How many times have you gotten all geeked up over something, gone all in, bought the gear, made the plan and then completely flamed out when things got tough. Everything is sexy when its new. The luster wears off quick and we realize oh shit this thing I enjoyed or thought I might be good at still takes work (I think there is a theme in what I write about hey). Talent will only take us so far but the worst is when we think if we have all of the best stuff that it will somehow make us stick to whatever we said we were going to do or be better faster. Well as a guy that has played basketball his whole life, when it came time to pick teams I have never picked anyone wearing the newest Jordans or the nicest clothing, that guy probably actually gets picked last. I’m picking the guy in the shoes with some scuffs, the guy with the sweat stains on his t-shirt because you know what? I can tell that guy has done some work. He has seemingly put in the time and is willing to grind versus trying to fake it till he makes it and worrying about how he looks while he does it.

We often look at the people that are ahead of us in whatever it is we are trying to do and say well I would be that good too if I had what they have. Would you? I would love for you to look your ass in the mirror right now and think of someone farther along the path than you and actually tell yourself that bold faced lie. Because the way I see it most of those people, they earned what they have. Anyone worth their salt in anything has put the time in, they have fought to do whatever it is they are doing, typically with some massive limitations and adversity put in front of them and they still succeeded. Sure there are some anomalies, the uber talented ones are tough to follow and guess what if you know about them they for sure still had to put some kind of work in. Think about  it? Put yourself in their shoes. Is there anything you have achieved in your life? How would you feel if someone came up to you after said achievement and told you what you did was easy because of your circumstances. What if they told you that you were just talented? Would it make your blood boil? For sure it would because you worked your ass off for it. You bled, you lost sleep and you overcame a lot to achieve whatever it was you achieved. You see what we often think is holding us back is almost always the thing that we need to become better.

I am literally writing this blog at my too tall kitchen table on a laptop that is over 10 years old that I just described to my wife as sounding like a diesel motor. Not the most serene setting to put myself in a state of writing flow. Don’t get me wrong I would love a new laptop, it would be great but there may be more important things to worry about first. Like making sure I can write consistently every day before spending the money on a new laptop. I should maybe make sure that I really enjoy it and it is filling the mental need I think it will before I get a proper desk and commandeer a room in our house as my writing sanctuary. Maybe I should read some books, take some courses or just generally learn about blogging, SEO and marketing before I go spending that money on a piece of tech that will in no way enhance my ability to be a better writer. The only thing it will enhance is my ability to fit in with all of the hipster douche bags at Starbucks or the independent coffee shop when I whip out my sleek MacBook pro that I overpaid for. Really lets be honest all they are doing is stealing the Wi-Fi at Starbucks to watch YouTube fail videos while procrastinate actually writing anything or working on their online “start-up”.

But I digress, no need to throw too much mud at those working the fake it till you make it plan. To be honest I probably still fall in that party for now until I can prove that my limitations are not the things holding me back but propelling me forward, until I stop making excuses for that which I don’t have and start realizing that I already have everything that I need right in front of me.

So here I sit on my diesel powered laptop focused on doing the things that unlock the next level, that find me a few more followers I connect with and staying into the process rather than worrying too much about my image or outcome. I haven’t always been like this but I am glad I am getting over what others think of me because it is showing me that the process is going to be messy, embarrassing and it is for sure going to carry with it a lot of failure. Just like anything new and great we attempt. But what I choose to do is reward myself based on effort not outcome. It is ok to buy the MacBook but only as a reward for work done, not to try to make it easier.  In this way I convert the limitations, the obstacles into milestones on the journey and I can look back and see (or in my laptops case hear) just how far I have come.