Nobody Cares, Work Harder
Overcoming brick walls
The powerful true story of Chris Gardner’s life is told in the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness.
While in a six-month unpaid internship program at a prestigious investment brokerage firm, he has to try and earn one of the highly coveted full-time stockbroker positions.
There is a scene where Will Smith depicts the low point of Chris Gardner’s life.
With no money, homeless and raising a small child, Gardner and his son were forced to spend a night on a subway restroom floor.
At that moment, how big a brick wall do you think he saw in front of him?
He was at rock bottom. Yet, he was in a competition to try and make a better life for he and is son. There were no excuses. He had to find a way. Nobody cared, he had to work harder.
Chris Gardner’s brick wall was massive. He had a lot to overcome, but he did it.
We all have our own brick walls we are trying to get over. Everyone has their own problems and are fighting their own battles.
That’s why excuses fall on deaf ears. There aren’t points for the biggest or most excuses. Nobody cares, so work harder.
The competition doesn’t care. They want your clients. That person who wants your job doesn’t care. They want your job.
When we struggle or fail at something, we tend to blame others. We want to place blame on someone else. It has to be someone else’s fault.
That’s not leadership. By you making excuses, it makes it seem okay for your employees or team to make excuses.
By not achieving a goal, there are always ways to find excuses. It’s easy to find excuses. Really aren’t all you’re trying to do is make your failure feel acceptable? You’re telling yourself it was okay to fail. You’re finding reasons to give up.
That’s joining the misery crowd. Misery loves company. Don’t join that company.
There is a misconception in society that things will be done for you. That someone else will take care of it. To rely on someone else.
I think back to all the times that Chris Gardner could have given in. He could have waved the white flag, given up and relied on someone else. He had all the excuses to do so.
The default thought process is why we can’t do something, or that it’s too hard. There is this objective or that excuse. Instead it should be, how can I do this? How do I find a way?
We all have good days and bad. Change happens. Competition changes. Clients and customers change. There are economic challenges. What people want or like changes.
You know what? It happens. It’s a part of life for everyone. Nobody cares, work harder.
Regardless of the obstacles there is always a way.
The obstacles are really brick walls. They’re there to keep us out. To prevent us from winning and finding the success. It’s what stands between you and your goal.
The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.
-Randy Pausch
The Coffee Table ☕
Paul Graham wrote a great essay in response to the talk given by Airbnb founder Brian Chesky, called Founder Mode. You’ve probably been hearing the phrase Founder Mode a lot lately. This is where it came from. The concept and what’s discussed is interesting. It’s something that founders, business owners, leaders and managers can all gain from.
Here is a visual of The World’s 50 Most Valuable Companies.
Source: Visual Capitalist
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