Arturo San Vicente's Blog

The following text is an excerpt from the book “The war of art” by Steven Pressfield, I thought you might be interested in reading. Enjoy:

“Are you a born writer? Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the end the question can only be answered by action. Do it or don’t do it. It might help to think of it this way. If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet. You shame the angels who watch over you and you spite the almighty, who created you and only you with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter farther along its path to God.

Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.”

I wish those were my words, such great words, now it’s my turn to share this with you, it’s my obligation, because I want you to be fair to us.

What would’ve happened if Jackie Robinson woke up one day not wanting to play baseball? Thinking “it’s too hard, it can’t be done, people at the ballpark don’t like me because of my race”. I guarantee that if African American baseball players today knew he had the opportunity to change things and he didn’t do it, they would despise him. He could’ve made a difference and didn’t do it.

But he did it, and boy he did it, what a ballplayer he was, what a change he made, for himself, for his family, for humanity. He was the first African American baseball player in Major League Baseball. And this is how people thank him.

You’re next. Get us closer to God. Let us say “Thank you”.

“Avoid running trash miles”, was the advice I got from a remarkable person. 

The phrase is common among runners, and it refers to not going overboard on mileage when getting ready for a big race. If you are running, you must be doing it for a reason, not just for the sake of squeezing some miles in. Whether it is power, endurance, strength, speed or any other purpose but there must be one.

So what is the key to avoiding trash miles? – It’s just a matter of asking “what for?”

I’m gonna work out… What for?… power

I’m gonna run… What for?… speed

I’m gonna write a book… What for?… So I can change a person’s life

I’m gonna start a business… What for?… So I can help people solve a problem, or have a better price, or a better service…

You see where I’m going? The things that we do fall into 3 categories. That is, bad work, good work, or great work. When our “what for” is right, we do great work. And great work is what moves us, what makes us jump out of bed on a Sunday morning just to get it done. So, I don’t wanna waste your miles, you have something to work for today. Surprise us!

All my best, 

Arturo

Twitter: @asanvicente

Email: asanvicente@live.com

Hello everyone,

I’d like to start off with an apology to all of you for staying offline for such a lengthy period. I have been in a time of transition that to my belief is for the best.

Wow!, it feels great to be back! It’s a great feeling I have to be honest with you. There have been happening many stories that I have been meaning to write about and to share with you, and I promise I’ll give myself the time to write about them gradually.

What I would love to share with you today is one phrase that particularly has given me a better perspective when making a decision, and I am sure that many pro athletes and successful business people have thought about too, and that is…

“Do it, or don’t do it, but for the right reasons”

Many of you are probably familiar with the movie Moneyball

Billy Beane was faced with two important decisions in his life.

The first one was either to go pro and skip college or take a scholarship to Stanford. How many of us would want to be in that position, right?

His decision, as you guessed, was to go pro. He was a highly touted prospect and his upside was unlimited since he was tagged as a “five tool player”. You only get to see five tool players every now and then. The problem with making that decision was that it was based solely on money, putting aside every other factor. Now, I’m not saying that making a decision based on money is wrong, but it can be when not assessing the whole situation.

Turns out that Billy was not the player the scouts thought he would be, and he ended up regretting that decision throughout his career.

Lucky for him, life gave him a second opportunity, as he kept on working hard and got the Oakland Athletics to win 20 games in a row (MLB record) as a General Manager, and a season record higher than that of the New York Yankees with only about a third of their budget.

He discovered a new way of playing the game through statistics. The Boston Red Sox saw his talent, and decided to give them the biggest money offer to any GM in all sports history back in 2002. The details might be a little derailed since this is an adaptation to a movie, but the facts are this:

Billy Beane declined a 12.5 million dollars offer to one of the best ball clubs in Major League Baseball. Billy knew better that making a decision based on money could sometimes lead to regrets.

As I have stated before, do the right thing, pursue something higher than yourself, and the money will follow.

Billy made history, changed the game, something that goes beyond him, and will stay when he is gone. If you are still wondering about the money, it did follow, he got a part ownership of the Oakland A’s added to his salary compensation, but is he really going to be remembered because of the money he made? I doubt it.

My dear and missed readers, life is a game of choices and choices we make everyday. Small decisions, big decisions, who knows, they can all lead to a certain path of life, and we all want the life of no regrets, so when you have a decision to make, whatever it is, do it. Or don’t, but for all the right reasons.

Best wishes to all of you and enjoy a great Sunday!,

Arturo

Twitter: @asanvicente

Email: asanvicente@live.com

(For the creator of this phrase, my apologies, because honestly I can’t recall where did I hear about it, but if I do you have my word I’ll come back to this blog post and give you credit for it.)

The term is widely known, but mostly in the opposite direction. “Don’t burn your bridges” is used often, but let me go back a little bit for those of us that are unfamiliar with the term.

In 1519, Hernan Cortes went into the battlefield, and motivated his men into winning. He was so convinced that they could accomplish the feat that he order the ships to be burned. That meant, that there was only two ways they were going to finish that battle: Victory or death. At the end, they conquered the Aztec Empire, a population of more than 5 million people, with no more than 1,000 soldiers. There is some controversy about the details, but the fact is that Cortes was so determined to win that battle that he knew that failure was not an option, going back was not an option.

Now, if it worked so well for him, why do we sell so much the idea of “don’t burn your bridges”?

