Do You Know This Important Key To Output?
“Why didn’t you tell me?”“I should have know about this!”“If you’d have told me earlier, I would have had all of this ready!”Okay, I’ve said all this before—but it wasn’t until I heard a colleague say it that I realized something important.Sometimes, having information ahead of time really helps.A lot of the time, though, it doesn’t add any value!I find myself getting frustrated about this and then pausing to ask “what would I have actually been able to do differently, and would I have??”
A lot of the time, the answer is simply: nothing.
You don’t always need to know.This goes for your career and personal projects, too.You don’t always need to know what the outcome will be.You don’t always need to know what all the variables are.You don’t always need to know the steps involved, or the rules of the game, or the potential risks.Even more important, even more than knowing, is action.And even more important is learning.
And even more important is reiterating.
And again and again and again in a relentless, unforgiving circle of continuous improvement.You don’t always need to know everything.In fact, you usually don’t.
2 Minute Action:
Whats something you’re trying to learn a lot about before you start right now?What could happen if you just started doing instead of learning?Are you sure about that?How long would it take you to take the first step?I bet you could do the first step in two minutes.Its up to you.Another fun fact:People are a lot less likely to get in your way once you’re already moving.
The Little Known Reason There Isn’t A Famous “One Man Band”: And How It Can Teach You To Dial Up Your Output
What was the last one man band you heard of?How famous were they?Did they ever get a record deal?
Did they “make it,” by their definition?
Chances are you know about one or two people who play at local venues or cafes and consider themselves a “one man band,” playing drums, cymbals, harmonica, and guitar.
Maybe it doesn’t sound like all that much at first, but consider this:
This is the same person who books the gig, sets up the electronics, and pays taxes on earnings. This is the same person who has to write songs or transpose others into their unique format. This is the same person who has to respond to fan emails, create album art, and ship cd’s to customers. This is the same person fielding complaints and dealing with shipping errors, booking cancellations, and venues not paying on time.You see my point?Define success however you’d like, but I’d bet you any of these people wouldn’t say “no” to large scale popularity. What I mean is: this person wants person wants more people to hear and appreciate the musical output. Yet, by doing all of this alone, growth and impact are limited.
2 Minute Action:
This is the part where the excuses appear (when it gets hard).“Well, Chris, I don’t have the resources to pay for someone to help me.”What if it was your mom?What if it was your brother?What if it was your biggest fan, who believes in you?What if it was a music performance student who needs internship credits?Getting around the excuse is called “making it happen,” and that’s totally up to you. Today, it will only take you about 2 minutes to think of an area where you’re holding yourself back. How much of the work are you doing?What could you offload?Pick one person who might be interested or available in helping (in some very small and specific way—at first).Reach out. The height of the ceiling is more in your control than you think.
What Your Savings Account Says About Your Productivity
Of the Americans who have savings accounts, the median savings account balance is $5,200. The average, or mean balance is $33,766.49. (Citation)
This means 2 things:
- High savings balance folks are pulling the average wayyy up by having wayyy more savings
- Most Americans have a few grand in the bank.
Think about that. Regardless of what you’re pulling in, the lesson I’m pointing out here isn’t frugal spending, cutting out lattes and avocado toast.
The lesson is about the urgency and impact.
Most people don’t save a lot because retirement feels so far away. They also feel like they will start saving when they have more money coming in. Of course, what usually happens ends up being very different from what actually happens. If income increases, then their lifestyle inflated to consume that new income. The strange thing is that even without putting a lot away, you could really make a big impact over time. Remember that urgency is the reason most people take action, but you’re smarter than that.
1% improvements double every 70 days, not 100.
The key isn’t major windfalls or life events, those rarely, if ever, happen. The key is small, daily, relentless action. Excercise, saving for retirement, building your career, changing the world, whatever. Its all the same method.Try to take it all on at once and you will fail. Adjust to the reality of slow, incremental progress and you will get to the end thinking that it was never that bad.
2 Minute Action:
Do you know how much of your income you’re saving?A good starting rule would be, of your cash-in-hand, take-home income (after taxes):
- 50% goes to Needs (rent, food, most utilities)
- 30% goes to Wants (cable, Netflix, restaurants)
- 20% goes to Savings
Here’s a spreadsheet I created and shared on my VAULT. It helped me get on the right track with my finances and get out of high interest credit card debt. It’ll take you 2 minutes to plug in some numbers and figure out how you’re doing.You can absolutely do this.