talking about Kobe Bryant is a great example. Kobe had a notorious work ethic and a drive to be the best. It worked against him sometimes because he was unwilling to accept that there were people out there not putting in the same effort or having the same drive.
It might not be fair and it might not be healthy, but it’s about setting a standard — for yourself and for the team, whichever team that may be.
And for those who say they want to rise above everyone else but aren’t willing to put in the time and the effort, that’s hard to watch because you know it’ll never happen until they flip the switch. Until then they’re just fooling themselves.
And no matter how talented or gifted or whatever you want to call it they may be, they will never realize how good they could become if they’re not willing to put in the work.