What really determines successful achievement of any goal?
Persistence. Consistency. Grit.
This is a reminder to never give up and always follow through, no matter how challenging the process becomes.
Grit
Optimizing for Value
I was talking to a colleague this morning about consulting and money, and our conversation reminded me of the mindset shifts I’ve had throughout my career.
I run a small consulting company that focuses on business optimization. I also run a blog that focuses on human optimization. I’m only mentioning that because the word optimization is going to come up a lot here, and I want to get the count up a bit. That’s three so far.
I occasionally mentor people who are just branching out in to some kind of solo consulting or mini-agency venture. Whenever I talk to someone who is taking the entrepreneurial plunge is, I always ask the same question.
“What are you optimizing for?”
It’s a question I didn’t ask myself until I was about 7 years into running my company. (I am not smart or a fast learner.)
When I started out, I was optimizing for freedom and money. I liked doing cool shit for fun, and I needed money to do that, so I went into business. I also liked having the freedom to work intensely but flexibly. And it worked out pretty well. My work-life balance was terrible; but I had consistent monthly revenue growth for about 7 years straight. I was building a network and a reputation that would take care of me for the foreseeable future.
I was proud. I was also getting tired of pushing so hard. By optimizing for money, I was by definition paying little attention to other aspects of the business and my life. My health (mental and physical) took a toll. Push push push. Go go go. Hustle 24/7.
I hit a breaking point. I had to make some kind of change. That led to me starting the Monthly Experiments Project.
Essentially, I had recognized that the path I had been on, while rewarding in many ways, was not the correct path for me to move forward. I also didn’t know what the correct path would be, so I committed to changing one small thing every month and documenting the results. I was flying blind.
My first experiment was to shift from working 12-16 hour days, to committing to stop work at 5pm every day for the month of January 2012. No wiggle room. No excuses. This was science, and I was committed to isolating variables and running a strict experiment.
Some weird things happened that month. My revenue fell by about 40%. Probably because I was working 40% less. My happiness increased by about 4 million percent. Approximately. I was perfectly happy with that tradeoff.
I decided to continue with my new self-imposed limit of stopping work at 5:00. I learned the value of constraints as I adapted to my new limit. I changed the way I ran my businesses. I was forced to do it differently. I didn’t even really notice that I was making other changes to adapt. They just sort of happened.
At the end of the quarter, I was doing my accounting. I knew my revenue had fallen significantly in the first month and I figured the trend had continued. Again, I was fine with that. But when I finished running my numbers, I was surprised to see that revenue had come back up after the first month. In fact, it had increased by 93%. Somehow, I was working much less and making about twice as much money. I honestly thought I’d made an accounting mistake at first. I dug into the numbers and the daily log I keep about the business.
How did I double my revenue in just a few months?
I started making different decisions. Hiring more help. Turning down some projects I might have accepted if I was still hustling. I also slightly changed the nature of the work, at least the focus and how I sold what we did.
I had changed what I was optimizing for. Instead of being focused on money and freedom (let’s be real, that’s a pretty selfish focus), I was focusing on how I could be the most valuable.
Of course, it wasn’t the first time I’d had this thought. I had always focused on being valuable, but it had never been the primary focus before. Being helpful and valuable was now the most important thing we focused on.
Doing the math, it’s not hard to figure out why that resulted in such a large growth in revenue.
More value provided = more value received.
I told this story to my colleague this morning. We talked about how he could provide more value and be more helpful to his clients. He was excited to drop a service he’d been offering for a while and focus on leveraging the most high-value work he does for his clients.
I have no doubt that he will grow significantly because of it.
Trophy Room of Failures
I have an old red climbing backpack with the names of several mountains written on it in permanent marker. They’re the names of mountains I climbed. Conquests.
I remember writing them on there after each climb, feeling proud of my new ink trophy.
I don’t know who those trophies were for. Were they for me? I already knew which mountains I’d climbed without writing it down. Were they for my climbing partners? Did I want to seem cool and experienced and impressive? Were they for strangers?
I don’t write the mountains I’ve climbed anymore. I haven’t for a long time. I don’t really celebrate my “conquests” or talk about them.
The rewards I get from the mountains I climb can’t be seen or shared. The rewards are the memories I have, the scenery, the lessons I occasionally and stubbornly learn, the scars and the pride I walk away with. They show up as a little smile here or there, usually just for me, and nowhere else.
I did almost write something on that pack recently. A year ago, I tried to climb a mountain I’d wanted to climb for years. I didn’t make it to the top. I actually failed at it more than once.
