If you want to build a successful business, all you have to do is work harder, longer, faster, grind it out, and never stop.

At least, that’s what the hustle-and-grind culture would have you believe.

The most popular voices from this crowd actually boast about giving up weekends, watching football, entertainment, social lives, and, not surprisingly, friends.

The philosophy is simple: effort is everything. The more you put in, the more you get out.

 

And listen, I have deep respect for many of these brilliant and successful entrepreneurs, but the idea that effort is everything—is bullshit.

 

In this email, I’ll explain why and offer an alternative that doesn’t require working 80 hours a week or sacrificing everything to achieve your goals.

 

Hard Work Matters

Let me be clear: I am not suggesting hard work doesn’t matter.

 

It’s essential for accomplishing anything meaningful, from building a business to maintaining a healthy marriage.

 

However, some people work harder at avoiding work than it would take to do the job in the first place.

 

They want rewards—in business, fitness, and relationships—without doing what is necessary to earn them.

 

That’s delusional.

 

But if hard work was all it took, why do many entrepreneurs work themselves to the bone and still end up broke?

 

The answer: because how hard you push matters less than what you push against.

 

Oversimplifying Hard Work

 

What exactly is hard work?

 

If you log 14-hour days checking emails and messages to avoid making tough decisions or doing business development work you can't stand, does that count?

 

The hustle-and-grind mindset glorifies inputs over outputs, which is understandable to some degree. Outputs aren't always controllable: the market may not respond to an offer, a prospect may not buy, or customers may not use your product properly.

 

But measuring inputs without outputs is like tracking the miles you’ve driven without ever asking, “Did you reach your destination?”

 

It promotes busyness, or “pseudo-productivity” as Cal Newport calls it in his new book, Slow Productivity.

 

And busyness kills more businesses than laziness.

 

“Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.” - Alfred A. Montapert

 

At any given moment, certain levers in your business will have a greater impact on results than others.

 

Many of those high leverage priorities are tasks you may not want to do—like tough management conversations, business development activities, or making difficult strategic decisions.

 

The high leverage work you don’t want to do is the real ‘hard work.’

 

These tasks require more energy than time, and it's tempting to avoid them by 'working hard' on easier, low-impact activities like replying to messages, organizing files, or putting out fires that could be left burning.

 

But if you focus primarily on inputs instead of outputs, you can burn out from long hours while accomplishing nothing.

 

Because what you work on has just as much, if not more, impact on results as how hard you work.

 

Worse still, as Chris Williamson called out in a recent tweet, the underlying philosophy of the hustle-and-grind culture is to work harder and accumulate more wealth—ad infinitum.

 

There is no end. And that’s supposed to be satisfying.

 

As he says:

 

It’s like we’re gaslighting each other into believing that the endless pursuit of more resources is a good life-strategy.

 

Guidelines For Better Work

 

So, am I proposing you kick back, relax, and take the easy path to build your business?

 

Nada.

 

Hard work is as necessary for entrepreneurial success as bitters is for a good old fashioned cocktail.

 

But I've found a few guidelines to ensure my work is fully leveraged and productive, allowing me to adjust my effort based on my goals at the time.

 

1. Clarify Your Objective

 

When you're crystal clear on your target, it's easier to identify which actions will help you hit it (and which won't). But when your target is unclear or you have several, every option seems attractive. If you tend to outwork everything, you'll be tempted to pursue them all.

 

Ask yourself: "What is my single most important objective right now?" Then, optimize your work to focus on achieving primarily that.

 

(If you don't know your most important objective, figuring it out is the hardest and most crucial work you can do.)

 

2. Right Things, Right Time

 

Building a business is like baking a cake—you have to know the right ingredients to use (the right things), and in which order to use them (the right time).

 

Changing either yields a very different result.

 

When you’re clear on your objective, you can work backwards to build a plan.

 

Take your single most important objective from above and determine which steps need to be taken in order to achieve it. Then create a timeline for each of those steps and start executing.

 

(If you don’t know what you need to do to achieve your most important objective, there is no harder work you can do than getting the help you need to figure it out.)

 

3. Let fires burn

 

Even with a clear objective and plan, you’ll have to build the discipline of letting fires burn.

 

Some tasks on your to-do list may go unchecked. Or dozens of emails may go unread or unresponded to.

 

You don’t have enough time to do everything. The ‘easy work’ is both easy to do, and easy to use as a distraction from the hard work needed to achieve your objectives.

 

You’ve got to let some things slide to ensure the big things don’t.

 

4. Apply the Minimum Effective Dose

 

Tim Ferriss coined the term 'minimum effective dose' in The 4-Hour Body, and it's as relevant to business as it is to fitness.

 

The goal isn't to maximize inputs (hours worked). It’s to maximize the output-to-input ratio, getting the biggest result for the least effort.

 

That doesn’t mean letting quality go to shit. ‘Minimum effective dose’ doesn’t work if it’s not effective. But it eliminates the idea that more labor inherently means more quality.

 

It helps to remember that any time invested on a priority that isn’t moving the needle in a meaningful way comes at the expense of another big priority.

 

Working Smart, Working Hard

For me, these guidelines don’t replace hard work. They ensure my work is highly leveraged and productive.

 

This way, when I want to turn up the dial and achieve an objective faster, I can. Or I can dial it down to enjoy all that life has to offer beyond work.

 

While I love the work I do, entrepreneurship is only one of my jobs and passions. I’m also a husband, father, traveler, and fitness addict.

 

So, it’s less about “working smart, not hard.”

 

It’s much more about working as effectively as I can in every facet of my life so I can enjoy it to the fullest with maximum impact.

I hope this has been helpful for you in some way.