By Chuck Marshall
Chapter 2: The Meaning of "Squat"
"What's
in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
William Shakespeare “Romeo and Juliet”
By any other name would smell as sweet."
William Shakespeare “Romeo and Juliet”
What You’ll Learn: The meaning of squat and how important it is
to your destiny as a rich person.
As
it is used here, the word squat is referring to the slang “diddly squat”. Which as defined in dictionary.com as; “a minimum amount
or degree; the least bit (usually used in the negative): This coin collection isn't worth doodly-squat in today's
market. Also, “Diddly” .
Basically, in this case I mean “a
very small amount of effort”. Another
example; “I watched TV all day
long; I didn’t do squat”. The very minimum of activity. So it’s not the absence of action, it’s
simply a modicum of action. Barely
moving. Consider the US Congress on a
typical day or a litigation attorney whose been asked to do a presentation on
scruples. A city commissioner the month after
elections. A convenience store employee
that’s been told to “hurry”. My kids when I ask him to clean up their room,
etc.., etc…. You get the idea.
Point of Interest: Often road construction workers can be seen “not
doing squat”. Their presentation of “not
even squat” is that they lean against a shovel while they watch the “get ‘er
done” suckers struggle with the manhole cover, or sewer water, or whatever. But of course, none of them is going to get
rich so I only bring this up as an example or point of interest.
There are some talented people that
are expert at appearing to do squat when they really don’t do diddly
squat. I have worked with such people as
I’m sure many of you have as well. I
marvel at the skill of these people! The
really good ones act and speak as if they’re doing much more than diddly squat,
but truly they don’t do squat. Usually
the only one that they fool is the only one they need to fool, the boss ! I worked with one such person who was
consulted on a regular basis by the boss who was convinced not only that this
guy did “much more than squat”, but he also convinced him that he knew
“much more than squat” when actually neither was the case. This guy neither did squat ‘nor did he know
squat but (and this is a big but), he had the boss convinced the very opposite. What a talent !
There are some people who are
painfully bad at not doing diddly squat.
These people don’t do anything but everyone around them knows it. Always busily planning, plotting and talking (lots of talking) and
considering, but never actually accomplishing….... squat. This is not to be admired ! Not only are they not getting rich but
they’re also not getting away with their laziness. The only person they fool is themselves. Bad Squat !
Warning ! Squat as an exercise. As it
turns out, in weight lifting or bodybuilding there is an exercise called “the
squat”. Believe me it is as bad as it
sounds when relating it to the self- torture that these musclemen put their
poor bodies through. In this exercise,
the exerciser (or would it be the excercisee?) hoists a great amount of weight
(sometimes over 500 lbs !) on to their shoulders from a rack (not unlike the
rack used in torture chambers back in the middle ages) and then they proceed to
(on purpose, now) lower their bodies down half-way to the floor in to a squat,
and then they stop in mid-air and push their bodies (with the weight still on
their back) and the exerciser is back to standing. Then, they proceed to do this repeatedly, as
if once wasn’t enough ! The consequence
is they “pump” their thighs up as the muscle is understandably upset and throbbing
after the torture, er “exercise”. Anyway,
this is a miserable and heinous exercise that should be avoided at all costs
! It is the antithesis of the GRNDS
philosophy in which much is attained with little to no effort.
Point of Interest: Arnold Schwarzenegger, the famous ex-governor of California and Hollywood
blockbuster actor got his start with bodybuilding and built voluminous thighs
measuring 28” around (as big as many people’s waists) by doing this
exercise. He won the Mr. Olympia contest (the superbowl
of bodyduilding) 5 times ! Arnold went
on to star as “Hercules in New York”, a
God-awful film with really bad dubbing that is a hoot to watch. Laugh as much as you want because then he was
featured in “Pumping Iron”, a
documentary about bodybuilding which brought him recognition and a taste of Fame. His
breakthrough role was as “Conan” in “Conan the Barbarian” -still not a very good
film but it was popular and gained him real fame. If you look at GRNDS principle #1, you know what that means. The
rest is history, and now ex-Governor
Arnold owns half of Southern California.
You could honestly say that
Arnold got rich DOING squat.
Summary for Chapter 2:
1. Squat as a verb is a modicum of
action
2. Squat as a noun is non-existent accomplishment.
3. Squat as an exercise is hell.
4. Diddly squat, doodly squat, and squat by itself are all basically the
same thing.
