It’s always a conundrum, isn’t it? The trade-off between time and work.
You might know I have been following Seth Godin for years. (He is a marketing genius who blogs daily about the darnedest things.) One of his latest posts caught my eye. Here it is in its entirety.
Making a difference (making a point)
There are countless ways to make a point. You can clearly demonstrate that you are angry, smart, concerned, stronger, faster or more prepared than the person you’re engaging with. But making a point isn’t the same thing as making a difference.
To make a difference, we need the practical empathy to realize that the other person doesn’t know what you know, doesn’t believe what you believe and might not want what you want. We have to move from where we are and momentarily understand where they are.
When we make a point, we reject all of this. When we make a point, we establish our power in one way or another, but we probably don’t change very much.
Change comes about when the story the other person tells themselves begins to change. If all you do is make a point, you’ve handed them a story about yourself.
When you make a change, you’ve helped them embrace a new story about themselves.
And even though it’s more fun (and feels safe, in some way) to make a point, if we really care, we’ll do the hard work to make a difference instead.
I take exception to his final comment describing the ‘work.’
It’s not that the work is hard. It’s that the work is GOOD. I personally do not believe any work is hard – when you love it and when your efforts come from a place buried in your DNA.
- The reasons I am sharing this particular Seth Godin post are many.
- 1. All good work takes time. Far more time than we ever imagine.
- 2. Most people I know want to make a difference. That is the long game. That is where time stands still.
- 3. For those who want to make a point, that is the short game. Instant gratification is what’s most important.
- 4. If you are playing the long game, don’t stop. Trust.
- 5. The Trust part is the HARD part. You are trusting in yourself, your good work, and in the future, you can’t yet see.
- 6. Good work takes time. A lot of time. For more time than we ever imagine.
This applies to every possible thing you are trying to make a success. It applies to whatever success looks like for you.
Last week, I said we all needed to Stand Tall.
As we stand tall, the next thing we need to understand is which game we are playing. The short game can pay huge dividends at the moment yet ultimately yield little value. On the other hand, the long game wins more friends than enemies, brings more joy than frustration, and can yield the highest returns.
Stand Tall and know that GOOD work takes time. A lot of time. Far more time than we ever imagine. Learn to Trust.
Interested in chatting about your situation? Email me.
