Here’s what the front of my business card says:
Josh Hanagarne: Bad Ass
It’s memorable and it makes me laugh. It’s only about 90% ironic.
And here’s what the back says:
World’s Strongest Librarian dot com…I’ve got some ideas. And there’s a phone number.
When I hand someone a card, they either:
- Squint at it and say, “What?”
- Laugh
- Hand it back and stumble away to other adventures
- Call me shortly thereafter
I’m nobody special, but I do understand bad-assery and how it happens. Some of what follows is a recreation of conversations I’ve had with my good friend Frankie Faires. Frankie is a freaking incredible BJJ teacher and one of the world’s foremost experts on getting people out of pain.
But I’m a better writer than he is, so here goes.
A hike up a long hill
We all know the scene…the acolyte climbs a billion stone steps carved into the side of a mountain. They are granted an audience with the master, who either kicks their trash without delay or accepts them into a martial internship of sadistic tutelage.
For Van Damme, this meant getting pulled into the splits while tied to trees, having heavy objects dropped onto his greased abdomen from a great height, and having Wilford Brimley for an uncle in Hard Target.
For Daniel-San, it was chores.
For Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill, it was…jeez, it was a lot of things, none of them pleasant.
What were they all seeking? The state and ability of the Master. By apprenticing themselves to cruel bastards (well, Miyagi wasn’t cruel, just tidy) in the hopes that one day they would have “worked hard enough” to earn the master’s effortless state.
I’ll pass on that.
The Path of The Martyr
I got hooked on the UFC a couple of years ago. During the pre-fight hype, I believe the most common refrain is “I’ve never worked this hard before.” Usually, both fighters say it.
But someone loses.
Who is the martyr?
The first one in the gym. The last one to leave. He sweats more. He groans more. He recuperates less. He is shaped like the chair he sits in all day. He writes more emails, sends more texts, blogs 100 times a day, goes to the most meetings, and has the worst diet.
The mindset of the martyr
One day I will have worked so hard and suffered so badly that I will have earned the status of master. Damn the potential wear and tear and loss of quality of life. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll pay any price.
What if it didn’t have to be like that? What if there was another path to mastery? Let’s call mastery “success.”
The mindset of the master
I use as much energy as necessary for my goals and no more. I do the things that provide the greatest results. I am efficient. I subjugate the ego. I am confident, and I accept that this confidence will repulse many and be labeled arrogance by others. The state that I work in is as important as the work that I do. This will bring me ridicule and scorn. This will invite criticism and attacks.
I. Couldn’t. Care. Less. Bad Ass is my name.
We all know the 80/20 rule. Do you really think Mr. Miyagi got to be Mr. Miyagi by just outworking everyone? Nope. The mystique behind the master has more to do with wisdom than with crescent kicks to the throat.
A question
If you could have the same results, would you rather work hard or less hard? Would you rather be a martyr or a master?
My psyche can’t take go-go-go from dawn to dusk, but maybe I’m just a delicate weenie. I work with dedication and commitment, but I don’t work hard. I work on tasks that provide the most benefit. I work on things that I love to work on.
Most people who tell me they enjoy hard work are confusing business with productivity. Pathological production ain’t good, my friend.
The only four questions a master needs to ask
1. What should I stop doing?
2. What should I start doing?
3. What should I keep doing?
4. What could I do with less effort?
Honor yourself
We don’t do enough to honor ourselves. Working ourselves into the ground for negligible gains make a mockery out of the limitless potential inside each human being.
There’s nothing more tragic than seeing a person reduced to an appetite, whether it’s for money, status, another knockout…
If you’re not enjoying yourself most of the time, you are not honoring yourself. You are not making the most of your precious time on the planet. And you’ll never get as far as you could have if you’d worked like a master.
As hard as necessary, but no more. As often as necessary, but no more often. And every action is demonstrably connected to a cherished, concrete goal, unless you’re just hanging out and having fun.
Who am I?
Just a guy with a funny business card. A mild-mannered librarian. With Tourette’s Syndrome. And a lot of clients. And a literary agent who is working very hard to finalize a book deal right now. And I just had lunch with Seth Godin. I do things that work and I quit doing them when they stop working. I don’t feel like I’m playing for stakes; I play for fun. But the two are beginning to overlap and when we’re really lucky, all we have to do is be ourselves.
I don’t work hard and so far, nobody has convinced me that I have to start. Don’t wait your turn until someone proves that you have to. Remember: there’s a difference between dedication and gut-wrenching effort. Output can be huge without hysterical, straining effort.
So let’s talk! Are you a master or a martyr? (And if you want a copy of my volcanic business card, just contact me through my blog)
Josh Hanagarne
Get Stronger, Get Smarter, Live Better…Every Day
Last night at the office I was showing a friend one of the 
