Everyone wants to be the best, but very few want to do the work

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Everyone wants to be the best, but very few want to do the work

I had this conversation with a new connection recently.

I agreed to do some volunteer work for his NGO and we talked about this idea of wanting vs. doing in the context of volunteers.

When I first moved to Barcelona, I volunteered to lead an NGO, and I was managing a team of volunteers.

Very quickly into the role, I discovered that those joining the team loved the concept of volunteering (looks great on the LinkedIn profile) but some would not follow through on agreed obligations because ´life´ got in the way.

In other words, they wanted all the good feels that came with doing something great (like volunteering for a good cause), but when it came to delivering on their promises, they allowed other things in their lives to take priority.

It’s the same when you want to do something great

Imagine signing up to run a marathon that´s scheduled for 9 months´ time.

If you want to do your best, you put in the work by creating and following a training plan.

This gets you from zero to race-ready at an achievable pace.

Now imagine it´s two weeks before the race and the furthest you´ve run is from the bar to a taxi.

Or to be a bit kinder, maybe you’ve followed half your training plan and ´life´ got in the way for the rest.

You could make your way to the starting line on race day and push yourself as hard as possible.

If you made it to the finish line, you´d likely stumble away with an injury.

No matter how hard you tried on the day, that marathon would not fit the expectations you set yourself when you signed up for it.

That´s the difference between trying and training

Think about the things you want to achieve this year. What you want to get better at. What skills you want to refine.

Where can you train, rather than simply try?