Hard work in the wrong direction just gets you lost faster. Check where you’re headed now and then.

Effort does not supply direction. Hard work aimed wrongly carries you further from where you wanted to be, and the effort is exactly what makes it convincing, because it feels like the one thing that could not be the problem. Nobody wants to stop and check halfway, since checking might mean the last month was aimed badly. Looking is still cheaper than carrying on.

Stop once this week and ask what you are actually trying to reach. Then ask whether this week’s work moves you toward it. If not, change the work rather than the pace.