Everything That's Holding You Back In 60 Seconds
There's something calling for your attention.It's asking for something important, that you value.It's asking for your time and your focus.It's asking for your energy and your intention.It's asking for those precious limited resources we have.
It's everything.
Well, it's everything but what's important.What's important and urgent deserves your focus and energy.What's important and not urgent also deserves your time and intention.It's those non-essential things, which makes up most of what's out there, that will take up 80% of your resources.
You can't do everything.
So choose what is essential to your life.Yes, you can choose to do this--most people won't.Most people will let their lifestyle inflate to consume their income and then complain that they need more income to pay for their lifestyle.But not you, you're smarter than that.The same goes for work and personal habits.You get to choose what's essential and how to focus your time.Yes, you can.
2 Minute Action:
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.Take 2 minutes to look at how you've spent your time (work and outside of work) over the last 4 weeks.What is non-essential or not helping you achieve your goals?Take this small moment to delete some non-essentials and commit for a week--not forever--just a week to see how you do.It probably took you only 60 seconds to read this post and form an opinion.It doesn't take much more to take action.
Don’t Get Tricked Into This Habit
There are certain things that have inherent qualities.I hear people talk talk about the inherent educational qualities in LEGO toys and MINECRAFT, the block-based video game.While there are some inherent values, like helping kids develop spatial reasoning skills, most of the value is hidden from sight.
It lies in the transferability of the lessons you learn to the real world.
Kids “mine” for resources in MINECRAFT. They can then spend those resources on new mining tools, build a house, or whatever else they can think up.They tricky part here is that they are practicing “budgeting” and resource management without realizing it.It takes an extra second for a mentor, parent, or teacher to explain how this skill can be transferred to the real world, but somehow many of us skip this step, expecting the toy or the game to just work this magic on its own.It’s this guidance and practice of application to the real world that will make all the difference whether you are a student, teacher, employer, or employee.
It will 10x your results.
This is a critical “learn” part of the “Build. Measure. Learn.” cycle from the Lean Model coined by Eric Ries.Instead of waiting for something to work on its own, take ownership and see how you can practice applying what you’ve learned to other parts of your life.Dont get tricked into thinking the full value of the product or service is already 100% baked inside.
2 Minute Action
What’s something that you’re doing really well in your life right now?In what other part of your life might you try this approach?
Here are some quick ideas:
LEGO is all about breaking large, complex models into small, buildable chunks. Saving for retirement is a huge, high-stress task that can be made much easier by saving small chunks over time.MINECRAFT is all about scrounging the right resources and learning from the online community. If you’re thinking about starting a company or embarking on a new career, connecting with others who are on that track might help inform your decision and get you up to speed on the consequences.