Skip to main content

Mining for Gold



According to a Barrick Gold publication in which they looked at production values for several different mines, anywhere from 2 to 90 tons of rock was excavated for every ounce of gold produced. Some mines had better production efficiency than others, but if we just take an average there, we are looking at over 45 tons of rock dug out for a single ounce of the shiny stuff. That means out of everything harvested, less than one ten-thousandths of a percent was actually what they were targeting. Over 99.9999% of what they mined was worthless. Yet, all over the world, billions of dollars are spent each year in the mining and exploration of gold. Why? Because the payoff is worth it and sometimes you have to dig through a lot of junk to find the gold.

These companies understand the numbers and realize the only way to find more gold is to dig through more useless rock. The more gravel, dirt and stone they excavate, the closer they are to the next ounce of precious metal. As individuals though, we miss this. We want to hit gold every time. If we have a few shovels full of dirt and rocks and no treasure, we want to quit and dig somewhere else. Or we complain our shovel is too small. Or give up all together.

A miner accepts the fact huge amounts of rubble come with every tiny bit of gold. We need to take this lesson and apply it to life. We must be okay with digging through tons of failure for every ounce of success because that precious nugget far outweighs what we dug through to get it. We must realize the only way to come up with a great idea is to wade through mounds of bad ones. This picture doesn’t work as well anymore with the implementation of computers, but remember seeing renditions of a writer or poet sitting at a desk with a mountain of crumpled up papers in the corner and a small manuscript in her hand? All those discarded attempts were the rocks and rubble she had to excavate to produce the gold she now holds.

Every advancement, new concept or breakthrough lies within layers of dirt and dross. Most attempts will not strike gold, but you must believe every shovel full of rocks brings you just a little bit closer to success. The more dirt you move, the more gold you’ll find. So just keep digging.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on
Post a Comment
Read more

Commitment

  You know what the problem is with a lot of goals and grand plans? They are mostly fueled by emotion rather than commitment. It is why most New Year’s Resolutions are long forgotten by now and many aspirations quietly fizzle out over time. True commitment is sticking with the effort even – if and especially when – the emotion has diminished or disappeared. Emotion can be a great initiator of action, like kindling on a fire, but it lacks staying power. Commitment is the logs that keep the fire burning long after the kindling is consumed. The butterflies after falling in love, the best intentions of waking up at 4:30am every day to work out after you join a new gym, the excitement of your first day on campus, even the sleep-deprivation induced euphoria of a new baby: all kindling. But it is commitment that keeps you working hard on the marriage twenty-three years after “I do.” It is what causes you to keep going when you do not want to make one more sales call, do one more presentat
Post a Comment
Read more

Glutton for Punishment

I’ve learned over the years that being comfortable can be a dangerous thing. I try to find paths to discomfort to push me out of my realm of “safety.” However, I have noticed my ability to develop comfort zones amidst discomfort. I’ve found ways to be comfortable in uncomfortable circumstances. I wonder, do I need to be stretched beyond those areas as well? One of the areas in which I have adapted to the discomfort is the gym. I don’t go to the gym to exercise, to get stronger or even to be healthier. It’s grown beyond that. Now, I go to the gym to clear my head by testing my will and resolve. I do it to see how hard I can push my limits and I strive to outwork everyone else there. I may not be the strongest, the fastest or the fittest. I may not lift the most weight or even do the most reps – I can’t control any of those variables – but I can control my effort. So one of my goals for each workout is to unleash more effort than anyone else at the gym. But along with this
Post a Comment
Read more