In the previous post, I tried to emphasize the importance of doing it now. Many people will say that there just aren’t enough hours in the work day to do everything now. As you will expect coming from someone advocating the importance of a strong work ethic, the solution I offer is again simple to understand. Expand your work day. This will be a bitter pill for many readers to swallow, especially, I suspect, younger readers. However, there really is no other way. Your work day should last as long as it takes to get everything done, limited only by your physical ability to continue working.
If you’ve been paying attention as you read, you may note that I said my work day begins around six in the morning, and I routinely work until ten in the evening, often later. If you are counting, that is a minimum sixteen hour day, and that is, I promise you, no exaggeration. If you doubt it, try calling me at 6:30 a.m or 9:30 p.m., and see for yourself. I know a couple who recently complained to me that they are each working a full eight hours each day, and so have no time to do all of the other things they would need to do to become successful. These are two people who, barring significant changes in their way of thinking, will never be successful. While I start in the office at six, I’m up at five. That means I’ve got seven useful hours in, more than they squeeze out in a whole day, before they take their lunches. Do I think I’m something special? No. I’m just a realist. If you want to work only eight hours a day toward your mission, resign yourself to failure, as that is all you will ever get.
You simply must work each day, until the day’s work is done. Work, in this context (in fact, in any reasonable context) means the tasks necessary each day to serve your various missions. I routinely get up at 5 a.m. and get to bed around midnight, and in that time I manage the necessities of life, work for my law clients, work on my books, get my ass to the gym, spend time with my wife and kids, and do all of the things that fulfill my personal missions. Some days I can get it all done in less time, and some days it takes more. The qualities necessary to being able to put in those kind of hours will be the subjects of upcoming posts.