• Go all out - Stop half-assing (Part 1)

• Go all out - Stop half-assing (Part 2)

• 4 natural laws every entrepreneur should know of

  • Murphy’s law

  • Parkinson’s law

  • The Pareto Rule

  • Stein’s law

• Quote of the week

99 percent is hard, 100 percent is easy

In a few hours, people across the world will gather together counting down to midnight. The moment the clock strikes midnight, the air will be filled with a loud joyous cry of Happy New Year. The jubilation will continue to the early hours of the morning. After the excitement of the new year dies down, and the hangover goes away, most people will have this one question on their mind, what now?

If you are like most people, you will have goals you want to achieve in the new year. Planning and writing down your goals and resolutions is often very exciting and if you have a good imagination, I’m sure you can already picture yourself having achieved all your goals for 2024. This will fire you up even more. But then a thought crosses your mind that utterly shatters your imagination and wakes you from your daydream.

You quickly recall that this is not the first time you have started a new year all fired up and ambitious only to drag your feet all year and in the end, you achieved nothing. But why is that? Why do most people fail to achieve their goals and uphold their resolutions while others seem to do it so effortlessly?

There are many reasons you may have and I am willing to bet a good number of them are just excuses. But there is one reason that would easily top the rest and that is the fact that you weren’t committed. To put it simply, you didn’t give it your 100 percent. You cut corners trying to get quick results without putting in the work. Well, that is never going to get you anywhere.

Continued…

In 2024, it should either be 100 percent or nothing. Anything that isn’t worth giving your all, is not something you should venture into because you will only be wasting your time and resources due to your lack of commitment. So what does a 100 percent commitment look like? It simply means not cutting corners especially when you feel like doing so.

If you want to get in shape or start a new career or business, you have to be willing to commit 100 percent to it. A half-hearted effort will only yield results that are the bare minimum. And most times, the bare minimum is equivalent to nothing.

So are you willing to go all out? Here is how to go about it;

Take note of those things that deserve your 100 percent - you can’t possibly give 100 percent effort to everything. Some goals matter more than others. It is up to you to decide which goals are more important and which ones are not so important. At this point, it should be clear that the fewer your goals, the better chance you have at giving your 100 percent.

Once you have made up your mind on the goal(s) that is most important to you, then it is time to commit to it. Commitment means putting in the effort needed daily, weekly, and monthly without fail. Refusing to compromise or take days off and constantly fighting the urge to give up simply because you lack the motivation to keep going.

After all, if it matters so much to you, then why not give it your best?

4 natural laws every entrepreneur should know

You may have heard of natural laws and yes, entrepreneurs are not immune to them. However, only a few entrepreneurs are aware of these laws and how they affect them daily. So what are natural laws? There are so many definitions but in this context, natural laws are laws that transcend boundaries.

That means they hold true in (nearly) every scenario whether it is business-related or not. You can call these universal laws. As I mentioned, entrepreneurs are not immune to these laws, and it is important to understand how they impact your daily life as well as your business.

Whatever can go wrong will go wrong - Murphy’s Law

There is nothing bad with having a groundbreaking business idea. But there is always the question of how viable the idea is. Understanding that a great idea is not always practical is a safer approach to avoid needless expenses and waste of resources. This is where Murphy’s law comes in. As the law states, whatever can go wrong will go wrong. So how does this apply to an entrepreneur?

Murphy’s law demands that every idea be tested to ensure it is viable. Check all loopholes and constraints. Do not assume everything will work out as planned, always be prepared for the unexpected. If you are aware of the potential problems and prepare a solution before it occurs, then you increase your chances of success.

Work expands to fill the time allotted to it - Parkinson’s Law

When it comes to productivity, time is of the essence. The natural law that governs how work and time relate is Parkinson’s law. According to this law, the amount of time you allocate to a task is the amount of time it will take to complete that task. So if you plan to finish a business proposal in 2 hours even if you could do so in 40 minutes, you will somehow find out that the 2 hours was barely enough to finish the proposal.

But then if circumstances change and you need to finish the proposal in 30 minutes, again, you will find out that this is easily accomplished. Why? For the most part, Parkinson’s law exists because we tend to focus more when we know we have less time. But when we feel there is enough time for a task, then we entertain distractions and drag our feet until the time is almost up. To avoid this, it is advised to give yourself tight but reasonable deadlines for tasks.

80% of consequences come from 20% of causes - Pareto Rule

This law is also known as the 80/20 law. We all know of causes and effects, and the Pareto principle adds a second layer to it. According to the law, 80 percent of the outcomes we have are a result of 20 percent of actions. That is to say, only 20 percent of our actions generate the most outcomes.

Entrepreneurs who understand this simple principle can take advantage of it by identifying the action that brings the most beneficial results and focusing on them. This could be a particular marketing strategy, price tier system, or set of customers.

If something cannot go on forever, it will stop - Stein’s law

You know when you tend to have multiple expected outcomes using one particular strategy and it feels as if the strategy is infallible even though deep down you have a gut feeling this won’t last forever? Well, that is basically what Stein is trying to say here.

In essence, you should always bear in mind the possibility of a sudden shift in the outcome despite using the same strategy. For instance, if you have been seeing a steady 5 percent increase in growth rate over the years, it is not wise to expect this to always be the case when you know that this can't go on forever.

Quote of the week

“Don’t count the days, make the days count”

Mohammed Ali