First, you have to worry about building, getting the work done, and just putting in the effort.
The worry part is more centered around IF the volume required is actually doable on your side. Every bit of effort means using energy against the comfortable, lazy self that would rather do nothing. So it is a battle against your own desire to rest.
Experientially, the volume of work seems more important when you are trying to gather momentum, reach escape velocity, or break out of a period of stagnation.
You can't steer a parked car, need to be moving first, even if the direction isn't perfect yet.
Momentum as a teacher
Although it may not necessarily look like "work" in the active sense, the principle applies to habits too.
The more work I do on keeping a consistent reading routine, the easier it gets to read longer and deeper without having to force my focus.
As a byproduct, there is more material to process via my subconscious mind. This naturally increases my vocabulary and improves how I structure sentences. It’s a good positive loop where doing the activity makes the activity easier to do next time.
At some point, however, the concept of "right" enters the building. Am I building the right thing or not? Am I reading the right books, listening to the right podcasts, or just wasting time on noise?
As much as "right" can be a personal feeling, I try to filter it with an objective lens and primarily judge it based on the results of the effort I have already taken.
Need the volume of work first to generate the data that tells what works.
For example, last year I committed to writing one short article every single day and my only goal was volume, just hitting "publish" daily.
By the end of the first month, I had 30 articles. That was the effort. But when I looked at the objective results, i.e the views and comments, I noticed a pattern. The 5 articles I wrote about "remote work habits" had five times the engagement of the 25 articles I wrote about "general life advice."
The data was clear and in that case, the "right" thing to do was to double down on the topic that people actually wanted.
On a side note, I think there was also a trend about remote work at the time, which helped in getting those type of engagement.
Beyond arbitrary metrics
I think this external metric gives a better signal to transition into doing the right thing versus just doing things for the sake of being busy.
Now, there is an element of clarity via using a real, objective metric of sorts to solve for value.
This value is also arbitrary, in the sense that it varies from season to season or depends on the circumstances. Not reliable for a sustained foundation to build on.
For that, you just got to do what genuinely interests you and let the chips fall where they may.
Given enough time, naturally drawn like a magnet toward what actually matters to you and the 'right' work ceases to be a strategy and simply becomes who you are.
Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.