The Labor in Labor Day

Will Smith tells the secret of his success:

Here’s the thing: I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be outworked. You may be more talented than me. You might be smarter than me. And you may be better looking than me. But if we get on a treadmill together, one of two things is going to happen: you are going to get off first or I’m going to die. It’s really that simple. I’m not going to be outworked.

Whatever it is that you want to accomplish in life (please tell me you want to accomplish something in life), how hard are you working on it?

Like, a few years back I thought about the fact that one of my greatest goals is to raise great kids. And (unfortunately) my parenting is one of the critical pieces in my kid’s future. And I realized that I wasn’t working at being a better parent. So I set a goal for myself that year – to read 12 books on parenting. Honestly, I ended up not reaching that goal. I read 8 or 9 books. But you know what? It was 8 or 9 parenting books that I wouldn’t have read if I didn’t set that goal. It was 8 or 9 better than 0.

So what do you want? To have real intimacy with God? To be an amazing chef? To become a church planter? To go back to college and get your degree? To lose 35 pounds? To write a book? To be a better spouse? To start your own business? Stop dreaming and start working. Someone else has the same goal as you; don’t let them outwork you.