Work is easy. The RIGHT work is hard.
Work is easy. The RIGHT work is hard.
One of the frivolous ways we sometimes greet each other is “Hey there. Keepin’ busy?” It’s inane, isn’t it? So frickin’ shallow and patronizing. And I’m pretty sure it’s one of those insidious holdovers from the Protestant Work Ethic, which is no longer serving us.
I could go on and on about that. All that is it has gifted and burdened us with. Truly.
Briefly, it’s Calvinist. The Pilgrims were Calvinists. Calvinists believe we are predestined from the beginning by an absolutely sovereign God to be saved or damned and there is absolutely no way we can change that by any act of our own will. But, if you’re saved you will LIKELY spend your days performing productive work, so you might as well.
That’s where the Protestant Work Ethic comes from. Absolutely serious. America was founded by Calvinists, and so that’s our ethic.
I’m not a Calvinist. Are you? Maybe you are. But it’s still worth reframing.
When I meet and first talk to discouraged leaders who are struggling to scale their visions and persuade the right people to do the right things, they are typically VERY busy. Like, doing stuff ALL the time. Sometimes practically running themselves RAGGED. It’s actually REALLY common. Can you relate?
But, here’s the secret truth. Ready?
👉 Busyness does NOT create success 👈
Never has, never will.
I understand how people get that misconception though.
It’s because time is precious, scarce, and valuable to us limited humans and, for that reason, successful people TEND to be busy.
You know that old logical saying “All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares?”
We can craft a similar generalization here.
“All successful people are busy, but not all busy people are successful.”
So, which are you?
The real question is:
👉 Are you busy in the RIGHT ways? 👈
As I like to say, Elon Musk has the same number of hours that you do. He is just RUTHLESS in prioritizing his actions.
So, what is the RIGHT work?
It involves looking at things you’d rather avoid, and begins with reducing busyness so you can create a clear, still, visionary space.
The RIGHT work starts with questions like these and demands really HONEST answers:
1️⃣ Why am I here?
2️⃣ What do I want?
3️⃣ Is that what I REALLY want?
4️⃣ Is what I want valuable to other people?
5️⃣ How do I persuade other people of that value so they will support me?
6️⃣ How do I have to transform myself to make this happen?
7️⃣ What are the highest impact activities to make this happen?
8️⃣ What tasks, truths, and personal growth will I likely avoid as I pursue this?
As I said, the right work is HARD and, in my experience, these questions are not exactly hallowed by our societal institutions. Again, we have inherited obsolete baggage like the Protestant Work Ethic.
But I see through that. And I see YOU. I will force you to be honest AND optimistic through this process, which is why I am able to enact the transformations that I do. Ready to do the hard work? I’ll talk to you soon
👇 Book a FREE discovery call with me 👇
https://calendly.com/aaronjmarx/30min