The Law of Mirrored Reciprocation
What you put in is what you get out
In high school, I often asked myself, “Out of all the sports I picked, why did I choose this one?” Usually, this would be after a hard practice that involved burning hundreds of calories, pools of sweat, and sore muscles. It was as much of a mental test as physical and tested everything you could imagine. To put it lightly, it sucked but that is what kept me coming back. The voluntary torture I put myself through. The reward was so much sweeter than the suffering.
In the sixth grade, I picked up running cross country and track, and then in the eighth grade, I started to take it seriously and realized I might have some sort of talent and that marked the beginning of what would be my high school sports career in cross country and track. Both were not only great because of the physical and mental tests they put you through but because they are objective sports.
You have times across multiple distances and you are either faster than someone or not. There is no room for upset parents saying their kid deserves more playing time because it comes down to one thing, time.
Is your kid fast enough to be on varsity? Is your kid fast enough to be on the relay team?
There is nowhere to hide. No politics involved, just facts. Not only do the times not lie to you but running doesn’t lie to you. What you put in is what you get out.
No one has ever shown up to a race and won with zero training. No one has ever gotten lucky and just won the Boston Marathon with zero preparation. It is weeks, months, and years of preparation. Performances in running are a direct reflection of the work done leading up to the race.
Often, we would complete mile or half-mile repeats at 5k pace while training for races, all of our cross country races were 5 kilometers. It was an effort to simulate race conditions and race pace while familiarizing our bodies and muscles. The work was put in today to be realized on race day. Inadequate performance was the result of inadequate preparation. The performance on race day was a product of all the work that had been done.
Newton’s third law was at play. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Jog through mile repeats slower than your desired 5k race pace, expect to run your 5k at a slower pace. Stay up the night before the race, and expect your performance to be impacted by “X” amount. Or, on the flip, eat, recover, and rest well before the rest and expect a solid performance. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
The level of success we achieve is directly correlated to the actions we take to reach that point. Just like every level of a downfall is an equal and opposite reaction to any actions that contributed. Johnny Manziel learned that the hard way.
The Fall of Manziel
Johnny Manziel was a revelation. He broke the internet. He seemingly rose to stardom overnight as a freshman at Texas A&M. Everyone began to watch Texas A&M football games, but not to watch A&M. Everyone wanted a piece of Johnny Manziel. He was quite fun to watch.
Over the course of his time at A&M, he would go on to win the Heisman, break numerous records, and get drafted 22nd overall by the Cleveland Browns. However, his success largely ended there.
Johnny Manziel enjoyed the lifestyle that his success afforded him. He liked to have fun, too much fun at times. This directly contributed to his fall from stardom. Manziel had one too many things happen and he was out of the NFL in two years, an unusually short stint for a first-rounder:
During his time off from OTAs in 2014, he was pictured drinking at a party on an inflatable swan. It received backlash since it was his rookie year and others thought he should be trying to learn the playbook.
Johnny Manziel was fined for flipping the bird against Washington in 2014
Dealing with a concussion, Manziel wasn't activated for the 2015 season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Instead of showing up to treatment, Manziel was spotted back in Las Vegas wearing a wig and fake mustache. He was later fined.
Those are just a few examples. What Johnny Manziel put in is what he got out. A career with seemingly more news outside of football than news for his play on the field. He lived a life where football was secondary and not a priority, thus his career ended earlier than most expected.
Life is all Mirrored Reciprocation
Life is all about mirrored reciprocation. What you put in is what you get out. Johnny Manziel is the perfect example. He didn’t prioritize his career and the hype behind him never materialized as a result. He got out what he put in.
Mirrored reciprocation is everywhere. Financially, physically, mentally there is nowhere to hide.
If we are reckless financially by buying GameStop calls, expect a gut-wrenching financial ride that, for most, will end badly. Putting in zero research and buying YOLO calls will most likely bring financial pain. It is hard to expect positive returns when zero research or preparation is done. What you put in is what you get out. The same goes for your health. Eat McDonald’s and Dairy Queen for every meal and expect the body to suffer. What you put in is what you get out.
Peter Kaufman put it quite well,
“So I have an example I use with the class, my elevator example. I’m famous for my elevator story. You’re standing in front of an elevator. The doors open. And inside the elevator is one solitary stranger. You’ve never met this person before in your whole life. You walk into the elevator; you have three choices for how you’re going to behave as you walk into this elevator. Choice number one: you can smile and say good morning. And I say, at least in California, if you do that, 98 percent of the time the person will smile and say good morning back. You can test it. Okay. My guess is you’re going to find that 98 percent of the time, people say good morning. Choice number two: you can walk in and you can scowl and hiss at this stranger in the elevator. And they have no idea why you’re scowling and hissing at them. And I say 98 percent of the time, they may not hiss back at you, but they will scowl back at you. And option number three. This is where the wisdom comes. You can walk into the elevator and you can do nothing. And what do you get 98 percent of the time if you walk into an elevator and you do nothing from that stranger in the elevator? Nothing. It’s mirrored reciprocation, isn’t it? But what did you have to do? You have to go first. And you’re going to get back whatever you put out there.”
If you want anything to happen in life, you must go positive and you must go first. The elevator example is symbolic of life. There are no handouts and the amount of work you put in will be a direct reflection of what you get out. Just like how you treat people in life, will be how they treat you. Just like your finances are a direct reflection of the work you have put in to achieve financial independence.
Parting Words
Life doesn’t have to be complicated. This isn’t rocket science either. It is one of the most fundamental laws of science. Newton’s Third Law. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The work you put in now will eventually be realized later. These are the basic laws of mechanics but unintentionally, they are the basic laws of life. The world is no exception. Just remember, you control your own destiny so what you get to choose is just how much you get out of life. That's the beautiful part of life, isn’t it?
Thanks for reading.
P.S. The regularly programming of the newsletter will switch to Wednesday from Sunday. Any and all feedback is appreciated.
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A great read as always.