GNT #077: Will vs. Skill - Which Do You Need Right Now?

read time: 4.5 minutes

When do you need to get smarter, and when do you need to work harder?

There’s a lot of advice swirling out there about reaching your goals. And it often boils down to these two things:

1) Create a clear vision
2) Stay motivated

As long as you can hang in there and put in the hours, it’s inevitable that your dreams will come true, right?

But it’s not always that simple.

Last year, I met a business owner that was making tremendous results for their current clients, but was struggling to gain any leads outside their sporadic network referrals. They were attending all the events, posting on social media, and even considering buying an email list.

Despite their deep efforts and full schedule, they weren’t seeing the growth they wanted.

I suggested a different approach. We interviewed their clients, refined their messaging to better hone in on their buyer's problem, focused on their unique value to solve the problem, and targeted their ideal client persona more precisely.

We realized the events they were attending didn't have the right audience. Their conversations weren't resonating because they didn't have the right message.

By fine tuning their strategy, shifting their focus, and aligning tactics to meet their buyer where they are, after 6 months they started attracting the right kind of attention and proactively closing new leads.

The truth is...

If your growth puzzle is missing pieces, no amount of effort will help you solve it. You’ve got to find those pieces.

Conversely, you’ll never put the pieces together without time, effort, or resources to actually do the work.

Today's newsletter is all about your goals—and determining when you need will, and when you need skill.

Let's dig in.

Picture this.

You've identified a specific goal. You've thought about your strategy, your plan, and what it will take to get there.

You've put your systems into action. You've buckled down and put in the reps. You've given 110% for a considerable amount of time to start proving the concept.

And you're not seeing or feeling any inkling of results.

What do you do?

Keep doing the same thing and expect different results?

My natural tendency is to grind even harder. But I've come to realize that this is an indicator something isn't working.

Just maybe, I'm missing a puzzle piece. There's no doubt I've got the will, but maybe I need to acquire a different skill, consult an expert, gather more intelligence.

Sometimes, especially in our hustle culture, we focus so much on the value of effort, we overlook the importance of expertise.

Don't get me wrong. Effort over time is part of achieving any lofty goal, but I like to think of it like this...

If you buy a sailboat, get all the gear for your travels, but you have no idea how to actually sail, you're not going to get to your intended destination. You need to learn how to sail, bring in someone that knows how, or someone that can teach you. 

Doing the thing

At the same time, there is no getting around this basic, inescapable truth -- the only way to the thing, is to do the thing.

No amount of hacks, tools, or expert advice can replace the act of you sitting down and actually doing what only you can do.

I love this essay by John Perry:

“Preparing to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Scheduling time to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Making a to-do list for the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Telling people you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Messaging friends who may or may not be doing the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Writing a banger tweet about how you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Hating on yourself for not doing the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Hating on other people who have done the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Hating on the obstacles in the way of doing the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Fantasising about all of the adoration you’ll receive once you do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Reading about how to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Reading about how other people did the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Reading this essay isn’t doing the thing.
The only thing that is doing the thing is doing the thing.”

What you need right now

Think about a pressing challenge that's nagging at you right now. What do you need, today, to break through?

1. Assess Your Progress: Take an honest look. Are you making any headway? If your progress is stagnant despite consistent effort, it might indicate a skills gap.
2. Identify Bottlenecks: What are the specific obstacles you're facing? What would get you there? Lack of time, resources, or specific knowledge can point to where you need to focus.
3. Get Feedback: Pose your challenge to trusted mentors, peers, or clients. They can provide an external perspective on whether your approach needs refining or if you need to push harder.
4. Reflect on Your Past Successes: What has worked for you before? Did those successes require more effort or specific skills?
5. Set Clear Metrics: It's tough to know whether we're succeeding or not if we don't have measurable goals.
6. Keep Investing in Learning: If you identify a skills gap -- take the next step. Actually seek out resources, courses, or mentors to bridge that gap.
7. Evaluate Your Mindset: Sometimes, a shift in perspective, a pause, or getting out of your routine can reveal whether you need more perseverance or a new approach.
   
   

Let me know what YOU think of this subject.

How do you look inward to know when you need effort or skill?

If you enjoyed this newsletter. I hope you forward it to someone today.
 

See you next week!

p.s. If you liked this topic, you might also like:

GNT #015: 5 hard pills to swallow to get unstuck

GNT #027: 7 Secret Psychology Principles for Rapid Growth

GNT #49: "Getting sh*t done" was holding me back

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