If you boil down most people’s challenges to one thing, it’s fear. And for most of us, it’s the fear of failure.
What happens if you fail at school? What if your business fails? What if you don’t make it as a professional athlete? How about failing in your relationships?
I could go on like that for a few hours. But have you ever ‘really’ thought about it? I mean in a practical way. What could happen if you fail?
Here are 3 scenarios — you decide which one’s the best.
One of my readers, Will, recently asked me about productive ways to use the time you’re normally wasting on waiting:
“How do you make the best use of the spaces in the day between other things? The few minutes here and there: waiting in line for coffee, before a meeting starts, waiting for the bus etc. I normally pull out Twitter on my phone, but most content there is rubbish and it feels like wasting time.”
Awesome question, and there’s no way I could put that better. So here we go.
One of my mentors is a 71-year-old entrepreneur. He started working since he was 12 years. The thought of retiring has never crossed his mind.
He told me he wants to die working — he loves it that much.
He said: “People will try to tell you that hard work is bad for you. And that you should work less. Don’t listen to them. Those people don’t enjoy their work, and they try to convince you of their fallacy.”
It got me thinking. Have you ever heard someone who loves their job, say that you shouldn’t work hard? No way. It’s always the lazy ones — like me back then — that make these statements.
When I first met my mentor, about five years ago, I didn’t understand why he worked seven days a week at his age. Why? Is it money, reputation, escapism?
Like many others, that ask “why would you work hard?” I just didn’t get it back then.
The last year has been huge for me in terms of doing productive things. I’ve got more things done than ever, switched careers and countries, spent loads of time with my family and friends, kept a healthy lifestyle, and exercised at least 5 times a week.
Many variables determine your overall productivity. Tools, apps, or hacks, don’t work if you lack the right mindset because productivity is a way of living.
It’s about achieving maximum output, getting shit done, and not wasting time. I think that output and happiness go hand in hand. To me, doing nothing equals misery.
I want to share 20 things I’ve done in the past 12 months that have made me more productive than ever.