How I Tricked My Brain to Love Hard Work
Summary
- I've come to enjoy hard work and I'm currently the CEO of acquisition.com, a portfolio of companies generating over $200 million in revenue.
- My change in attitude toward work began with the realization that negative job experiences had made me associate work itself as bad.
- After jobs I didn't enjoy, I found a rewarding experience working at a cafe in college because of a fantastic boss which made me start to like work.
- Moving to California was uncomfortable at first, but learning and succeeding in sales was a reinforcing experience that helped change my perspective on work.
- A pivotal moment came when I was challenged to succeed at a gym launch; I succeeded beyond expectations, which was a tremendous confidence boost.
- I learned that work capacity, like a muscle, can grow and improve over time; it's about adapting to hours worked and developing endurance for various forms of work.
- My work hours can fluctuate, but I make sure to prioritize important tasks first thing in the morning and schedule time effectively throughout the day.
- A typical day for me begins with a few hours of focus time, followed by a workout, meetings, and then time with my partner, Alex, in the evening.
- CEO duties often involve communication and relationship building, which I value and integrate into my daily routine.
- Relaxation for me might include more work if I'm not tired, or watching a mindless show to unwind if I am.
- Favorite way to relax at the moment is watching reality TV like the Kardashians, as it provides insight into storytelling, which is relevant to my interest in Vlog content.
Video
How To Take Action
I would suggest starting small and focusing on the tasks that mean the most. When I wake up, I do the most important work first. This could mean different things for you. Maybe it's making your product better or talking to customers. Do it when you feel fresh.
Next, remember that your work muscles can get stronger. If you're new to something, it might feel hard at first. But keep going, and you'll get better and stronger at it. Just like how I got better at sales and gym launches, you can grow in your business too.
In the daily plan, don't pack in too much. For me, I have a few hours for focused work, then some exercise, and after that, I talk to people and go to meetings. You might want to schedule your day with some work, then a break, more work, and time to relax.
Building good relationships is key, so make sure you talk to your team, customers, or mentors. As a CEO, I spend a lot of time on this. You can do the same by reaching out, having good conversations, and making strong connections.
Find time to chill out too. If you're not tired, you can do more work or learn something new. If you're tired, it's cool to just watch something fun and not think too hard about work. Like, I watch reality TV to unwind and learn from the stories, but you might like something totally different. The important thing is to balance work and rest.
By using these simple steps, you can start improving at work and enjoy what you do more, step by step.
Quotes by Leila Hormozi
"I've actually learned to enjoy hard work"
– Leila Hormozi
"One of the big switches has just been understanding that if you don't like your job then you bring that into an association of saying I don't like work"
– Leila Hormozi
"Work itself was not rewarding but she was so rewarding as a boss"
– Leila Hormozi
"Entering a very uncomfortable situation… then it turns into that because I stay in it long enough to suck and suck less and suck even less then be kind of good then actually be good then be great then be exceptional"
– Leila Hormozi
"I think a lot of people say I can only work a certain amount of hours a day… I actually look at it like a muscle"
– Leila Hormozi
Full Transcript
I've actually learned to enjoy hard work and honestly I used to hate work one of the big switches has just been understanding that I'm the CEO of acquisition.com which is a portfolio of companies that does over 200 million in revenue and you can see what my calendar looks like right now so obviously I don't hate hard work so slow at work like can I please just leave and go lay on a beach with a cold drink being lazy then apartment shopping and cleaning it's like so gross like reading those tweets and looking at the things that I used to say I was pretty shocked I didn't realize how far I'd come and I didn't realize how I used to view work and even just view life in general and so the goal of this video is that if you feel like you're somebody who you really want to achieve big audacious goals but you feel like maybe you don't have the drive to get there I hope that this can help bridge the gap and at the end of the video what I want to share with you is the things I do do to wind down to relax in my favorite Netflix shows so that you can understand that I am a human too yeah so I think when I was writing those tweets it was in the age of not understanding consequences I was in a period of my life where I don't think that I understood how what I did that day affected the next day and the next day and the next year I also was viewing work still with a very traditional sense I viewed it as something I didn't like and I think that's just because I'd only ever had jobs I didn't really like so of course I'd built a negative association with work one of the big switches has just been understanding that if you don't like your job then you bring that into an association of saying I don't like work it's like no you've had a lot of jobs that you didn't like they negatively reinforced you and therefore you've built this Association around work in general to be bad but if you had had a bunch of jobs that were awesome you had great bosses you love the place you were then you would say I love work if I were to go back to 2012 and look at who I am now I would think you must have found something that you actually like you must get a lot of reward from whatever the work is that you do because you keep