O, yes, hard work and too much of it. There are days and weeks like that where I tend to default and fall back on routines to such an extent that I navigate entire days on auto-pilot. That’s not to be dramatic, but for me it’s a link back to former times, and in some way I think that it helps me see more of a continuity in human history, our condition and all that stuff.
The work gets done, and my guess is that most people don’t even notice what goes on behind the mask: we’re all more alike that you’d think, so that means that there must be a whole lot of people who operate from the same base-line. To some degree it brings up a whole other notion and line of questions like are you not treating yourself short? Or are you not treating others short?, but the simple fact of the matter is that there are stretches in life where you just need to pull through. Sometimes it’s as simple as that, and that also means that questions like that don’t always matter; at least not when you’re in the middle of it.
Where does a base-line become a default
It does matter where you work blindly with no end in sight. And I fully realize that things aren’t always easy, and that there might be certain folks who might ‘have it easier’ than others, but there’s always an extent where you can take control of what’s going. This doesn’t mean that you can turn your life around just like that, but there’s always a nudge where you can pry something loose, and that might be the beginning of a next move.
But believe me, it’s hard, especially when you reach that stage where you want to build something new like a next career or a business ---- it’s hard. Here’s the thing though: it’s hard for everyone, especially when you’re just starting out. To put it a different way: when you start on a new journey, you may need to make certain sacrifices that may actually lower your quality of life for a while.
And that’s hard, because you have grown comfortable, your family has grown comfortable and people have come to see you as such-and-such (or at least that’s what you think).
There’s one distinction though that’s of key importance, and that will decide whether you will stay stuck to that same base-line: that’s the distinction between leadership and management.
In itself you might think that these two only have to do with the management of businesses or government organizations, in that it applies to dealing with large numbers of people. That’s just a matter of scale, and you can easily scale the reasoning down to the least number of people: you.
I always designate one day out of the week where I do my R&R, where I spend more time with my family, and where I analyze not just what goes in the world around us, but also whether I’m still on course to where I want my professional life to go. I like to refer to this as maintenance. All this is leadership: where you analyze where you stand, where you’re going, and whether you need to make any adjustments.
Management on the other hand is just where you carry on and carry out, and this is the modus that most of us operate in during the week. And that’s perfectly fine, because to get anywhere, to advance your career, to build a better life for yourself and those around you: hard work is needed. That means putting in the hours and working towards something.
It doesn’t mean working blindly, because that will keep you stuck to that default, and, worse, you might get side-tracked without even noticing.
Default equals wishful thinking
That’s much of the reason why just working hard isn’t enough. It’s essential to have an idea of where you’re going. In the first installment of Gaze wide, aim far I gave the example of Elon Musk who iterates this as that ‘most people tend to default to wishful thinking’. That’s exactly why a lot of businesses and such don’t stick around for more than a few years: they default to wishful thinking, while they should have devoted more time to the analysis of where they are and where they are heading.
That means that people have got themselves stuck in management, while they should switch to leadership every now and then. This leadership doesn’t need to be all that hard.
Before enrolling in a master of this-or-that, analyze projections of the job-market for the coming decade: will you find employment or will you be able to establish a business? If it doesn’t seem like there will be any opportunity: don’t do it.
Before starting a computer-repair business: is there a business as such in your vicinity? How long have they been in business? What are their rates? What are their expenses? What is their rent? How many employees do they have? What is their online presence? How prosperous do those folks seem? If it doesn’t seem viable: don’t do it.
Before becoming a delivery guy/gal: ask the same questions, and ask additional ones: is there a large competitor? Do people like working there? In this case you might realize that there isn’t much of a market, and that’s when you can continue looking for opportunities that are very local, where you might be able to have an edge because of a more personal relationship, etc etc.
One thing though about how it seems these days that everyone is becoming their own brand, and where everyone should want to be their own boss. The reality is that a lot of us either don’t have the ambition to be self-employed, or they literally wouldn’t be able to pull it off. And that’s okay too. Working for yourself usually means working more and working harder than you would when you work for an employer.
The whole point that I’m trying to get at here is that you need to become analytic and strategic from time to time. Wishful thinking is in the same line as that other default where people tend to become overly authentic and they basically state; this is who I am, and it isn’t going to change. A professional is always deliberate in their actions.
To an extent it makes sense, just like being wishful also makes sense to an extent. This is where it borders being confident towards the future, where you know that you can pull something off, both in relation to a profession and your ability to find employment. To put it another way: to an extent it’s about finding that sweet spot, but I must say that it may end up coming down more to a strategic analysis than being wishful and hopeful (in numbers, 70% strategy vs. 30% wishfulness, moxie and all that).
In summary
- on and off we all operate from a base-line in order to get the work done.
- to move forward takes dedication, hard work and sacrifice.
- to realize anything in the long run you will have to switch back and forth between personal leadership and management to stay on course
- before making a move, analyze whether the move makes sense and is feasible in the long run.
- wishful thinking is about 10% of the equation, it’s needed, but it’s not enough.
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