Misapplied Effort

When I started building my first business, I poured months into things like creating business cards, a slick logo, a beautiful website, stationery, brand colours. All the visual signalling that announces you've arrived.

Funny in hindsight, I remember debating with a potential business partner whether the website should be a .co or .co.uk. We didn't agree, and that particular idea didn't get off the ground.

But back to the stacks of business cards in my drawer, and the slick rendered logo carefully matching the details of my brand palette. I felt professional, the business was born. But guess what, none of this moved the business forward. Really? Who cares if the primary colour of the logo was #2596be as opposed to #1484b4.

So, what actually created the forward momentum my business needed? It was conversations with people who had problems I could solve. The polished homepage is a nice to have only. What mattered most was meeting people, sitting on calls, actively listening, and discovering that what they actually needed rarely matched what I was selling.

Here's the pattern I see everywhere now: we spend effort on what we think is controllable instead of what creates outcomes. Example, the design work for the logo has clear endpoint, but sales conversations endpoint is less clear. So we default to the former, even when the latter drives results. We optimise for how we want to feel about ourselves rather than what creates value for us and others.

Maybe this is just ego protection dressed up as professionalism. Because here's what nobody admits: the work that actually changes things requires becoming someone different. Someone who tolerates not knowing the answers all of the time. Someone who is open to experiment, learn, and risk looking foolish. Someone who acts from internal conviction rather than external validation. And that shift can be uncomfortable, so we tend to avoid it by working hard on safe, visible things that prove we're serious.

The rebrand before the revenue model. The new productivity app before starting the actual work. The office decorated before winning any clients. All of it is effort, and may feel good and productive, but rarely moves the needle to where it needs to be.

The constraint is always the thing you're avoiding because facing it requires a different version of you.

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An idea
The work that actually changes your situation may feel uncomfortable because it requires you to act like the person who's already solved it, not the person still preparing to solve it.

An observation
We default to doing things that are controllable to us and may even give the impression that we are winning, getting in shape or are professional. When often it is that uncomfortable conversation or decision we're avoiding that's the barrier to success.

A question
What's your equivalent to my business cards? Where are you spending energy on what looks right instead of what actually moves the outcome?

That's all for now.

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Hit reply and tell me your one priority for this week. One sentence is fine. The thing that would genuinely move your work or goals forward.

And if you want help identifying the real leverage point and designing a cleaner path to it, let's talk ... https://calendly.com/roy-umocoevo