Chop Wood, Carry Water

Dear Collective,

There is an old Zen proverb that says:

"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."

When people hear about personal growth, building wisdom, or climbing the ranks in their career, they often assume reaching a new level means you get to leave the mundane tasks behind. We imagine that once we "arrive," we graduate from the dirty work. We think success buys us a ticket out of the day-to-day grind.

Life does not work like that.

A few years ago, I joined Thunder Soccer as a strength and conditioning coach. Over time, things evolved, and today I serve as the president of the league.

You might think holding a title like that means sitting in a high-powered seat and pointing fingers at people, telling them what to do. The reality is that my day-to-day looks almost identical to when I started.

At the end of every week, the games all wrap up, I still grab a garbage bag and walk the field, picking up the empty water bottles and trash left behind. That does not change. I still get out there early to help move the heavy goals into place. We were lucky enough to have two guys show up earlier than me this week to help move them, which was a huge help, but at the end of the day, I was still right there putting them all back.

You can make great progress, build knowledge, change your roles, and accomplish wonderful things, but you never outgrow the fundamentals. The base-level chores will always be waiting for you.

We see this at the gym all the time.

You might progress from an empty barbell or a training bar to deadlifting several hundred pounds. You might have years of training under your belt and understand biomechanics inside and out. But when the set is done, you still have to strip your own plates. You still have to wipe down your station. You still have to show up on the days you feel tired and do your warm-up reps.

Growth (enlightenment) does not exempt you from the work.

Whatever level you reach this week, do not look down on the basic reps. Carry water and chop wood.

With strength and good habits,

Charlie

We, The Collective Fitness