Read This If You Want To Go Faster
One of the things that makes us efficient with our time is repetition.
If we do something for the first time, it's usually clunky and awkward.
After a few practice runs, we get the hang of it, and we become faster at the same motion.
This is true if you're practicing piano, learning to ski, or playing chess.
It's true for both physical and mental types of work.
So, naturally, one of the ways to get improve your efficiency is repetition.
Repetition makes us faster.
And one of the benefits of going faster is that we can do the same thing we used to do but with more brain capacity.
So, now, instead of thinking really hard about which chord to play on a guitar, we can just rock out and kick some amps over like rockstars because we just have to think "play an A chord" and our hands just do it by themselves.
The same goes for work and business.
Once you have your process in place, you get your time back so you can focus on new improvements or new innovations.
The important thing to realize is that the only way to do this is by iterating and reiterating.
We start on one, small, valuable thing first--and then move on to the next layer, feature, service, profit center, or business unit.
One. At. A. Time.
Looking back, you'll see all the amazing progress.
You'll say, "oh my gosh, I can't believe we used to do things like that."
But today, it's just going to look like today.
2 Minute Action:
What is the smallest but still valuable step you could take, today?
It doesn't even matter if you have a vision or not--sometimes just taking the first steps to help you see what's possible or what you want.
Here are some examples of first steps:
- If you were just laid off, a first step might be posting to your social network and letting people know you're looking for work.
- If you are developing a new program for a school, a first step might be creating a list of reasons programs have failed at that school before.
- If you are building a website, a first step might be building a Powerpoint that "fakes" the site's features and can still be used as a walkthrough on a sales call.
- If you are learning to play the piano, a first step might be watching a YouTube video on how to hit a C chord.
- If you are opening a food truck, a first step might be a cookout with family and friends.
Take 2 minutes and do something small and valuable to move forward.
It has to be both.
This Choice You Make Will Shape Your Success And Happiness
You know what helps when work gets hard?
The team of people around you.This is why we hire for aptitude, attitude, and cultural fit.It’s always a little easier to take failures on the chin when you have others sharing the burden or when they are there to get you back in the fighting ring.
The cool thing is that you get to choose those people.
You get to choose who works for you or who you work for.You get to choose with whom you share experiences.Slowly, over time, you will see the group of people around you change and grow, and it’s up to you to recognize if you’re flying among eagles.
2 Minute Action
Let a valuable friend know they are valuable, today.It’s so easy but it can be so impactful.
The Strange Thing Hotels Do To Keep Customers
For the past two years, I’ve traveled for about 100-150 days per year.
This means I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels.
There’s this one thing that I’ve noticed about nearly all hotels:
It’s the indoor pool.
Here’s what’s weird about it:
Almost no one uses it.
It’s smelly, loud, and there’s always a risk of someone else getting into that tiny hot tub with you, too.
So why does this still exist?
It’s a serious cost for hotels to install and maintain.
Yet, basically, all hotels continue to offer this as a feature.
The feature isn’t the pool. It’s the feeling you get when you know you could use the pool. It feels like a luxury to have access to a pool with fresh towels.
How is an indoor pool related to anything?
Whether you’re building software, teaching students, taking care of patients, or growing an audience, you are developing and revising your “features.”
As you look at user behavior, you have to decide what features to keep, which ones to remove, and which ones to build from scratch.
I’m not saying the indoor pool is a great idea.
What I’m saying is that you have to find out what’s really valuable about what you’re doing and make sure you’re focused on that.
It’s up to you to decide whether the ends justify the means.
Just think what would happen if the hotel removed the pool. Pools are so ubiquitous that customers could look at this and feel that they’re being ripped off of a standard feature!
By having the pool, you’re now on par with the guest’s expectations for what features a hotel should have. You’re not adding anything. You’re just keeping up.
This is just the unique context that will help inform decisions.
And honestly, that’s the easy part.
The hard part is identifying that it’s not the pool that’s valuable, it’s the feeling of having access to a luxury that’s valuable.
2 Minute Action
What’s something you do that is valuable?
It can be as small as the holiday card you send to clients or the tissue box you put in the grieving room for the families of patients.
Now ask: how do you know what’s valuable about that?
Don’t make this hard. You only have 2 minutes.
Just ask the user. Write an email asking for feedback. Monitor website clicks to see behavior.
Your action can be small and still have a big impact.