wanting to do it I think I first started to change my mindset around work later in the latter half of college after I'd made those tweets I had a boss and she was fantastic I said this Cafe I worked at I actually ended up really liking to work there despite it being like a sandwich and smoothie shop that I just like made food at and smelled like grease all day the work itself was not rewarding but she was so rewarding as a boss that was when I really started to actually like work I think I continued to get reinforced by work because when I moved to California it was very uncomfortable at first but I learned sales and then I was quickly reinforced for sales I've made money quickly and then I got a lot of Praise something that I I thought I hated turned into something I really wouldn't like and probably something that's like a Cornerstone skill to every other skill I have I believe that that was probably a big turning moment because I saw not even just like a neutral go to a positive and then I think that continued into gym launch when we started off it was terrifying Alex and I split to do launches and I went to Hawaii and he went to Virginia he called me and he was like you really need to crush this launch in Hawaii and I was like planning to but like why you say that he was like his business partner just like stole all this money and I was like [ __ ] you in that moment something I was very stressed about doing I Rose to the occasion and I actually broke all of the records and I sold more people into that location than anyone ever did he was like holy [ __ ] you're a [ __ ] badass and like everyone there was like holy [ __ ] this girl's insane I immediately got all this reinforcement from all these people that was such a like confidence building experience for me that I realized that most of the experiences where I gain my appreciation for work come from entering a very uncomfortable situation one that I might not think I like one that might not be enjoyable at first but then it turns into that because I stay in it long enough to suck and suck less and suck even less then be kind of good then actually be good then be great then be exceptional I think a lot of those experiences taught me work capacity I think a lot of people say I can only work a certain amount of hours a day and then I'm just like and I actually look at it like a muscle if you train the muscle hard enough for long enough the muscle will grow so I'm like well there's no reason that I wouldn't adapt physiologically to working more so it doesn't necessarily have to be hours worked it can also be how many creative hours do I have in my brain how many hours of filming do I have capacity for how many hours of sales do I have capacity for I think a lot of people what happens is they have one day of really long work and then they kind of back pedal because it doesn't feel good right it feels like oh it's overwhelming I was really stressed but the only reason you were stressed is because it was a new experience you haven't acclimated to it yet but if you can wait through it and acclimate then you can do a lot more than you think you can because you realize how much you're capable of doing how many hours I work fluctuates on a daily basis I woke up at 5am and then I worked from 5 30 to 8 30. I have multiple projects I'm moving forward at any point in time but I usually on the morning will take phone calls with different people on the team and then I'll sync with Alex and just see what's his day what's my day do we need help with these things at 8 30 I went to the gym and I got done at 10 and then my meeting started at noon next meeting was a one-on-one with my head of portfolio Ops after that I had a one-on-one with my CFO then I have another meeting at 145 2 45 I hopped on a meeting where we were deploying a new software after that I blocked off the time to prep for a 4 pm call I had which was where I was meeting with a potential portfolio company at 5 30 went on a walk with Alex and then we met up with one of our friends from California for dinner from like 6 30 to 9 and that was my Tuesday so I don't work out first thing in the morning I try to work first then work out shower go into calls I want the first thing I do in the morning to be it's usually what I would say is the most important thing is the first thing you do and so for me that's not really working out right now getting some stuff done moving things forward getting my focus time in people see my calendar a lot and like you're on so many calls I think a lot of people would like to make the job of the CEO one where you don't have to talk to people as much and I actually think the best CEOs spend most of their time talking to people employees clients you know vendors like building relationships and so I look at that as what I should do is like build relationships with people but I like to block the time in the morning so I can at least get big things done people see my schedule you're not getting anything done I'm like no I I have a solid two to three hours in the morning where I can move forward everything I need to move forward what does me time look like for you what kind of shows you why I like to spend the spare time I have with Alex so usually the end of the day like I'll sync up with him we try to go on a walk together you know sometimes I'll do a little bit more work later at night after dinner if I am not tired if I'm tired I'll like watch a show that is like completely mindless and then go to bed do you have any favorite shows right now when I got my nose and brows done I started with the Kardashians I watched so many I think I'm on like season nine that's not true it's probably like season 12. I like watching reality TV because I like understanding how they put in story lines are they Faking It are they real they're part of me that's studying at the same time probably because it's relevant to me right now in that like we've switched more to Vlog content that being said if you're interested in watching some of that Vlog content click here