To Get Motivated, You’ve Got To Focus. To Focus, You’ve Got To Say, “No.”
Last modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago.
I remember as a kid I would get a kick out of hearing my father negotiate on the phone his next truck-driving assignment.
The dispatchers would try to twist his ear to make any delivery at all.
My Dad, being a slacker (a good thing in this situation), would refuse anything that didn’t pay well enough. There were plenty of “runs,” as they were called, that did pay well. Those were the only ones he’d bother with. (He would do a cheap run, though, as long as it was along the way of a run that paid well).
He wasn’t one to work for nuthin’.
That was a good call, too, no matter how much the dispatchers pressured him.
When it comes to nutrition, though, he’s eager to “step over dollars to pick up pennies,” to borrow a phrase from Layne Norton. He’ll ask me, ‘What about magnesium?’ Or, ‘What about this food?’ Or whatever he had heard about in the news or in a quick tidbit online. Being a decent sport, I’d answer, of course… and to no avail.
As I try to explain (in a non-dull way, when possible), I say, do the things that make a meaningful difference.
Drop the small stuff.
That’s the pitfall of the avalanche of “infotainment” that exists today. It’s very easy to go to from video to video, or from one piece of advice to another. And . . .
‘If you get enough advice, it all cancels out,’ as Naval Ravikant has wisely stated.
I will leave you with a quote from Steve Jobs (quoted from Antifragile by Nassim Taleb) to drive the point home (no pun intended):
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” 1
To be successful, you’ve got to say, “No.” You’ve got to focus!
Notice I did not say, ‘You’ve got to be motivated.’ Motivation is a side effect of focus, IMHO.
Be proud of what you refuse, because you’re allowing yourself to say, “yes,” to what really matters.
. . . That sounds like a beautiful life to me.
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“I remember a lot of you spent a lot of time working on stuff that we put a bullet in the head of. I apologize. I feel your pain. But, Apple suffered for many years from lousy engineering management.” -Steve Jobs↩