Dig down and get it done. It’s about speed, so keep pushing. I have heard that time and time again. This has been my way of work for so long that it has carried over to the way I work on my current venture. “Dig down and get it done”. Well, some times I dig down and get it done so much that I fail to realize the accomplishments from day one until now.
I do not hide the fact that I’m a proud graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and an Army Veteran, for which I have developed a certain type of work ethic. Productive long hours and late nights – (as a matter of fact – I am writing this at 1 am in the morning) is something that I am very accustomed to and personally enjoy. As an entrepreneur- I have the privilege to work on something I am passionate about which most of the time does not seem like work. Task after task that I complete – I don’t take “score” on what I have completed because the goal is to create something sustainable that I will ultimately be proud of – I will be able to look back and say, “well done”! However, it is important and necessary to take a break from time to time and breathe.
1 to the 2, 2 to the 3 and then you gotta … BREATHE
Taking a break – taking a step and breathing to look at what you have accomplished will motivate you to not only keep going, but also potentially keep you sane. I joke about this but it is true. I find that as an entrepreneur especially being a solo entrepreneur (not having partners) that keeping myself composed and together is not only important, but also necessary. I found out the hard way the roller coaster path of entrepreneurship. I thought what I learned at Wharton in the bubble of a classroom would carry me through and that I had all of the answers because hey – I had this Ivy League education – HA! Do not get me wrong graduating from Wharton is a major accomplishment, but it does not compare to just doing it.
HEAD DOWN, BACK STRAIGHT… PUSH! PUSH! PUSH!
Dig down and get it done… push, push, push – when it comes to technology it is easy to get lost in the work. It is just you and your laptop or whatever tool you are using. Elon Musk, Woz and any other person you have read about talked about the hours and hours and hours they put into making the “product” and never coming up for “air”. Kudos to them. I tried it and I do not like it. Plus – it is just good to come up and get a quick break. After working for months and possibly years – to get an understanding and sense of what YOU accomplished is amazing. I will provide an example. I have been character developing for about two to three months non-stop. Continuously drawing differently characters, features and any ideas I can come up with I would sketch and draw it. I would put them in a folder and then I started putting them on my wall so I could visually see them. When I finally came up for “air” not only was my wall covered with characters and features but also my initial folder was filled with more characters and features that I were completed early on.
I was amazed – I took the time to stop and shift my time to start looking at the different characters now and decide what I like and didn’t like about various features and designs. For the first time – I was able to start a portfolio. I was able to start moving a project of my company into a different phase and didn’t even know it because I took a step back and I noticed my accomplishments.
As entrepreneurs we get busy, we get so busy that we dig so far down in the trenches that we are overwhelmed. We are moving so fast that we don’t take the time to see what we have completed and start to get frustrated, but all we have to do is take a few steps back – take a deep breath and …..
JUST BREATHE
