Recently I moved to NYC and that means taking the subways. Everyone prepared me with horror stories of homeless defecating on seats, hecklers and a serious lack of personal space but I keep running into the opposite. My experiences on the New York Subway have been remarkably inspiring. One in particular, so great that I want to share it with you.
A man with a young boy, around 9 years old who from the looks of it was headed home from Basket Ball practice. “You’ve gotta grind” he said as the little boy looked up at him. “You’ve gotta grind. Just be constantly working on yourself. Your game is good and when you’re winning you’re happy but your character shows when you’re team’s losing and your attitude gets bad.” The little boy says “yeah but…” And the man replies “I know, it’s frustrating, but you have to have a good attitude or else no one will have you on their team even if you’re the best player out there. You’ve gotta grind. I’m still grinding! Every day I work hard at what I do and on myself. You’ve gotta grind.” That’s when they got off the train…
ARE YOU KIDDING?! Seriously… Even I needed that message, what a lucky little boy to have such a great mentor. I felt lucky just to catch that quick interaction.
We all need a reminder now & again to not only work on what we do but on who we are, in every area of life! Personally, in relationships, at work, on teams and especially when times are tough. After all, at the end of the day we are only left with ourselves.
Relentless Optimism 