Title: 
Beyond The Grind – Hard Work Alone Isn’t Good Enough

Word Count:
534

Summary:
In business and personal pursuits it is possible to find that hard work is not always enough to bring us to our highest goals. In fact too much work can detract from other positive activities that contribute to our overall success.

I used to be sort of a workaholic in terms of building my small business. I would work 10 and 12 hour days, seven times a week, and I would never let anything stand between me and my current workload.

For a time my profits climbed and it look...


Keywords:
productiviy, motivation


Article Body:
In business and personal pursuits it is possible to find that hard work is not always enough to bring us to our highest goals. In fact too much work can detract from other positive activities that contribute to our overall success.

I used to be sort of a workaholic in terms of building my small business. I would work 10 and 12 hour days, seven times a week, and I would never let anything stand between me and my current workload.

For a time my profits climbed and it looked as if I would quickly meet my specific goals of financial success. But then I hit a plateau that I just couldn’t climb past…

I had attained a certain level of success quickly through hard work, but my continued effort never seemed to push me beyond that initial level of achievement. I was so frustrated, and I had no idea why I was still working hard but not moving forward.

Looking back I now see clearly what my problem was.

You see I still work long days, but I always take at least one day off from work every week. And instead of staying non-stop at the grind I balance my days with a few relaxing breaks and I spend time every day reading a book or ezine, or listening to an audio on the topics of marketing, self-improvement, etc.

The amazing thing is now that I am intentionally leaving time each day to relax, and more importantly to immerse myself in knowledge and insight about my industry, I am moving forward at an almost unstoppable rate. It’s definitely crucial to our business and personal well being to take a day off and to take breaks during the work day because this helps balance our momentum and release tension.

In fact giving myself legitimate breaks has cut down on the “drift time” where I might end up browsing a discussion forum for half an hour or worse just sit and stare blankly at the screen for ten minutes at a time. By consciously taking a fifteen minute break here and there I am able to rejuvenate and then return to my work focused and ready.

And taking a whole day off each week – my day is Saturday – is fabulous. I feel like a super hero when I wake up after my day off, totally ready to start a new week at full speed ahead.

But I think what I was really missing before was the positive immersion in content related to my goals. In the past I was too busy to actually read a newsletter or book, and even unwilling to pause long enough to put an educational CD in to listen to while I worked.

Today I find myself involved in multiple books, e-books, newsletter, videos, and audios each week and the result is ever-increasing momentum and a continually fresh perspective. If you own a small business and feel like you are working hard but getting nowhere perhaps you need to start balancing your time between work, rest, and education.

This change in rhythm has been an extraordinary breakthrough for me, and I believe it could be very helpful for you as well.