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Proactive vs Reactive

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PROACTIVE

There is a fire in the town of South Park, Colorado. A residential building is ablaze, and people are trapped inside. The fire spread very rapidly and now it is completely out of control. The fire captain is quickly running out of options. Then suddenly, when all hope seemed lost, the police officer notices…

Officer: Wait. Look! Up in the sky!

Fireman: It’s him! My God, it’s really him!

Fire Captain: He’s come to help us. Captain Hindsight!

Pedestrian: Who’s Captain Hindsight?

Announcer: Captain Hindsight, the hero of the modern age. [a series of comic book pictures follows] Once known as Jack Brolin, a reporter for the national news, the hero was born when a freak accident gave him the amazing power of extraordinary hindsight. From toxic spills to unjust wars there is no task too large for… Captain Hindsight! [the hero descends and lands next to the firemen]

Fire Captain: Captain Hindsight, thank God you’ve come!

Captain Hindsight: What’s the skinny?

Fireman: There’s people trapped in that burning building, Captain Hindsight. And the fire is so massive we can’t get to them.

Captain Hindsight: Hmmm… You see those windows on the right side? They should have built fire escapes on those windows for the higher floors, then people could have gotten down. And then on the roof: they should have built it with a more reinforce structure, so a helicopter could have landed on it.

Fireman: Yes, of course.

Captain Hindsight: And then you see that building to the left?

Fire Captain: Yes.

Captain Hindsight: They shouldn’t have built that there. Because now you can’t park any fire trucks where you really need to. [stands up tall] Well, looks like my job here is done. Goodbye everyone! [takes off]

Fireman: Thank you, Captain Hindsight!

Officer: Thank youuu!

Fire Captain: All right everyone, I guess that’s it. Let’s pack it up

captain-hindsight.jpg

Captain Hindsight is the worst superhero of all time! What we really need is Captain Proactive.

Proactive vs reactive

“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” -Abraham Lincoln

What does it mean to be proactive and why is it important?

I think the Captain Hindsight story above is a great way to stress the importance of being proactive. Being proactive is one of the 7 key habits of highly successful people, as Stephen Covey mentions in his excellent book on the subject.

Being proactive is important because this is something that sets you apart. Most of us are reactive. Stuck in the rat-race, looking for the cheese, too busy to look up. The ones that do look up, quickly figure out the best way to get the cheese is to think outside the box.

This point of Proactive vs Reactive is beautifully explained in this video:

Goals vs Systems

I will mention one important distinction between goals and systems: goals are temporary, systems are not. Although goals have their place, we should focus our efforts in creating systems of proactivity that will last beyond that one goal accomplishment.

This article by Scott Adams on this topic is a good one to read.

Always have a Plan B

In his excellent book titled “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth”, the Canadian astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield, talks about the importance of having a “Plan B”. The Colonel talks about how a significant portion of astronaut training is focused on having multiple Plan B-s for every operation. The astronaut must know each of these alternatives, and know them very well, before every mission.

This might seem a little excessive for civilian life but drives home the importance of proactive thinking before every task.

The Worst-Case Scenario

Thus, before embarking on a new venture, ask yourself these simple questions:

  • What is the worst that can happen? So long as this worst-case scenario does not endanger your life or someone else’s, 99% of “worst cases” are not really that bad.
  • What is the opportunity cost? I.e. the cost of doing nothing.
  • What is the best possible outcome? Most of the time, the gains from taking the risk are significant.

The passive benefit for doing this every time, is creating a system where you get better at evaluating and preparing for any opportunity that becomes available to you.

Inspiration sources

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey

An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Chris Hadfield

Leadership

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Leadership

Leadership is a difficult topic. The book definition is clear: the act of leading a group or organization. But the practical definition, not so clear. How do you know what exactly a leader should do and shouldn’t do?

Organizational titles such as CEO, manager, supervisor, etc., can be seen as leadership positions, but there is more to being a leader than the title. In fact, one can be really good at their management responsibilities without having to lead their subordinates. And the reverse is also true: a manager can look to the person being managed for leadership.

I will discuss the idea of leadership as it applies to one’s career, as well as one’s family life. Because your family is also a group of people you lead.

Lead Yourself

Leadership is a difficult and draining task. You have to be “on” all the time. Your group is looking up to you all the time. This takes a lot of discipline. The best practice is to lead yourself. And the way to do this is to see yourself as a separate individual – or rather as two individuals – one is the leader, and the other is the follower. The leader’s job is to keep the follower accountable. Every action that the follower does, or plans to do, should be questioned: “is this something my leader would approve of?”.

