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Hard Work vs Hard Work
I was a frustrating student.
“Kemp, if you put more effort in, you would get top of the class”
(I went to one of those schools that did Latin and called everyone by their last name)
It was funny, because I was getting good marks anyway.
They could have been better but I couldn’t see the cost/benefit in putting in hours of study to get 10% better.
I’ve always questioned the concept of work. What it means and what it is. I’ve described myself as strategically lazy, as I find ways to achieve large amounts with the minimal amount of effort.
I see people busting their asses. The Grinders. Putting in the hours. Bemoaning their busyness. And seemingly getting no further ahead. Needlessly sacrificing themselves and their family at the alter of achievement.
Then there is a small group who are just getting it done. The Flow. Not grinding long hours. Making it look effortless.
I know why.
One group works hard and the other works hard.
But their definitions are different.
The Grinders have carried over the definition of work from school. Busy work. Put the hours in. Do everything.
It’s just how it is. Take every call. Reply to every email. Spend hours tweaking their new logo.
Keep your head down and the rewards will come.
The Flow are the opposite. They spend time creating.
Studying. Writing. Thinking. Looking for the edge.
Putting their heads up and test their ideas in the court of public opinion.
The Grinders don’t want to expose their ideas.
The Flow do.
The Grinders would rather be busy in the shadows. Avoiding the emotional hard work and sacrificing this precious thing called time.
The Flow accept the emotional hard work. The risk of criticism and comparison that comes so naturally to many. And they get the hard work done to spend their time where it matters to them.
Hard work is essential.
Unavoidable.
But the choice between flow and grind is yours.
The End of a Golden Age
Marketing is like black magic these days.
From simple stuff like retargeting – we know you looked at that hotel so here’s a reminder that room is still available
To targeting – we want to reach women in Auckland 34-44 who like horses and gardening
The option is literally at our fingertips.
But thing’s are changing. Privacy and other concerns mean the networks are tightening up what they let us do.
And this matters for everyone.
Because right now, it’s a golden age for using technology, to not only reach your ideal prospect but deliver to your clients with leverage from basically anywhere in the world.
Last week I told you what Facebook wants.
And I’ve made a video on my prediction on what happens next, why this matters and what to do about it.
You can watch it here
Tired Old Cliches
Influencers are soooo boring.
Pumping out content saying the same thing every single day.
Boring, boring, boring.
Gary V tells you to be yourself.
Grant Cardone tells you to do the work.
Jordan Peterson tells you to make your bed.
Tired old cliches that have been around for hundreds of years.
Hey,
Hang on.
That’s all good advice..
The problem with common advice is that it assumes common sense.
Common sense is anything but common.
Most people know what they need to do but they conspire against themselves to not do it either at all or consistently.
The advice to help you down the path you want to trek is out there.
It might even be staring you in the face.
Here’s another cliche you’ll hear most weeks:
“you are the product of the 5 people you spend time with”
It’s just….true.
But it’s said so often it’s easy to ignore.
And people criticise and say they aren’t saying anything new.
Yes, Einstein, that’s the point.
It stood the test of time.
The fundamentals are the fundamentals.
Battle hardened ideas from the trenches.
Good advice is everywhere.
But so is bad advice.
if someone’s walked the road you want to travel then pay attention.
Even if it’s cliche.
Beware the Magic Pill
We love the easy button.
We lap up stories of falling into money and fame and someone’s troubles melting away.
We love it and imagine it happening to ourselves.
The fairy god mother coming down, granting all our wishes and making all our problems and worries disappear immediately.
We love it despite the fact we know it’s not real.
Every apparent overnight success has a story. A story of struggle, failure and hard work.
But there is still a mass delusion that easy riches are a click away.
This isn’t new.
The search for El Dorado and it’s mythical gold ruined a whole empire with an entire populations greed and delusion.
El Dorado was a famed city of gold.
When the Spanish arrived the myth of El Dorado spread like wildfire.
A city where everything was made of gold.
Gigantic expeditions set off in search of it only to return months later having lost hundreds of men along the way and trekking thousands of miles.
The mass delusion in instant riches swept Spain.
Whole towns in Spain were depopulated as the menfolk left to search for gold.
By the end of the seventeenth century the entire country had shrunk it’s population by half. The city of Madrid dropped from 400,000 to 150,000. Farms and businesses were abandoned.
All to the chase easy, instant riches.
The internet has brought about a modern day El Dorado.
A promise of easy, instant riches at the click of a button.
For one payment of $97 all your woes will disappear. No experience needed.
One funnel away
One ad away
One promotion away
The problem is there is some truth in it.
All those things are possible.
I’ve had one funnel that made over $1m
I’ve had one ad that generated $609,500 in sales
But I’ve launched dozens of funnels and hundreds of ads.
I’ve lost hundreds of thousands failing repeatedly.
Yet I still fantasise about the easy button.
I want this to be easier. For me and for you.
But that’s the price of admission.
The cliche is true; If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
There is no easy button.
The key to progress is consistently turning up every day.
Pushing, learning, trying and testing.
Failing, sometimes publicly and embarrassingly.
If you’re not prepared to pay the price then you’re just chasing the myth of El Dorado.
Broken Promises
On the first of January every year hundreds of millions of people make resolutions.
This is the year I’m going to..
Lose weight, get out of debt, find a partner…
The options are endless.
And the vast majority fail. In many cases these same people find themselves the following January heavier, with more debt and lonelier.
It’s for one simple reason.
Most people don’t keep promises to themselves.
Have you ever had an unreliable friend?
The one who canceled dinner at the last minute. Borrowed books and never gave them back.
You eventually drifted apart and you occasionally look them up on Facebook to see what drama has befallen them.
Exactly the same things happen with our promises to ourselves.
After letting ourselves down consistently we eventually drift away from our belief that we will do the things we say we will do.
Fundamentally, we stop believing ourselves.
When you stop believing yourself, you eventually stop believing in yourself.
The words come out of your mouth but you’ve disconnected your subconscious so the actions don’t follow.
It’s so easy to say ‘next time’ or ‘when I do…I’ll…’
It’s easier to say it to yourself than it is to other people.
How do you stop it?
Choose one thing.
One thing you want to do, not others expect you to want.
Follow through with it.
Your personal power will rise and your subconscious will start to follow through with actions.
You will achieve one thing and others will follow.
Make a promise to yourself.
Don’t break it.
