When To “Work While They Sleep”?
Cringy motivational phrases have no obligation to reflect reality. Understand what is a myth and what is true in running the extra mile.
“Work while they sleep.
Learn while they party.
Save while they spend.
Live like they dream.”
If you use social media, you’ve probably read this sentence at some point.
Maybe with a picture of some famous entrepreneur in the background, with that motivational atmosphere as shallow as possible.
This whole movement of entrepreneurship, self-made and similar stuff gained a lot of space in the media.
I don’t know successful people who didn’t work stubbornly, without sticking to the 9 to 5. On the other hand, I’ve also seen many success-obsessed people fail because they neglect their physical and mental integrity.
Is there still common sense when it comes to making a hustling living? Understand below (with really coherent motivational quotes).
When Luck Is on Your Side
“I think one of the precursors of being able to take risk is to have some kind of support from somebody.” — Jeff Bezos.
Yes. Luck.
Throughout their career, every entrepreneur will make decisions that will unpredictably impact their future.
Maybe Amazon wouldn’t exist if Bezos’s ex-wife didn’t believe in his idea — nor in the risk he was taking.
Perhaps social media would have a different reality if Mark Zuckerberg couldn’t be at college, had the support of his parents, and met his first partners.
Many important personalities will say that they were lucky in their business. This is not just a figure of speech, not even false modesty, they are being sincere when they say it.
When Your Plan Shows Signs of Success
Business models are undergoing a gradual change.
From mass communication to ultra-segmentation.
From super releases to the experimental mindset.
The best way to be successful today is to start with quick wins. Investigating big without evidence, or even quitting your job to be an entrepreneur has become unnecessary.
Technology has given us the means to seed a thriving environment and then make bigger decisions, all with little investment.
So if you’re looking for motivation to work harder, the best thing is to collect sequential hits that indicate it’s worth it.
When You Already Do the Basics Very Well
“Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise.” — Michael Jordan.
Are you really working harder or are you just working too hard?
Remember: being busy is quite different from being productive.
We tend to waste a lot of time transitioning between tasks, having useless meetings, and covertly procrastinating.
In practice, much of the work — especially in the digital world — can be done in less time, as long as in high performance.
Here, quality counts much more than quantity. And this is only justified when the basics are being done well. Often excellent work is in mastering the most basic skills.
Only when you have the confidence to carry out a greater load of effort is this justifiable. Otherwise, it will just be chasing lost time.
When You Are Surrounded by Positive People
“Surround yourself with people who believe in your dreams, encourage your ideas, support your ambitions, and bring out the best in you.” — Roy Bennett.
Creativity and motivation are closely linked to external factors, such as:
- The desire to be independent.
- The environment in which an individual is inserted.
Often, being surrounded by toxic colleagues and family members causes our productivity to plummet. This happens for emotional reasons and, to make matters worse, we have virtually no control over other people, only ourselves.
Often, extra effort under low capacity will yield far fewer results than simply moving to a positive environment with a regular workload.
When Your Health Is Alright
“The wish for healing has always been half of health.” — Seneca
It is obvious that giving up momentary happiness is essential for long-term gains. After all, good results often depend on the “pain of growth”.
The question is, is your pain really a growing pain?
Lack of awareness of when to stop often leads to stagnation or even interruption of work.
Spending a sleepless night can mean missing a whole day or two of subsequent work.
The absence of breaks can simply lead to a lack of focus, leading to decisions that cause regress rather than progress.
Bad food intake may increase stress and disease probabilities.
Not to mention cases of anxiety, burnout syndrome, physical injuries and others.
It’s not just about “feeling good”, as many coaches say today, but not wasting the useful energy of your day.
