“Don’t Complain About What You Didn’t Get…
…Because of the Work You Didn’t Put In.”
“Don’t complain about what you didn’t get because of the work you didn’t put in.”
That quote belongs to the legendary hip-hop artist and movie director Ice Cube. One of the more frustrating things to witness as a coach is watching an athlete put forth minimal effort all season long, then have the nerve to be disappointed when they don’t get the desired result. The only person who should be crying in that scenario is the coach who racked their brain, lost sleep, and contributed extra time trying to figure out how to get their athlete to buy into the possibilities of what they can accomplish.
Nevertheless, it’s a part of our jobs. But these athletes should teach us to always self-examine ourselves in whatever we do. Instead of exerting extra effort searching for victimizers for whom we can place blame for why we don’t accomplish our goals, our efforts are more efficient when we first blame (or examine) ourselves.
Therefore, I love Ice Cube’s recent rap session with Rock The Bells. It’s what I’d like to classify as “real rap”—an art form that is helpful, insightful, and challenging. You can watch and listen for yourself. There are a few gems to get you going this Monday.
“Nothing more powerful than a made up mind…It’s called a mindset. Set your mind where you want to be, instead of what you going through right now.”
The best analogy I have for this is training our 400-meter sprinters. Most of the athletes in our program get bogged down with how long the distance is, and the mere thought of sprinting as fast as you can in under 60 seconds is daunting to most of them.
But once I gave them physical landmarks on the track—10 to 70 meters ahead—to focus on throughout their race, they all told me they felt faster. The curves felt shorter, and the race didn’t hurt as much overall. The only difference was that their perspectives shifted from where they were to where they were going.
So like our 400 meters, let’s take this week one day and one moment at a time. Whatever goals are in front of you or whatever you and your team (family, coworkers, business partners) need to accomplish this week/month/year, set landmarks you can get to that can help make the journey doable.
When we try to take it all in at once, we’re more prone to throw up our hands and surrender all efforts. When that happens, there’s no one to blame but ourselves. But with a step-by-step approach, we can take responsibility for our actions and give the day all we have.