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More By Less

We are two months into the new year of #Improve2019 and by now everyone should be in the midst of whatever improvement they wanted to make both personally and professionally. One of the greatest rewards is seeing people working towards goals. In workforce development and most other social service professions this is especially true. For many people, making even a small effort will start to show some result towards a goal, but what happens when it doesn’t.

There are times when hard work does not pay off. Sometimes pushing hard does not yield a result. Some people are tirelessly working towards a goal and yet nothing is happening. This can be especially frustrating as a person watches another person reach milestones.  In those difficult times, the best thing a person can do is sometimes to ease up a little.

I would not recommend this strategy for everyone in every situation, but sometimes the amount of effort a person is putting into a goal is exhausting and draining energy. Imagine you have a goal to run the New York City Marathon.  Perhaps the strategy is to learn endurance by running longer amounts of time or to extend your distances each time you run. Sounds logical, and for some people, this might work. Each day you run longer and farther. You feel pumped except you are exhausted and one day you can barely run at all. You find your training is not productive and you do not have the energy for the workout. Your body is tired and needs to recuperate. Resting your body will allow you to gain additional energy for your ongoing training.

The same can be true for achieving a professional goal. Even if a goal is not physical in nature, mental tasks can be just as exhausting. If you have a goal to analyze 200 pieces of data within five days, your mind can become tired quickly.  As your mind gets tired, you are not able to work as quickly. Focus may be lost. Sometimes instead you need to break up the task to give your mind a break.

Getting more results by doing less work is not about the end result. The goal is the same. Rather it is about taking the time to rest your body, mind, or soul if needed. It is about getting your stamina up, so you have endurance to the finish line. Improvements are not sprints. They are marathons. Improving is a journey. Regardless of your role in the goal, it is important to keep in mind achievement requires endurance. The greater the endurance the more likely a person is to achieve a goal.
 
~Karen Cirincione
Email: kcirincione@gmail.com        
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/karenjcirincione
Twitter: @kcirincione  

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