Last week, I had the opportunity to meet up for a drink with Gary Vaynerchuk, the entrepreneur, creator, and investor perhaps best known as Gary V.

We were chatting about what enables this longevity, when he casually dropped a single, incredibly powerful line: "You've gotta love the dirt."

The dirt is where you start. It's where you're built. It's where you find your initial success. We all start in the dirt on the journey to success, but few are willing to remain there. Few fall in love with the dirt. The day you leave the dirt is the day the clock starts ticking down on your run.