Do you value EFFORT over RESULTS?

Where are you BUSY instead of PRODUCTIVE?
Where are you BUSY instead of PRODUCTIVE? This USED to be my desk, and I remember how important I felt, when I saw all this activity.

You know, sometimes it’s about taking off the rose colored glasses, scratching the imagined, airbrushed figure off the mirror, and really taking a cold, hard look at what results you’re producing in your life.

I was in the gym this morning, watching a woman who was dressed to work out, but was really just visiting with other people. Now, I have no idea whether she ever actually did work out…but it got me to thinking. Because so many times, we measure our time spent, our efforts, or the perceptions, rather than our true results. Know what I mean?

I worked with a guy one time who made sure that I got his reports with a date and time stamp at the bottom, that showed that he had been in the office, working, at 2:35 AM. He wasn’t producing results, but he wanted me to know how hard he was working.

Did that really matter? How did that help our bottom line, his satisfaction or growth…

I look at all this, and ask – where in MY life am I measuring the effort I am putting in, the number of balls I have in the air, the number of facebook friends I can accumulate and the length of my working day, instead of the number of people I am actually working with as clients, creating the transformation in them that changes their – and my – world?

I am working with a woman right now who has a long standing pattern of avoidance of things that she fears. When things are hard for her, her pattern has been to let the clutter build so she could feel busy dealing with it. She would spend hours sorting emails rather than responding to them. It cost her HUGELY in business terms, in her personal satisfaction, in her family life…so she decided to deal with it. She has cleared out the physical clutter in her life, and is now clearing the mental and emotional clutter in her being. It’s amazing to watch her progress.

So I’ll ask the same thing of you – where are you measuring your energy output, instead of your end results?

Wouldn’t I be crazy if I went to the gym, believing that I’ve changed my life because of that choice, without standing in front of the mirror once a week and asking – do I feel better about my body? Do I feel healthier? Am I happy with the results I am getting? If not, what do I need to do differently? Maybe I need to add more weights, or do a different routine, or get some tune-up instruction from a trainer. (And follow it!)

Where in your life are you working like mad and feeling like that’s enough…without taking a good look at the results you are getting? Are you letting it be OK because you know you’re putting in big effort?

If so, what are you going to do about it?

I’d love to have your comments about this – what insights does this bring up for you? Let’s have a conversation!

Thanks!


2 comments on “Do you value EFFORT over RESULTS?

  • I think this is brilliant. Over-booking and multitasking have become moral imperatives, as if we prove our worth by how "insane" our pace is. Gee. I don't like feeling shredded all the time, and forgetting why I love my work because it's gotten a little out of hand.
    Results. I'll be giving this some thought. What a refreshing perspective. 🙂

    Reply

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