Micro Speed / Macro Patience

So the other day, a friend of mine recommended an article by Gary Vaynerchuk to me. (You can check it out here.) For those of you who don’t know, Gary Vaynerchuk is basically a guru of entrepreneurship. Check out his videos, he’s a pretty energetic guy. Unfortunately, this article was the first impression I had of him, and it kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

Essentially, the article argues that speed is one of the most important things any individual can value. We, as readers, are encouraged to stop spending time doing nothing, and instead, soak up as much work as we can into every hour of every day. Gary himself works about 12-15hours a day. That’s not something that I find incredibly appealing. But hey, different people, different goals. That’s totally okay. So I kept reading. This is what really got me. Gary writes:

Did you watch the latest episode of House of Cards? Did you eat lunch with your friend? Did you take 2 hours to respond to email? Did you call your girlfriend or boyfriend from 7–8. Did your 3 meals take up 2–3 hours of your time? Did you walk your dog? What did you do?

If you’re honest with yourself, I think that a lot of you will find that you really didn’t work that hard.

Basically he’s drawing a line in the sand and saying that eating lunch with a friend or calling a significant other is on one side whereas work is on the other. That’s fine, but if I add in the idea that I should be constantly working, then how the heck am I supposed to build relationships? How the heck does he build relationships? See, he and I have different values. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I didn’t want this article to be a complete waste so I read to the end and started thinking.

Maybe when he says “work” he means something different from driving to a building and sitting in meetings or hammering through each task. I mean, he does have a brief tangent where he says “whatever your goals, go do that.” So, I’m going to define “work” as any action which moves you closer to your goal. So in the case of my actual job, the goal is to provide value to the company. So I put in my 8+ hours a day trying to do something that will add value to the company. Those 8+ hours are my work. But, when I start thinking about my values – those things which spurn my personal goals – number one is relationships. I value people. My goals deal with people. So, maybe if my goal is to have a great relationship with my family, then an hour-long phone call is “work.” Helping in the kitchen is “work.” If my goal is to be fit enough to enjoy my hobbies without pain, then going for a run is “work.” If my goal is to be a great chef, then cooking a meal is “work.” If my goal is to write a romance novel, then watching the Hallmark channel could be “work.”

Once I started thinking with that mindset, I was feeling a whole lot better about this article. I later went on to learn that he encourages people to not follow in his footsteps, but rather to know their goal and pursue them. So, my feathers are a lot less ruffled. The other concept he really addressed was “speed.” If work is anything moving closer to my goal, and having a conversation is an example of work, then we need to redefine speed; a conversation is not something you want to rush through. Instead, I’m going define “speed” as the rate at which you approach your goal. The more quality work you do in one day, the “faster” you’re moving toward your goal. So in that case, sometimes you have to go slow and appreciate the little things in order to get the most work done.

Notice how I use the word “quality?” That’s because just doing a bunch of work won’t move you closer to your goal unless it’s good work. I’ve learned that if I rush conversations, I can negatively impact a relationship, but if I take things slow, I can learn more about the other person and build a better connection. There’s an opportunity cost associated here. I absolutely could rush through a conversation in order to pack in more conversations – do more work, but the drawback is the value of the conversation dwindles with the shorter length. It’s all about balance.

With these new definitions, I can’t help but affirm what Gary says. Speed is super important. In high school and college, I was constantly busy. I was involved in as much as I could be and between school work, extracurricular activities, and relationships with others, every single day was packed with a ton of work. And I thrived. Yes there were days where I ate cereal in my pajamas and watched Game of Thrones for 4 hours, but for the most part, I was getting something done every day. I loved it. I was super content and incredibly productive. Now that I’ve graduated college and moved out on my own, I get nothing done. I have SO much more time now that I don’t have the endless responsibilities. But instead of getting closer to my goals, I find that my hours are spent watching Parks and Rec and going for pointless walks because I’m getting stir-crazy.

Anyone else feel like they’ve hit a similar situation? Or maybe you’re swamped in responsibilities and you just want some time to relax? Whatever your situation, I invite you to join me over the next several weeks as I try to find the secret to getting stuff done, having time for yourself, and being content with life. This article was the spark that inspired, but there’s a whole lot of work to be done. I hope to (metaphorically) see you soon!

Good luck in the real world,

Christopher