What To Do When Work No Longer Feels Like Work
The Amplified Impact Podcast
June 19th, 2023
Today, I’ve been wrestling with this feeling that I don’t work hard enough.
I’ve always had this perception that I’m a lazy person, and I’ve even mentioned it in previous videos.
But lazy might not be the right word…It’s more about how I approach work and what feels like work to me.
I can produce a crazy amount of content and dive into projects that I genuinely enjoy, and it doesn’t feel like work at all.
But when it comes to the tasks that others perceive as hard or challenging, I struggle to self-motivate and tackle them head-on.
And that’s where things get tricky…because the work I love and excel at feels light to me, I often end up feeling like I haven’t done anything meaningful at the end of the day.
It’s like…”Hey, did I really contribute something of value?”
But here’s the thing, building a business the right way means working your way out of the tasks you dislike and into the things you love.
And often, the things we love doing don’t feel like the typical definition of work.
We have to reframe our perception and recognize that even if it feels easy and enjoyable…it’s still meaningful, productive work that only we can contribute.
TWEETABLE QUOTE:
“If you do it right, if you build your business correctly, you’re going to work your way out of the areas that you hate. You’re going to work your way into the things that you love doing.”- Anthony Vicino
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Episode Transcript:
Anthony Vicino [00:00:00]:
Yo, what’s up everybody? Welcome back to the podcast. I just got out of the gym and I thought I was thinking about something in there and I came to like this revelation. I wanted to share it with you guys because I’ve talked about this on the podcast before but a large part of the reason why I even do this podcast it’s not really for you guys and trying to teach you anything. It’s more for myself and talking through concepts or frameworks or ideas or telling stories about my life. I come to a better understanding and better appreciation for what I believe and what I value in this world. And so in a lot of ways this is kind of like a journal, like a video journal for me. And it just so happens that I think a lot of the things that I struggle with, a lot of the lessons that I’m learning in my life or have learned and then have to relearn in some cases, I think they can also be of benefit and value to you. So by opening up the journal so that you can read it alongside of me, hopefully you can maybe learn from my mistakes or if you’re going through the same shit that I am going through or have gone through, you can just feel maybe a little bit less alone in that journey because entrepreneurship is hard.
Anthony Vicino [00:01:07]:
It’s a hard journey and nothing really prepares you for it except for to do it even when you’ve done it multiple times. So one of the things I’m realizing is I’ve built and exited and then built again multiple businesses and each time is hard. Each time getting that flywheel going and the struggles, the insecurities, all the same things, they keep cropping up and so as you play the game the monsters just get stronger but they never really stop. There is no final end boss that you beat and then you just return to the beginning and now it’s just a matter of rating for XP and Loot and that doesn’t happen. Like that just the bosses get harder, the levels get harder and you improve as you go. And one of the things I was thinking about today is the fact that I’ve historically very much struggled with the feeling that I don’t work very hard. And I’ve talked about this in other videos in the past of how I’m an inherently lazy person or at least that’s how I feel. I feel like a lazy person but the reality is I’m probably not lazy.
Anthony Vicino [00:02:12]:
It’s not quite the right terminology for what I’m experiencing. It’s more that I can produce an extraordinary amount of work that for me it doesn’t feel like work. But the things that do feel like work I have a really hard time self motivating myself to do those things. And so what that does then is because the things that I’m really good at and enjoy writing or making a video like this, they don’t feel like work to me. I therefore don’t feel, when I look back on my day sometimes like I did anything meaningful. Like I did meaningful work, because the things, they felt light. And this might not feel super relatable depending on where you are in your journey. And it might it might be like when you’re when you’re doing the things that you love and that you’re competent and skilled at, they don’t feel hard.
Anthony Vicino [00:03:01]:
And so part of you starts to think, well, if it’s not hard, then it’s not actually work. And so I was thinking about this today because I’ve really struggled over the last couple of months as we’ve ramped up the production of the YouTube channel, the different podcasts. I’m writing another book. I’m putting together a lot of trainings for the beyond the Apex community. And that stuff doesn’t feel like work. It feels like fun. It feels like the act of not always fun. Don’t get me wrong, writing sucks.
