Dean Graziosi argues that expecting instant success wrecks fulfillment. He uses a casino gambler parable to show how the easy path leads to emptiness, while meaningful achievements require struggle and hard work. The shift: choose difficulty, model successful people, and pursue authentic purpose.
We live in a time where technology is making things faster and easier, but it's also making it faster and easier. We get to see people that are wealthy, and we think it happened overnight. We get to see people who are in love, and we think that relationship happened easily. We see people in great shape, and we want to be in shape overnight. And when it doesn't happen, we get frustrated because we want the easy button. And here's the thing I want to tell you guys. Nothing in my life that was ever valuable, ever worth anything, was easy. You know, we're in a world where we want everything overnight. Instant gratification. And I don't want to condemn today's world, like it's so horrific and the past was great. We live in an amazing time. We live in an abundant time. We live in a time where technology is making things faster and easier, but it's also making it faster and easier. We get to see people that are wealthy, and we think it happened overnight. We get to see people who are in love, and we think that relationship happened easily. We see people in great shape, and we want to be in shape when overnight. And when it doesn't happen, we get frustrated because we want the easy button. And here's the thing I want to tell you guys. Nothing in my life that was ever valuable, ever worth anything, was easy. But it was worth all of it. Because I know a lot of people that took the easy path with their kids. And when they were teenagers, they wanted to be close, they wanted to be connected, and it was too late. They missed their window. In my businesses, it's. It's been tough. I don't know anything in life that's come to me that's been magnificent and sustainable. That was easy. I'm going to tell you guys a joke that I told my kids. I told you guys when you were little. This man is an obsessive gambler, maybe even a little on the border of addicted as a gambler. And he's going to the slot machines, and he wins sometimes, and he loses. And he's up and he's down and he's miserable and he's happy. He's got these emotions all over the place. And he does whatever he has to do to gamble. Probably made some bad decisions. So he passes away. He wakes up and he's in Las Vegas, and it's beautiful. And the lights are blinging, the music, the sound of the slot machines. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. And all of a sudden, he's got a pocket full of money. So what's he do? Go straight up to the slot machine. He puts the money in. Bam. First pull of the trigger, money comes pouring out all over. He hits the jackpot, and then he hits the jackpot again. And he's like, wow. And by the end of the day, it's like, every time he puts his money, it's a jackpot. Now it's the end of day three. Every time he puts his money in a slot machine, he wins. He looks over, he finds somebody who seems to be working there, seems like they're in, they have an authoritative position in this casino. And he walks up to you, he goes, wow. It's not what I expected. I thought heaven would be different than this. And the guy looked at him and said, who says you're in heaven? Think about that. If everything you tried in life, if everything you do went easy, you wouldn't respect it, you wouldn't want it, you wouldn't desire it. If I gave you your first car, if you know any of your friends, let's look at if you know any of your friends that got their first car with no work. I made a deal with you guys that you pay half a car, I pay half. If you save up 20 bucks, you can get a $40 car. Save up 10 grand, we can get a $20,000 car, right? But anyone you know that got their first car for free without working for it, they either crashed it or it's dirty, or they don't appreciate it. If you know people who paid for their own college compared to those who their father or their mother paid for it, and they never had any repercussions, the ones that paid for it in so many cases fight for it. Because every word, every teacher, every classroom costs them hard earned money. People who don't pay don't pay attention. People who don't work hard for something they want don't get the results. People who so don't look for the easy button in life. I have yet to meet a trust fund baby grown into an adult that's fulfilled or found peace. I know a lot of them that are partiers. I know a lot of them throw the best parties on the planet. I know a lot of them that go through drugs in and out. I know a lot of them that go through relationships in and out. I know a lot of them that throw fundraisers and find God and then they steer away from God and then they find yoga and then they find meditation and they're always searching, always searching because everything was so damn easy. But those that are willing to put the work in. Those that aren't so soft, those that aren't feeling bad for themselves because they had to work. Those that realize if you want it, you gotta fight for it. Guys, that's the next level of happiness. Fighting, struggling, going through the hard times is what allow you to appreciate the good times. The reason I appreciate my family so much is because when I was young, I didn't have that family. The reason I appreciate abundance and wealth so much, because I didn't have any. The reason I love to cook and go grocery shopping still is because there was no groceries in my refrigerator when I was so you don't get to appreciate the good unless you fight for the hard. So this is my challenge to you right now. Fight for it. Go the hard route. If there's an easy path and an easy button, it's always, in most cases, it's wrapped with something else. It's wrapped with an agenda. It's wrapped with circumstances. It's wrapped with failure. Because you're looking for the easy way. Be educated about it. Model other people that are already doing it. Don't be overly risky when you can learn from others and take the path even if it's hard. If at the end of that path is your full potential or next level potential and you on the journey towards discovering who you really are again, I'll end with this. I don't know where you are in your journey of life. Maybe I'm not even here anymore. As you circle back to watch this. But fight to figure out who you are. Fight to figure out what success means to you. Don't let other people steer your ship. Don't get confused by people giving you guidance. That might be well intended, but it doesn't fit your soul. Figure out what makes you happy. Give impact. Make an impact on the world. Give back to others. Fuel your soul. Obsess on growth. Sam.
