Professional – Are you willing to do what it takes?
For everyone who’s ever
picked up a ball, a barbell, or competed at a high level in any sport, we’ve fantasized about what it would be like to become a professional. We pour every last ounce of our energies into training, make sacrifices like we imagine the pros do, and go to sleep dreaming of seeing our names burn in the bright lights as we compete on the big stage.
We visualize long lines of fans anxiously waiting for the chance to get our autograph and tell us how one day they want to be where we are. We want it so bad that when we close our eyes we hear the cheers of the crowd, we feel the cool touch of the metal as we accept our trophy, we inhale deeply as the aroma of our past failures gets swept away, and salivate as we imagine sinking our teeth in and tasting that sweet taste of success. We fall in love with the idea of becoming a professional.
Often times, at least from my experience, falling in love with the idea of anything is a lot like falling head-over-heels for a girl too quickly – you only see what you want to see. We get sucked into this black hole of blind hope and have a tendency to ignore all of the warts and the warning signs that this thing we’ve fallen in love with – this girl or this idea – may not be quite as glamorous as we’d anticipated.
The same can be said about the idea of being a professional. The feelings that surround the idea of becoming a professional are tremendous, but how many of us know what it takes to actually become one?
The professional doesn't train for titles. He trains because he must. The professional doesn't train for money. Does that mean he wants to live in abject poverty? Hell no. It means that he wakes up every day because his craft is his job. The professional doesn't work 9-5. The professional works 24/7/365.
When he isn't performing his craft, he is thinking about ways to become better. He reads the best and brightest minds to learn from the greats who came before him. He studies them. He mimics their successes and intelligently navigates his ship around their failures; careful not to scrape his hull on the same rocks that sank their ship. The professional doesn’t give a fuck about getting a pat on the back. To him the job is never done, and rarely does he think it’s done well enough.
The professional lives in contempt. He doesn't view victory as a cause to celebrate. He views victory as a vehicle to take him to his next endeavor. The professional fears failure and success equally. Success brings attention, something the professional shuns. Failure brings realization that your best isn't good enough. The professional has a chip on his shoulder. He isn't cocky; in fact he is quite humble – he has something to prove.
The professional isn't a shooting star, shining bright for the world to see. He is the sun. He realizes that shooting stars fade away, while he wakes up everyday intent on showing the world he will not. The professional has demons just like the rest of us, but he doesn’t allow his to drag him to hell. Instead, he brings them along for the ride to heaven. The professional doesn’t view rocks that impede his path as obstacles. He uses them as milestones and keeps moving right along.
The professional is a perfectionist who simultaneously embraces imperfection. He understands that being imperfect just allows him further opportunity to do what he is meant to do, practice his craft. The professional isn’t stained glass or some pristine complete work of art. He is a mosaic, built by the shattered shards of failure. The professional sleeps with his eyes open. This way he can watch his dreams manifest.
Being a professional isn’t about accolades, endorsements, or fanfare. To be a professional means you wake up every day with one purpose, to do your work. Dedic
ating any less than one-hundred percent of your effort to your craft is unacceptable. In doing so you rob yourself of fulfilling your full potential, and no matter what path you ultimately choose, you’ll never be totally happy because deep down inside you’ll know that you’ve failed yourself on some level.
Being a professional isn’t about happy snapshots or posing for Instagram pictures. It’s about the grueling moments in between those photos that get you from one picture to the next. Many of us cling to the idea that all we really want is to do is become a professional because from that moment on everything will be so much simpler. But, when the cameras stop flashing and the fans disappear, how many of us are willing to do what it takes?