It is then the leader’s task to guide the follower and remind them of the big picture. Indeed, the leader always reflects on the big picture. Once the two parts of you, the follower and the leader, become aligned, then you can qualify to lead others.

The Big Picture

A leader should know what the core message is. What is it that the group or organization wishes to accomplish? What is their mission statement? This is the “Why?”. Remember your Why and align your actions to this. Align your team by being in the driver’s seat. People tend to drift away – the ego gets in the way.

A practical example of this is during a presentation. If one of your team member is tasked with giving a presentation, and they start drifting away on a tangent, and you realize this will result in not having enough time to complete the message in the allocated time frame, it is your responsibility to stand up and bring them back. Don’t just sit there and hope for the best.

Invest in Your Team

The most efficient way to lead is to make your subordinates self-sufficient. Invest in training them, improving their productivity and efficiency. This frees up your time as a leader as well. Remember, you are the big picture person.

A leader will facilitate and encourage their followers, making them self-reliant. So long as this will align with the core values of the team. The leader’s job should not be to manage and micro-manage – that may be delegated to a “manager”.

The first step to lead is to pace. Pacing is listening actively, empathizing, and not solving a problem. Once you are at the same pace as the follower, then it is time to lead. I have explored this process in details here.

Your subordinates are under your protection.

Leading by fear only works for so long, before there is a mutiny. This is also called a dictatorship, and it never lasts.

Leaders Deal with Leaders

Leaders’ time is extremely valuable. Your team cannot afford to have their leader spending time in discussions that are unfruitful. Therefore, leaders deal with leaders – aka, decision makers. Your allegiance lies with your team first.

Team Morale

Finally, a leader isn’t much without people to lead. Being mindful of the fact that not everyone in your team is a high performer, is important. Team building exercises come in handy at keeping the morale high. Low morale is a vicious cycle and very contagious.

Encourage and nurture your team members who show initiative. Going above and beyond should be rewarded. This has the added bonus of incentivizing others to do the same. Another vicious cycle, but one that benefits the team. There is nothing wring with some healthy competition.

 

If you think you have what it takes to be a leader, then go for it. The world would be a better place to live for everyone!

Groundless Fear

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GroundlessFear

It’s opposite day today. What you were told is bad for you, is actually good for you. Before you get carried away and jump off a high place, let me clarify. I am not talking about doing stupid things that might take you to meet your maker. I am talking about the everyday practical challenges that make you afraid. Afraid of trying out something new, change, embarrassment, rejection, failure.

Our brain is wired for survival. And a good rule of survival is that familiarity is safe, and the unknown is to be feared. On top of this, conventional wisdom is generally wrong. I will argue that fear is nothing more than an opportunity to grow.

Philosophy of Fear

Stoicism – besides being one way of being associated with the “hipsters” – offers practical solutions to life’s big problems.

Go ahead and have a listen to this 9min reading of Seneca’s Letter # 13, which is titled “On Groundless Fear”. If you don’t have 9min, then listen at 1.25x, or 1.50x. Then do yourself a favor and bookmark it or download it to your phone. It will come very handy in future, I promise.

For your convenience, here is a very short summary on how to deal with fear, based on Seneca’s Letter # 13:

  1. Remember the times you handled a challenging and fearful situation in the past. You can do it again.
  2. Perhaps this thing that you are afraid of will never come, so why worry. And even if it does come, it will pass, so why worry.

Cure for Fear

There is only one cure for fear, and it is action! Something can only be “new” for the first time. Ask yourself: “what is the worst that can happen?”. And if the answer is not that big of a deal, then go for it. Chase the storm, go to where the fear is.

Change is about conditioning. Compounded over time, it becomes habit. Which further compounds to become personality. I suggest the following very simple conditioning to not be afraid:

Do one thing every day that scares you

Start with simple things, then increase the dose daily to push your limits. Depending on the individual, asking for an extra cream in your coffee might be a cause of fear. Or, for the brave, bungee jumping with your arms tied around your back might be fearful. Whatever it may be, do one thing daily.

Ideas Need Time & Space

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Ideas Need Time & Space

Space-time, is a concept in physics developed by Einstein. In his theory of general relativity, Einstein postulated the idea of a 4-dimensional space-time fabric, where objects with mass warp space-time, which result in the force of gravity.

I believe, an “idea” is also an object that warps space-time. At first, the idea starts small. Seemingly appearing from nowhere. If you consider, the energy in the universe propagates everywhere, and when the conditions are just right, particles can pop into existence. This is also the idea behind the Big Bang.

