Let’s Be Frank: Being Great Takes Hard Work

My wife and I lead a pretty exciting life. On Friday night’s we usually come home, make a couple of cocktails, and clean the house. If that’s not enough excitement for us, we might even throw in a couple loads of laundry. We like doing this because the weekend is then free of all these little tasks.

Last Friday however, we were just not up to that kind of wild party-life. It was a long week. We were tired. So, my wife climbed in bed with the dogs and clicked on the TV, while I ironed my clothes for the next week. (One of my least favorite tasks on the entire planet.) We watched stand-up on Comedy Central.

The last comedian to appear was Frank Caliendo. Frank is an amazing entertainer. (Although his weekly show on TBS was cancelled for good reason.) In addition to being funny, he does unbelieveable impressions of John Madden, Robin Williams, George Bush #2, Chris Farley, Robert De Niro, etc. The list goes on & on. He is very good.

When the show was over, my wife and I were commenting on how talented he is, and how much practice it must take to get it all just right. It’s so easy from our perspective in the audience to think of it as fun & games (because Frank is good and that’s what it looks like). The reality though, is that perspective is usually wrong. What looks like fun & games, is actually hard work, dedication, commitment, and talent. The fun Frank is having is a result of all the work came before it. We just see the fun. The likelihood is that his profession is 99% preparation and 1% performance. Actually, that’s the story behind most professions. Talent alone will only get us so far. We see it all the time.

TALENT + HARD WORK = Stardom

HARD WORK – TALENT = Success

TALENT – HARD WORK = Failure

Hard work, dedication, commitment are the necessary ingredients to just about anything. (Especially vacumming on a Friday night with a bloody mary in one hand.) Want to succeed, work harder than the next person. It wins every time.

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