“Success has a simple formula: do your best, and people may like it.”
– Sam Ewing
I spent the day writing articles about the best. The best flashlight. The best laundry detergent. The best soda flavored lubricant. If thy sell it I’ve probably written about why it was “the best.”
In yesterday’s post I discussed the cult of activity. No matter what there’s always a spectator section that loves to analyze and hates to participate.
While it’s nice to start out with the nicest things, it isn’t essential. The effort that you put in is going to trump whatever equipment you buy. There are plenty of top tier home gyms that are collecting dust, and expensive golf clubs that tucked away in storage facilities. Books with millions of dollars worth of wisdom are being used as doorstops. Buying something won’t make you good at it.
While I’m not advocating going to a decapitated gym, buying broken golf clubs, or reading terrible books I am saying that those items are almost inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. If you ate healthy and did a really simple workout, you’ll be light years ahead of some guy who bought all the latest equipment and never bothered to use it.
Last year there was a guy who went to the gym every day, bought all the hottest supplements, and worried about all kinds of technical details that I’d never heard of before. In the six months that I was around him he never actually got any bigger. The entire time he was in at the gym he’d just walk around and tell people about his supplements.
Not owning a top of the line product isn’t a legitimate reason for incompetence. People are always surprised to learn that I still use my Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juice Extractor. It cost me $50 and I make different concoctions every single day. While it’s not a super expensive device, I still get a lot of use from it. Likewise, I’m sure there are plenty of Omega juicers that have never been taken out of the box.
If you want to get into something, you don’t need the best equipment. Outside aviation and playing polo, very few hobbies actually have a high cost of entry. Spend six months working on something and practicing everyday, then you can go to the store and pick up some high quality gear.