Anthony Vicino [00:03:29]:
I love having written. I don’t love writing. But at the end of it, because I love that feeling of having written or having created something so much, it overlays the feeling of hard work that it had to create the thing. And so I get down on myself because I’m like, I’m not really doing any work. I’m not doing things that feel heavy. Like when I think about the business in terms of getting on customer calls and sales or doing fulfillment or doing the financial auditing, those things feel heavy. They feel like work. And when I get done with them, I feel like I have been productive because I feel exhausted and I feel like, oh, I made myself do the hard thing.
Anthony Vicino [00:04:08]:
But when the hard thing or the thing that other people look at what you do and they think that’s hard, that’s impossible. Like, doing a video like, this is very hard for some people. For me, it’s not that hard. I don’t feel the same sense of reward at the end of the day, of like, oh, I’ve contributed meaningfully. And I don’t know if this is resonating, if this is landing, but this is something that I’m really struggling with because I find myself then almost sabotaging myself. One in one of two ways it really manifests itself. One, I either stop doing those things, like stop doing less videos or stop writing, and I start taking on more of those other tasks that I’ve intentionally tried to craft out of my life because I know I suck at them and I don’t enjoy them. I start intentionally doing those things I don’t enjoy so that I can feel like I’m working, like I’m being a meaningful producing member of the team.
Anthony Vicino [00:04:55]:
And then I stop doing the things that only I can do, the things that inherently don’t feel super hard. And so that’s the first way is I sabotage it. The second way is that I start to resent the work that I’m doing or having negative feelings towards doing a podcast, I’m like, oh, I should focus on this other thing. I should answer those emails first because this is fun and play and enjoyable, whereas the work needs to get done right. And so I start to create this negative connotation associated with the work. And all this is to say is that if you do it right, if you build your business correctly, you’re going to work your way out of the areas that you hate. You’re going to work your way into the things that you love doing. And my experience has been that stuff that you love doing, it doesn’t feel like work in a lot of cases.
Anthony Vicino [00:05:46]:
And so you have to, I don’t know, reframe it in your own mind in a way that you can approach your work and recognize like, this is easy and fun and it is work, and I am being a meaningful, productive member of the team and contributing in a way that only I can do. And I don’t know if any of that landed, but this is something that I’ve been thinking about. And when I was lifting today in the gym, it really just started to click for me. Like, that’s one of the things that I’m struggling with. I’ve never been able to articulate it before of like, why do I feel unproductive? Why do I feel inherently lazy? Why do I feel at so many different points in my life and my day, even right now, like I’m not meaningfully contributing to the team’s success. And it’s because I think so much of what I get to spend my time on these days is the result of intentionally crafting a life by design, where I get to focus only on the things that I’m inherently good at and that I inherently enjoy and find fulfillment in. And when you do that, the work doesn’t feel like what most people think of as work. And I think I’m still, even after all these years, still wrestling with that.
Anthony Vicino [00:06:51]:
So I hope this brings you a little bit of value. So do me a favor, drop a comment, let me know. Have you gone through a similar evolution? Is this something that you’re struggling with right now? Is this something that is so far out of left field you’re like, I can’t even relate to this. Try again next. I’m Anthony. I don’t get it. Let me know in the comments. Drop a review.
Anthony Vicino [00:07:08]:
Truly, it means the world. When you guys reach out and you communicate and we have a relationship, it means the world. Also, by the way, come find me on Instagram and give me a follow there. I’m the Anthony Vasino. The reason for that is I’m doing weekly AMAs on there and I only announce when I’m going to go live, like that morning. It just kind of depends on how I feel. So if you want to come enjoying and actually be in dialogue and not just monologue, I would encourage you. Come find me on Instagram at the anthony.
Anthony Vicino [00:07:36]:
At the Anthony Vasino. And let’s have a chat. So I’ll see you guys tomorrow. But until then, stay hyper focused, my friend.
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