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EDGY CONVERSATIONS: Episode 6
Shame on us for not trying harder. For having dreams and goals and ambition, and then giving up. Shame on us for knowing how to be better business people and just not putting in the time.
And this really has nothing to do with effort.
We all put in the effort most of the time. You are probably reading this having slept less in the last few days than any other time on your life. You are busy. You have tasks to do. You are moving around. You are doing something.
But it’s what you’re not doing that might be pretty stupid.
You’re not disciplined.
It takes long amounts of time to do big things. You can’t do it in a day.
It takes much, much longer than that to turn big ideas into amazing opportunities.
And (except for our dreams) we understand that in general.
It makes sense that:
It took more than 156 months to build Big Ben and the London Tower…
It took more than 5,400 days to build the Great Wall of China…
It took more than 10,000 tries to produces a working lightbulb…
That stuff we accept.
Heck, they all happen to be pretty amazing landmarks. Because they exist the world the world is a different, better place. And, what if what you have in your head is the landmark that the world will never see.
What then?
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Stupid is as stupid does”. It means that “being stupid” is demonstrated by your actions.
Not by what family you come from. Not by stereotypes. Not by race or gender or how much education you have.
You are stupid when you do stupid things.
So, what about all the stuff you should be doing?
Maybe stupid needs a new definition.
Maybe it’s stupid.
…to not have the discipline to follow-up.
…to not have the discipline to make daily progress.
…to not have the discipline to ask for help.
…to not have the discipline to set goals and create tasks.
…to not have the discipline to hold yourself accountable.
This is a people problem.
This is a problem that we all struggle with.
But that’s not an excuse for being stupid.
Here’s a few ways to avoid that:
1. Belligerently schedule time each day to work on micro-tasks.
2. Violently remove entertainment that gets in the way.
3. Energetically push yourself to do more each day than you have scheduled.
4. Consistently take time to step back and refocus on getting to where you want to be.
Life is too short to be stupid. Maybe there’s another way?
