Keep Chopping Wood. Tuesday, July 18.

Tuesday, July 18

“If I’m still capable of doing the work, then I do the work. I never gave much thought to it.”

I was talking with an older gentleman recently and asked about how he handled hard days. I wanted to know what he did when adversity hit, when he didn’t feel like doing the work, when there was stress in his personal life (relationships, finances, health, etc) but he still had to produce in his professional life. I loved the simplicity of his response.

It doesn’t matter how you feel. It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday. It doesn’t matter what someone said to you. Can you do the work in front of you? If so, do it. Whatever your best looks like today, give it. It’s not about dismissing or suppressing feelings, it’s about not letting them drive the car.

Colleague got the promotion you wanted? Great, you can still do the work. Failed to close the big deal yesterday? Great, you can still do the work. Boss gave you a less than stellar performance review? Great, you can still do the work.

Your potential is not dictated by your feelings. Your potential is dictated by your effort.
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Keep chopping wood. 🪵🪓

-Kevin