Joshua Medcalf CHOP WOOD CARRY WATER How to Fall In Love With the Process of Becoming Great
“The only thing that is truly significant about today, or any other day, is who you become in the process” (p. 6). Becoming, putting one foot in front of the other with purpose and stride takes time and a lot of practice. Joshua Medcalf’s book, Chop Wood Carry Water, reminds the reader, “greatness isn’t for the chosen few. Greatness is for the few who choose” (p. 10).
Medcalf’s shares the process of becoming great through one young man’s long struggle to becoming a highly skilled and wise samurai warrior. “People who get average results persist until things get uncomfortable, then they quit. People who get good results persist until things get painful, then they quit. People who get world-class results have trained themselves to become comfortable when it’s painful and uncomfortable” (p. 28).
The young man’s sensei illuminates lesson by lesson that to be truly great takes more than energy; it requires you to “fuel your heart with six things….If you owned a Lamborghini, would you ever put water into the gas tank?... If you put the wrong fuel into your gas tank, it is very easy to get discouraged and break down as you go through the journey of life” (p. 35). What you do, who you do it with, and how you go about it have the potential to be your fuel towards being great or not.
Although to be truly great, Medcalf reminds us we must focus and choose. “Chopping wood and carrying water is the price of admission for the opportunity to reach sustained excellence…For many years it may feel as if nothing is happening, but you must trust the process and continue to chop wood and carry water, day in day out, regardless of what is happening around you” (p. 65).
Medcalf recommends being mindful of the road signs that provide the driver with instructions and warnings. “Remember that the next time you are struggling and you need a perspective shift! It’s not just what you do, but it is also the heart posture you have while doing it” (p. 77). “But we weren't created to sit still and learn the ‘right’ answer. We were created to explore, create, to love and to learn (p. 102). It’s not meant to be easy and the obstacles are real, but what you choose to do towards your destinations has the potential to make the challenge worth it.
Our path to become great requires us to chop a lot of wood and carry a lot of water consistently. Adhering to Medcalf’s road signs and fuel recommendations has the potential to be a guide towards our choices to become our best version of being great!
