In the 1930s, Allen F. Morgenstern coined the phrase “work smarter, not harder.” 🤦🏻♂️
It was the 1930’s… It made A LOT of sense back THEN…
How are we carrying that phrase with us nearly 100 years later??
Let’s be real: everyone and their AI-powered dog is spouting the “work smarter, not harder” mantra. But I’m here to tell you it’s mostly a load of crap. Do you think all those tech gadgets designed to make our lives easier are magically going to pave your road to success? Think again.
Here’s the thing: when you’re sitting on your couch, letting Alexa fetch trivia for you, or waiting for your DoorDash burrito, you’re not exactly unlocking your full potential. Sure, sometimes saving yourself some mental energy is good. Like, if you’re figuring out how to carry a ton of mulch, by all means, use a wheelbarrow. But that’s just common sense.
Most of us aren’t struggling with mulch logistics. It’s the big goals – building a business, getting healthy, you name it – that take actual work. And I’m talking about a level of grit that makes the whole “efficient and easy” lifestyle look like a joke.
Most people say work smarter.
I say try harder.
Origins of Try Harder
First, let me tell you where this all started.
I wanted nothing more than to be a pilot in the Air Force while I was in college; to get there; I had to take a lot of different tests. One of those tests was called the TBAS, or the Air Force Test of Basic Aviation Skills. Simply put, it was a test of directional orientation and hand-eye coordination.
I went in a little cocky to this test, even though you can only take this test twice, ever, in your lifetime.
Well, I got my ass handed to me. I bombed it.
I wanted to be a pilot and thought I had just pissed that opportunity away.
With my first TBAS score, I knew my chances of being a pilot dropped to nearly zero.
Part of me felt like maybe I wasn’t supposed to be a pilot.
But another part of me thought, why not just get better at the test?
The only problem was that it was an impossible test to practice. The Air Force doesn’t let you sit around and play with their system, so if I were to get better at the test, I would have to recreate it myself.
I had an epiphany in the shower (I know, so cliche), but I understood how and why their directional orientation test worked, even though it was over 300 questions.
I immediately got out of the shower and started two write down the framework they were using from memory. By the time I finished, I had recreated the directional orientation portion of the test.
Next, I needed to recreate the hand-eye coordination part of the test. I reached out to my Dad, a computer genius, and he recreated the test from my crude description with some basic software and an old joystick.
Next stop. Practice. Practice. Practice. And more practice.
It kind of felt like cheating. But at the same time, I wasn’t breaking any known rule about the test.
So what happened?
I went from a pretty awful score to one of the highest scores they had ever seen on the test and bumped my chances of getting a pilot slot to nearly 100% (which I did achieve, if you don’t know my entire backstory).
The lesson I learned from all that: TRY HARDER.
I saw guys fail that test ALL THE time, and what would they do? Cry about it and try again a few weeks later, HOPING they improved.
Well, I wasn’t leaving my second and final attempt at that test to hope or chance. Instead, I would try harder than anyone else and show up prepared.
And that’s the exact mindset I’ve applied to entrepreneurship and scaling businesses.
Most people will commit to writing 10 blog posts, so I’ll do 1,000.
Most people will try 5 email opt-ins, so I’ll do 500.
Try Harder: The Framework
Do you see how it works?
I developed a simple Litmus Test to determine if I am taking the right actions.
I call it the A-T-T Test.
First, the ‘A’ is for Average
Second, the ’T’ is for Trying
Third, the second ’T’ is for Trying Harder
AVERAGE
Average is what most people would do.
Average people aren’t very successful.
Average people make average attempts.
TRYING
Trying is what an above-average person would do.
People who are trying are generally seeing some success.
They have a little more direction in their attempts.
TRYING HARDER
Trying Harder is what almost no one does, and it’s a superpower.
People who are trying harder see a wild level of success.
They make attempts in which failure is unreasonable.
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Let me give you a quick example of reading or acquiring knowledge.
Average person…
- Reads a book when they feel like reading a book.
A person who is Trying…
- Tries to read ‘X’ number of books per month, picked randomly.
A person who is Trying Harder…
- Identifies weakness, finds books to strengthen given weakness, and creates a reading “program” to improve in the given area. Takes notes and assesses outcomes.
To define “TRY HARDER” it’s to Make an attempt in which failure is unreasonable.
And that’s all you need to do.
When you encounter a problem or obstacle, brainstorm an attempt that would not allow you to fail. For example, what are the things no one else will do? That is what you need to do.
Why does this work?
Try Harder Magic: Volume & Precision
It works for two reasons: Volume & Precision.
1.) Volume – The first thing trying harder typically brings is volume. In my example above. Most people will commit to writing 10 blog posts, so I’ll do 1,000. When you increase volume to abnormal levels, you will get uncommon results.
2.) Precision – The second thing trying harder will bring is precision. Most people make a lot of half-hearted attempts in many different areas. Trying harder brings a lot of effort, strategy, and ideas to one problem.
For instance, some people will think to scale their business, they need to run ads (which could be 100% true), so they turn on some ads. They did a quick Google search, learned the basics, turned on some ads, and continued their business. Then they get confused when their company doesn’t triple in the next 30 days.
If you were genuinely sold on advertising being the ONE thing you need to scale your business, why wouldn’t you go all in? If you can’t afford to hire a marketing agency, scrounge up the cash to pay an ads manager for an hour of their time and pick their brain. Buy all the courses, etc.
Try harder than most do! That’s the secret to scale.
We can talk ads, marketing, and product, but all of that needs to be wrapped in the TRY HARDER blanket.
To scale, you need to do many things that DO NOT SCALE. None of the actions I mentioned are scalable. They take a lot of time, effort, and energy. However, you’ll learn what effort is moving you towards your goal and which ones are not.
You’ll slowly be able separate the wheat from the chaff.
But you don’t get there until you learn to TRY HARDER.
Exercise:
- Take one problem your are facing or a goal you want to achieve.
- Next, brainstorm what you feel an average attempt would be.
- Then, brainstorm what trying would look like.
- Lastly, brainstorm what trying harder would take.
- THEN EXECUTE!!
Try harder,
-JM