FRI: The Extremely Tired Story of “Rise and Grind”

My brother Andy and I text a lot. He is a few years younger than me and lives in Minnesota where he owns an addiction treatment facility. As an addict in recovery himself, it’s a cause he deeply believes in and frankly, is very successful.

We text about a lot of work related stuff, and one that always comes up when we talk business is the tired notion of success being about the phantom “grind” and turning one’s self into a pariah of hard work. We are Gary V’d everywhere we go, there are no shortage of gurus and wanna be gurus on the internet telling you that success is about waking up at 4 everyday and crushing it. The American dream of working yourself exhausted everyday because that’s what it takes. Hard work beats talent. All that crap.

I’m here to tell you that’s largely bullshit.

At least through the lens of starting, growing, and maintaining a fulfilling business.

Yes, success takes hard work, commitment, and focus. It takes it everyday for multiple years. Doesn’t matter if you’re trying to be the world’s best baker, run a marathon, or build a business. Those repeat actions are going to drive the majority of your success, but being successful is so much more than Puritan hard work. It has nothing to do with telling Facebook how early you wake up everyday. It doesn’t mean slaving away on weekends and missing important life events. It doesn’t involve aggressive hot takes and chest pounding.

Success is about working smart, delegating, using your team, picking and choosing a careful list of important objectives and seeing them through. Creating success for yourself in any endeavor is about taking on a state of monoidealism, wherein we focus on singular objectives until completion. “Entrepreneurs” who brag about multi-tasking are literally bragging about doing poor work. It’s been proven that talking on the phone while driving has the same effects as driving intoxicated. It’s your brain’s cognitive abilities going back and forth, or context switching. When we do that, we’re not good at any one particular thing because we’re trying to do too much, but we feel accomplished because we put in a long, frantic days work.

If creating sustainable, autonomous success for yourself is what matters, the unsolicited advice I’d like to offer you is to pick and choose where you apply your effort. Go deep, not wide. Tackle the few, not the many. Pick one or two important things, or five or six little things. Complete them one at a time that day, then call it a day. Be narrow with your focus, cut off distraction when it’s time to work. Do that more days than not, for multiple years, and you will find success in whatever you choose to pursue. That’s it. No 4 am wake-up calls needed.

Any buffoon can work themselves exhausted in the name of taking on too much, but sustainable success is about delegation and smart choices, not max effort.

But what do I really know? I’m just a gym owner.

-Dave

Friday, 1.25.19

First. For Structure
6 Bench Press @ 60-80%
10 Bent Over Rear Delt Raises
10 Sprinter Crunches
*Work for 16’
—
Then. For Conditioning
50m Sprint + 50m Return Jog
1 Rope Pull AFAP + Rev Return Drag
10 Goblet Squats
Max Bicep Curls
(3-5 Rounds in 16’)

PHASE 1: No tests offered today