There’s a reason why many people in life and business aren’t disciplined or consistent at what they do.
In many ways, society has trained us to want instant results. We have gotten really good at commoditizing the outcomes that we desire. Want coffee? Just wait in line at Starbucks for five minutes. Did you tear a hole in your shirt? Go buy a new one at Target today. The results we are seeking are easy to come by; these days we can get what we want with relative ease.
But this isn’t true when it comes to success. You can’t buy it, and it will never be instantaneous. Success requires consistent practice… the day-in-day-out grind. There will be aches in your back, and the early mornings and late days where you have to go at it alone. It’s going to be hard.
The effort that it requires is not as sexy as the flashy promises that people sell.
In a desire to commoditize success, “Tips and tricks” marketers would have you believe that the price for obtaining success is small and that you can get perfect results right away. “If you just buy this platform, or use this clever phrase, people will flock to your services,” this boisterous crowd claims.
These claims turn heads because people are looking for a magic formula. They are all too eager to be able to hit a game-changing home run without the hard work that comes with it. These business owners know that if the promise of instant success was true then everyone would be doing it, but they figure that this time will be different for them. They succumb to the illusion that they can easily achieve the success that they have always dreamed of.
These contractors are avoiding the real secret. I’m going to share it with you in hopes that it will empower you. Keep reading below for the real tips and tricks about success.
My Own Personal Journey
For the last 2.5 years, I’ve dedicated nearly every ounce of my physical energy to powerlifting. My aspiration has been to push myself to my limits—past the boundaries of the impossible—to accomplish the limits of what my body is truly capable of.
My lifting schedule has been very strict. I lift for five days every week regardless of how tired I am and take two rest days in between. I always make sure that I do each of my major lifts (bench, squat, and deadlift) twice a week.
Two weeks ago it was different. Life had caught up to me in unexpected ways and my depression had gotten the best of me. I didn’t work out at all that week and eating was a slog. Instead, I preferred to stay in bed and ruminate about the way that I wished things could be. Each day I tried to find the motivation inside of myself to get to the gym because not going was an anomaly and I was determined to put it behind me.
I made it back to the gym like I always do-- Last week I showed up and attacked my training with the same intensity and fervor that is normal for me. But damn, my body was just not having it. The joints in my knees were aching, and the amount that I was able to lift was significantly lower than usual. Every squat felt like a chore, and as my legs compressed with each rep my back would struggle to support the weight of the bar.
How could this be? I had only taken one week off. Had I lost all of my progress in just seven days?
I’m open to the idea that I’m being too hard on myself, but I think that there’s a valuable lesson to be learned: in the week that I took off, I started to train my body in the direction of a new habit. I was consistent at not doing the same routine with my body, so my body got consistent at not working out.
So here are the real hard truths about success—the real tips and tricks (these are just some of them), they aren’t comprehensive:
You can never have a successful business by applying tips and tricks in an effort to get quick results. True success in business can only ever be a result of consistency.
Let’s take a step back and shed some further light on this:
Business= An organization that provides value at scale
Success= Consistent habits of excellence that scale over time
A Successful Business= An organization that consistently applies excellence to provide value at scale
In order for a process to scale it has to be replicable. In order for something to provide value, it has to be worth something to others.
If you have a service that is worth something to others you can have a business. If you continue to repeat this process and practice consistency, over time you'll have a successful business. If you learn and grow from your mistakes and are continually trying to improve, you’ll have a profitable business.
You may not know it, but a silent movement is occurring. Every day a greater number of people are standing up and telling their doubts, fears, and bad habits that they won’t win. You can join these brave individuals and push back against mediocrity, but the cost of admission is steep. You’ll have to bring grit and determination.
It’s a journey. Sometimes you will have to play games with your mind and tell the doubts inside of your head that everything is going to be okay.
The next time that somebody tries to provide a quick antidote to a problem you are facing, remember that nothing is quick. Their solution might be useful, but nothing can take the place of paying the debt that long-term consistency requires.
On a personal level, I know that my journey at the gym is not going to get any easier. There will be countless days that my back is sore and that I have no desire to have my legs feel like rubber. But I’m going to keep pushing. I want to be part of the invisible movement. I hope that you do the same with your business. See you at the top!
The views expressed in this article are mine alone. I don't believe that hard work alone is always enough to overcome any challenging situation. The systems that we are a part of can have a heavy influence on outcomes. I think that we are at our best when we work within our current constraints to strategically maximize our position, whatever that may be. As one of my mentors says "Think outside the box, work within the box, change the box as much as possible."