The Money is in the Monotony

Most people want to be noticed and recognized for some historical achievement. Several years ago, I headed to a friend’s office to discuss strategy for my consulting company Monarch Environmental. After laying out my ideas and the case for what I was proposing, he pointed out two pictures on the wall. The first black and white framed picture was none other than Babe Ruth. Adjacent to the Bambino was an identical size and shaped framed photo of Ty Cobb. After admiring the photos, he simply asked who would you would rather be? With almost no hesitation I blurted out… Babe Ruth. He quickly retorted; you know they are both in the hall of fame, right?

The reality is that I wanted to build a company and a life that resembled mammoth home runs and other record-setting statistics. Ty Cobb is in the hall of fame for multiple reasons but namely for the number of hits he had. Sure, Cobb hit home runs but that is not what made him great. Besides his fierce attitude towards competition, Ty Cobb is immortalized for doing the basics well over and over and over again.

We love high marks in our lives and we work for moments of achievement. This is a noble pursuit but if we sincerely look at our stories, the real value of our years are measured in the monotony. Doing the little things right, treating others well, paying our bills, listening and so many other seemingly low-impact activities truly make up the measure of a person’s life.

Sound principles and truth work at home and the office. The money you are making is due to you getting up and being faithful in the monotonous task that nobody hands out awards for. Your future success will be contingent on your ability to remain humble so that you can have your picture next to Ty Cobb someday.