Practice, work hard, and give it everything you have. – Dizzy Dean
If you needed to hire someone, would you hire the hard working person, or the hardly working person? Which one is more likely to get things done, to get ahead?
What does that mean?
I’m sure you’ve heard something like this at some point in your life. Perhaps from a parent or perhaps from your boss. It’s the workman’s credo. It’s how stuff gets done. This version was said by one of baseball’s great pitchers of the 1930’s and was noted as being both highly talented as well as a very hard worker.
He breaks it down into three parts, starting with practice. The game is no place for practicing, so you have to do that before-hand. That makes sense to me, does it make sense to you?
The second part says to work hard. That applies to both practice and the performance. No slacking off, just good hard work. There is a time for jokes and goofing, but that’s for after you’ve done your work.
The third part says to give it everything you have. Both in practice and in the performance, there is no place for half-measures. You put it all on the line, and you make things happen.
Why is doing all that hard stuff important?
When you do all three things, on a regular basis, you’re going to have a pretty good shot at getting what you’re after. If you pay attention and make adjustments as you practice and perform, you’ll get there even quicker.
Yes, it’s not the easiest path. But not everyone wins the lottery or is born to (or marries) into their dream life. Pretty much all of us need to work to get what we want. If we just dabble a little here, and a little there, we might succeed eventually, but that’s not the quickest way.
Doing the hard things, the practice, the hard work, the effort, that is what often separates those who succeed from those who just get by. If you were looking to hire someone to do work for you, which person would you want to pay at the end of the week? Does it make a little more sense now?
Where can I apply this in my life?
This saying is basically the essence of the “work hard, play hard” lifestyle. Yes, you could go to work and do the bare minimum, then go home and sit on the couch. However, that’s not how most of us want to live the rest of our lives.
Relaxing like that is OK for unwinding after a long day, but there is a lot to do in our lives that isn’t well served by such sloth. So the short answer to the question is that we can use it pretty much anywhere in our lives where we want to get something accomplished.
So what in your life have you been approaching in a half-measured manner? Where could you put in a little more effort? Take a moment and consider where you might be with your fitness goals if you put in a little more practice, or work a little harder?
How would any of your sports or activities be doing if you practiced a little more and worked a little harder? How much could you take off your golf game, how many pins could you add to your bowling score? How much could you improve your form in dance, lifting, or martial arts?
What about work or even your relationships? How much better would your life be if you not only practiced more, worked harder, but actually gave it everything you have every once in a while? Would you worry about the next round of raises? Would you be the first or last one invited to the party?
What areas of your life do you think could use a boost? Grab some paper and write a few of them down. Take a look at each, and rate them for the amount of practice you do, how hard you work, and how often you go all-out doing them. Use a scale of lazy to crazy, and add where you think you should be.
Pick one that you would like to get started working on first. What do you need to do the most? Do you need to practice more, work harder, or give it a little (or a lot) more? Write down a couple ideas on how you will accomplish these goals, and give yourself a deadline for accomplishing them.
What’s the first thing you can do? Can you do it right now? Can you get started sooner rather than later? The sooner you get started, the sooner you begin to reap the benefits. Or don’t you want to work that hard? In life, you’ll get out about what you put in. What are you going to do?
From: Twitter, @rleseberg
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/d/dizzydean382127.html
Photo by cell105
Happy Birthday to Jay “Dizzy” Dean, born 16 January, 1910.
