Big Red Car here in the rainy ATX. It is a wet, green world here. On the green Earth as it is in green Texas!
The other day, The Boss was mumbling.
He had read something that caught his attention.
Inspiration is for amateurs; professionals strap in, get to work and grind it out.
The Boss was talking to a CEO — brilliant CEO — who was struggling with updating some critical strategic planning documents. He had written some great ones and his company had aligned behind them — the power of alignment, y’all — but it was time to update them. Planning docs have a “sell by” date of about six months these days.
He was whining a little. The Boss asked him, “Want some cheese with that whine, brilliant CEO?”
The CEO said, “I just don’t feel as inspired as I did when I did this work originally, six months ago.”
“The Boss said, “Brilliant CEO, inspiration is for fucking amateurs. Professionals just do it and don’t whine. Strap in, get to work and grind it out.”
Two days later, the CEO called The Boss and said, “I needed that. Thanks.”
There it is — if YOU are a professional at what you do, stop looking for inspiration — don’t curse it if it shows up for lunch — and grind it out.
That’s all there is. There isn’t any more. The secret? The secret is there is no secret.
Inspiration is for amateurs.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. Be kind to yourself. You deserve it. You’ve been grinding it out and you deserve a root beer float.
My son graduated from high school last night. The superintendent gave a speech about following your passion. As we were driving away after the event, my son said, “The speech about following your passion was stupid. I hate when people tell teens to follow your passion! We should do what we’re good at and that will lead to success.” And, there you have it. Similar message, from an eighteen year old. Passion, like inspiration, is for amateurs. Do the hard work. Sometimes you’re passionate about it, sometimes you’re not. But doing the hard work is what leads to success.
.
Congratulations to you and your son. He sounds smart. Good luck to both of you.
Your son is right, do the stuff that you’re good at. Many times what you are good at is or becomes your passion.
Most passions ebb and flow. You love it and then you hate it and then you love it again.
When I was building high rise office buildings, I loved the groundbreakings. I loved the grand openings. I hated everything in between. Now, I go downtown and talk to my buildings and visit my youth and passion that is trapped there forever. The buildings laugh at me and I laugh with them.
I did stuff that made me happy. I did stuff I was good at. I did stuff that made me crazy. I stubbed my toes so many times.
Life is grand.
Is this a great country of what?
BRC
https://www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
Indeed!