Nicole and I have been having a blast adventuring around Alaska in our small, new-to-us camper this summer.

Our very first outing was on May 10th and in spite of months of watching YouTube videos to ensure we towed safely and set everything up correctly, things were a little clumsy and time-consuming.

Each of the subsequent trips have worked more smoothly – with hookup and parking times getting shorter and shorter – because we’ve learned a lot about how it all works and how to work better together.

On a recent trip home from a camper trip I told Nicole that the whole process doesn’t feel as difficult as it should.

What I meant was this: hauling a trailer is serious business and the easier the mechanical steps become, the more I worry that I’m missing something important because it doesn’t feel appropriately difficult anymore.

(It likely won’t shock you to learn that I have DETAILED checklists for the entire process so I CAN’T miss something)

I think this feeling is familiar to many small business owners who are used to “the struggle.”

Instead of basing your sense of accomplishment on actual output, you get into the habit of basing it on effort expended.

The problem with this is twofold: you are measuring the wrong thing…and your measurement is skewed as you become more efficient and effective at a given task.

If you find yourself focused on how difficult the work is, instead of how much you are accomplishing, you likely have experienced a paradoxical misery: you can accomplish more when the work is easier – which should be a good thing – but you feel like you are being less productive because it doesn’t “hurt” like you expect it to.

Here’s a way to strike a balance if you aren’t ready to go cold turkey and abandon an I-am-in-pain-therefore-I-am-working-hard posture: make it your mission to find NEW sources of discomfort.

The goal isn’t for a given task to be perpetually challenging, it’s to become so good at it (or so good at delegating it) that you have time, focus, and energy to devote to a new challenge.

If you must struggle, make it your mission to master the struggles of today and look for NEW struggles to conquer.

If you are feeling overwhelmed as a small business owner, download my free Anti-Overwhelm Playbook today. It will help you find the clarity and direction you need to overcome overwhelm and cancel the chaos so you can build your business with complete clarity.