Before I start going on a tangent and sounding overly “geeky”, let me just say that I find these similarities fascinating. But, this article is not on the hypothetical similarities between ideas and physics, rather I want to explore some practical aspects of how to make ideas work, or better yet, “make work of your ideas”.

Capturing Ideas

The fact is that ideas are cheap. Everyone has them, all the time, and ideas come and go. Like ripples in an ocean. The key is to have a system to capture these ideas and explore them. The challenge is how to keep track and what to do this the ideas?

This is what I propose:

  1. Capture your ideas: have a list on your phone for daily ideas and note them down as they come to you
  2. Follow up on your list: have a system where you review your list and pick the “winners”, that will move on to the next stage. These are the ideas that excite you the most. For this assign “time blocks” (see below)
  3. Spend minimum time and explore the options for the winner ideas: this will be a series of questions that work for you. Things like, why, how, what, competition analysis, ROI, etc. If you like to see what my system looks like, send me a message and I can share my template with you
  4. Work on this refined idea and complete it: the worst thing you can do it allow your projects to go into limbo
  5. Rinse and repeat

Ideas Need Time

To explore and develop your ideas, your system will have “time blocks”. These are set time schedules where you review your idea list, prioritize, sort, and work towards their completion. This is where discipline comes in. If you are serious about accomplishing something, you absolutely have to assign time blocks. Otherwise your ideas are just an exercise in fantasy.

Time blocking is easy. And it becomes easier with time. It is about developing a habit. I suggest putting these time blocks early in the morning (for morning people), or late at night (for night owls). Pick a time that is least distracting and where you can focus. The little time you spend doing this at first, the easier it is to habituate. Once you start enjoying this strategic time blocks, you will look forward to it and spend more time in these blocks.

Think of clever ways to reward yourself at the completion of these time blocks. The best reward would be to see your idea come to fruition when you go through your process and complete it!

Ideas Need Space

The second half of this space-time is, well you guessed it, “space”. As your idea is growing from your mind to paper, you need to allocate more space to it. The firing of neurons happens on your brain, but this needs to be transcribed to paper in order to visualize.

You have successfully disciplined yourself with your time blocking, and part of this is to “space block”. An office-type area where your ideas incubate, where you meditate on paper, where you strategize, is needed. This area is sacred and beyond limits to others. You can have as little or as much square footage as you need to make it work.

A technique I came across is “Scrum”. This is used in the technology and software development world where multiple teams collaborate on one idea. But there is nothing stopping us from tweaking this to have a “personal Scrum”.

Scrum is best explained in this video.

At a more advanced stage, this space is mobile. A work bag with your laptop, notebook, headphones, etc., can accomplish the same thing once you get into the habit. I will write an article on this “mobile working” at a later time to elaborate.

Benefits

What is the point to all this hard work you ask? “If the idea is important enough, it will come back to me”, you say.

It is about creating a system. Ideas and goals come and go. To optimize any action, you need a working system. This system is dynamic and iterative. With every repetition it should become easier. You should aim for automation.

I wrote an article on habits and how systems thinking works. Check it out here.

The human brain has many similarities with how a computer processes information. A CPU has a limited “cache”. This is the buffer memory used to perform computation. It is different from RAM and hard-drive memory. Before a new operation can be performed, the cache needs to be cleared to allow room to process the new workload. The human brain is similar in the sense that we need to clear our mind of any outstanding tasks before we can process new information. Therefore, I propose that we park our ideas and commit them to our idea processing system, to allow room for new ideas.

Finally, once this system is mastered, you will be able to quickly assess a new idea, process it in your mind, crunch the numbers, and decide if it is worth your energy. You develop a systematic understanding of what works for you and what does not.

Now get to it!

How To Job Search, The Smart Way

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JOBS

Congratulations! You have moved on to the next stage. If you thought your struggles in college were over, think again – job search is another beast. The good news is that you can slay this beast.

I would like to share some practical ideas about job search. Having gone through this myself, and seeing others go through this, my article will serve as a summary on the process. The content here is a combination of things I have done myself, read online, and been advised to try. It is not easy, but it does work. I got a great job by following these principles.