I think it is because as humans we tend to play safe, because it is easier, because it doesn’t involve risk, because it doesn’t alter our state of mind, it allows us to sleep at night. I suppose that’s good, but most successful people I know don’t like playing safe, they like the adrenaline rush, that fire burning through their veins when risk is felt. I listen to successful people and they even enjoy not sleeping, having their head around things, and getting up from bed ready to take on the world. They know it’s not easy, but they also know that the rewards are unlimited. I heard Floyd Mayweather saying he gets up at times at 2 am in the morning just to squeeze another run in, because he doesn’t want to leave anything on the table, he doesn’t want to look back after a fight knowing that he could’ve done more. 50 Cent said that when he was not filming his movie he was doing the soundtrack, and when asked when did he sleep he answered “Sleep? I don’t sleep!”. So you tell me, what do you think is better? Playing safe? Or burning bridges?

I guess you never know until you do it. In business they have a different term, they call it “reaching the point of no return”, that is, when you are so compromised financially into something, that you can’t go back. Donald Trump had to go all in when he went broke. He reached the point of no return, and that’s the only way he got back in track. Robert Kiyosaki went all in in his business because he had no choice, and came up high. Javier Hernandez said himself he was ready to quit and decided to give it a last shot, burned his briges, now he plays for Manchester United, arguably the best football club in the world.

I don’t know if this works or not for everybody, but for me it has. When I choose to burn my bridges onto something, I know its game on, I know that now I’m in a position where I can’t go back, I can’t change to option B, I am all in and I must follow through. I must believe in my vision 100%, because when you burn your bridges that’s all you have. It is you and your vision, no one else will understand it, no one else will give a rats ass if you fail, but if you succeed, then you will have glory, then they’ll say, I knew you could do it and if you are committed, you will achieve it. So go find your battle, and burn your bridges, I am here to tell you today that even if you fail, you will feel good about yourself, you will find out who you really are. That feeling will get you up to fight another battle. And when you succeed, you will know that you gave everything you had, because you burned your bridges, you were willing to die in order to win, that’s how bad you wanted it, and you won.

All my best,

Arturo

Twitter: @asanvicente

Email: asanvicente@live.com

This is probably an unfamiliar post, as I always try to focus on others rather than me. But this time I’d like to share something from within.

I have been getting ready to run my first marathon for a couple of months now, and I think I have never felt this way before… I feel invincible.

How did I get to feel this way? Practice, dedication, motivation, vision, and most of all, mental strength. The rest is history.

I must say, it all started with a dream, which then became a goal and in 2 days it will become a reality. I am constantly motivated, but never before the way I am today. Was it easy? Hell no, is it worth it? Hell yes. There are way too many thoughts in my mind right now, but one is that I cannot seem to get out of, and that is winning. When you push yourself hard everyday, work hard, forget about everything else and focus on your end state, you might just fall in love. Today, I am in love with winning, and I am making a promise to myself to win every day for the rest of my life.

Thank you for all of you who follow this blog, who follow me in my personal and professional life. I can’t wait to share with you my experience. I will do this for you, for me, and my love for winning.

I invite you to work hard on something that you are passionate about, and declare to win every day of your lives, because winning is a lifestyle. Life will never be the same again, never give up.

All my best,

Arturo

Twitter: @asanvicente

Email: asanvicente@live.com

Passion is defined as a powerful emotion being enthusiastic for something. Career coach Curt Rosengren describes passion as “the energy that comes from bringing more of you into what you do”. This emotion and energy is a key element to be successful in business.

Examine if you really are passionate and bring more each day on your job, responsibilities, and projects. Your employees will notice and your results will show, if you are so. I truly believe that passion depends on you. It is about your attitude to find this passionate energy and you should first focus to find it on what you currently do. Then, amplify your vision and thoughts listening to your inner voice what to do next. But it is crucial to be passionate and always do more because THE MORE YOU DO, THE MORE YOU CAN DO.

Thinking about sports, the man who definitely has had this energy and passion was Muhammad, even until today.

“Parkinson’s is my toughest fight. No, it doesn’t hurt. It’s hard to explain. I’m being tested to see if I’ll keep praying, to see if I’ll keep my faith.”

Four facts on what Ali reached due to his exceptional passion:

1960 – Ali won a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Rome.

1965 – He was the youngest boxer (age 22) ever to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion.

1981 – Before retiring Ali compiled a 56–5 record and became the only man to ever win the heavyweight crown three times. His fights with Joe Frazier and George Foreman were among boxing’s biggest events.

2005 – Muhammad Ali receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush. In the same month, the $60 million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center opened in downtown Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth.

So, what may we learn from champions like Ali?

To be really passionate and successful we have to CHALLENGE THE NEW AND THE IMPOSSIBLE.

This passionate attitude represents Ali until today. As in sports, besides preparation, one has to go through plenty of positive and inspirational mental training to push one to excel in business. Therefore, think about your passion because it will help you to overcome obstacles and succeed in the long run.

“Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them.” Muhammad Ali

Watch this video and remember to bring more every day.

To read more about the other key elements to be successful in business click on the following link. 4Ps for business success: Passion, Performance, Profit, and Purpose.

About the author:

Thomas Michael Hogg (Click to see LinkedIn profile)

Skype / thommy_c