I learned something each time I failed. Those failures got me thinking. I don’t always learn from my successes, but I always learn from failure. I decided that if I wrote anything on my pack, it would be the mountains that beat me, the times I quit, the lessons I failed to learn.
I think about that mountain every single day. Today, I went for a hard training run, so that if I decide to write the names of my failures, I can someday cross them off.
Accountability Check – February 2017
I wanted to write a quick update as a sort of accountability check on myself.
How are things going this month?
On a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being terrible and 10 being amazing… I’d say about a 4.
Good stuff:
I’ve been doing a lot of fun things. Had a couple of nice road-trip getaways and many new adventures.
I’ve started reading Harry Potter and it’s pretty fucking awesome. I don’t know how I’ve never read these books before, but there you go. I’m counting that as a good thing.
The consulting business is going along fine but I haven’t been spending much time growing it as I should.
The media company is going better. This is where my focus has been lately. Rebuilding broken websites and other fun things. It’s really frustrating and boring at times, but I know it will be worth it. It’s hard to focus on things that won’t yield immediate results.
Figured out a health issue that may explain some things I’ve struggled with. Oddly, it’s something I was able to figure out because of a DNA test I’d done years ago. Currently experimenting with a protocol to mitigate those issues.
Oh, and I just meditated for the first time in I-don’t-even-know-how-long. Sweet.
Oh, and I’ve been working out a little bit more consistently, seeing improvements in my shoulder rehab. Could be doing more. But also could be doing less.
Bad stuff:
Holy lack of sleep. I’ve been exhausted lately and it’s had a big impact on my energy levels, my health, my motivation and my mood. I’m riding the struggle bus pretty hard and I know the only way to get back to normal is to cut caffeine and extracurriculars and get some damn sleep.
So much frustration. Mostly with technology. The consulting company site is down right now, crippled by some kind of database problem. I’ve got someone trying to repair it or restore it from a backup, but this experience has made me question whether I need it or want it at all. I’m killing off some old brands this year, and introducing some new ones… If I can’t recover it easily, I’m going to kill it and move on.
Also been dealing with a few hacked sites. Not fun.
Donald Trump is still president for some reason, so, that’s not great.
Focus is, what? I’ve been having some real challenges focusing on pushing projects over the finish line. I’ve got a bunch of things that are almost ready to ship, 95% done, but that last 5% is the hardest for me. At least, this time. So, that’s frustrating.
I was going to do a diet experiment this month, but I’ve been completely undisciplined about it. Not super important, but it’s always disappointing to set a goal and blow it.
Also have some medium sized life decisions I need to make soon. So much to do, so little time.
I really just wrote this because I my writing muscles have atrophied pretty seriously and I wanted to shake off some of the rust.
Ok, let’s call it a day and get back to other things.
Motivation & Momentum Come From Action
I’ve had “writer’s block” for a week or so. Or five.
Tonight I’ve written for an hour so far. Probably two by the time I finish.
Edit: Make that 2 and a half so far.
What changed? I started. Seriously, it’s that simple.
Why the fuck do I keep having to learn this lesson?
The War of Art is all about this.
About “Resistance” … the thing that keeps you from starting.
Procrastination. “Maybe I should just do X instead…”
Distraction. No! Fuck, just focus. Sit down and start. It’s that simple.
Waiting for inspiration. NO NO NO NO NO! That’s not how it works. You get inspired when you start. Or, for me, sometimes when I go for a long walk outside somewhere beautiful. But it never happens when I’m reading the news or checking Twitter.
Motivation and Momentum come from taking action.
Years ago, I was training for a big climb, and I had to go for these long runs a few times a week. I hated it. I would put it off, feel like shit about how I was putting it off, and then, eventually, maybe, I’d remember the trick.
I’d stop thinking about the run, stop thinking about all those miles and how hard they would be. I’d just focus on the one goal I knew would make all the difference: put on the shoes, open the door, walk through it, close it.
Done.
If I could get that far, there was no stopping. I never once turned back around and went inside without going on my run. Literally every single time, the trick worked. And I’d feel proud and happy that I did the hard thing.
This works with other things too. With writing. I haven’t really written much lately. I’ve been feeling bad about it. Tonight though, I logged into this website, clicked the New Post button, and started typing. This is the third piece I’ve finished today.
I’ve written almost the same exact thing before. Why am I such a slow learner? It’s not complicated.
Just start. Take action as quickly as possible. It may not be pretty, but it’ll get the job done.
Fighting Against Change & Deciding to Lose
I run a project dedicated to helping people grow and make changes in their life.
This is especially funny because I may be worse at growth and change than anyone I’ve ever known.
