KEEP POUNDING THE ROCK
One of the biggest challenges we face in our pursuit of success is embracing the process that winning requires. It's tough to maintain your discipline, your commitment, and your resolve when your work isn't producing results. In this world enamored with instant gratification - where we’ve been conditioned to expect everything we want to come quickly and conveniently - winning usually requires us to wait for what we want. Our only option is to put our head down and just keep hammering away.
The 19th century social reformer Jacob Riis offers us some encouragement in his famous passage known as “The Stonecutter’s Credo.” It speaks to the power of the process, and the importance of the work that’s in front of us today - even if it isn’t always evident.
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I don’t know about you, but when I envision that stonecutter, I don’t see someone lightly chipping away with a chisel. Chink. Chink. Chink. No. I see someone straining and struggling, leveraging all his bodyweight to hoist a heavy sledgehammer onto his back, then up and over his head, and then down onto that stone with all the force he can muster.
Thwack!
Thwack!
Thwack!
That’s a powerful image that highlights the kind of effort it takes for any of us to create a breakthrough in any important area of life. It speaks to the discipline, the commitment, and the resolve required to keep giving our very best, over and over again, even if we don’t know when that big break is coming. It speaks to the compounding effect of our work over time, and the power of the process if we choose to embrace it.
It’s possible that today is the day that rock you’ve been pounding on has finally split open, and you’ve finally broken through and gotten what you’ve been working and waiting for. If so, congratulations! More likely, though, you’re not there yet. Chances are you’re here today as someone who’s facing the challenge of another day at work, hammering away on that rock still waiting to split.
If that's the case, you may also find yourself asking the questions that the process regularly challenges each of us to answer. Is the work I’m doing today really worth it? Is it even making a difference? Does today really matter? When our progress isn’t obvious - when it doesn’t come to us quickly and conveniently, like we’ve been conditioned to expect - the voice of our inner loser is amplified. That voice encourages us to walk away, to give up, and to justify that what we want just isn’t meant to be.
That’s why the ability to listen for and respond to the voice of your inner champion is so important. The voice of your inner champion clarifies the mindset it takes to embrace that process. It’s the same mindset the stonecutter has embraced. No, I can’t see the progress, but I know it’s being made. Yes, the work I’m doing today is worth it. Yes, it is making a difference, and yes, it does matter. The process will test your discipline, your commitment, and your resolve. It exists in order to validate that you are in fact someone worthy of winning in this important area of life. Your inner loser wants you to walk away, but your inner champion is prepared and ready to pass that test again today.
In this world enamored with instant gratification, I want to encourage you to be more like the stonecutter. Embrace the process it takes to get what you want. Give your very best, even if you don’t know when your big break is coming. And keep compounding your effort day after day, including here on this day. Put your head down and just keep hammering away.