Pro’s are not only playing the long game, they’re thriving in it.
“‘He who devotes sixteen hours a day to hard study may become at sixty as wise as he thought himself at twenty.’
Amateurs sprint to short, sweet hits of dopamine that never last.
Pro’s are playing the gratification game, and not the instant kind, either.”
-Ray Zingler on X
When I was in high school, my father gave me a book, “Secrets of the World Class – Turning Mediocrity into Greatness” by Steve Siebold.
I read through it as a kid and thought there were some neat nuggets in it, but that was it.
Fast forward close to 15 years later and I found myself pillaging my bookshelves, closets, and childhood bedroom for that book, but I just couldn’t find it.
At the end of last year, I bought another copy and committed myself to the book as a daily study for 2024.
In the book there are 26 “secrets”, or tidbits of truth and wisdom that separate world class people from amateurs.
While amateurs believe the difference between themselves and the world class is “luck and knowledge, that is rarely the case, the difference lies in the mindset of the individual.
While I’ve got the secrets damn near memorized at this point, I continue reading, journaling, and reflecting on the book because I am trying to not only memorize, but engrain the principles into my psyche.
My favorite principle in the book is on Giving.
The lesson is, “World Class people don’t give back, they just give, unlike amateurs who (if they give at all) give back or with expectations.”
But the lesson I read today (yesterday at the time of this reading) was on compensation.
And the secret is: “Professional performers don’t require immediate compensation.”
Pros are not only willing to play the long game, they thrive while playing the long game because they know that is where the gratification is.
In today’s world, anytime we hear the term ‘gratification’ we typically think of it in the context of ‘instant gratification’ as this is what our modern world has taught us to chase, despite the construct being a farce.
Gratification in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, it’s actually a great thing.
It’s aiming at the (non-existent) instant aspect of it that makes it a sham.
Which is actually what amateurs do every day.
Want to be a Pro? Play the long game.