I’m stubborn. I fight against change. I fight against reason, and against the odds. I make decisions that result in my back being against the wall, forced to make the change I should never have fought against in the first place.
I’m a slow learner.
I joke about this with friends, but it’s true. Some (delusional) part of me still believes I that if I can summon enough will, I don’t have to play by the rules and patterns that govern my life.
So, I fight.
Fighting against change feels easier than actually making change happen, so I fight.
This often turns out badly.
I think I struggle with change because it’s painful. Change brings up fear. Am I going to regret this? Can I make this work? What if this is the wrong path? What if I make things worse? Fear.
Discomfort and vulnerability are there too, keeping good company with fear. I’m not good at any of those things. Not as good as I am at fighting.
So, I fight, and things stay the same. This rarely makes my life better.
A few times, I have found myself at a crossroads, confronted with a choice. To step into the unknown and embrace uncertainty and change and growth, or to cling to the past and what I know and fight for my comfort zone.
It’s a cliche to say that growth only happens outside of your comfort zone. It’s also true.
I remember two of these moments. Exactly where I was sitting, what I was thinking and feeling. I was terrified. I felt sick. But I knew I couldn’t keep fighting against change.
The last time this happened was a few months ago. Someone asked me a question, a pretty serious question, and my instinct was to blow it off. To make a joke or deflect it. To answer the question would be taking a risk.
I remember thinking in that moment, “Stop. Just stop. Take a breath. This moment is critical. This moment isn’t about the question. It isn’t about the answer. This moment, this fear and discomfort and this urge to fight… this is about something more.”
I sat there and thought about what to do. I realized I was at a crossroads. I wasn’t just deciding what to say. I was deciding what kind of person I was. I was deciding who I was at my core. Was I someone who runs from discomfort and fear and the ugly truth, or was I someone who took risks in the face of uncertainty.
That one moment, it wasn’t the most important moment of my life. But it was probably the most important moment of my year.
I chose the harder thing. I chose to strip off my armor, drop my sword and stop fighting. It felt terrible and vulnerable, like giving up. It was the right decision. It led to an important change for me. In that one moment, I decided something different about who I am. I hated doing it, but immediately knew I would not regret it.
It took 20 seconds of courage to make that harder choice. To stop fighting against the thing I needed to do. And my life has been different because of it. Because I arrived at a crossroad and did something new.
The ripple effect of that moment has been a lot bigger than I could have imagined. It’s brought me to more crossroads, more opportunities to choose the hard thing. And for the first time in a long time, I’m not fighting against uncertainty. I still don’t love it, but I’m not letting my fear stop me anymore.
The fight against change and growth is a fight you should lose on purpose.
I know that. I don’t live up to it every day. I’m stubborn and slow to learn. Seriously, you can’t imagine how slow I learn. But I know it’s true. I know that I should throw that fight as fast as possible.
And so should you.
“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered you will never grow.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
I love this quote.
It’s true in every aspect of life. Fitness, business, relationships. You must always push your limits if you want to grow.
“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered you will never grow.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Public Accountability?
I keep a daily log of my workouts and diet in Evernote.
The diet portion isn’t very specific, I basically just make a note of whether I eat clean or not. My diet is ok right now, so I’m not worried about tracking it too closely.
My fitness is something I am focused on improving. So, I keep track of what workouts I do each day. Everything down to weights and reps and sets.
Physical therapy is so fucking boring. I hate it. But I’ve been consistent about doing it every day. I keep track with coach.me.
What’s the point of all this?
I have all kinds of tracking systems, in different apps, for different areas of my life.
Maybe it’s weird for me to track any of this stuff. But I find that if I don’t keep track, I’m more likely to fall off and be undisciplined.
I’ve noticed when I do a public experiment over at the Monthly Experiments Project, I’m much more likely to be disciplined every day. I think the idea of being publicly accountable to my readers motivates me to be even more disciplined.
I was thinking about posting my daily logs here instead of just in Evernote. Although that seems like a chore that is more trouble than it’s worth.
Ok, time to go work out.
It Only Takes 1%
The worst traps are the ones you don’t even see. You stumble into them blindly and fall, to your own detriment.
There are mental traps, too. Beliefs that harm you and hold you back because you can’t see another way. You can’t see the right way.
“Toil Upward?”
“Fine. Sign me up. I’m willing to work. Show me how.”
The name of this blog was inspired by a poem I found after failing to climb a (literal) mountain.
“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Hello world!
Hello world!
I created this blog as a part of the Start a Blog Challenge.
Stay tuned to learn more about this blog. I will be posting an update very soon.