Redefining Ways of Work

The journey to success poses the challenge of going against the current, questioning norms, and defining your own terms. Take it from John Lee Dumas, host of the award-winning podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire, who says that in the era of grind and hustle, it's time to redefine ways to work.  

Every path to success may be different, but for John Lee, you will need these principles as tools when you go your way.

Solution-oriented Productivity

It's always good to be reminded that the root for "productivity" is "produce" – not busy, not work. This might be the most significant thing you need to ponder when identifying your goals, planning, and putting in the hard work.

Productive people produce right solutions for real problems out there in the world. – John Lee Dumas

The key to paving your own path is producing the right solutions to real-world problems you can solve and are passionate about solving. Answers may be in the form of content, products, or services that you have skills and expertise in. Thinking about these solutions will clear out your goals and point you in the direction you could pursue.

And in this world of challenges and constant change, you'll never run out of problems. It'll be just a matter of identifying which one is for you to solve. Soon enough, you'll find yourself in the process of being productive, coming up with the best solutions. And since you're addressing a real problem, people will naturally come to your doorstep for the solutions you offer.  

Planning and Discipline

Discipline is often misconstrued. Most people consider discipline as just the act of sticking to a practice. According to John Lee, discipline is all about "winning tomorrow, today."

It's easy to be hyped about exciting ideas and inspirations. But it all ends there, as abstract ideas, if you don't follow through. Having a clear plan of action is the first step to concretizing your goals. Lay the tasks out flat on the table, and execute them every day. These plans will serve as the backbone of your discipline. It will get things clear and running, targeted and measured. If you don't have a plan, then it's hard to say if you're being disciplined or not.

Be a disciple to your plan of actions. – John Lee Dumas

To concretely practice and improve discipline, try committing to your number one goal for 100 days. This will help you gain momentum, get you going in the right direction, and lead you to results one after another.

Deep Focus

Everybody wants just a taste of a lot of things rather than taking a deep dive into something they're passionate for. Focus is about diving a mile deep for results and not just about keeping yourself busy with many different things. 

You're never going to make an impact going one mile wide and one inch deep. Your impact is going to be shallow if you only go an inch deep. – John Lee Dumas

Have you ever wondered why we always end up multi-tasking and procrastinating? The truth is that deep focus is difficult to sustain, and multi-tasking is a trap. There's always the tendency to be overwhelmed and distracted by a handful of things. Since we are constantly facing many different options every day, there's always a temptation to meet these distracting demands, pulling us away from what's important to our goals.

Deep focus is about prioritizing your number one goal. It invites us to go all-in on a single course towards your goal and give it to the best of our abilities. Applying deep focus in work allows you to create an impact on the things that really matter.

Although crucial, remember that focus doesn't guarantee success. Deep focus promises substantial gains, such as experiences and lessons. But John Lee challenges us to focus on a single course until we get the result: either success or failure. If you fail, then take your lessons, and move on to a new venture.