AMATEURS
Have tons of ideas, are excited about all of them and see none to fruition.
PROFESSIONALS
Have tons of ideas, pick one and do their best to make it happen.
AMATEURS
Think they can do everything.
PROFESSIONALS
Know it’s almost impossible to achieve one thing.
AMATEURS
Think they know everything.
PROFESSIONALS
Are always learning.
AMATEURS
Start with no preparation.
PROFESSIONALS
Do research, they want to know where the bodies are buried, what the landscape holds. Better to take all these factors into account before you start, because trying to adjust on the fly is so much more difficult, it wastes time and energy and it’s hard to put a fourth wheel on a car you designed with three.
AMATEURS
Don’t finish.
PROFESSIONALS
Are all about execution. Sure, they occasionally abandon a project when they see further effort is fruitless, but the mark of a pro is someone who begins and ends. If you notice someone can’t complete a task, run from them!
AMATEURS
Are worried about image.
PROFESSIONALS
Let their work do the talking.
AMATEURS
Demonstrate insecurity.
PROFESSIONALS
Are extremely confident.
AMATEURS
Can only see what’s in front of them.
PROFESSIONALS
Are all about the big picture.
AMATEURS
Hold those above them in contempt.
PROFESSIONALS
Hold no one in contempt, but they haven’t got much time for losers. If you’re an amateur trying to graduate to professional status and you have the good fortune to encounter a pro, DON’T WASTE THEIR TIME! Give just one or two compliments and ask your question. But most amateurs are so busy being sycophants the professional tunes out, or goes on at such length that the professional excuses himself.
AMATEURS
Have no idea what dues are.
PROFESSIONALS
Have paid their dues, and are still paying them.
AMATEURS
Believe in instant success.
PROFESSIONALS
Know anything worth accomplishing takes a long time, and what might look like overnight success is rarely such.
AMATEURS
Boast.
PROFESSIONALS
Never slap their own backs, and are oftentimes uncomfortable with others slapping their backs.
AMATEURS
Get nervous.
PROFESSIONALS
May be anxious, but they’ve performed the task so many times they let instinct take over, they go on their experience, nervousness never comes into the equation.
AMATEURS
Are looking for their one big break.
PROFESSIONALS
Know that life is about a series of breaks.
AMATEURS
Are afraid to fail.
PROFESSIONALS
Don’t like to fail, but when they do they pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get back in the game.
AMATEURS
Interrupt.
PROFESSIONALS
Listen.
AMATEURS
Demonstrate their bile, they get frustrated or angry and it’s easy to see.
PROFESSIONALS
Are cool, calm and collected. You may read about the crazy owner/operator/entrepreneur, but if they’re truly nuts, they don’t last, their board replaces them, and the truth is most are not that nuts, it just makes a better story in the press to portray them as such.
AMATEURS
Bristle.
PROFESSIONALS
Show empathy.
AMATEURS
Are always telling you how busy they are and how hard they’re working.
PROFESSIONALS
Show up and stay as long as it’s interesting and profitable, bitching gains them nothing, so they don’t.
AMATEURS
Believe what people say.
PROFESSIONALS
Believe what people do.
