I decided it was time to paint the red brick on our house white. This included the back patio area, the front, and the second story of the house – not a small project, especially given we were only using rollers and brushes to cut everything in. We started fairly early, painting section by section, in case we got interrupted and didn't want the house to look half-painted. We had set the goal of finishing that day. It was Saturday and we had an event around 5 pm, so we were hoping to finish before then. Here is what it looked like before:
Other than running to the store because we ran out of paint, we worked hard on painting, going up and down the ladder, cutting in, rolling, and repeating. After I grew tired and a bit bored with painting, having listened to multiple podcasts I had in my queue, finally focusing on bonding with my son as we had the ladder up on the second story trying to cut in high up, I had what is now a very obvious realization: the only way to get this done is to keep painting. In some ways, it's similar to Charlie Munger's advice on staying married – just don't get divorced.
We went to the event at 5 pm covered in paint. We left the event early because painting the house didn't care whether I had an event. It didn't care about anything other than painting + time. If I kept going, it would get done. We finished around 1:30 am, and it was super fulfilling, and very tiring.
I was playing the game of getting the house painted. It had a few requirements: paint, technology, and someone with the knowledge to do the work. It didn't care how I felt, only that I continued to paint over time. If the product was not adequate, it would have taken longer. If I had better technology, it would have been faster. If I had better know-how or experience, it would have been quicker. I paid for my inferior technology and ignorance on some level, but still got the job done due to time. As Proverbs 14:23 states, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” Or, as Myron Golden has simplified it, all work works.
While this idea is somewhat obvious in physical labor, where I could see (and so could my neighbors) the results of my work, I realized I needed to apply this idea to my knowledge work. Yes, I can focus on my personal effectiveness each day, trying to accomplish tasks in alignment with my purpose, core values, and goals. I can focus on increasing efficiencies and optimizing my environment to leverage when I am most productive. Regardless of inevitably being imperfect at both of those, if I put in the time and persist at the task, I will accomplish it. The game of business doesn't care about my distractions, my emotions, or anything else. It demands my focus, energy, attention, and time. Just do the work. It will be inefficient and imperfect. I need to respect the game I'm playing and what it demands. As usual, the reality of the situation and the external world is what I need to respect and appreciate.
The other realization was that I should treat knowledge work and my businesses as skills that must be practiced each day. If I want to improve at a task, focus on it often enough that I achieve a payoff and start to see that that the path I'm on will lead to my goal. Hope = goal + agency + pathway. With the right goal, a plan to get there, and sufficient time – whether efficient or not – I know I'll accomplish it. Get in the arena, get punched in the face, and adjust to the demands of the game.
Here is how it turned out:
