First, I want you to think about this question…

How often do you find yourself working hard, staying so busy doing the activities that you think you should be doing, just to realize that you aren’t any closer to your desired outcome than when you started?

I feel like all of us have been here and believe me, I have been there far too many times…(AND sometimes FARTHER away!)  

So you must ask yourself, “Why did I work so hard to still be so far away?”   Sadly, oftentimes hard work alone isn’t the answer to achieve your goal, as the quote says “Direction is so much more important than speed. Many are going nowhere fast.”  The outcome of your action is far more important than the activity it takes to complete it.

So what’s an example of this?  Just look at the fitness industry, it is a $20 billion a year industry. Why?  Simple, most of us need to get more fit, lose our excess fat, or we are trying to shape our bodies to look like the latest celebrity or supermodel.  No matter the reason, we oftentimes simply walk into the gym and do “something”.  When we focus on the activities of exercising, we just go do some action.  We go to the gym, work out for an hour and then head home, thinking we did some work today with a treadmill saying we burned 400 calories.  While this sounds good and you may get some results, you’ll never meet your goal by being busy in activity.  We try and burn out, start again and burn out. We never see the end goal like we wanted, and the fitness industry keeps selling you on the next hot activity to keep you busy.    Instead, we must “train” (As many in the fitness industry like to say), which means to have a plan.  So what does a plan focus on?  The Outcome! When we see and work towards the outcome, we simply do the work to get there.  We can work with direction and speed.  We can push out the wasteful movements and gain so much more time to move in the right direction.

While it takes hard work to get the outcome we desire,  focusing on the outcome and striving to make the outcome real is the true way to succeed.  Measure yourself on the outcomes of your actions, not the fact you did some activity.

Do what it takes to make your sales quota, not count the number of calls you have to make.

Do what it takes to lose some weight. not check off that you went to the gym.

Do what it takes to build your relationship with your significant other, not just hang out and hope it’ll change.

Do what it takes to get the outcome you desire, not just keep yourself busy hoping that you one day might achieve something.