Get better: Do it for you!

By Lcid Crescent Fernandez

There’s a graphic that people share a lot on social media. It goes, “Plan in decades, but grind in moments.” That’s a great thought, and an inspiring insight. Have you ever really thought about what that means though?

I had my law school exams last week. Like any average working student, I waited until a few days before the exam to start studying. 

And it was hell.

It was agonizing torture trying to read through 352 pages for the one exam I had. I couldn’t retain anything. I couldn’t keep my focus. I was stuck in this cycle of knowing I needed to study, but being unable to do it for any meaningful amount of time. The task of studying felt incredibly heavy and my mind felt lethargic trying to lift this weight.

I didn’t practice the task of studying. So when the time came that I needed to study, I wasn’t ready. The muscle in my brain that once allowed me to read thousands and thousands of pages a day struggled to read through 20. I was about to take an exam in a couple of days, and I couldn’t get myself to study. Though I didn’t fail the exam, I was a failure.

This reminded me of one of David Goggins’ interview where he talks about performance without a purpose:

“People need to have purpose to get up. They need to have purpose to perform….What people don’t get is one day that thing’s gonna come up, and if you’re not constantly performing without a purpose, you’re not gonna be ready when the time comes.”

He goes on to say that if you really thought about it, there should never be a time where you don’t have a purpose to perform. Purpose should never leave you, because YOU ARE THE PURPOSE. The constant pursuit of constantly better, of improving yourself as a person is that purpose. Since you are that purpose, it doesn’t matter if there’s anything you’re looking forward to on the horizon. It doesn’t matter if there’s a deadline. Get up and perform. Do it for you.

Now, I study every day despite there being no immediate need to do so. I do it for me.

A lot of people think that championships are won in the games, that business deals are made at the table, that trophies are won in the spotlight.

They’re not.

They’re won in the individual decisions you make throughout every single day. You build that success little by little, by making sure your body and mind are ready for the task when that game or that pitch or that exam comes up. You gotta work that muscle every day, but not even for that one moment of shining glory. That’s not the purpose. You do it to get better. You do it for you. You’re the purpose.

Plan in decades. Grind in moments.

Don’t just share that graphic. Do it. Do it for you.

It’s all about mindset; How you talk to and view yourself in your journey to be a better you. Every monday, we’re going to talk about getting better.