Alright so as you may know Porto is home to Port wine. It's a kind of fortified wine that's typically sweet that is produced in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal (thanks Wiki).
I come from a family that likes their alcohol.
So whenever someone travels, especially to a wine region, they would carry home some bottles for the welcome home party.
Since I went to Spain recently, mine was the "Coming Jamon" party. So funny I know.
So anyway, on my recent solo trip to Europe, one of my last stops was Porto.
I obviously couldn't miss a Port wine tasting while I was there.
At the wine tasting, I was introduced to the various styles of Port wine.
One of the best parts about travelling is meeting new people.
People from all over the world with different backgrounds, cultures, interest, occupations, experiences, views, and opinions than you.
I made friends with my wine tasting group.
And there was a man, let's call him Po, there who really knew his stuff, he was a dedicated Port wine connoisseur.
So before Po left, I asked him to help me pick out which bottle I should get to bring home.
After scanning all the bottles on display, analyzing price and value, Po stopped and pointed to one.
It was a Vintage.
Meaning it's made entirely from grapes of a declared vintage year.
It's by far the most renowned type of Port, because of the quality of the grape harvest on those specific years.
It was definitely more pricey than the other bottles there but since I was literally in Port city, it did not make sense to skimp now.
I agreed, made the payment, and was ecstatic.
I had just had a great day exploring the city, finished a wine tasting tour, and was ready to head home to rest and pack before my next stop.
As I turned to walk out of the winery, Po shouted "Enjoy your Port in 15 years".
I stopped dead in my tracks.
"What??!?!! What do you mean 15 years?"
"Oh, vintages are supposed to be kept at least 15 years first. I thought you knew!"
(Clearly, I was not listening during the tour)
"You are kidding me, right? I thought I could bring this back for everyone to enjoy like now. Now I have to wait 15 years?! I will be 43 years old by then, what the fug"
"Haha well, you can choose to open it now, but it will not taste as good as if you wait 15 years"
Noted with thanks, pal.
THE LESSON
As I think back on this encounter, I realized that hidden within it was a lesson.
One of delayed gratification, and well I guess communication too, whoops.
So often when we see a "prize", whether it be fat loss, achieving our ideal physique, getting stronger in the gym, running a successful business, or in this case just drinking a damn bottle of wine...
We want to skip to the good part.
We want results, we want satisfaction, and we want it now.
But so often the best things in life take time.
Wine lovers hello?
And they require putting in more hours and effort than we'd like to admit.
I'm talking to myself here too, don't worry.
> It takes time to perfect your squat technique.
> It takes time to first learn what a macro is, how to track your food, and then figure out how to track it consistently, before you learn how you can best utilize this tool for your fat loss goals.
> It takes time to make fitness a lifestyle > It takes time to undo habits and patterns that have been a part of you for YEARS
Yeah these things don't happen overnight.
It takes time.
And intentional effort.
And the shortcut never got anyone to their goals quicker.
"Sometimes the long way is the short way"
As someone who has "achieved" my dream physique, one thing I can say for sure is this- There is always going to be something more that I want, the next goal I am chasing, it never ends.
I don't say that to say don't have a goal.
We need goals, we need something to strive towards, we are human.
If we are not working towards something, you can be sure we are regressing.
But realize that that achieving that goal itself won't satisfy you.
Satisfaction is in the pursuit of the goal more than the attainment of the goal.
If we are always just so fixated with outcomes, the minute things don't go our way, we fall off, because we are driven externally not internally.
Motivation and desire can be sparked externally, but it needs to be driven and internally for it to be sustainable.
So rather than just focusing on the outcome.
Think about who you are becoming in the process.
About the character you are developing.
About the tenacity and grit that overflows into every other area of your life- family, relationships, work, business, personal development, spirituality, health and fitness.
About the commitment to follow through on what you said you were going to do.
These are the things that cannot be taken away from you.
And let me just say, when you do reach your goal... when you finally open that bottle of wine after lugging it back in a backpack from halfway around the world, and not to forget... waiting 15 years, you can bet it would be so much sweeter.
- Darsh