"Work your ass off" is Arnold Schwarzenegger's rule no. 3 for a better life. Taken from his book "Be Useful. Seven Tools for Life"
So what does it mean to "bust your ass"?
Arnold Schwarzenegger
He worked his ass off, trained until he dropped in the gym, in language training (to get rid of his Styrian dialect), in dance training, in leadership training, in speaker training. He worked so intensively and purposefully on himself. So much so that, as a young boy from Austria, he managed to become a world-famous bodybuilder, one of Hollywood's best-paid action heroes and Governor of California.
Soccer
What could Franz Beckenbauer have been thinking years ago? Perhaps the "Kaiser", according to Wikipedia the "shining light of German soccer", swore to himself: "I'll work my ass off to become world champion" and "I'll work my ass off to become world champion as coach of FC Bayern Munich".
He worked very hard on himself. He played soccer all day. He was certainly one of the first to arrive on the pitch and one of the last to leave. His record of success? In 1972, the German national team won the European Championship with him as captain, and in 1974 the World Cup. In 1990, he won the World Cup as coach and team manager of the German DFB team.
What does that tell us?
He had the unconditional will to perform. His conscientious planning was just as much a part of that. And he was very disciplined in implementing what he had set out to do. He was convinced that his tireless commitment, hard work and perseverance would ultimately bring him to the goals he had set himself.
The following two statements are from him:
"You can't build success on chance. There has to be a concept, a strategy behind it."
"My success consists of hard work and hard planning - what do you think?"
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franz Beckenbauer have constantly worked towards their goals. Trained their muscles until they dropped. They practiced, acted, learned, got inspiration and put it into practice. And not just a little bit here and a little bit there. They were clearly targeted, focused, structured and disciplined.
A pioneer of electrical engineering
Thomas Edison once said: "Success comes to those who do something while waiting for success." And he did something, long and persistently. He tried out and discarded an infinite number of possibilities and continued his research. For years. He had a goal in mind, otherwise he would certainly have thrown in the towel long ago and given up. But on the contrary, he persevered.
He set milestones in electricity generation and distribution. He is credited with inventing the light bulb. He electrified New York and introduced electric light. He made groundbreaking inventions in the field of telecommunications. And he founded several companies.
All three personalities pursued their goals. They completed tasks that suited their talents and abilities. They were "greedy" to achieve the goals they set themselves: they became extremely successful and celebrated in their fields.
And I am sure that they were in a state of flow and felt happiness in the process.
What does flow mean?
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, has researched when and why people feel happiness. He came to an astonishing conclusion: happiness is the unintended side effect of pursuing a big task!
Prof. Csíkszentmihályi discovered the following: We feel happiness when we do something that is fun. No matter what it may be. Then there is the necessary concentration and the corresponding goal. If these three points are present, then we are in flow, that feeling of happiness that makes us forget time and space while doing something.
In short: happiness = task + concentration + goal
We spend a lot of time on our task, our profession. Be it as a bodybuilder, soccer coach, electrical engineer, entrepreneur, surface technician or team leader.
If we don't have fun in our day-to-day work solving all of our tasks, if we don't recognize a self-imposed goal and just sit through our hours listlessly and unfocused in order to have enough money in our account at the end of the month: for the rent, the loan, the vacation, to finance the children's education costs, etc. ... yes, then we won't work our asses off. Then we won't achieve anything outstanding or worth mentioning.
The well-known saying "Even in the alphabet, effort comes before success" indicates that we have to work hard before we can reap the rewards and celebrate our success.
Every person defines success differently
Some when a 7 or 8-figure sum appears in their account after years of hard, strenuous work. The next, when customers are extremely satisfied with the product delivered and you are praised and recommended to others. Others love their classic car, take care of it and polish it until every spot of chrome shines and gleams.
I work my ass off in the gym two or three times a week, pedal with determination and puff like a steam engine when I put on a few more kilos. I fall into bed dog-tired in the evening. Because I have a goal: to cross the Alps next year. No, not by plane - but on foot.
And I want to be successful, arrive at my destination in good health and be overjoyed and scatter confetti! Because I persevered, because I made it.
And you? What are you busting your ass for?