First the basics:

  • Start with the end in mind. Know exactly what it is you want. Maybe your end goal is a different job than the one you are currently looking for. This is fine, so long as it gets you closer to your ideal job.
  • Job search is a form of selling. You have to sell your skillset. The employer needs you as much as you need them. This is a mindset.
  • Out think your competition. Be strategic and find clever ways, something your competitor might not do. Go out of your way to demonstrate you are sincere and dedicated. It is like a game of musical chairs.
  • Law of averages applies to job search as well. This is a numbers game, like many things. Realizing this will allow you to devise a smart strategy that will work for you.

Have fun with your search. Turn the “search” into a “hunt”. Once you get the ball rolling, it is only a matter of time.

Sources for Job Searching

You will know more about this section better than me, as this is very industry specific. But here are some basics. After you have identified what kind of job you want, list all the job search venues available to you. Some of these may be: job search engines, the company’s job postings page, head-hunters and hiring companies, social media (LinkedIn), career fairs, word of mouth. Be creative and focus on ones that your competitors won’t think of. The more sources you have, your job search will grow exponentially – remember, this is a game of number.

Resume and Cover Letters

Making a good resume is a daunting task. The best place to start is to look at what works in your industry of interest. Ask friends for their resumes. If you don’t have friends, then ask people in the industry you want to be in for their resume, or if they can have a look at yours. You can find these people by: LinkedIn, cold calling and visiting the company, networking events, etc. You will be surprised how easy it is. Most professional people appreciate sincerity and will do their best to help.

Now that you have a resume, you need more resumes. Have industry specific and job specific resumes, as they require different skill sets, or prioritize different skills in different ways. Have a bank of resumes to pull from. The tracking system below will be useful for this.

A cover letter is different than the resume because it is tailored to every job. You can have a handful of these letters and tweak them little by little as per the job specifics. Be creative in writing this letter. Don’t be overly formal in your cover letter. Make the reader comfortable and eager to meat you in person. If your resume and cover letter are overly long and wordy, that tends to put people who have to reading them off. Try and make it easier for them.

Keywords are extremely important. Identify these keywords from the job description and strategically implant them in your resume. Be subtle.

Final advice, keep these short and to the point. You wan the reader’s attention, not to make it a chore. Who knows, maybe your resume is such a delight to read compared to the others, that you get the phone call.

Creating these documents will take a lot of your time at first. Once you have good templates to work with, it becomes easier. You resume and cover letter are living documents – tweak and optimize them with every opportunity.

linkedin_logo1-56b090895f9b58b7d0241592

LinkedIn and Social Media

Invest some time in fixing up your LinkedIn profile. If you Google search on this topic, you will find lots of great information. LinkedIn has a good section on this topic. Your LinkedIn profile is like a second resume.

You can use LinkedIn to follow the companies you are targeting. This gives you visibility and you can cross-network to the connections within the companies being followed, as well as their networks. Connect to people in these companies and ask them for coffee meetings and get advice. The success rate here is low, but not impossible.

Use LinkedIn to do competitive analysis. You can look at profiles of people who you are competing with for specific jobs. See what they are upto and see their experiences. Think of ways to make yourself stand out.

Writing articles on LinkedIn is an excellent way to show your professionalism. Write on topics that are of interest to you. Not necessarily related to the job. This is another way to show you are better than your competitors. Share, like, and comment on posts periodically. You don’t necessarily need to do this every day, but once a week is good. You can even set time blocks in your calendar, for example, every Friday morning 7am-7:30am.

But please don’t get carried away. Your objective is to use LinkedIn as a job search tool, not a social media platform. Spend only the amount of time necessary to accomplish your goal.

Keep Facebook private. You don’t want your LinkedIn activities to be out of sync with your Facebook activities. Therefore, it is best to keep the two separate. Employers will look you up on both platforms. Try Googling yourself and see what shows up.

Online Courses

There are hundreds of online courses you can take to add to your skill set. Pick courses that are short and relevant. These are available free, for example on YouTube, or paid. The paid ones will give you a certificate at the end. Make them visible on your resume and your LinkedIn profile.

Networking Events

The obvious events to attend are job fairs. But the not so obvious ones are networking events. These can be seen on LinkedIn sometimes. You can also find them on websites that are the industry’s event organizers. These guys are not affiliated to any specific company, but in a way, harmonize the standards across this industry. They usually have networking events once a year. Google search to find out.

Meetups.com is another great place to look for networking events. Don’t spend too much time here, but if you see some event that is related to your job search in the industry you are interested in, then it is a good idea to attend.

Tracking Is The Key

I have found this single activity to be the most effective one of all. Tracking is a way to bring everything together. Having an overview of your process and all the moving parts within, makes it manageable.

 “What gets measured, gets accomplished.”

