🤢How Getting Sick Relates To Productivity🤢
This is going to sound gross.Just stick with me, here. It will make sense.It’s like throwing up.You know the feeling you get when you feel nauseous and you know that if you just throw up you’ll feel a lot better?
It’s awful and feels hard on your body but you know you’ll be okay afterward.
That’s what a lot of life is like.Difficult conversations, going to the gym, and doing anything else you don’t want to do.
You're just going to feel anxious until you throw up.
Of course, no one wants to endure the feeling of throwing up so we just avoid it as long as possible—but that just makes us stay nauseous longer.Your call.
2 Minute Action
Whats the thing you most want to avoid today?A conversation? The pull-up bar? A sales call?Start with that.You will get some serious confidence and momentum by making it the first accomplishment of the day.
The Part of Perfectionism Everyone Struggles With
If I’m being honest with you, writing every day is hard.
Especially considering the parameters I gave myself.
Each post must:
- Be in my own voice
- Have my unique viewpoint
- Be quickly digestible
- Be actionable
When I committed to writing every day, I realized that this was big.
Coming up with a fresh concept, in my own words, that was easy to consume, and that also demanded a discrete action that could be achieved in 2 minutes or less is a pretty difficult challenge.
So, what happened?
Sometimes posts didn’t go out at the right time. I travel a lot so timezones have messed with my automated triggers that send out emails and tweets.
Sometimes I am finishing my workday at a weird hour and I’m exhausted—but I still have to write. It’s painful.
Sometimes I miss typos, fail to get the point across or make the post too short to really communicate the point.
Basically, I fail a lot.
And however much I fail, it feels like I’m failing 10 times that.
The point isn’t to make it perfect. Well, at least not today. Or tomorrow.
The point is to constantly approach the upper limit.
The point is to ride the asymptote of improvement as far over to perfect as I can.
The only way to do that is by writing, reviewing, adapting, testing, getting feedback, and writing again.
The other part is to accept that people are going to criticize what you’re doing, especially you. In fact, you are often your own worst critic.
This is the case for writing and it’s the case for everything else.
There’s no substitute for consistently doing the work.
And you’re not allowed to beat yourself up.
2 Minute Action
What’s something that you’ve been meaning to improve in your life?
- Exercise?
- Marketing your brand?
- Motivating your volunteers?
- Energizing your students in the morning?
Here are some things you can do right now in 2 minutes or less:
- Do burpees for 2 minutes straight. If you can’t, do 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off.
- Send out an email to past clients and ask them to write a testimonial for your brand.
- Pick a measurable outcome that volunteers can see. If they can see how well they’re doing, they are more likely to improve.
- Google “fun facilitation exercises” like “rock, paper, scissors, posse.” You have the whole internet at your fingertips.
If You Think I Can Change Your Life, Stop Reading Here
It’s really unlikely that I will change your life.
I can say motivational things and give you tips and tricks to be productive.
I can talk about how important education is and how the future of our world is dependent on it.
I can even call you out with a 2-minute action every, single day.
But the reality is that I can’t help you.
I am only able to ask you the questions that you need to ask yourself.
You are the one who needs to put in the work every day.
You are responsible for your own discipline.
You are accountable for auditing and improving yourself.
“We are what we continually do, therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle
2 Minute Action
What are you dreading doing today?
Start with that.
I’ve said this before. This isn’t new.
And that’s the point. It’s a daily grind.
My job isn’t to give you something new and shiny to read every day.
My job is to tell you the truth.
The truth is that when you start every day by doing something you don’t want to do, you get stronger.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Every day.