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.
Read This If You Think You Should Follow Your Heart
At some point, you were probably told "follow your heart and the money will follow."
Please take a second to file this under "well-intentioned, bad advice."
Just because you love making scrabble jewelry doesn't mean it's something that can earn you a living making.
It's not your fault. It's not the scrabble jewelry's fault.
What we're talking about is a Venn Diagram (yes, another one).
You're looking for the overlap in "stuff that makes money" with "stuff that makes an impact in the world" with "stuff I enjoy."
You might not get all of them right away, and that's okay.
You just have to get them in the right order.
Here are some definitions of different overlapping zones of this imaginary Venn Diagram that may help you in your exploration of this:
A Hobby.
A hobby is something that costs money. It's generally something you love to do and something you want to get better at. It may not have any market value, but it probably has some intrinsic value to you because it feels good when you do it. This is something that might only be in the "stuff that you enjoy" category.
A Job.
A job is something you do to make money. It could be something you know, something you do, or some combination of those two. Either way, the idea is that by trading your time doing a job, you get a predictable income, which is generally regarded as a pretty sweet gig. This might only be in the "stuff that makes money" category. If you look hard, you might find one that overlaps in all 3 categories.
An Enterprise.
An enterprise is a totally separate entity. It's bigger than a person or a job. It contributes profit in excess of the work/job transaction. It's one of those "more than just the sum of the parts" kind of things. It's usually a bunch of relationships and work all pooled together for a common vision. By doing this, the enterprise creates more profit than any individual or job could have on its own. This is really hard and you need a lot of things to go right for this to spin up and become sustainable. Some of those things are in your control and some of them aren't. Either way, this might not be in any category, and it might be in all 3.
So, what did we learn today?
There's a chronological order to this:
- Start with something that makes money.
- Then find something that makes money and also makes an impact.
- Then find something that makes money, makes an impact, and is something you enjoy.
We also learned that these things don't even align neatly with hobbies, jobs, or enterprises!
The point I'm making here is that while "follow your heart" is a strategy for gaining fulfillment, it might not be an adequate strategy for creating a life.
So, perhaps, better advice might be:
Follow your heart, but follow your brain, too.
2 Minute Action:
Do you have a hobby, job, or enterprise?
Then realize that no job, hobby, or enterprise in the world is going to make you happy.
That's on you.
So, now what does "follow your heart" mean to you?
Let that sink in for 2 minutes and let me know what you come up with.
Taking 2 minutes to define this is going to increase your chance of making it happen.
Read This If You Think You Should Be Paid What You're Worth
This has come up a few times, recently, so I figured I should talk about it.
There is nothing wrong with believing in yourself.
There is nothing wrong with getting paid what you're worth.
But here's the issue I'm seeing:
Just because you have 10 years of experience and a master's degree doesn't mean that the business will need to pay you for it.
I know that's upsetting.
Here's what I mean:
If you have 10 years of sales training and then you want to be a news anchor, the news station can't pay you what you used to make in sales.
Why not?
- Sales is a different industry that values a different skill set.
- The news team has a budget for the position they're trying to fill that maps to the value that position provides the news station.
That means that even if you were a news anchor with 500 years of experience and a gazillion 5-star references, that news team has to decide how much the news anchor position is worth to the station.
You might be overqualified.
You might be underqualified.
Understand that this has nothing to do with your value as a human being. That's different.
What we're talking about is your monetary value to a company in a mostly capitalist economy.
In this case, the market decides what you're worth--not you!
This is pretty disorienting to some people because many of us were told that we'd be more marketable with an advanced degree, or that this particular certification would ensure we'd earn more.
That might be true in some cases or industries, but it's because that's what the business has chosen to value--not because you've earned a skill that the entire economy values.
Please do not conflate self-worth with your position's worth to your company.
2 Minute Action:
Instead of asking yourself "am I getting paid what I'm worth," ask yourself "how valuable is my position?"
If you're an entrepreneur, this is still true for you. You are still accountable for out-earning everyone else in your company.
You can answer this in 2 minutes. The answer is your salary.
If you don't think it's enough or aligned with your value to the company, it's time to talk to your supervisor.
Start with "I'd like to make $xx.xx. How might we make that happen in our company?"
The answer might be "that's not possible in your role," which is great news! You just found out that you need to change paths.
That's way better than spending 10 years in a position that's not valued.