Create an Excel file. At the very top, write down the “objective” – this is the goal, the desired outcome, the reasons you are doing this job search. What needs to be tracked: dates (of job search, application, interviews), industries, companies (industry specific), contact, the resume used, the cover letter used, interview notes, any other relevant information that helps in future. Most importantly, each line will have a “folder number”. This folder will contain all the associated files. Create a PDF of the job posting so you remember what it was when you get a phone interview.

I remember I was applying everywhere and when someone would call me back, it would be hard for me to remember who it was. After creating this tracking sheet, it was no problem. I would put this folders on could storage – I used “Box”, but others will do the same thing – to be able to look at it when I get a phone call and I was away from my computer.

Prospecting Runs

I found this to be the most fun part of the whole job search process. I started with phone calls: list the companies in an area, call them up and ask to speak to the department manager. Be polite, but be direct. You will get a lot of rejections from the receptionist, and when you do manage to make it to the managers, you will get further rejections. But don’t worry, your competitors are doing the same thing. If you persist, then you have an advantage.

After you make your list of companies you called, follow up with a visit. This is practical if they are in the same city, or neighboring city. At this point, they are not really looking to meet a potential candidate, but that is something your competitor is also thinking. At the very least, you can drop off your resume. But if you get through to the department manager, they will be impressed with your dedication and retain your contact information for when an opportunity arises. Or perhaps even refer you to someone who is looking for a dedicated individual.

If you are hungry enough, you can offer to work as an unpaid volunteer. Your goal is to get experience, get contacts, get a referral. Keep a part-time odd-job to pay your bills while you are volunteering.

Why are you doing all this hard work? Go back to your tracking sheet and remind yourself of the objective. You have nothing to lose in doing this. I can guarantee that your competitor is not putting in this much effort

“You miss all the shots you don’t take.”

Interview

Now that you have made it past the application stage, congratulations, it gets more difficult. An in-person interview adds another dimension to your personality. So far, your interviewer has only read about you on paper, and perhaps heard your voice on the phone. Now you will need to add body language as well, and try to synchronize with what you have previously said.

Spend some time on these two very important topics:

  • Body Language: you communicate a lot with your body, no surprise. Know what these cues are and how to avoid the undesired ones. This TED talk is an excellent summary on this.
  • Pace and Lead: an extremely powerful technique, very difficult to master. Read the article for background information and watch this video for a demonstration.

Behaviour questions: we all hate them, but the interviewer loves asking them. It is an easy way to funnel the applicants. The best way to tackle these questions is to prepare ahead of time. Once again, good old Google search will give you a list of such questions. Practice them and after every interview, track how you though you handled them. Note the ones you struggle with and work on them. Before you know it, you will be a master.

Finally, track your progress back on the Excel sheet you created earlier. Remember, what gets measured gets accomplished.

Your Brand

The general theme here is building your “brand”. What are your values and objectives. If you don’t make it clear to your prospects, then how would they know? Think about what makes you unique. Be strategic and look at the big picture. Your brand will evolve with time and experience.

Just like the companies you are looking to work for have a vision statement, you too as a CEO of “You Inc.”, have a vision statement. Jobs come and go, but your unique brand will stay with you.

Don’t Let Things External to You Bother You

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Don't Let Things External to You Bother You

Invictus by William Ernest Henley, is an inspiring poem. It is a little depressing, but the bits that I like are towards the end:

…I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul…

I read somewhere that the secret to being happy is realizing that you have very little control. Little control on how others think, how others behave. And no control on how the universe unfolds. Therefore, I try not to let things external to me bother me.

Things Internal

I do care about things internal. Care a lot about things internal. I control my thoughts. These become my habits. Which becomes my personality. Internal things are easy to control. This attitude prevents ego-inflation. And besides, if I focus on personal corrections and growth, there is little time to bother with what others have to say or think.

Past Mistakes

The best thing about making a mistake is that all you have to do in order to move on, is to allow time to pass. Mistakes happen. The “Hakuna Matata!” philosophy applies well here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB5ceAruYrI

Make mistakes and take the “Kaizen” approach: incremental improvements by monitoring and tracking your mistakes. Do what you have to do in order to move forward. Without mistakes there would be no evolution.

Regrets

The worst thing that can happen in life, is a regret. Don’t be in a situation where “you wish you had done that”. Have a “go for it” attitude with every opportunity. Especially when you are young. The principle of compounding is in your favor, and you cannot afford not to go for it.

