So, I was scrolling through my Facebook profile which hasn’t been updated since roughly my freshmen year of college. For those of you who need a history lesson that was 2005 when only a select few colleges had Facebook and you had to be a college student to use Facebook so you didn’t worry too much about what you put up.
Found the quotes selection though, and I stand by 18 year old me’s choice in movies.
I once had a friend say that growing up he hated fighting me because he knew eventually he would lose. It didn’t matter how much he felt like he was winning the fight at some point I would win. (Major disclaimer here I am not claiming to be a good fighter in any way shape or form these were childhood friendlies)
But what I could wait for, endure for, was a moment. I could take the beating but not give up a weakness and wait for my moment. When the window came I would take it and not let up.
This is the same with life folks. You can be at rock bottom but as long as you are protecting the vitals you just need that one moment to strike back against life. Things aren’t going your way, endure for that moment. And when that moment comes don’t be afraid to strike, because if you do you will change your life forever. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself wondering why life is still winning one, two, ten years later.
My dad has an undergrad degree in Criminal Justice.
He started out as a security guard at a power plant. From there he ended up working for Pennsylvania Power and Light. I’m not exactly sure how he ended up in sales, but he did. The next change took him to a AMP. After AMP he made the change from selling electricity to selling technology. (As he has always told me it doesn’t matter what you are selling, sales are sales)
His start with tech was at IBM(At this point he also acquired an M.B.A). From he went to Oracle, Oracle to Primavera, then the most impressive leap. In his 50’s he was hired at Google. When I would make the trek to visit him and hang out with his coworkers I was the same age as his sales team. I am pretty sure my dad might have been the oldest man in the building. He has since returned to IBM for a slower pace of life.
My dad has always amazed me by how hard he works. To be hired by Google. A company that you are an old man in if you are over the age of 25 my dad was able to get hired by, and then continued to succeed. He’s able to do this because he is a competitor. He will never be outdone. If someone else works for eight hours he’ll go nine. He never slows down and never lets up.
It is never enough to want something, or to work for something. You have to be willing to outwork and outlast everyone. Put in more hours. More effort. Give yourself fully to your cause.
You must work harder and longer if you want to go farther.
Maybe you are so awesome life can never knock you down. For the rest of us though sooner or later life will get a good hit in and we’ll find ourselves on our backs staring up at some cartoon birds chirping around our heads. There is no shame in being knocked down. It will happen. Some of us it will happen to more often than others. The only shame comes when you don’t get up again, when you don’t get back in the fight. Always remember, while you are lying there on your back, that you have a ten count to get back on your feet. Your brain, your body, everything will be telling you to just stay down this time, but you must get up again. Stay in the fight.
Justin Kassab 