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The Edges Of Effort

The Edges Of Effort
Photo by Andrew H / Unsplash

Hello everyone out there in the interwebs :)

I'm proud to say I've been working insanely hard lately, maybe the hardest I've ever worked? Or, a close second to my first year at Stanford, when I still thought it was possible to get a 4.0 in college. Damn, I was hardcore.

What's helped me work so hard? Progress. Lately, I have:

  • Rebranded Cardinal eCommerce to Cardinal eCom
  • Designed, coded and launched a new site: www.cardinalecom.com
  • Built systems for client acquisition, financials, and taxes
  • Defined my company mission: "Be the go-to agency for solving the hardest technical problems in eCommerce"

There's nothing like momentum in business. As well as for me, there's nothing like working hard on my business and seeing it pay off. C.R.E.A.M.

For the first time, I've reached a plateau with regard to how much time I can (read: am willing to) put in. I could work Friday and Saturday nights, but I don't want to. Sue me.

In lieu of that, I start asking myself - what else can I do? What do people do at the edges of effort? What happens when you're happy with your input, but not the output? There must be more vectors to consider.

Of course there are. The Will McLellarn (aka Team Health aka Team Wealth) of 2023 is a master of self-diagnosis. I can zoom out on myself and assert: if I've maxed out time, then I can only change my working strategy. What to do, in what order. But is there a 10x in simple prioritization? Not for me right now. I'm all over the ONE thing, I ruthlessly execute. So what else?

After some serious deliberation, I arrived at this phrase:

"What are the things that I've been unwilling to do (haven't tried) or incapable (tried but failed) of doing?"

Conversely:

"What are the things that I've been unwilling or incapable of giving up?"


That's my list of frontier actions. That's where I can grow. So, allow me to share my list with y'all:

Unwilling/Incapable of doing:

  • Reading consistently
  • Hiring full-time
  • Delegating fully
  • Contacting A-players about partnerships
  • Creating content (Blog + YouTube)
  • Getting a BJJ belt
  • Hitting 170lbs
  • Building a business community IRL

Unwilling/Incapable of giving up:

  • Watching iPad before bed
  • Watching YouTube/Netflix as a work break
  • Going out to high-end bars & clubs
  • Eating junk food when stressed
  • Discarding discipline when traveling

Instinctively I know this is where my growth is. I know there are people who work just as hard as I do, for better results. My path to a higher level existence is through tackling these issues. All of them reflect my avoidance, fear, discomfort. That's my sign to dive right into the middle of them.

I'll chip away at all of them. Building a accountability group in CDMX is part of that (first meeting next week). Creating a full-time job post is part of that. Finding a new level of commitment to the biggest levers in these lists is part of that. ONE thing in action - I can tell you the most important one to-do, and the most important to-stop.

To-Do: Creating content, both business and personal, to start building an audience and awareness. For Cardinal, this can solve the sales pipeline into perpetuity. It For me personally, I'm still hunting for my $100mm idea, but I have a lot to say. This will be primarily YouTube, and some blogs.

To-Stop: Watching screens as breaks from work, and before bed. I love YouTube, Netflix, and all related platforms. I easily sink 2-4 hours per day into these. Especially before bed, it's sapping my energy. My sleep suffers, my brain turns off. No more.

Implementation:

I will continue to work as hard as possible, including my new favorite sessions on weekend mornings. I love the grind right now, can't lie. No one has to tell me to wake up early or stay up late working. But these endeavors will be super challenging, it's killing a core habit and birthing another. But so what - I'll suffer. There is no alternative for Team Health and Team Wealth. Growth is not optional.

I'm not prepared yet to steamroll my life with work hours, so I'll opt to steamroll my discomforts and fears instead. I have extremely high conviction these archimedes levers will have huge impacts if applied consistently.

Let's see if I'm right...

Until next time.

Team Health and Team Wealth, out!!