CHOP THE WOOD
A few years ago, I promised myself that I would never buy firewood from a store. It wasn’t necessarily because it feels like cheating, although it sort of does. It was more about what I may be missing out on if I chose took take the easy way out.
Did you know that you’re supposed to chop wood that you intend to burn 6 months or more in advance? In order to allow it to dry out properly so it can burn well, this is the recommended amount of time it takes.
People love to sit around a good well-built bonfire on a cool Fall or Winter night, but most people don’t know what it took to get there. The process took time.
Cutting, splitting, hauling, and loading fire wood is hard work but it is necessary in order to end up by that beautiful bonfire on a crisp night under the stars. And I have found that the satisfaction I feel from sitting around a fire where I know I put in the dirty work months ago to get that fire wood ready so it could be used, is so worth it.
We, as humans, are all about the end result. We want the reward without doing the work. Sadly, I think this cost us so much learning, growing, and ultimately fulfillment. When you lay the ground work, you put in the blood, sweat and tears. When you give up comfort for challenge, and you really embrace it. It changes you. Good things take time. Unfortunately, we do not like to think that anymore in a world of Amazon 2-day delivery, but it is still true.
The finish line is so much more rewarding when we can look back and know that we were willing to chop the wood. We can look back and know that we gave great effort towards something for a long period of time and that process makes it all so much sweeter. The process takes time. “The Rocky cut scene lasts 5 minutes in the movie, but it may last 5 years in your life.” - Alex Hormozi
Whether it is personally or professionally, let’s be willing to embrace the hard stuff instead of taking the easy way out. Lean in. Do the hard things. The training, the behind the scenes work may be brutal, but it is all worth it.
CHOP THE WOOD.