Have you ever crossed the finish line after a race without collapsing or maybe finished a really tough workout without puking? Either of those endings would lead me to say that you had more in the tank. Now don’t get me wrong, we do need to pace ourselves, but proper pacing should till end with an empty tank.
You may be asking how this pertains to business. Well, if you aren’t seeing the results you want (or need), there is a good chance you aren’t emptying the effort tank. You haven’t done everything you could to succeed. Instead, you’re doing just enough to get by. Let me share a few things that you should be doing to make sure you empty the tank every day.
- Plan your day. Whether it is the night before or the morning of, having a plan is necessary if you are going to give everyday your all.
- Find accountability. You can post your goals, your to-do list, and whatever else in plain sight for you to see everyday, you can invite a colleague to follow up with regularly, or you can hire a coach to keep you on your toes. Accountability often leads to exhaustion in striving for goals.
- Reject failure. Wallowing in failures will stall momentum. Instead, dig deeper and give everything you have to succeed.
- Be careless. This is NOT all-encompassing. But I will encourage you to be careless in expending energy on good things. Who cares how hard you have to work, how much time/money you have to invest. If they support your goal, empty the tank!
Those that succeed have done so by emptying the tank over and over again. The only way you and I will do the same is by pushing ourselves to the brink of collapsing or puking (well, maybe not puking!).
I’m not sure about you, but I’m ready to ethically do whatever it takes to succeed. How about you?