I’d posted a video about Overseas Basketball on YouTube. One point I made in the video was that professional basketball is much less strenuous than most “normal” jobs or businesses by the fact of the work hours: basketball players work 2-4 hours on a long day.
I work a lot more than that as a business owner and CEO.
Some basketball player who saw the video commented in defense of the challenges that come with a professional sports career — how those 2-4 hours are the result of hard work, years of effort and the rest.
To him, he concluded, the jobs of people who work in offices are “easy.”
The tone of his comment was defensive; I guess it wasn’t the first time he’d heard someone intimate that playing sport for a living couldn’t possibly be that hard; that playing ball for money isn’t a “real job.”
Or maybe the way I’d described the job simplified it too much for his liking. Perhaps he just felt insecure about his career choice. Who knows.
The commentator knows who I am and that I’m speaking from personal experience — I think his comment was more meant for other viewers than it was directed at me.
So maybe, in his haste to respond, he’d glossed over that fact that I’ve seen both sides of what I was discussing, while he had seen only one and was thus unqualified to speak on it.
I get the perspective of outsiders — from the outside looking in, playing sports does look pretty easy.
And, while it’s not easy — to get the job or to keep it — it’s easier than any other job I’ve ever had. That’s just the truth. Playing ball for a living was a lot easier than what I do now.
Here’s the bottom line, though: every job is easy from the outside looking in.
Depending on what you do for a living, you may have had someone imply, or even state outright, that your job is easy / fun because you “only have to _________ (gross oversimplification of your job) all day!”
Uber is fun — you just drive around all day!
Being a bouncer is fun — you just let pretty women go in the club all night!
Real estate isn’t easy — just show off nice houses all day! How hard could it be???
Being a musician is easy — sing and dance all day?? Sign me up!!
***
Every job is a JOB for a reason — that reason is often not obvious until you’re on the inside and realize it’s not all fun and games.
Playing ball (foot-, base- or basket-) is a great job, until you’re injured, or fatigued, or you’ve come to realize that you at your best can’t perform as well as your competition and you’re out of a job.
Being an entrepreneur looks fun if all you know about it are the influencer marketing posts on social media. Launch an offer that doesn’t sell, an ad campaign that doesn’t convert, or hire an employee who doesn’t work out, and the job isn’t so shiny anymore.
Careful judging what you don’t know, and never assume that something is as easy as it looks. Remember that we’re conditioned to display our highlight reels and hide the behind-the-scenes messes.
Until you are sure you’ve seen the mess, don’t assume you know the job.
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Be sure to check the following MasterClasses on this topic —
#1105: What Makes The Job, A JOB
#1183: Focus Is Easy — Distraction Is Hard
#5: “Is Making It In Basketball Hard?” YES!
#1139: It Takes More Than Hard Work [@ Books & Books Miami]
#1112: Hard Work Is Not An Achievement
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