The 3 Critical Stages To Conquer Any Upsetting Change
Here is the fastest route available to dealing with difficult change:
1 - Awareness
This is the stage where you realize the reality of what's happening around you. This is where you understand the impact and consequences that change has brought.
2 - Acceptance
This is when you realize that what's real is real and thinking about it or wishing it wasn't true doesn't actually improve anything. You can't go back in time and this is the turning point when you adapt to reality and become ready to move on.
3 - Action
This is the stage where you are back in motion. You are moving with the waves and toward a new destination or vision. Even if you don't have a vision yet, you know you have to start somewhere and this is you in motion.It's these critical 3 steps that you must move through unpredictable or difficult change.That's it.Now that you know, it's up to you to figure out how to move faster through them.How to do that?Identify the phase in which you take the longest amount of time, and start there.
2 Minute Action
For me, it's the second step that takes the longest. I, like many others, tend to ruminate on what could be, what I could have done, or what I should have done. Reflecting and analyzing is helpful, but ruminating and dwelling is non-productive and time-consuming.What's your weak point out of these three?Reply, forward, comment, and let me know!The more we share these weaknesses, the better able we are to address and strengthen them.
How I Conquered Multiple 100 Hour Weeks In A Row
It was another 100-hour work week.In fact, it was the 5th one like it in a row.
I didn't think it was possible before I did it. How could it be?
At a 60-80 hour work week, you sacrifice the extras. You sacrifice things like social engagements, lunch hour, TV, and weekends.At an 80-90 hour work week, you sacrifice the basics. You sacrifice things like exercise, time with your family/partner, and the last of any personal time left.At the 90-100 hour week mark, you sacrifice the essentials, like sleep.Seems ridiculous to only have 5 hours of sleep per night for 5 weeks in a row, right?It is.
But there's so much more work to be done!
Does anyone else have a voice in their head that says this??Sometimes you can't work smarter. Sometimes the only person who can get it done is you!Guess what?
There is always an infinite amount of work.
If you are obsessed with social impact and making continuous improvements, you'll never get to a place where you've done enough work to stop working.Even if you somehow are the 1% of people that figure it out, if you're like me, you'll get bored really fast.
So, give up that idea.
Even retirement can stir up the urge to volunteer or be helpful in other ways.
The mantra of living a productive life focused on social impact is about being happy with the pace and intensity.
It's up to you to constantly push the comfort zone of your own intensity and pace. This means that if you're constantly pushing your comfort zone, you're never really in it.I think you get the point.
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
You will not grow strong enough to achieve your dreams without internalizing this belief.Understand your needs for rest, relaxation, re-focusing and whatever else you need. It's your responsibility to understand yourself and take care of your needs.It's your responsibility to understand how much sleep you need to avoid making excessive, stupid mistakes.It's your responsibility to understand how much you can take on to maintain long-lasting productivity.It's your responsibility to understand your weaknesses and discomforts so you can conquer them and grow stronger.
2 Minute Action
What's a part of your job that makes you feel really uncomfortable?What's something you really are not looking forward to doing today?What's something that you've been avoiding for some time?You guessed it. Make it happen.You've got 2 minutes to set up the conversation, push the button, or ask that embarrassing question.Everyone has 2 minutes to take action.
The Unintuitive Thing That Hurts But Makes You Stronger
When was the last time you heard someone criticize your work?When was the last time you heard criticism and didn't get defensive?When was the last time you listened to someone's feedback and considered that you had room for improvement?Forging ahead without listening is called being stubborn.Forging ahead while taking in and testing feedback is called growth.
2 Minute Action
Every couple of years, I send out a survey to my friends, family and co-workers.In it, I ask for them to anonymously tell me what they think my 3 greatest strengths and 3 greatest weaknesses are.Most of them take the 5 minutes to fill it out, and over time, I've collected a good amount of data.I'm not saying you need to create a survey, I'm just saying this format helps for me.I AM saying, it will only take you 2 minutes to ask a mentor or a friend or a boss "Hey, I'm getting serious about my development and I'd like to know: What do you think my strengths and weaknesses are?"If you're serious about improvement, you'll set aside the defensiveness and practice being open to criticism.