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're Not Sure You're On The Right Track
What are the steps you've taken so far?
Are they working?
If you're not sure, have you been specific about what needs to happen for a "success?"
Here are 3 things you need to define:
- What specifically are you trying to accomplish?
- What changes might you try and why?
- How will you know that a change is an improvement?
It's easy to get caught up in how huge an idea or vision is.
It's a lot harder to define it, consider how to make it more achievable, and measure results.
Once you're finished thinking big, remember to think small.
2 Minute Action
Ask yourself this question and answer it in 2 minutes.
Is what you're doing 1) helping you understand the problem or 2) helping you take action?
Do this and you'll have direction.
Read This If You Have To Get Over It
Tough things are tough.
There are things in our control and out of our control.
Sometimes distinguishing these helps us handle tough things. Sometimes it doesn't and tough things are just tough anyway.
Here are the 3 stages of handling tough things.
Awareness
Being aware that there is a problem is part of it. Being aware of the entirety of the problem is the rest of it. What are the consequences? What is the full breadth of the problem? Once you see the whole thing, we can move forward.
Acceptance
This might be the most psychologically difficult one. For the most difficult problems, not accepting that this is now part of your story and part of your life could seriously hinder your ability to recover.
At this point, there's no choice involved. You're either going to say "yes, this happened and it's now part of me" or you can try another workaround.
Action
Only after you are aware of the full problem and you accept that it is part of your journey, can you fully take whole-hearted action.
And that's exactly what you need to do. This is where you can assess if you can repair, mitigate, or bounce back. You might only be able to do one of those.
2 Minute Action:
The first, smallest step might not be the repair, mitigation or resilience. The first, smallest step might be compiling all of your resources.
If you're still in shock, you may want to talk through what happened with a trusted advisor until you can think straight again.
If you're overwhelmed and don't know what to do next, you might start googling "what to do when x happens." This might not give you the answer, but it might help you reboot your creative juices again.
If you know what to do, you might call an accountabilibuddy to keep you on track and accountable to your solution.
All of these things can happen in 2 minutes.
You know, marathons start with just a few steps (and all that).
It's cheesy but it's true. I believe in you.