Getting After It
THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO GET AFTER IT. SO HOW DO YOU GET IT? AND WHAT SHOULD YOU BE AFTER? AND WHAT IS IT? PICHIERRI SHARES HOW GETTING AFTER IT REVOLUTIONIZED HIS LIFE AT AN INFLECTION POINT OF CHANGE
Getting after it. It’s the “Just Do It” of the disciplined man; the slogan of the squared away; the mantra of those who cross their t’s, dot their i’s, and sweep their bedrooms twice a day. Getting after it is a powerful phrase; one that can only be earned and not given; one that implies prestige, restraint, and honor. Getting after it is an ideal that can never truly be achieved. You can get after it everyday, but you will never get “it.” But getting “it” isn’t the point—getting after it is. Get it?
Getting after it can be confusing. The phrase is often misused by overweight powerlifters with high cholesterol who lift for three hours a day and then spend the rest of their life on Reddit.
“Get after it,” they tell you, as they shovel in gluttonous amounts of fatty foods that supposedly fuel their workouts. The couch they sit on is tattered to shreds. Their home is in disarray. Their car needs an oil change and their bank account is empty. But: They benched 315 for three reps today, so they’re getting after it, right?
Weekend warriors have also adopted the phrase, using the militaristic qualities it implies to disguise their binge-drinking disorders and self-destructive habits.
“We getting after it tonight?” they ask their roommate with an equally-weak sense of purpose.
“Roger that,” replies the roommate. “Let’s get after it,” he says, before blacking out in the line for the club and starting a fight with the bouncer.
Is this sort of reckless behavior fun? Yeah, actually, it is. I can attest to that. But is this what it means to get after it? Absolutely not.
Getting after it has nothing to do with physical training. You could have the sickest six-pack in the world, but if you’re $25,000 in debt with no job, you’re not getting after it. Getting after it isn’t about proving to your friends how crazy you are, either. Getting after it has nothing to do with ego, or escapism, or the voluntary weakening of one’s character. Quite the contrary, in fact.
Getting after it, at its core, is a form of self improvement. There is no universal way to get after it; it’s an inherently personal experience. One person’s way of getting after it might be detrimental to another person’s way of getting after it, and vice versa. If you’re fifty pounds underweight, doing an hour of cardio a day isn’t getting after it—but if you’re fifty pounds overweight, it is. The specifics of what it means to get after it vary for everybody, but the underlying process of how to get after it remains the same.
How to Get After It
The first step of getting after it is to identify what “it” is. Ask yourself: “What is it that I want?” Financial freedom? A new career? To pursue a hobby? A passion? A relationship? Whatever it is, identify it clearly. Write it out so you can see it with your own eyes. Leave no room for ambiguity. Most importantly, don’t lie to yourself. Don’t tell yourself that you want something you don’t. Don’t tell yourself that you don’t know what you want, either. Deep down you do. You know exactly what it is you want. It’s that idea that’s been in the back of your head for years now. It’s that dream you swept beneath the carpet because you didn’t want people to stomp all over it. Take it out. Dust it off. Don’t worry. Nobody’s watching. If you can’t determine something specific, at least determine something in general. It’s best to aim at the bullseye, but aiming at the board is better than aiming at the wall, and aiming at the wall is still infinitely better than closing your eyes, spinning around, and tossing the dart blindly into whatever direction you happen to be facing. Set your sights. Take aim. Identify what it is you want and point yourself in that direction.
The second step of getting after it is to determine how you will get after it. You need to formulate a realistic course of action that you can begin working on today. Not next week. Not tomorrow. Today. What can you do today that will bring you even one millimeter closer to your goals? Identify what that thing is and write it down. Then, most importantly, do that thing. It won’t matter how good your plan is if you never execute it, and it’s better to execute a good plan today than a perfect plan tomorrow.
It’s important to accept that progress will be slow at first. But a miniscule amount of progress is infinitely better than no progress at all. It could take a hoarder months to clean out their entire home, but it only takes a second to pick a single piece of trash off the floor and throw it away. That’s better than nothing. That’s improvement. Start with the small things and work your way up. Watch the results compound overtime. You’ll be amazed how much you can achieve if you’re consistent and patient with yourself.
