The Kastral Way - Hard-work

Hard-work is a major value of living in America. It runs in our DNA, no matter what our background is, your ancestry, or how you were brought up. Our country was founded on the basis of blood, sweat, tears and the ambition that our forefathers deserved a life they desired.

That same ambition should be found in everyone's life, even today. Of course, you may not have to fight a war, or start a revolution to live the way you want. You would think because we all have the rights and privileges our ancestors fought for, we would take advantage of making the life we want more often.

Though, there are many reasons why or why you are not living the life that you deserve. It could be expectations, other people's opinions, fear, decisions you have made, or you feel you are not worthy of it.

However, each of those issues can be resolved. Through self-exploration, reflection, compromise and sometimes even therapy. And yes, each of those steps takes hard work.

It goes without saying that nothing comes easy. Finding what you want out of life is no different. This type of work feels awkward and uncomfortable because no one really teaches us how to do it. There are many books about it, but there is no foundation that we are taught as kids to help us figure out the exact niche in which we want to live our lives.

This is why you must build a strong foundation in order to build upon it. In the last article, about our value of “fun,” we talked about how you must find the happiness and fun in each part of your life. Big and small. These experiences serve as a great foundation because they end up becoming roots that build into the core values we carry out in our lives.

Of course, it takes hard work to find them, to cultivate and grow ourselves, within those values. Studying them, having them at the forefront of your mind, and making those values show to other people, is not a natural thing to do. It is something that is learned overtime.

It takes hard work to start your journey and take the first steps. Think about it like starting a new habit of going to the gym. You do not naturally start exercising like a pro right away. You must start slowly in order for it to become a habit.

Though it is these first steps and this tremendous effort that helps you keep going. Once you find your roots, you may have to start new habits, or try something you only dreamed of doing. It only gets easier as you practice, and explore this foundation.

The hard work doesn’t stop there. Getting out of your comfort zone is probably the most difficult, but also rewarding effort you could ever put forth. You would never know what kind of a life you would live if you stayed in your comfort zone. While it feels “safe,” in staying within your tight boundaries, I promise there is still safety outside those walls. It may not seem like it now, but I promise there is.

Lets take for example, the root foundation of travel. You searched through your memories and found the most happiness in traveling and exploring new places. It is a common place to find happiness. But just by knowing you “have fun traveling,” does not automatically mean that you are going to have a more fulfilling life by knowing you like to travel. You must venture out.

You have to start by thinking “what makes traveling easier?” For some, that may mean you need to make more money in order to travel, or earn more vacation days, or lose weight to feel better in airplane seats. Chances are, some if not all of those factors may pertain to you.

This means you not only need to work hard to find what makes your life full, but also that you need to work on making travel more attainable for you. This may lead you to quit the job you have and continue your education to make more money, taking fewer sick days or losing weight. All of which are difficult tasks to endure and even more difficult when you are doing all three at once.

Even further, you have to also work hard at keeping yourself dedicated and motivated towards those goals you have. Now that you know your foundation and a path towards what you want, that does not mean your work is over. You need to keep your eye on the ball.

You may find listening to a podcast on the way to work that pertains to travel, maybe you watch TV shows that talk about the cultures you want to explore, or you find a chance to talk to someone who is an experienced traveler, could help you stay focused. Not only will this inspire you, but it will keep showing you the reason in which you are working so hard.

Knowing what you want, how to get it, and working towards it, also allows you to take count of what you do in your daily life. This takes guts, and is not for the weary. But if you are truly serious about your life, goals and your path to getting there, there comes a time when you have to look in the mirror. Are you doing everything in your power to get to your goals? Is that time you spent on Tik Tok truly making you happy? Or is it sucking the time out of the day? Seriously, it takes courage. It takes even more courage to act upon it. By limiting your time doing other things, or choosing not to go out with your friends. It all takes time, and yes, hard work.

Of course, this is just one example. A big one, at that. However, you should know that beyond a shadow of a doubt it takes courage and ambition to look beyond your current life scope. You should be proud of your hard work for that too. While you may not be ready to make all the changes today, that does not mean you are not working hard. Have the gumption to be proud of where you are at, while also working towards doing more.

This is where our priority of hard-work becomes a reality. It takes hard-work to do almost anything. While it is a quality you must keep practicing on a daily basis, it is a part of life that will serve you well in the future. You will be shocked on where this can lead you. It may even bring you to where you always wanted to be.