The Desert of Arizona
Sunny 91 Degrees – 4:16 p.m.
My friend, the one featured here, posted a list a few months ago to help people understand where they stood when it came to being important to him.
My memory is a bit fuzzy, but he had four levels. Each level represented what he was willing to do for a friend at that level.
If you were on level 1, he’d be willing to email back and forth with you.
If you were on level 2, he’d be willing to serve as godfather to your children.
If you were on level 3, he’d be willing to take a bullet for you.
And if you made it to level 4, he’d actually be willing to talk with you on the telephone.
It was a joke, obviously. But not really. He doesn’t like talking on the phone.
And so he’s made his business and life around that.
He does it the way he wants to do it.
He doesn’t fall prey to the “hustle at all costs” brainwashing that is currently infecting people who want to “succeed.”
He’s not interested in working hard.
He has no desire for fame or fortune.
Can you imagine someone standing up at a business conference and saying these things?
Of course not. They’d get laughed off stage.
But I think all of that ridicule is worth it for what you get in return for following your path.
When you stray from your path, you end up working way too hard for far too little. When you are able to focus in on your path, flow happens.
I used to think hard work was virtuous, which is why I struggled for so long. Just work harder! You’re not working hard enough! But hard work isn’t inherently virtuous at all.
It really depends on the reason you’re working so hard. To me, virtue begins with intention, not just behavior. If you’re “working hard” to fill that emptiness and lack of worth you feel inside, I don’t think there’s virtue to be found there.
You’ve got far bigger issues to deal with and hard work becomes a diversion. Those issues are worth dealing with, though, because the benefits will ripple out from you and change your world.
The fastest route to success is to live and work exactly how you want to do it. That way, you don’t get burned out, you don’t get run down, you don’t get anything except an endless opportunity to walk on your road.
What is keeping you from building your business exactly as you want it to be?
Do you even know what that is? Can you hear past the noise everyone’s making about how you SHOULD do it?