The fallacy: hard work = volume

Like many at the outset of their career, I decided my strategy for “success” would simply be hard work. And by that I, of course, mean “volume”.

And before you start screaming that “hard work” and “volume” – or presentism or long hours or late nights – are not equivalents, I’m sharing this exactly because it’s the kind of warped thinking pattern whose short-term success can lead to embedded habits of long-term consequence.

Put simply: I dropped into a practised set of thought and behaviour patterns whose positive results reinforced those patterns. And my regular practice of them meant I got good at them. These behaviours were home for me. And that level of comfort and sense of mastery doesn’t invite us to scrutinise any further.

The oxymoron:
unsustainable success strategies

One of my favoured strategies was to put an extreme focus on all the (quote/unquote) “small” things, most of which were internal and concerning the team around me.

I would get a sense of momentum (a primary value of mine) and achievement (a global and socially-recognised value). The team would get plenty of attention and answers to their questions. I would get positive feedback. All good.

Meantime, the (quote/unquote) “big” things – the high-return activities – most of which were external and client-related – would be neglected until the end of the day. The logic: if it gets to 7pm or 8pm and that client proposal is still not finished, there was no question I wouldn’t do it. And I’d work late into the night and make it happen. Guaranteed. And at any cost.

A problem “solved” by throwing more hours at it and making the sacrifice.

Had I got to 7pm or 8pm having done the client proposal, but not attended to the little things from the team, those “little things” I probably wouldn’t stay up for. And they’d cycle into the next day.

Result: a far less productive day. (As far as my subconscious is concerned.)

Perpetuating only that which we know

You don’t need me to outline the pitfalls of this strategy: they’re clear. And when we see it written down, it’s obvious both that it’s an unsustainable strategy and that there are other and better ways to achieve similar or better results.

But that sort of self-evident clarity is not easily available to us. We convince ourselves it’s working. And we perpetuate in what we know, (choosing to be?) oblivious to the longer-term consequences.

Until something gives.

Raising self-awareness

I was fortunate. I moved to a new company where the whole setup – from colleagues to clients to environment to type of work and everything else – completely refreshed my perspective. I woke up. I made changes. Things were better.

And I’m not upset about how I approached the previous stage of my career: I got so much out of time. But I was very happy to find another way.

And that acceptance is an important part of the upgrade process. Because habitual strategies are never entirely “bad”: we wouldn’t persist in them if they were. But they might be unsustainable. They might be costly in other areas. And they’re probably not necessary to achieve what we’re calling success.

So, a question:

What early-career success habits have you’ve developed that, unchecked, have the potential to undo you?

Here are a few thoughts to get you reflecting on your self-conditioned patterns that are now showing-up in unhelpful ways – and what you might consider doing instead.

#1. Failing to Recalibrate for a Diminishing Capacity
Starting with the obvious: our capacity for work changes over time, generally diminishing, as time passes. I want to keep revisiting my capacity; and reminding myself that everything over and above that capacity will come with a cost. From there, I want to re-evaluate the volume of work I’m committing to. And reflect on why I’m overcommitting. What would it mean about me and for me if I stuck to my capacity? What would it mean about me and for me if I didn’t?

#2. Continuing to Focus on Low-Return Activities
So much of our physical, mental and emotional burnout comes from a lack of clarity over where to put our precious time and attention. Where am I prioritising low-return activities? Why am I prioritising the low-return items? And how am I doing that process of prioritisation? What would need to change within me to be able to let go of these low-return activities and prioritise differently?

#3. Not Recalibrating our Emotional Attachment to Work
When we set-out on our journey, career commonly plays a far larger role within our life (including the emotional experience of life) relative to later stages of life. As time progresses, the other big pieces of life develop, and career is not so relatively important. But our strong emotional attachment doesn’t similarly recalibrate on its own: I need to rewrite that internal narrative about what my career is to me and the part it now plays in my life. Else, my overly-emotional attachment to work will perpetuate patterns that I no longer have capacity for.

#4. Neglecting the Need for Psychological Safety
Early in our careers, we want to show willing. We want to be asked. We want to say yes. We’re probably fine with that and probably fine with never saying “no”. And although we’re a little fearful of making mistakes, we’re new and mistakes are to be expected. My unconscious can except that story. And don’t worry: we’ll make up for that with enthusiasm and hard work. But later in our careers: our self-conditioning to say “yes” to everything is not sustainable. And the fear of making mistakes is now off the scale – it just shouldn’t happen to someone at our level of experience and seniority. Notice how psychologically-unsafe an environment we create for ourselves! Work on this.

#5. De-prioritising Rest, Recuperation and Rejuvenation
Where before we were happy to shun R&R, that cannot be the case now. The mind and body are perfect accounting systems for the strategies we adopt for (broadly-speaking) Work vs. Rest. And if we get that balance wrong, it’ll show up. We’re good at choosing not to see those costs – so get someone else involved. Ask a trusted person with whom you spend significant time what they’ve noticed about us, as far as energy, enthusiasm and vitality are concerned. A strange and unusual question – but do it. The answers are often enlightening. From there: look at your week and see where, on the scale, you’re prioritising REST. (If at all.)

Thanks for reading!

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