Do You Have An Origin Story

Peter Parker was bitten by a radio active spider.It gave him super strength, a spidey sense, and web throwing abilities.At first, the power gave the teen a much needed sense of control and confidence over his life.It wasn’t until his Uncle Ben died that he realized that this new found power made him an important steward of the planet and a caretaker of people.So he became Spider-Man.We are all faced with a choice.We can spend our lives working for nothing, working selfishly, working for others, or the last option; working for others while also working for ourselves.We each have an origin story. Its our narrative and it’s our responsibility to choose what happens with it.Peter Parker didn’t ask for super powers—just like none of us asked for the adversities we’ve faced.The choice of how we respond to these circumstances is where we create ourselves and our life’s purpose. It’s up to us.What happens to us is not in our control.What we do next absolutely is.

2 Minute Action:

What is your origin story?Can you spend 2 minutes talking yourself through it?What will you do with this now that you know?You have everything you need to build something important and impactful.You don’t have an eternity to make it happen.Would it make a difference if you knew it only took 2 minutes to start?

When Am I Enough?

The trouble with this is that “enough” usually has no real, tangible, measurable definition.It’s not a checkbox.Often, it’s because of the n+1 dilemma.In this example, n is undefined and even if you get vaguely close to it, there’s always the “+1,” which is the same as saying “what could/should/would have been.”It’s a formula for eternal failure. If there’s always a +1 attached to the target, you’ll never get thereIf you don’t know what n means, you’ll have a hard time recognizing if you’ve hit the mark.Next time you catch yourself dreaming about the project, lifestyle, or relationships you want, take an extra minute to really define what that means.What would your day look like?What might you have to give up to make this happen?

2 Minute Action:

What’s a goal you have?Ex: Be a billionaire with 6-pack abs.What would you have to do to get there?Is there a reasonable path? If not, who can you talk to that’s the closest to that vision?Take 2 minutes to define what the heck “enough” means and call one person who you think is close to that definition. Ask about their philosophy and beliefs. THEN ask about method.

You'd Be Surprised At How Many People Make This Productivity Mistake

You walk in and instead of confidently starting on your prioritized "to-do" list, you start responding to emails, fielding help-desk tickets from customers, taking phone calls, and diving into whatever is pressing on your attention at that moment.You'll never be in control of your project if you always feel like a slave to the urgency of a crisis.This is known as a "Fire-of-the-Day" management style.Whatever seems to be burning down today is where your attention goes.Here's the tell-tale symptom:If you're exhausted at the end of every workday, but you can't really describe what you did, you're experiencing this one.There’s nothing worse than feeling like you have no control over your own project.One way to get a grip on the reins and get buy-in from your team is to create Critical Productivity Indicators (CPIs) that are measurable, actionable, and don't mean they'll "get the axe" if they mess up.When your team is clear about what “success” means, you’re going to see a lot more collaboration and confidence on "progress report day."What are CPIs? Below are some I've developed for organizations.  All together, they form a Productivity Index, a composite score used to gauge how healthy a team is.Steal this and run with it.

2 Minute Action:

Look at the list below. What's the most important, pressing issue for your team? Only pick one.Take 1 minute and define the question.Take the next minute and create a few answers.You don't have to solve this right now, but having a good question in your head will let you see your work differently today.It's up to you to carve out the time to develop solutions.

• Activity - How much work is being done?
• Prioritization - What kind of work is being done?
• Efficiency - How much work is redundant or wasted?
• Productivity - How much useful output is generated by your team?
• Potential - How much productive work you could be doing?
• Visibility - How clear your team is on their responsibilities?
• Reinforcers - What is motivating consistent, high-quality work behavior?
• Standards - What goals, targets, or benchmarks are in place?
• Capacity - Does your team have all the skills necessary?
• Alignment - Is everyone clear on the mission and priorities?
• Proximal Zone - Where does your team fall in Vygotsky’s Proximal Zones, and the anxiety-boredom spectrum?
• Sentiment - Does your team believe in the mission and are they invested in success?