The Opportunity That Almost Everyone is Missing
For the majority of the population, the 40 hour workweek is here to stay.
I sit in the contribution/results camp vs clocking time. Forcing anyone to live by the ticker is a remnant of the past. Unfortunately my opinion won’t change the world.
Have you ever thought about how much time you spend working?
How about you work 7.5h a day, meaning 37.5h per week. You are a little ahead of the filthy forty. Good for you.
Before you start smiling, did you know that a 7.5h workday is 31% of your ENTIRE day. I’m being generous unfortunately. Remember you sleep 7h a night (you do sleep 7 hours a night right?) leaving you with 17 waking hours.
With that new base, work now takes up a whopping 44% of your day. Gross.
But wait, there’s more!
It’s the roaring 2020s baby, let’s not pretend your nine to five is really all the work you do.
Side hustle? A start-up? Gigwork?
Even sitting here now, writing this for you, do you classify this as work?
The point is that my 44% is understated for most people.
If work is such a huge part of our lives, here’s what blows my mind.
Almost no one invests in a personal coach to support their professional or entrepreneurial development.
For any other interest, hobby, sport, or ambition you have, you seek help. You’ll take lessons. Buy courses. Get new software. Whatever. You invest in the potential you see in yourself.
Why does this idea seem so foreign for our work?
Walking into the office and doing your job can only grow you so much. Mastery and one level does not mean mastery at the next.
Employers can only do so much with training. Often a 1% contribution from revenue is millions or tens of millions of dollars. That might get you 4 or 8 hours a year; 16 if you’re lucky.
How far do you expect to go on that?
Malcolm Gladwell popularized excellence is attained after practising for 10,000h.
(Back at you with the quick math, that’s 1,250 days at 8 hours per day).
A personal coach supports your development for a few reasons
- They challenge your thinking and ideas. You may be limiting yourself without even knowing it
- They keep you accountable. We all benefit when we socialize our goals.
- One to one development targeted specifically at you. Programs are great for organizations, not individuals. We aren’t the same.
- You get feedback that you may not normally have access to. Ever have a question you wanted to ask a boss but couldn’t?
- It’s a safe place for you. Being shown how you can improve is never easy. Working with a coach drops the discomfort because you have greater psychological safety — it’s not your performance review at the office.
Benefits go on, you get the idea.
The real advantage is that it’s uncommon for young people to do it. Those that do are improving their career trajectory.
Always be learning.
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