That's a big response arguing with my personality.Jersey Tom wrote: ↑05 Nov 2017, 16:47Well, I can only speak to my own first hand experience. But having been in and around pro racing for a decade now, I know exactly zero people who would say, "Oh yeah I have no need to unplug, disconnect from work and get away from it for a while." That's doing this stuff for real, going out and winning major races and championships. Zero people. Likewise those with zero financial motivation - having money to support a family, provide as best as possible, save and retire, are real constraints and considerations when switching from being a fan or having side hobby to making a career out of something.
What would be the undeniable best performance of all time? What's the objective? Win all races from pole on the way to a championship? Make the '98 Yankees look like a joke as far as how dominant your performance has been? Be better at your specific skill or domain than anyone before or yet to come?
It may not be achievable, but it's an objective we can strive for. However there are other teams, organizations, and individuals out there that may have a head start or advantage, or they may have more people, or get lucky and stumble on something, or what have you. So you try to find as many things as you can do to either catch up to them, or exceed and stay ahead of them by as large a margin as possible. The more you work the more you'll achieve - effort equals results. The thing is there's no such thing as getting all the work done. You can burn all your nights and weekends, work 60-80 hours a week every week all season striving for perfection, and still not complete every little thing you'd like to be able to do. But you can try it.
How will that go? It's not sustainable - something will give. So what, or how much, are you willing to sacrifice if you become obsessive about performance and being the absolute best?
Willing to sacrifice your relationship with your spouse? Arguments, infidelity, divorce - all very real things in the racing industry, it strains relationships when you're really going to top performance. How about ignoring friends and family, becoming reclusive as every hour of the day becomes work-oriented?
Willing to sacrifice your personal health? Sleeping less? Getting up that hour early to catch up on email and analysis, get a head start on a draft for a proposal, instead of working out and being physically active? Does having a drink after work to unwind and slow your brain down turn into two drinks? Three? Four? More?
These are all very real downsides and the ugly bit about being sucked into this stuff.
In a nutshell, if you're at a point where "R&R is just free time to think more about work" then you're not working hard enough, or certainly not as hard as other people you're competing against. And if you're not, then you'll fall short of being the best. It's unavoidable - at some point you've got to be able to unplug and get away from this stuff so you can maintain your sanity, personal health, relationships, etc.
I don't get up and think about the money I'm going to make at work today, I think about how I'm going to solve problems that dozens have failed to solve before me. I haven't needed a vacation in 18 years (I prefer the 4 week paycheck at the end of the year). My marriage and family is strong (my wife has the same motivations in her career).
I want to be the best at whatever I do. I repair failing companies, 80 hours a week, across every industry that exists in the US.
I haven't had one fail yet, probably because of my dedication to being the best.
If it was just about money, I could have retired 10 years ago.