As A Man Thinks

"You gotta be willing to put in the work bruh!"

Colin Powell once said, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” Sam Ewing broke it down like this, “Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all. Big Momma just kept it real by saying, “If you want it, it’s out there baby. You just gotta go find it and get it!”

As I get older I've come to realize that the only place that you NEED extraordinary skill and ability is in professional sports. Only the most talented people are able to play at the highest level. Now don't get me wrong, boyz have to put in work to stay at that level but to get there 90% of it is DNA playboy. Don’t get it twisted. These cats have always been either bigger, stronger, faster and sometimes all of the above, than the people they grew up playing against. However, when I look at what it takes to be successful in every other area of life skill level isn't as relevant.

You don't have to be highly skilled to be one of the best in your particular field. You just have to have more hustle. Have you ever just stepped back and watched the world move around you? Have you ever made the comment, "How did that guy get that job or promotion?” The key to success is diligence and favor playboy.

God constantly references diligence in his word and his favor over your life is what opens doors of opportunity. Of course that is always the case in pro sports too. However, those cats were blessed with the DNA and the favor. In the real world all you NEED is work ethic and favor.

I know people that don't have any talent at all that are Mid-level managers, CEO's, VP's, Principals, Supervisors etc. Many of these cats don't have great talent but they possess great work ethic. You can't fake it at the highest level of sports though. You either have it or you don't and coaches, GM's and player personnel people can see it in less than a minute. There's no masquerading skill in that world playa.

The great thing about real life is that 99% of us don't play pro sports so we have a greater opportunity to succeed. I'll take those numbers every time bruh. I'm glad that I don't have to possess more natural ability than my peers because I wouldn't be as successful today.

When I graduated from high school I was a functional illiterate. That’s means that I could read words but had no comprehension skills whatsoever bruh. I scored only 642 total points on the SAT out of a possible 1600. Remember, you got 200 points for puttin’ your name on the joint. My stats at the time said that I should've been riding the bench in life.

Instead, I've consistently been a leader both nationally and globally in the field of sales and marketing throughout my 23 years in Corporate America. I’ve been selling pharmaceuticals for the past 13 years and insulin in particular. I call on high volume internal medicine physicians and highly trained endocrinologists. In other words playboy, I communicate with highly intelligent people all day. It's not about your ability to do something it's about your willingness to succeed at doing something.

When I enrolled at Purdue University I took a placement exam like every freshman does. First of all, favor got me into the joint because you needed a minimum of 800 points on the SAT to get in. When the exam results came back they said that I wasn't qualified to be in college and that I was better suited to be a bus driver. That’s real talk! The only problem with that theory was that they had already made the mistake of admitting “Ya Boy” before I took the freaking exam.

Secondly, I didn't care what the test said about me or the guy giving it. I graduated from Indiana University five years later with a B.S. in Sports Science without still being able to read because I memorized everything boyz said and had folks explaining to me in the dorm what I was supposed to have read. It’s called hustlin’ playboy! I didn't have time to learn how to read and graduate from college at the same time.

The year after I graduated from college I found an African-American bookstore and bought books weekly and increased my comprehension skills Talent is important but work ethic supersedes it! Don't let other people put restrictions on your life because remember what I always say about 100% of boyz out here. Only 25% are real and 75% are haters.

 The key is being able to distinguish between the two and not listening to what they may have to say about what you're trying to accomplish. It's very hard sometimes to figure out who's real and who's a hater. So don't listen to anybody and you'll be fine. Your success will be determined by your ability to believe in what you can accomplish. My man Soloman said it best, "As a man thinks in his heart so is he" Proverbs 23:7.


Holler At Yak Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter:@jaygravesreport