I am writing this Substack post at 1:15am Eastern Time, finishing a workday that started at 7:00am ET.
(disclaimer: I did take 2-3 hours off tonight, to take my wife on a date)
MY POINT IN SHARING THIS: without working into the night, this post would not be going up at the time youβre now reading it. It would still be on the to-do list as something that I βshould doβ that likely would be pushed to after the New Year.
Obviously, we can argue whether the 75 views or 2 follow-ups are worth this sacrifice. And maybe, in this specific case, they arenβt.
Butβ¦releasing this post is one of 10 key tasks that Iβve been able to check off just tonight, working from 10pm - 1am. Little hard to delegate βfounderβ things that collectively REALLY add up.
Of course, I think itβs important to average at least 6 hours of sleep a night.
Of course, family time should be treated as precious and prioritized.
And, of course, if youβre a follower of Jesusβ¦Iβd rather see you (and me) read our Bibles one hour a day than any amount of professional work.
BUT, THIS SAID: I think most start-up founders donβt work NEARLY hard enough.
If weβre REALLY committedβ¦10am - 1am should be going to our ventures. Multiple nights a week.
Weβve forgotten as a society that βworking hardβ is the key to gaining experience.
And that experience is still (even in the age of AI) the key to βworking smart.β
Weβve forgotten that historyβs greats like Winston Churchill and Abe Lincoln worked tirelessly for their causes.
And weβve forgotten that the best example for our kids, often, is sacrificing in a way that inspires them to sacrifice for their own dreams.
SO, GOING INTO THE NEW YEAR, ASK YOURSELF: βam I really leaving it all on the line? Or am I going through the motions?β
If you donβt like your answer, consider what it might look like to commit to outworking your competitionβ¦instead of just attempting to outsmart them.
Everyone is trying to do the latter. But it's easy to forget that the unsexy former is often the lowest-hanging fruit.