Here’s today’s tip: You need to Work harder AND smarter than your opponent if you want to win
A good plan is awesome and burning a combination of sweat and shoe leather is important but there’s a limit to how far you can get if you can’t combine the two.
When I talk about working smart AND hard, I mean that planning AND execution are important. A good plan that’s not executed is wasted time. So is activity that’s not thought out.
If you want to win, you need to constantly balance planning and activity. You should start planning at the polls closing on election day and work backwards through time. Give it as much detail as possible and then start identifying the inputs that you need in order to keep that machine fueled. Those will primarily be volunteer hours, dollars, endorsements and your focused time as a candidate. Planning is how you make sure that your activity is purposeful and will move the needle in your favor.
Then give it everything you’ve got. From knocking doors to meeting with donors and attending events. You need to make sure that your activity level is consistently high. You’re the one who is setting the pace for the rest of the team so show them how hard you want them to work through your own individual work ethic. Nobody is going to work harder on your race than you are willing to.
Working smart OR hard won’t get you very far. If you work smart AND hard, your planning and execution will form the basis for a strong campaign