There's no progress without effort

There was a point several years into my business where I got complacent, verging on entitled. I had more experience than ever, work had always come to me; I thought it should always be like that. I missed seeing the invisible work I'd been doing to make all that happen, but also I’d made intentional shifts in my work. I wanted it to be easy and at the same time I had a new insecurity that I hadn’t experienced before. I also learned that life truly does have phases and cycles that we don’t always seem coming.

"There's no progress without effort" is one of the phrases that comes out of the mouth (en français) of one of my favorite gym coaches. First off, he's not a favorite for reasons other coaches are. He's anything but the most fit (in a traditional sense) of the coaches. Unlike other instructors, he's not doing the workout with us. He wanders the room challenging us to push harder. In the words of JFK he's challenging us, "not because it's easy, but because it's hard."

It got me thinking how I seek out that class intentionally and plan my week around it because I know it is hard, and will push me in the way that other courses and instructors don't. I go to it because I want the challenge and I want to push myself. I come out of that course completely depleted, yet feeling awesome and energized knowing I survived that hour of my life. It feels awesome.

It's not long into the class we push past the physical into the realm of the mental. In a way he's saying, "yeah, I know this simple yet repetitive movement hurts and that sucks, but because you can feel it that you know you're going to get the results you want." It made me wonder how many times we avoid things because they're hard, when really we're just scared.

When something starts to hurt it's so tempting to want to give up, when really it's the exact moment we need stay on track. The media feeds us narratives of success stories far more than they tell us about all the challenges, failures, and rejections that took to get there.

When the media isn't telling us these stories, we're creating them for ourselves. "So and so is naturally like that." "So and so has money so it's easy for them." "So and so has more talent than me." "So and so has a better network and connections than me." First off, there's ALWAYS more to the story. What if disadvantages were actually their advantage? What if tenacity and grit were factors?

"But money gives them and advantage!" But does it? Sometimes having all the resources means you're less likely to have the constraints to come up with more creative solutions or to grow more organically. Yes, there can be some comfort in knowing you have a safety net, but what if there were opportunities in not having everything you need going into it?

When it comes to natural ability and talent who is to say that comes easy? What if the person instead chose to nurture those abilities by building small habits day by day to turn those abilities and talents into a super power? In her book Mindset, Carol Dweck talks about growth and fixed mindset. Everyone has strengths and deficiencies. It's how you approach them which will make the difference. One thing is for sure, sitting around and waiting for something to happen is not the best answer.

Surely someone can have a better network and connections than me though, right? Maybe. Here's the friendly reminder that you have your own amazing network that others would likely kill to have. The question is have you tapped it? Also, if you take a closer look at the person you're comparing yourself to, you can see how they've made it a priority (or at least a thing) to keep developing those relationships over time. Yes, even effort went into that, even if they made it look easy. They may have created a project to attract those people too, but that didn't come without effort either.

We want things to be easy. And many times that should be the case and we shouldn't overcomplicate things. We take for granted what we do because it comes easy for us, completely forgetting that it doesn't come so naturally to others. We've taken the time (and effort) to build those skills. There's a point in our own journey where we risk losing sight of the potential we hold. Instead we run away, because we think things should just work.

Even as recently as a few months ago, I launched a new project. My word for 2019 was LAUNCH. Inside the word “launch” I *expected* everything would take off once I put it into the world. Did I get sales? Yes! Did I get as many sales as I wanted? No! Was it frustrating? Yes! Did I know it was a bit of an experiment and I’d need to keep tweaking and updating it? Yes! So why did I get frustrated when things didn’t go best case scenario? Probably because everyone else out there is singing their success stories.

I always knew some risk was involved. I keep reminding myself I’m in it for the long game. Besides, life would be boring if we got everything perfect the first time.

I do like to ask the question, "what if it were easy?" At first I thought it was just taking the easy route. Then through experience I realized it was taking that big, overwhelming thing and breaking it down into smaller chunks. As my gym instructor says, "You can do anything for 5 seconds." It's about taking the small steps and making a bit of effort. That's when you see the real progress. (He also says "You can do anything for 1 minute.")

My gym class is called "Be Strong." Yes, that means physically, but in order to achieve that, the mental component is equally important. When something starts to hurt or feel hard you have the choice: throw in the towel and give up, or keep going. When you do the later, it's not to say that it will stop hurting the more you do it, but you learn to trust yourself and feel empowered that you know you can do it.

I remember the term "no pain, no gain" growing up, but really I like the mantra "there's no progress without effort." Its'a good reminder that the best things come from those who face the challenges head on. Even when it's hard, and it may take time. The true rewards are on the other side, not just instant gratification.

I offer 1:1 coaching to support clients through the ups and downs of business. Learn more.