Let Time Work For You

There’s a quiet whisper I hear every week… “you don’t need to write this week. Take a break. You’ve earned it…”  

Do you ever hear your inner monkey brain trying to sabotage your motivation or your aspirations? 

When I am dreaming big, I think my monkey brain gets loud to “protect” me. I think the monkey brain wants me to live small. If I live small, then I’m “safe.” 

Our work as leaders is art. If we are properly doing our job as a leader, we feel doubt and discomfort from time to time (or a lot of time). I shared recently how Howard Behar distilled work as people serving people. It’s a true art form to serve other humans. Bringing humanity to the workplace is art. Since it’s art… it comes with dips, doubt, and a lot of hard work. 

One of my favorite artists of all time is Steven Pressfield. He’s written an insane amount of successful books in his career. I recently read his memoir GOVT CHEESE. 

Steven Pressfield after 20+ years of writing with no rewards, was getting paid $500 to do a rewrite for a porn flick. At 42 years old he was asking himself: “why am I living like this?” 

His mentor Ernie Pintoff pounded him every day in his 40s: 

“Just keep working…keep working… you’re young, you’re learning. Keep working.” 

Ernie his mentor continued: 

“Three reasons to keep working… 

One: working means you’re getting paid… every buck means you’re a working pro. 

Two: when you work, you learn. Everybody has something to teach you. 

Three: you’re making friends. Some kid who’s schlepping coffee today may be a producer tomorrow.” 

Ernie kept Pressfield in the game. Ernie kept Pressfield in the game long enough to see the compounding of his work to bear fruit. At the age of 51, Pressfield got his first “break.” 

Pressfield learned the skills his mentor encouraged despite the doubts of his inner monkey brain: being a pro, learning, and making friends.  

I believe all of us have gifts to compound over time. Let it grow… let it compound. Just keep stringing days and weeks together even when the dips, doubts and hard work feel like a boulder on your shoulder.  

Don’t let the inner monkey brain prevent you from making your art. Don’t let the inner monkey brain minimize the work you do as a leader. It makes a difference.  

Just keep working. 

Let it compound.  

Let time work for you! 

Onward, 

Matt