Before You Work Harder, Think Harder First

“There is no waste in the world that equals the waste from needless, ill-directed, and ineffective motions.”

Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr.

Today we want to learn how we can make better choices in our work from one of the most influential scientists of all time, Sir Isaac Newton, with his second law of motion.

The law states that acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the magnitude of the applied force, and the direction (of that force) but inversely proportional to the mass of the object. 

Put another way, the vector sum of the forces on an object is equal to the mass of that object times the acceleration of the object.

The law in a nutshell says: Force equals Mass multiplied by Acceleration.

F=M*A

In other words (productivity terms), the outcome that we can produce is not only determined by our capacity (the volume of our efforts) but also the direction (the bearing in which we channel that effort) of our focus.

For example, if you hit a ball with a bat upwards of a mountain, the range that the ball can cover will be much less than if you it the ball with the same amount of energy down towards a downward slope. That is to say: our result can be greatly amplified by force of effort and the most fitting direction to that effort.

Now let’s dive deeper to see how we can use this knowledge as a concrete guide to greater success in business and life. 

In general terms, this Newton second law of motion explains the difference between the people who rely only on hard work for achievement of a major kind in their lives and those who understand that the direction of our toil is equally as important as the toil itself.

Concisely, it is not only about hard work but also smart thought. 

No matter how great the force in motion is, the direction of an effort is critical to the overall value one can create. For example: there is a bricklayer who works for more than eighty hours a week, yet, he is assessed to be less valuable in the marketplace than another fellow with a degree in construction who works for the same number of hours  in the same industry of building.

The first person in this example is someone who relies on sheer force of effort alone; he thinks he has power, so he simply gets busy laying bricks all day with little or no thought. But the second fellow is an example of someone who thinks about a better value he wants to bring to the society before even deciding to work. 

After realizing that being a professional has more value; he hustles, he toils and he delays gratification to take the path of greater significance. He thinks carefully about what to do with his life long before an entry into the field of labour. 

He understands the question asked by the philosopher, Henry David Thoreau when he said: 

“It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants.”

“The question is: What are we busy about?”

View in another way, if we apply the same skills and energy in different set of directions, we will get different results. By the same token, if one same person diligently applies himself to different professions in the corporate world, he will most likely get unequal results. 

And, since we only have limited resources at our disposal, therefore where we choose to direct our resources of time, energy and talents may be more important than the resources themselves. 

My point here is not to ignore personal preferences and capabilities of people, but to highlight the fact that a good change of direction can enhance our contribution in a very significant way. 

A classic case in point is the story of the billionaire Jack Ma, who was an English teacher in China for some years with limited local impact. But by venturing into e-commerce business, he is now serving millions of people on a global scale.

Therefore, if we want to make the most of ourselves, we need to understand that sheer work ethic is hardly enough. We must think carefully about where to direct our effort as the former US President, Theodore Roosevelt rightly put it: “Far and away, the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

So based on the foregoing, we need work ethic for sure. However, we should be intelligent in choosing where to place our focus and energy: our life’s work should be of superior value to the society.

Decide to be excellent at what you do but make sure that what you dedicate your one life upon, is something really matters to the world.