Working hard is not the solution to all.
Yes, hard work is a virtue but hustling more in the wrong direction would just keep us MORE stuck.
I am intrigued by the story of the fly in the book “you2” (You squared) where a fly keeps banging on the glass window that is closed to try to escape and find freedom. It keeps trying harder and harder until its last breath. While all this time, if it were just to turn 180 degrees around, in a few seconds it would have reached an open door where it can fly right through without any struggle and achieve freedom.
Most of the time, we think if we just keep pushing harder things would happen.
If we just go out a few more times, we could meet the one.
If we just post a few more posts on social media, we could get the next client.
If we just try harder to get the next client, we could be hit $x.
If we hustle, we can succeed.
That’s the conventional thinking that we are installed with.
Right when we were small, we were told to study hard, work hard, as if trying harder would make all the difference.
The key is not hard work, but where we are working hard towards.
The direction of where we are heading is the determining factor of whether we can achieve that breakthrough to get what we want or keep trying harder banging our head at a closed window.
Sheer determination is not the answer.
It does not make sense to try harder at something that is not working in the hope that one day it will work.
If you are stuck right now, instead of trying harder, instead of working more hours, what you need is to develop the habit of charting your direction. Think more of where you are going, think about another approach, even if that means turning your life 180 degrees and changing it completely upside down!
The struggle is such a self-imposed trap, especially for entrepreneurs.
We entrepreneurs adore the virtue of hustle. We expect hard work while we build and grow the business in the hope that one day when the business is stabilized and ‘grown-up’ we are free to do whatever we want and the business would be that atm machine that keeps pumping money into our bank account.
Isn’t it similar to the fly trying hard to bang on the closed window in the hope that one day the window would open for it to fly through?
Stop and think is one of the most underrated habits in life and business.
When we are stuck, we often go online and find the next strategy, the next funnel, the next hack to grow our Facebook group, to write another email series, to automate the sales funnel, etc… we open ourselves to hundreds of things to do and to try but none of that include STOP EVERYTHING and review.
If the fly would be smart enough to just STOP and look around, it may have seen the open door right behind and in a few seconds, it can arrive freedom.
Stopping and reviewing the situation from an objective perspective requires awareness that we are stuck, conscious effort to stop what we are doing (noting that it is not working), and being creative in coming up with alternative (even out of the box) approach.
Most of us are so obsessed with the proven script, proven system that works, proven funnel structure that converts, while that may work for some, it is DEFINITELY not proven for anyone. Because if it is proven for anyone, there would not be any poor person on earth.
But so many of us buy into those marketing gimmicks because it gives the sense of security with the promise of no failure, and in our avoidance of failure, we trap ourselves deeper in the struggle.
Following conventional wisdom will give conventional results.
If you’re looking for a breakthrough, chances are you won’t see it marketing on Facebook or Instagram. In fact, you would never find it externally because it is within you.
It is when you aware that you are not getting what you want in the current path when you stop and consciously chart your life in a different direction as you have been going when you overcome that fear to change course, when you feel stretch and uncomfortable but still go ahead turning around when you enter into a new regime that you’ve never entered before.
It is when you stop trying harder and start realizing and ACCEPTING the truth that this is not working. It is when you lift the self-imposed limitations and give yourself permission to go beyond what is in the ‘normal’ course and direction. It is when you see failure as a gift rather than a sign to quit.
That is where you will find your success.
Develop this habit instead of brainlessly working harder putting more hours in thinking that what did not work will magically work with stubborn efforts, and the result will be #life-changing.
If you are stuck right now, I hope this short article will give you some insight before you continue your journey.
===
Share your thoughts?
Here’s where to connect:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/simplifiedbusinesscoach
FB: @simplifiedbusinesscoach
IG: @simplifiedbusinesscoach
