Keep moving forward

Here’s a trap I’ve seen more people fall into than I can count. There’s always something that seems to be a better option than what you are currently working on. So you switch to the new thing. But you don’t finish it. Then you switch to the next new thing. Which you also don’t finish. Nothing ever gets done. Nothing goes out the door. Nothing goes public.

This happens a lot when the economy slows down. Because the signals telling you that you are on the right track take longer to circle back around. So people choose to do things that seem to have a quick payoff, but in reality they just switch from strategy to strategy with no follow-through.

I am in on way saying you should keep working on something that is obviously not solving your problem. You have to be ruthless about identifying your own bottlenecks and not avoiding them. You can’t just pick something that feels comfortable and keep doing it because that’s what feels good. You have to always be working on your hardest problem that is your biggest bottleneck at all times.

But as long as you are doing that, and staying focused on your biggest problem at all times, there is no silver bullet. There is no quick solution. There is no “easy” path. The people who can stay resilient in the face of a years-long battle with the same problem, moving forward an inch at a time, are the ones who end up being lauded for their brilliance. But most days, and most attempts, end in complete failure.

The important part is that you make the attempt. Rather than being distracted by a better option and never even trying.