Feeling Overwhelmed? The Cure Isn't What You Think
“Hard work is not always something you can see. It is not always physical effort. In fact, the most powerful form of hard work is thinking clearly. Designing a winning strategy may not look very active, but make no mistake: it is very hard work. Strategy often beats sweat.”
I'm not a fan of elevator pitches. There's often a cheeseball-tone that comes from creating a cute and clever tagline. That was before one of my mentors shared its true intention. It serves as a stepping stone for the golden rule successful entrepreneurs follow.
Running a business is a chaotic jumble of ideas, projects and tasks thrown into a battle royale competing for your time. Mental and physical exhaustion are worn like a badge of honour. And rather than serve as a time for rest, the weekend acts as a buffer to catch up on work you didn't finish during the week. That sense of freedom that drew you into entrepreneurship feels like you've been catfished on an MTV reality show.
Are you scrambling through your day without an idea of how to improve what's clearly not working?
It's a scary reality when your livelihood depends on you. Not to mention, a trajectory with little to look forward to. A far cry from sitting on an insta-worthy beach, sipping little-umbrella drinks.
Like you, I was frustrated by feeling like working harder is the only answer. I decided to do something about it: I sunk my teeth into the tools, strategies and tactics that world-class performers use to be the top in their fields. I could care less about short-term results, I'm focused on sustained success.
I've become obsessed with creating a program that offers an antidote to the overwhelming emotions that serves the people I work with.
In creating a program, I started by using the same model that the leading brands and thinkers have adopted as a means to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. Design Thinking dives deep into developing an understanding of the people for whom you’re designing your products or services. It helps you observe and develop empathy with the person you can help.
Don Norman, in the book Rethinking Design Thinking, explains, "Designers resist the temptation to jump immediately to a solution to the stated problem. Instead, they first spend time determining what the basic, fundamental (root) issue is that needs to be addressed. They don't try to search for a solution until they have determined the real problem, and even then, instead of solving that problem, they stop to consider a wide range of potential solutions. Only then will they finally converge upon their proposal. This process is called 'Design Thinking.'"
This brings us to the golden rule that every successful entrepreneur follows: a path of empathy.
As I've mentioned before, customers don't buy products, they buy solutions to their problems.
When I took this approach to solving the entrepreneur’s problem of feeling overwhelmed, I realized that every product and service was pushing the same shitty solution: be more productive.
It was an a-ha moment. Is the answer to be more productive?
Yet a recent study found the average entrepreneur is spending 30% of their workweek doing things that contribute little to no value to their business, so it's no wonder there's never enough time to get everything done.
Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.
In fact, research shows that 20% of the things you do get 80% of the results you want—and in far less time—compared to someone who doesn't have clarity of what's most important.
That's hours that are taking away from your business, your family and your ability to effectively make money.
Wasted time means you're not doing things you love.
Life's too short for that.
Don't you think?
I'm super excited to share a free PDF I put together called The High-Performing Entrepreneur Flight Kit: How To Escape The Hustle So You Can Focus On The Wildly Important. It provides a simple plan that puts your high-value work first so you have the freedom and flexibility to do more of what you love.
You can take a quick breather to enjoy life because the entrepreneurs who can do the right things, more consistently, are more likely to achieve success over the long-term — the secret to your success is found in your daily routine and habits.
PS - My one-liner? I help busy entrepreneurs design a life they don't need to escape from.
Why do we put off decisions that could give us a better future? I've been at that crossroads many times in my life. Whether it was a decision to start my own business, launch a podcast or even ask my partner to marry me. I knew all three of these decisions would give me a better life. But in the back of my head, all I could think about is what if I ended up being a colossal failure?