You can have a really hard week without the work itself being that hard.
Everything got done. You're wrung out anyway.

I've been paying attention to this for a while, because it kept not adding up.

The people I see most wrung out aren't always the ones with the most on their plate.

So I started asking about something else. What's actually getting you through the day?

Because there are 2 fuels, and they'll both get the exact same week done.

Sometimes you're getting through the week because you're worried you'll drop something.

Or because you feel guilty when you're not doing more.

Or because there's a low-level stress running underneath everything, and if I asked what was wrong you couldn't really tell me.

➤ That's push.

You finish the work. You're wrung out. And you can't point to what was so hard about it.

And sometimes you're working just as hard because you're curious.

You want to solve the problem.
You're building something you actually want to see exist.

➤ That's pull.

You finish the work. You look up and 40 minutes went by in a flash. You’re in flow.

I watched my client Jenny work this out without changing jobs.

She said yes to everything and delivered way past the brief, because she wanted them to love her for it.

When the extra work got scrapped, it felt personal. So she'd go harder.

Eventually she started noticing how much of the extra work wasn't really for the client.

It was for her.

It made her feel like she'd done enough. Like they'd be happy with her.

Her words: "If you're doing it because you want the client to love you, don't. Save it for when the time is right."

Same job. Same standards. She stopped spending herself on the parts nobody asked for.

And there are parts of your job that nobody's asking you for either.
I guarantee it.

So, 1 small thing at the end of today.
Pick one thing that took more out of you than it should have.

Was that push, or pull?

Just the label tonight.
The fixing can wait.