Love What You Do

Make sure you do everything your supposed to do...Don’t dog it. Stand your ground.

Vincent Asaro

Vincent Asaro, a captain in the Bonanno crime family and a real desperado, is said to have been part of the crew involved in the infamous Lufthansa heist immortalized in the movie Goodfellas. A pro’s pro of sorts, he clearly had an opinion or two about doing your job correctly. In this case, his instructions to his son bring to mind the old observation that the difference between involvement and commitment is the difference between ham and eggs. The chicken was involved but the pig was committed.

A commitment to one’s craft demands a lot. At a minimum it calls for mastering the compulsory figures a job requires, knowing how to do what you’re expected to do and then doing it over and over again. Author Malcolm Gladwell claims it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become a master at something. Practice, he believes, isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing that makes you good.

In the case of the 80 year-old Asaro, what he’s been good at, more or less, is crime. For over 50 years he practiced his craft, performing the compulsory figures of his profession, such as arson, pornography, hijacking, doling out beatings and, in at least one case, strangling a guy with a dog chain, burying the body in a basement in Ozone Park and then arranging to have the body exhumed and reburied.  

To civilians this may sound like a lot of work, but, as fashion designer Christian Louboutin once said, "If you do what you love, it is the best way to relax."

Wiseguy Wisdom is a guide to personal growth based on books, movies and government tapes.