Busyness isn’t Growth 🚀

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on two words that often get mixed up: busyness and growth. Early in my career, I was always busy—moving from task to task, feeling accomplished but not necessarily closer to any real progress. Looking back, I wish I had understood sooner that being busy doesn’t always mean you’re moving forward in a meaningful way. Growth and movement aren’t the same, and learning to tell the difference can change everything.

Starting out, there’s something to be said for exploring widely—trying different roles, experimenting with new skills, and time-boxing each to see what clicks. It’s natural and essential to dive into learning, sometimes even saying “yes” to everything just to figure out what fuels you. It’s exactly what I did at the start. But over time, as the novelty wears off, the danger is in mistaking that constant doing for actual growing.

Another thing I’ve noticed is the disconnect that can happen when our personal growth no longer aligns with the direction of our professional work. It’s common to assume that being good at our job equates to growth in all areas of life, but often, that’s not the case. Real growth—growth that resonates on a personal level—can stall when our work doesn’t feed into our larger goals.

As someone once said, “Since we spend so much of our lives at work, it’s important to genuinely enjoy what we do.” But beyond simply enjoying our work, it’s essential that our career aligns with our personal growth and life goals. Whether you call it personal growth or life planning, this alignment is key to meaningful progress.

Growth requires not just effort but discomfort, diligence, and time. Moving and doing are easy to track: last week I attended a conference in Singapore, next week I’ll be speaking in Chicago, then it’s meetings, projects, events, and on and on. When it’s all over, though, we need to ask ourselves: what’s changed? How have I grown from all this movement?

Here’s the formula I’ve found helpful for checking in on my own growth:

             {Growth} = ( {Goal} + {Discomfort} + {Diligence} ) x {Time}

In other words, real growth starts with a clear goal. Without a goal, it’s easy to feel lost and keep moving without purpose. Growth also needs discomfort—the willingness to push into areas where you’re not yet skilled or comfortable. Add diligence to that, the commitment to keep showing up even when it’s tough. And finally, time: looking back six months or a year later, can you see new skills or deeper knowledge in yourself that wasn’t there before? Only then can you truly say you’re growing.

And here’s the thing: sometimes choosing growth over busyness requires taking steps that others might question. Say you realize that your current job no longer brings you satisfaction, so you make the bold decision to leave. You take six months to diligently study and build a new skill set, and by month eight or twelve, you land a job that pays you three or four times more than before. In this way, choosing growth isn’t about keeping up with others; it’s about going after what brings you genuine progress, even if it means stepping back or changing direction for a while.

So, the next time a friend, family member, or colleague makes you feel like you aren’t doing enough, remember that busyness isn’t growth. They might be working 80 hours a week to make a certain income, keeping busy with endless tasks to feel productive. But if you’re focused on intentional growth, you could work half those hours and make even more. The aim isn’t just to be busy; it’s to build a path that leads to genuine fulfillment and productivity.

When we lose sight of growth, we tend to settle into busyness for its own sake, sprinting from task to task without knowing how—or if—it all connects. I’ve come to believe that, for most of us, doing less might actually be more. Focusing on fewer things that genuinely matter and sticking with them offers a deeper sense of accomplishment and a much clearer path to growth. It’s not about doing everything but about intentionally choosing what truly aligns with your long-term goals.

So, I’m not saying there’s anything inherently wrong with busyness or movement. I’m saying that at times, it’s worth pausing and asking: what’s the purpose behind all this activity? Are you moving in the direction that aligns with your goals, or are you just moving to keep yourself busy? Sometimes, simply refocusing on fewer, meaningful things makes all the difference.