It’s also important to note that it will take awhile for people to notice any progress you’ve made. The first steps in the right direction are often so small that outward observers won’t be able to notice them. Don’t expect praises or pats on the back from other people. Just put your head down and keep working. What you’re doing is for your own benefit. A convenient side effect is that by improving your own life, you’ll also improve the lives of those around you. Consider this your reward.
The third and final step of getting after it is simply to get after it. You know what “it” is (sort of), and you have a rough idea of how to get there (or at least you think you do). The path is laid out in front of you. All you have to do now is to follow the yellow brick road. That, of course, is much easier said than done. There will be evil monkeys, hydrophobic witches, and opium fields barring your way. You will stumble, fall, get lost. It will be difficult, and it will hurt. But that’s what makes it worth it. That’s what getting after it is all about. It’s about chucking the middle finger to mediocrity and striving for something greater. It’s about going into the woods alone and returning with food for the whole tribe. It’s suffering now so that you can thrive tomorrow. It’s hiding in the jungle for 48 hours and waiting for the enemy to show. It’s cleaning that spot in the fridge that only you know is there. So stop being weak. Hit the gym. Eat some steak. Sweep your bedroom. File your taxes. Get after it.
The idea of “getting after it” is very important to me. It’s a concept that I hold near and dear to my heart. I first came across the phrase in David Goggins’ autobiography Can’t Hurt Me. Goggins talks about his life experiences in the book, explaining in vivid detail how he transformed himself from an illiterate cockroach exterminator to a decorated Navy Seal. Reading about his journey got me fired up. It made me look inwards. I remember gazing into the bathroom mirror and realizing that I wasn’t satisfied with what I saw. I forced myself to stare the truth in the face—my face. I wasn’t trying my hardest, I wasn’t challenging myself, and I wasn’t growing as a person. I realized that life was starting to get away from me. Most importantly, I realized that I needed to start catching up.
I had fallen into a rut after graduating from college. All of my friends went off to start new careers while I kept working the same crappy job, folding calzones for $9 an hour. My car needed $500 worth of repairs and I only had $50 in my bank account. The girl that I was dating was gross. I was grosser. I subletted an apartment off of Facebook Marketplace so that I could stay in the same college town. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years—because it hadn’t been. I remember one of my hometown friends came to visit for the weekend. He looked down at the coffee table and took notice of a small pile of fingernails that had accumulated there. The look on his face said it all: Do you really live like this?
Truth be told I couldn’t believe it either. My downward spiral had been so gradual that I hadn’t noticed how much I had let myself go. I had spent months hiding from my problems, terrified to take action and praying that they would just go away. But ignoring your problems won’t solve them. It just gives them time to grow until, eventually, they engulf you. Over time they become so enormous that you can’t even see them anymore. It’s like trying to decipher the message on a chalkboard when your face is right up against it—you’re too close to the problem to read the writing on the wall. I couldn’t see how much of a rut I was in, but my friend could. And, like a good friend, he grabbed me by the neck and shook me awake.
Instead of going out and getting drunk (like good college students), we stayed in and cleaned my apartment. He helped me sweep under the couches, wipe down all of the surfaces, and organize the entire place. Then he moved onto my car, throwing out an embarrassing amount of empty water bottles and half-dranken diet sodas. He even brought me to the grocery store and purchased an entire spread of healthy food for us to eat throughout the week. I was so broke at the time that I had been surviving solely off of pizzas, calzones, and subs that I stole from work. Buying me food was the kindest thing anybody had done for me in a long time. It had been months since I had eaten a healthy meal. He made me feel like I mattered for the first time in a while. I’ll never forget that feeling.
What my friend Teddy did for me that weekend was amazing. Instead of casting judgment or doing me the disservice of pretending my lifestyle was acceptable, he intervened and helped me get back on my feet. Although he never used the phrase (and although he despises David Goggins, ironically), he showed me what it meant to get after it. Cleaning your apartment is getting after it. Eating healthy is getting after it. Developing self-respect, confidence, and a greater sense of purpose is getting after it. I’m sure most people will read the first few lines of this column and think that it’s just another piece of generic motivation. Maybe they’re right—maybe I have no idea what the hell I’m talking about. Maybe I’m the last person you should be taking advice from. But if even one person takes something away from this column, I’ll be happy. So if you’ve read this far and you feel like you’re not reaching your full potential, that’s okay. We’ve all been there. Just know that it’s never too late to start getting after it. You matter, and you can change for the better. I know you can.
1luv,
Nick Pro