Work Ethic
I’ve touched on this topic a few times and here is a little insight on the origin of mine and why I’m so grateful for what my parents taught not only myself, but my brother and sister as well.
Growing up we didn’t have much at all and that is easily an overstatement. I won’t to get into all the negative details now but instead focus on the positive effects and outcomes. One thing we did have was an abundance of love from our parents. That was very clear from the beginning, real love. They taught us exceptional values and a work ethic that you can’t put a price tag on and that ultimately became a huge advantage later in life.
From my earliest memories all the way up through high school and still to this day my parents exemplified a ridiculously strong work ethic. They lead by example when it comes to it.
It all starts with my dad; he would go to work so early in the morning everyday and not return home until super late at night after we were all asleep. I wasn’t tracking it but he easily was working 20+ hours a day, everyday, no time off, no sick days. It was as if he never slept and was just working non-stop, all the time. But he was always there for us not matter what and we knew that even if he wasn’t home. One of the things I appreciate the most is how he would sacrifice work for us when it came to sports. Growing up Sports was usually the only time we saw him during the day - at practice or games. He coached all 3 of us in youth sports up through high school those are some of the best memories of all time. Well maybe not so much the 6 am varsity basketball practices!
Starting my days at 4 am are a direct reflection of my dad and how he instilled the early morning rise in me. At 60 he still gets up at 3-330am and is crushing it.
Now my mom; from working multiple jobs to working night shift to chasing down wild emo’s to all the side hustle’s (they were called that back then) that she had us doing from walnuts to recycling, anything to make a few bucks to support the family she had working. She is extremely smart, has super high cognitive ability, but her influence on doing the gritty work is one of the best gifts she has ever given us. She is the toughest person I know - she absolutely refuses to miss work it’s just not in her DNA.
My parents never complained, they never made excuses - ever. The mindset was you do what you have to do no matter what. Period. And go figure they have 3 kids that are exactly the same.
A quick side story; my first unofficial real job, unofficial because I was paid under the table, the summer I was twelve my best friend got me a job with his family working for a local farmer in the fields picking the flowers of squash plants. We’d arrive early when it was dark and start picking as the sun was rising and work all day until the sun set. This was in the extreme summer heat of Northern California where 110+ degree weather is not out of the ordinary. I was so excited and pumped up to go to work every I didn’t care that it was exhausting, hard manual labor, walking up and down what felt like miles and miles of rows bent down at the waste for what felt like an eternity.
To say I’m grateful would be a massive, massive understatement. When I was young I thought we were losing because we didn’t have this or that, couldn’t go here or there. All that changed when I got older when I realized growing up like that was such a massive advantage. I’d never change it. Another super important lesson it taught me is you can always rely and count on your effort, no matter how much adversity you face.
Last thing - I just wanted to express my gratitude for my parents and everything they did for us.