It’s Okay to Struggle and Work Hard

I originally wrote and published this post a few weeks ago but I ended up taking it down.

Basically, I had written some things in the introduction that captured the way I felt after an encounter I had in the gym, but I didn’t feel like what I wrote explained the situation in the best light.

I talked about how occasionally you will come across folks who have on all the nice clothes/accessories but you don’t get the feeling they are in there really going hard.

Sometimes it seems like folks are just in there to put on a show and get attention.

But, I realized that this wasn’t a totally accurate description of the specific encounter I was referencing.

Just because someone is dressed nice or looks good doesn’t mean they aren’t simultaneously putting the work in.

And after-all, the gym is a social environment where people can come for more than just to get drenched in sweat.

Folks That Have “Made It”

The next section of my original post talked about folks that had “made it” and about how sometimes it seems like folks start getting a little too comfortable.

I talked about folks “not wanting to get out of the chair” even if they seem to be outgrowing the thing that they started with, and not wanting to evolve past a certain point.

But, I realized that this too was probably a little over the top.

Some people evolve into other endeavors throughout their career, others don’t or do to a lesser degree.

You look at a guy like 50 Cent who started out as a rapper and went on to become more involved in film production, or even a guy like Greg Lutzka who started out as a professional skateboarder and is now heavily involved in real-estate investing, but you realize that even then, they still have their roots in the things they started with.

If someone is staying consistent with what they do, that is something to be respected. And even if they aren’t evolving into other endeavors altogether, chances are they are finding ways to evolve within what they are already doing as the circumstances change.

Navy SEALs

I had read a book a while back that talked about the BUD/S training that Navy SEAL candidates go through before becoming SEALs.

Basically, they go through a series of extremely intense exercises over an extended training period.

At one point in the training, the candidates go through a week stretch of prolonged activity while getting very little sleep.

I remember reading about candidates that dropped out during this stretch being escorted away with “warm blankets and hot coffee.”

My first response was that warm blankets and hot coffee would probably feel pretty nice after the rigorous BUD/S training.

But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I would rather be out there grinding and completing the tasks any day.

Not Getting Too Comfortable

My Dad has told me that humans are not put here to be comfortable. In fact, he has even said that hard work and struggle is a big part of the human experience.

This is something that I have always embodied, but as I’m writing this I think back particularly to when I was a kid and all of the things we would get into.

Street basketball, skateboarding, street fighting, etc.

For us as kids getting hurt was almost viewed as a positive, and playing through injuries was almost part of the fun.

As you get older you naturally start to become more cautious, but you don’t want to become so cautious that you become afraid that you might break a nail.

This applies whether it’s in the gym, within your career, or within life in general.

It’s always good to keep evolving, and sometimes hard work and struggle can be a part of that process.