Some people say I’m working too hard, I say I’m not letting fun things I used to do steal my attention and energy away from achieving my goals.
One of the biggest differences between successful people and non-successful people that I’ve noticed is successful people don’t seek to be entertained, they seek to build something epic that helps other people.
Are you going home to sit on your couch and watch TV?
Or do you sit at a cafe to work on a side project that can help others and make you money?
Do you spend time cooking fancy meals at home?
Or do you make something quick (but good ;)) and use the hour building a business?
Which ones are “working too hard”? Which ones are “entertainment”?
Here’s the secret:
- Change your mindset so that you actually do enjoy these “working too hard” choices over the “entertaining” ones.
That’s easier said than done, I know. So how do you DO that?
Working Too Hard vs Entertainment
Well, let’s look at entertainment.
What’s the purpose of entertainment?
- To enjoy the moment.
Follow me here…
- If the “entertainment” actions you’re taking are making you enjoy the moment, then if entertainment is what you seek, you will want to do these actions. Right?
Another way:
- If your goal is to enjoy the moment (aka entertainment), then you will be drawn to and enjoy the actions that feed this goal. Like watching Netflix, YouTube, playing video games, etc.
Ok, let’s look at “working too hard” (aka starting a business, working towards your goals, etc).
What’s the purpose of “working too hard”?
- To achieve something worth working for.
Using the same sentence as above:
- If your goal is to start a business (working too hard), then you will be drawn to and enjoy the actions that feed this goal.
Another way:
- If the “working too hard” actions you’re taking are making you make something of your life, then if “making something of your life” is what you seek, you will want to do these actions.
In other words, if you want to make something of your life, start a business, etc, you will be driven to put your time and energy into the actions that will give that to you.
But if what you want is entertainment, then you will put your time and energy into the actions that will give that to you.
The bottom line is: want to make something of your life, want to start a business, and you will.
But there’s another part to it…
Wanting Over Wishing
You have to want this more than other things.
Like I mentioned in the top of this article, I stopped doing things which I used to do for fun, and instead I’m focusing on achieving my goals.
Imagine if you wanted to make a big change in your life just as much as you wanted to binge watch Netflix every day after getting home from work.
Can you see how these two things will compete for your time?
Can you see how making the change can so easily be put on the back burner?
You need to want the change more than Netflix.
Prioritize it over entertainment. And get to work 🙂
There is a little more to it still…
Understand Help Is Readily Available
From personal experience, it’s not enough to simply want it. You also need to at least see and understand that it’s possible.
There is so much information in this world, and so many possibilities for pretty much anything.
Think of this…if you wanted to start your own website, where would you start? There’s a lot to understand before you have a pretty website, right?
That can be daunting, and your thoughts on what you don’t know, and what’s required, might hold you back from even trying.
Here’s the thing…for just about anything you want to do, other people have already done it, AND have made it easy for others to do it.
Your world opens up when you realize what this means.
It means you aren’t limited by anything other than your mind (and physics). It means there are people that WANT to help you because their business succeeds by providing you one piece of the puzzle towards what YOU want.
Wait, Is Working Too Hard Bad For You?
The way I define work, no, but the way most people define work, yes.
Most people see “working” as something they don’t enjoy. “Work” is seen as something to avoid, something that we would rather not do.
Why?
Because we’re taught to get a job so we can pay the bills.
Heck, if we had no bills to pay, almost no one would be working!
But think for a second about the ones who would still be working even if they didn’t have bills to pay. Chances are, they’re working on something they enjoy. Are they working too hard? Is their “working too hard” bad for them?
I don’t think so.
(Side note: there are people who already continue working and have plenty of money to retire. Think of Warren Buffett, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, etc.)
Great for them, what’s the point?
Find something you’d enjoy working towards even if you didn’t have bills to pay.
Ok, Now What?
First step, is you have to WANT to create something. This will provide you with your own internal motivation to keep going and to leave entertainment behind (at least for now.
Once your thing is built you can go back to a life of entertainment, plus you now keep all the hours you used to spend working. After all, that’s a big part of the motivation to create something in the first place!
Second step is learn the steps required you must take to create what you want.
Is it hiring? Or creating a website? Maybe it’s building an audience or learning to code.
At least know what the individual steps are. And THEN you can learn how to best accomplish those steps. This is the part that most people freak out about.
But this is the part where there are others who want to help you. It’s the part where someone else’s business was literally built to solve a problem along your path to creating what you want.
Third step is, start “working too hard”. Give up the life of entertainment.
Unplug the TV and the Xbox. Get to work on something that will improve your life.
If other people tell you you’re “working too hard,” that shows you took a step in the right direction 😉
Get after it!
