Five Ways to Clarify Hard Work

by Rick White, President 180BIZ                                                            (Estimated Read Time 4 minutes)

Today’s topic is Hard Work. That's a phrase used all the time. It's a phrase very hard to wrap your arms around. Maybe we need to understand what we mean by hard work. When we're talking to somebody and we say, “We need you to work harder,” we need to be clear about what that means. So, I came up with five different ways to make hard work mean something.

Pure Effort.

This is working not working longer. A lot of us don't need to work longer. We need to work more efficiently within the work hours we have. There are too many of us, all of us if we really were honest with ourselves, would admit that there are things we could be doing better in a way that we stay working while we're supposed to be working instead of getting pulled in different directions or pulling back and not working, or slowing down and getting distracted. It's either increasing your effort or working longer. I think we need to work on our intensity, not the number of hours we're working. 

Stay Focused.

This is all about not letting distractions and other people's problems take us away from what we need to work on. It's saying no to distractions. If you're going to work on something that needs your full concentration, maybe shutting your monitors off, shutting your phones off, or shutting the internet off so that you can focus on what you're doing.  Focus is becoming a bigger and bigger issue and concern and I'm blaming cell phones for this. It is getting harder and harder for people to sit down for an extended period and concentrate on one thing. Your biggest issue with hard work is not working more hours, it's putting more work in the hours you're there that you're supposed to be there and staying focused.

Consistency. 

Consistency is doing the same thing over and over again, and sometimes that feels boring, but it doesn’t to everyone else. It makes them feel comfortable. It makes them feel like it matters, whether it's a customer or a client or it's one of your team members. Consistency is important because it creates dependability and reliability.

Opportunity. 

Opportunity is being aware of the environment around you as a community and seeing the different opportunities and threats and concerns that are coming up on the horizon. Most shop owners are focused on today. They look no further than right in front of them.  They're not looking out toward the horizon.  They’re not looking to the future, and because of that circumstances hit them like a ton of bricks causing them to go into react mode. If you were looking around you, you could have seen something coming and made adjustments to take advantage of whatever that opportunity is. Even a setback has an opportunity built within it every single time. I was talking recently to a client about their lease expiring soon. They had about a year and a half left on it. I asked, “What will do about it?”  He answered, “Well, I'm not going to worry about it now. I have a year and a half.”  I said, “At a year and a half you have a wide range of options. At a year, your options begin dwindling. At six months, your options are becoming limited. At three months, you’re almost out of options.” Dealing with it now will give you the best set of scenarios.” You want to be aware of what's going on around you so you don't have to react. You can be proactive, see it coming, and then do something about it.

Outthinking.

Thinking of a better strategy or creating a shortcut that no one has thought of before. Or a system that no one has ever done before. Or seeing something that will make your business run better or be better for your clients.  You must be aware of the outthinking. How much time do you as a business owner sit and think? There is value in that. It feels like you're doing nothing and it's hard to get used to, but there is so much value in thinking. You need to give yourself time. Slow down, see the big picture, determine how you fit in, identify where you’re heading, see what's in your way, and decide how can you take advantage of it.

Those are my five things that will help you make the most of your hard work. Pure effort, focus, consistency, opportunity, and outthinking.

Please share this video.  We have our Shop Owner’s Round Table, on the second Thursday of every month, 7 p.m. Eastern, and we would love you and your friends to drop by. Shop owners only. And then we have our upcoming Pocket Business Genius webinar on the second Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern time. 

God bless. stay safe, have some fun, and go make some money.  Take care.

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