I just read an inspiring quote by the legendary author Seth Godin… It goes like this.
“Your audacious life goals are fabulous. We’re proud of you for having them. But it’s possible that those goals are designed to distract you from the thing that’s really frightening you—the shift in daily habits that would mean a reinvention of how you see yourself.” – Seth Godin
And it affirms some ideas I have been preaching for so long: that success is always a cumulative effort.
Great achievements are nothing but the accumulation of thousands of tiny wins (and tens of thousands of mistakes) stacked up.
And the great men and women who accomplish these great achievements are nothing without the discipline of the not-so-great, seemingly insignificant daily habits.
At an intuitive level, we all know this.
But why is it that many people still fail to achieve their dreams?
The concept of ‘overnight success’ is nothing but a b*s concept propagated by society to sell products we don’t need and to become people we’re not.
And no matter how ‘woke’ you are, it blinds even the best of us.
As peak performers, we’re driven by outcomes. We get caught up in targets, goals and the most notorious of all… new year resolutions.
Don’t get me wrong, targets are important. It’s the way we are programmed.
As human beings, we need something to strive towards. A sense of purpose that gives us direction.
One of Stephen Covey’s ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ is ‘begin with the end in mind’. To have a vision of the end-goal clearly in your mind.
I’m a big believer in the power of goal setting too.
But I’m an even BIGGER believer in continuous, daily improvement.
For so many years, I realized I was so seduced by my vision… tooting my own horn and believing my own hype… that I do absolutely nothing. It wasn’t until a few painful reality checks that I woke up and came back to Earth.
How do you know if your vision is your north star, guiding you along your journey…
…or just a seductive delusion?
Strive For A Balance In Clouds & Dirt
Gary Vaynerchuk distinguishes this by using the metaphor of ‘clouds’ and ‘dirt’.
‘Clouds’ are your ideals, visions and big goals which light a fire under your belly and push you forward. ‘Dirt’ is simply the mundane, daily application (a.k.a the work) that ACTUALLY gets you there.
Clouds are not ‘better’ than dirt. Nor is dirt ’superior’ to clouds. You need both in the right balance.
Too many clouds – and your head is in the sky and you need to be grounded.
Too much dirt and you get your eyes blinded by the mud, losing that big-picture perspective of why you’re working so hard in the first place.
Many people don’t achieve their dreams because they over-emphasize on one of these two things.
So the question you want to ask right now is: what is your bias?
Are you biased towards ideas – coming up with the big plans, big visions and constantly live in the world of new missions to pursue?
Or
Are you biased towards action – constantly busying yourself with doing productive work, getting things done and execution?
Like all things – the beauty is in the balance.
Find out what it is that you need to spend more time in: clouds or dirt?
If you’re heavily entrenched in work, work, work – remember that productivity does not equate to progress until you are absolutely clear on the vision of what you are working towards.
This is where you need to zoom out and see things from the clouds, from time to time. In the long run, you’ll benefit significantly from regular self-reflection and reassessment of your goals.
If you’re always coming up with grand plans, brainstorming and starting projects but never finishing them… then you need to start focusing on building the necessary habits and structures to turn your visions into reality.
Remember that your vision is only as real as the actions you do on a daily basis to make your vision a reality. This is where you need to come back down from the clouds and get your hands dirty.
Summary
Strive for a balance in ‘clouds’ and ‘dirt’. ‘Clouds’ are your ideals, visions and big goals which light a fire under your belly and push you forward. ‘Dirt’ is simply the mundane, daily application (a.k.a the work) that actually gets you there.
Productivity does not equate to progress until you are absolutely clear on the vision of what you are working towards.
Your vision is only as real as the actions you do on a daily basis to make your vision a reality.
I just read an inspiring quote by the legendary author Seth Godin… It goes like this.
“Your audacious life goals are fabulous. We’re proud of you for having them. But it’s possible that those goals are designed to distract you from the thing that’s really frightening you—the shift in daily habits that would mean a reinvention of how you see yourself.” – Seth Godin
And it affirms some ideas I have been preaching for so long: that success is always a cumulative effort.
Great achievements are nothing but the accumulation of thousands of tiny wins (and tens of thousands of mistakes) stacked up.
And the great men and women who accomplish these great achievements are nothing without the discipline of the not-so-great, seemingly insignificant daily habits.
At an intuitive level, we all know this.
But why is it that many people still fail to achieve their dreams?
The concept of ‘overnight success’ is nothing but a b*s concept propagated by society to sell products we don’t need and to become people we’re not.
And no matter how ‘woke’ you are, it blinds even the best of us.
As peak performers, we’re driven by outcomes. We get caught up in targets, goals and the most notorious of all… new year resolutions.
Don’t get me wrong, targets are important. It’s the way we are programmed.
As human beings, we need something to strive towards. A sense of purpose that gives us direction.
One of Stephen Covey’s ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ is ‘begin with the end in mind’. To have a vision of the end-goal clearly in your mind.
I’m a big believer in the power of goal setting too.
But I’m an even BIGGER believer in continuous, daily improvement.
For so many years, I realized I was so seduced by my vision… tooting my own horn and believing my own hype… that I do absolutely nothing. It wasn’t until a few painful reality checks that I woke up and came back to Earth.
How do you know if your vision is your north star, guiding you along your journey…
…or just a seductive delusion?
Strive For A Balance In Clouds & Dirt
Gary Vaynerchuk distinguishes this by using the metaphor of ‘clouds’ and ‘dirt’.
‘Clouds’ are your ideals, visions and big goals which light a fire under your belly and push you forward. ‘Dirt’ is simply the mundane, daily application (a.k.a the work) that ACTUALLY gets you there.
Clouds are not ‘better’ than dirt. Nor is dirt ’superior’ to clouds. You need both in the right balance.
Too many clouds – and your head is in the sky and you need to be grounded.
Too much dirt and you get your eyes blinded by the mud, losing that big-picture perspective of why you’re working so hard in the first place.
Many people don’t achieve their dreams because they over-emphasize on one of these two things.
So the question you want to ask right now is: what is your bias?
Are you biased towards ideas – coming up with the big plans, big visions and constantly live in the world of new missions to pursue?
Or
Are you biased towards action – constantly busying yourself with doing productive work, getting things done and execution?
Like all things – the beauty is in the balance.
Find out what it is that you need to spend more time in: clouds or dirt?
If you’re heavily entrenched in work, work, work – remember that productivity does not equate to progress until you are absolutely clear on the vision of what you are working towards.
This is where you need to zoom out and see things from the clouds, from time to time. In the long run, you’ll benefit significantly from regular self-reflection and reassessment of your goals.
If you’re always coming up with grand plans, brainstorming and starting projects but never finishing them… then you need to start focusing on building the necessary habits and structures to turn your visions into reality.
Remember that your vision is only as real as the actions you do on a daily basis to make your vision a reality. This is where you need to come back down from the clouds and get your hands dirty.
Summary
Strive for a balance in ‘clouds’ and ‘dirt’. ‘Clouds’ are your ideals, visions and big goals which light a fire under your belly and push you forward. ‘Dirt’ is simply the mundane, daily application (a.k.a the work) that actually gets you there.
Productivity does not equate to progress until you are absolutely clear on the vision of what you are working towards.
Your vision is only as real as the actions you do on a daily basis to make your vision a reality.