Daily Directive: 111424

Marketing Reps: 15 minutes

Mine your leads. Instructions here.

Project: Self-Leadership

What do you AVOID doing?

Entrepreneurs are good at doing hard things…but not always doing the things that matter.

For example, it’s no problem for a founder to work a 13-hour day in their business. Most people woudl say that’s “hard” – but owners do it all the time.

It’s no problem to get up early and work on our business – I’m writing this at 4:55am. That’s ‘hard’ for most people, and the norm for many of us.

But these are the “easy-hard” things. They beat up our body, make us tired, and cost us time with family and friends. Sometimes they cost us money. But they rarely grow our business.

What grows our business is the “HARD-hard” stuff: taking coffee to a neighbor. Recording a video for YouTube. Calling our leads. Writing a blog post. Publishing on social media. Evaluating our staff. Asking for referrals.

I call these “HARD-hard” things, because the obstacle – in every case – is ourselves.

Work a longer day? You got it. Sacrifice time with our kids to return a client’s phone call? Yep. Unload the delivery van ourselves instead of delegating it? Daily.

Pick up the phone and call someone who just sent you an angry email? Hell no.

Go to a party where you might meet people? Start a conversation about your business? Invite a stranger at the coffee shop to visit you at work? Absolutely not.

But these are the things that actually grow your business. That’s why I say that YOU are usually the limiting factor in your business: the stuff that must be done isn’t getting done, because you’re working hard on stuff that’s actually easy. You’re avoiding the HARD-hard stuff by filling your time with the EASY-hard stuff.

The most important first step you must take, as a leader, is self-leadership.

As my friend Nick says, “You don’t build resilience by going harder at the stuff you do all the time. You build resilience by doing stuff you hate one time…and then doing it again.” For example, gym owners don’t build resilience by doing very hard workouts. They build resilience by calling their leads.

Today: write down the last thing you avoided doing. Be honest with yourself: no one else will read this.

Next question: what’s a smaller, or shorter version of the thing you avoided doing?

What’s the bite-size version that will get you some practice reps?

Make that version your next project: by EOD tomorrow, practice doing the hard thing.

Next week, do a harder version of the hard thing. Build yourself up to the HARD-hard stuff.

Here are some examples of HARD-hard actions in different service businesses. Each example shows the difference between the “easy-hard” stuff and the “HARD-hard” stuff that truly drives growth:

1. Personal Trainer:
   • Easy-Hard: Running back-to-back sessions all day, staying late to clean up, organizing equipment after every client.
   • HARD-Hard: Following up with clients who haven’t attended in a week, recording a weekly fitness tip video, reaching out to clients post-session to see how they’re feeling, and inviting happy clients to refer a friend.
2. Accountant:
   • Easy-Hard: Processing tax returns as fast as possible, answering client emails all evening, crunching numbers late into the night.
   • HARD-Hard: Hosting a free tax-planning workshop for local small businesses, calling clients proactively about potential tax savings, asking long-term clients for testimonials, and connecting with other local businesses for referrals.
3. Hair Salon Owner:
   • Easy-Hard: Cutting hair for 10 hours straight, staying late to sanitize and set up stations, restocking product shelves.
   • HARD-Hard: Creating a “Look of the Month” on Instagram, calling clients who haven’t booked in a while to invite them back, networking with local wedding planners for referrals, and asking satisfied clients to leave a review.
4. Real Estate Agent:
   • Easy-Hard: Attending every open house, spending hours staging properties, keeping up with client paperwork all weekend.
   • HARD-Hard: Posting a weekly local market update on social media, following up with people who attended open houses, reaching out to previous clients for referrals, and visiting local businesses to build connections and discuss potential partnerships.
5. Physical Therapist:
   • Easy-Hard: Scheduling back-to-back treatments all day, staying up late to chart patient notes, keeping equipment clean and organized.
   • HARD-Hard: Publishing an article on preventing workplace injuries, calling patients post-treatment for follow-ups, reaching out to primary care physicians for referrals, and asking regular patients to refer friends or family.

In every business, it’s easy to fill our time with things that feel productive but don’t drive growth. The real progress lies in facing the tasks that feel uncomfortable, unpredictable, or risky. Building resilience starts by taking that first step towards the HARD-hard tasks.