Pause to consider — and document — your results.

I continue to encounter a common problem in the messaging that I evaluate for my clients. Too often what I’m hearing about are details of what they do. The tasks , the type of work, the methods and skills being used.

What I’m not hearing enough about are results. It’s as though the focus when trying to communicate about our work always returns to the daily grind. This is a less-common a problem for clients who own and run their own businesses. Yet I’m still seeing this issue repeatedly and far too often. It’s a problem because it prevents us from fully embracing and sharing our value with others.

It seems that we don’t pause to look up from our work, and to think about its impact. Why is this? Why do I keep observing this phenomenon?

I have a theory: We are trained and have become habituated to focusing on the work. Our culture encourages us to value work for its own sake. We’re told to stay focused, perhaps because results are occasional while the work to achieve them is constant. Harvest is only celebrated a couple of times of year. Toil in the field is daily.

I want my clients to develop a new habit, and to shift their focus. Let’s look up from our work, and consider its results. Let’s do this constantly and regularly. The results may not be apparent every time we look up, but in the absence of this habit we will miss them entirely. Shifting focus will give us much more meaningful and impactful messages we can share with anyone we might want to work with.

Perhaps I should rename my Featured Work section “Results.” ◼︎