Why I Work (Even Harder) on Labor Day

Flashback: It’s Friday night, 3:30 PM. I can’t wait to escape work, dive into video games, crack open an oatmeal stout, and drift off into a digital landscape of avoidance. I called this “work/life balance.” Avoid work like poison—then poison my mind and body until sunrise.

But now, at 4 AM on Labor Day, when most people are sleeping in, I can’t wait to start working.

So... What changed?

Fundamentally, my definition of "work" was broken.

I used to think "work" meant:
? Incompetent bosses making decisions over my life
? Pointless meetings
? Stressful office politics
? Collecting a paycheck
? Making other people rich on my increasing skillset        

If that’s what work means to you, I get it.

That's why I hated it too. I hated having a boss, my lack of control, and feeling limited in growth. Imagine having to ask permission to see your mom in Florida. It was soul-crushing.

I wish I could tell you it was graceful. Like if I bullet journaled at sunrise then meditated and got a warm matcha latte and suddenly it all became clear. But no. It was ugly. These deeply planted weeds and beliefs required a violent uprooting from the garden of my mind.

Realizing I had no purpose, I felt stuck in a comfort zone with fleece-lined golden handcuffs, expecting extraordinary results from ordinary effort. Aimless.

So I did the math, even with a comfy VP salary, I had no line of sight to any life I wanted. Through that lens, having a job had a 100% guarantee of failure.

That’s why I left the W2-world to start a business.

Starting a business taught me I can't expect extraordinary results from an ordinary effort.

So I got to work–for what felt like the first time ever.

I reverse-engineered my life, choosing the regrets I could live with on my deathbed.

Clock was ticking on a family. I was closer to 40 than 30. And all the things I wanted took time and hard work.

So like a (former) gamer, I min-maxed life. I cut out low-leverage inputs and maximized high-leverage ones. I still do this everyday.

Slowly, as I put in more effort, a purpose revealed itself. That's when all bets were off. I no longer felt burdened by how fast or high I could grow. I felt freed.

What a gift!

Now, prescribed holidays off, even weekends, feel like a waste of this incredible gift. The only way to make the most of it is to just sprint the hill–then climb the f*cking mountain.

Starting a business was work. Getting my first 10 clients was work. Losing 50 lbs of fat was work. Moving to another state was work. Quitting drinking was work. Getting my pilot's license was work. Exiting dating and getting engaged was work. Work was the path to everything I wanted.

But the sense of purpose, knowing that yesterday-me was rooting on today-me to make tomorrow-me proud was all the sense of purpose I needed to just... GO.

My purpose? Simple. I work because it helps people and makes me better every day for the people I love. How could I ever want work-life balance from that that?

When I used to preach about work-life balance, I wasn’t willing to trade Netflix, video games, and drinking. I wasn’t willing to put in the work.

But once I embraced what some call an unbalanced life or toxic hustle culture, everything got better.

Jim Rohn once said: Don’t wish it was easier; wish that you were better.

And that’s my truth: when I work more, I get better at achieving my purpose.

And look, I don't have anything figured out. I get more clarity every day. But I can tell you with certainty: I wouldn't trade the outputs of my hard work for anything in the world.

So to all you tough MFers out there who chose to do the hard work today, I salute you.

Work hard today. ??