Muddy Waters Tell Lies

I often find it intimidating watching someone truly great at their craft work. Like this new series on Netflix that I’m watching called “Drink Masters”. It’s a mixologist competition, much like Top Chef, to see who is top dog. And in watching these people create some of the craziest cocktails I’ve ever seen, I can’t help but think how much time and effort they must have put into becoming this good at their craft. It would seem damn near impossible for someone such as myself to ever reach that level.

However, I run this experiment in my head. What if I fell in love with the art of cocktail making and I immediately stopped everything I’m doing currently and devoted my time too becoming the best mixologist possible? How would people react? They would probably tell me how much work it takes. How many videos I have to watch and how many books I need to read. How tough the industry is and how long it would even take for me to become great at it. How the money is going to be tight for a few years and ask you if you’re prepared for that. 

One of my favorite philosophers, Nietzsche, put it simply:

“They muddy the water to make it seem deep.”

Anything in this life worth attaining is going to take extraordinary effort. It will take sacrifice and an incredible work ethic. People will try to make things seem out of reach and complicated when in reality all that is required is desire. If you have a desire to do something that is fulfilling, then the hard work actually fuels you and in my experience the hardest worker in the room rarely ever fails in the long run. 

All of that oddly just felt like a pregame speech but I hope you got the point. The life you want to live is going to require WORK. So don’t let anyone fool you into believing something is beyond your grasp. 

Start climbing until you can grab it.