If you want to get ahead in this world, you have to work for it. Yes, there are some exceptions to this rule–like being extremely lucky or starting out with some significant advantages–but it is generally true that you’ll have to sweat out those hard hours of practice if you want to get really good at what you do. It’s no surprise that people like Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky practiced as much as they did.
However, there is necessarily a dark side to all of this. You only have so many hours in the day, so sacrifices will have to be made in other areas of your life. And that makes you wonder whether or not absolute and extreme dedication to your job is really worth it.
Jiro Is a Prime Example
You might remember earlier this year when I reviewed Jiro Dreams of Sushi, a documentary on Japanese sushi chef Jiro Ono. By most accounts, he is the best sushi chef in the world and it’s because he spent his entire life perfecting his craft. Even though he’s well into retirement age by now, he continues to work every day at his sushi restaurant in Tokyo. In fact, he hates going on vacation, because he has become a man of routine.
But this came at a price. In the documentary, we learn that his children rarely ever saw him growing up. When he’d come home late at night, his children would sometimes ask their mother, “Who is the strange man sleeping in our house?” He did not really forge any real relationship with his sons until they were much older. He also didn’t really make any real money until later in life either.
At the same time, this is how he has been able to achieve what he has. It is through that extreme dedication to his craft that he has come to master it. He is constantly searching for incremental improvements, constantly on a quest for perfection. Work ethic is working hard when no one is looking, when no one else could care. And Jiro certainly fits that description. It’s not about the money. It’s not about the fame. It’s about doing what he loves and figuring out how to do it better.
What About Life-Work Balance?
You’ve got to ask yourself, though, whether Jiro’s life has been worth it. Is that really the life that you want to lead? It’s one of monotony, relentless repetition, and the eschewing of what we deem to be the luxuries of the modern life. Forget about weekends. Forget about vacations. Forget about rest and relaxation. Your job positively consumes you.
They say that if you can do what you love and make a living of it, then you never work a day in your life. Unfortunately, that isn’t going to be true for most of us. Even if you love what you do, you cannot love the entirety of what you do. I like writing, but there are days when I just don’t want to do it. There are days when I don’t want to deal with marketing, administration, or accounting. Instead, I seek balance. I value my leisure time. I value the time I spend with loved ones. I value the time I have to explore things unrelated to work.
Taking this route of life-work balance, though, makes it that much harder to be the best at what you do. It makes it that much harder to achieve monumental success. Can you imagine if Jiro only made sushi on the weekends? He would not be the same man, for better or for worse.
Life Is a Game of Trades
While I used the example of a famous Japanese sushi chef, you can see how the same kind of dilemma applies to every other career. If you want to be a professional athlete, you can expect to put in long hours at practice for years on end. If you want to become a world renowned author, you can expect to spend years producing writing of varying quality, only to hope for one big break. If you want to climb that corporate ladder and be the CEO of a multi-billion multinational corporation, you have to make yourself stand out from the crowd over years of dedication, innovation, and hard work.
It’s not easy. Indeed, life will always be a game of trades. By giving 100% to one endeavor, you necessarily sacrifice the percentage that could have been dedicated to another. What do you value most? How do you allocate your time and resources? Do you dedicate yourself to your career in place of other priorities in your life?
I can relate, but for the reason that I have two-three jobs. I spend a lot of time working, away from my family. While I try to get some time, it really is an illusion.
My kids, while loving me with all their hearts are starting to show the my Daddy really isn’t here syndrome. I see it and have started to work on it, hopefully in time.