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Results 2.0: Be successful, not busy
Dashrath Manjhi was an Indian laborer from Gehlaur village in India.
In 1959, his wife fell on a mountain pass and was badly injured. But the nearest doctor was more than 40 miles away. And that mountain that she fell on?
It was in the way.
And since she couldn’t get the care she needed in time, she died.
Dashrath was devastated.
So much so that he spent the next 22 years drilling a hole through the mountain with nothing other than a hammer, a chisel, and some pig headed grit and determination. His goal was to shorten the distance from his village to the nearest town down to 9.3 miles, so that in the future, people could get better access to resources, supplies, and emergency healthcare.
In his own words:
"When I started hammering the hill, people called me a lunatic but that steeled my resolve.”
Well what happened next?
Those same villagers started bringing him food and tools to continue his work.
And when it was complete, the tunnel made foot travel to the nearest town considerably easier for the villagers of Gehlaur. He became a local hero and the Indian Post even issued a stamp with his face and name on it to commemorate him after his unsuccessful battle with gallbladder cancer.
He was also given a state funeral.
But even after all that… His daughter Bahsati Devi still lived in extreme poverty. She eventually developed serious health issues, and despite countless promises from local politicians and officials, she was largely left to fend for herself.
She died just 7 years later due to her inability to afford medical care.
Dashrath Manjhi was a living example of what grit and determination alone can accomplish.
He spent 22 years carving a path through a mountain to save others from unnecessary suffering. But even after his monumental effort, his daughter still died to soon, from the very same problem.
Lack of access to healthcare.
And even his tunnel, while immediately accessible on foot, was never paved and made useable for ambulances and motor vehicles until almost 30 years later (after he died).
In the end, his tunnel was only sort of helpful…
Which brings me to my point.
Grit is essential in entrepreneurship.
But at some point, you’re just going through the motions, hammering away at something that may or may not be making the kind of impact you’re really hoping for. And without the right systems, support, and buy-in from the people around you, all your effort can be wasted.
Which is why I’ve decided to create a membership community.
One dedicated to helping entrepreneurs like you monetize your own thing, outside the traditional 9-5.
Because if I’ve learned anything over the past decade as an entrepreneur, it’s foolish to try to hammer away at a mountain all on your own.
Even Dashrath relied on the local villagers to bring him food and tools in order to accomplish his goals.
But had he enlisted the help of his fellow villager’s and worked together with them to come up with a solution, they could have accomplished a lot more, a lot faster, and made a much bigger impact.
So I propose we go about things a little bit different.
Rather than hammering away alone…
Let’s focus on creating the paved infrastructure that makes the work we do more accessible to others. Doesn’t mean you can’t go off the beaten path, focus on building trails, do your own thing, and even stay small and be a successful solopreneur. But even solopreneurs must rely on the larger network of infrastructure to meet their goals.
So if you’d like to be surrounded by a community of coaches, thought leaders, and educators monetizing their offers and services on Threads, then just click the link below to signal your interest and I’ll reach out with more details in the next few days.
(It won’t be free, but for the right kind of folks it should be a no brainer to join).
Talk soon,
Kevin Hood