You miss every shot you do not take

Victim Mentality

The worst disease is that of the mind. Believe that you are in control of your decisions, and yours only. Life is complicated, with a lot of moving parts. Others are not “out to get you”. People act in their best interest and not everyone’s state of consciousness is at the same level (more on this below).

One way to not fall for this trap, is to keep your mind occupied. An unoccupied mind wanders and looks for faults with others. Be an observer of the world, be curious, travel, communicate, think. Keep a positive energy that radiates all around you and is a beacon for others. If you let it, the victim mind set will consume you, rotting from within. Not only affecting you, but the people you love.

States of Consciousness

There are excellent articles written on this topic, and the idea is more akin to spirituality. I am interested in the practical aspects of this. You can read the full article here, but I will summarize it very briefly. Consciousness has stages, and you work up the steps to a higher state of consciousness.

  • Life Happens “To Me”: this is the victim mindset mentioned above. Everyone is out to get me, and I don’t understand why.
  • Life Happens “By Me”: I am in control of my decisions and actions. In control of my thoughts. I choose all the good things that happen to me, as well as all the bad things.
  • Life Happens “Through Me”: I am so in-tune with the universe, that without putting any effort, the universe delivers in my favor.
  • Life Happens “As Me”: to be honest, I am not entirely sure what this one is about, but I guess at this stage of consciousness, there is not separation of “me” and “the universe”, we are all one.

Everyone starts at the first stage, and has to evolve up to the higher ones. It is our responsibility to realize these stages, realize where we are and work our way up, and realize where the other person is and help him do the same – do not argue and do not ignore.

Empathy

Empathy goes a long way. I always thought empathy was listening to the other person’s problem and offering a solution. While this is correct in the sense the final step is to offer a solution, but there is one crucial step in between. And that is to just listen and empathize. Try to, try hard to, put yourself in their shoes and see the situation through their eyes. Then agree that it is a difficult situation to be in. Agree that it really sucks. Once you are in sync, then you are qualified to offer a solution. A genuine hug will do all this in a hugely efficient manner. Leverage a “crisis” situation as an opportunity for growth and consolidation.

I will end with an awesome quote to tie everything together:

“When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own – not of the same blood and birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are unnatural.”

-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Time for action is NOW

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NOW!

What makes some people highly successful at what they do, while others are always trying to be better?

I asked myself this question for a long time. I spent a significant amount of time reading productivity books, listening to highly successful and highly productive people – which may be different people – and watching YouTube videos on the topic of productivity. I came to believe the answer was that success is a result of a few key skills. These skills, as I read, could be learnt.

I have come to realize a lot of these skills and have implemented some of them, while trying to do the same for others. But this is not a guarantee for success. One very important assumption that is made when someone writes such books and articles, is that the reader will take action!

You can create all the to-do lists you want, but if you won’t take action, then it is a waste.

Ideas are Cheap

You can rave all you want that you are a wonderful “idea man”. The fact is that there are a lot of idea men (and women) in the world.  Ideas really are cheap.

The key difference between a high performer and someone who wants to be a high performer, is that the former acts on their ideas.

As I mentioned in my previous post, time has a compounding nature – i.e. the fruits of acting early will compound with time, and so would inaction.

Decisive Action

Successful CEOs and military leaders share a common trait – their ability to assess a situation quickly and take decisive actions immediately. The ability to not linger on options for too long, is crucial. What would it take for you to implement this new idea? If implementation means that you will need to modify your daily routine or workflow, and the ROI is not positive, then you need to make a decision to not pursue the project any further.

Paralysis by Over-Analysis

It is said that a new idea is like a viral infection. Once you are infected and have a genuine interest, then this idea will consume you if not acted upon. If you linger too long on this idea, then a different phenomenon takes hold – paralysis by over analysis.

Scientists and engineers are more susceptible to this condition. They tend to over-thing and over-analyze. They will read books on a subject, run scenarios, dissect them, calculate, talk to everyone and anyone on the subject, and get bogged down with the details. The “secret” to getting started is simple – just start it! – and the details will take care of themselves.

If you are starting something for the very first time, do your market research and then proceed to making your “minimal viable product”.

Reading Books is Bad

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. -Albert Einstein

One common habit with all successful people is reading. However, if reading is all you will be doing, then remind yourself of Einstein’s quote above. Another excellent reference for this comes from the stoic philosopher Seneca. In his Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 2 “On discursiveness in reading”, Seneca mentions that reading is all well and good, but you must act on it.

We are talking about reading for practical applications – non-fictional reading. Reading fiction is usually done for entertainment purposes. Reading books on productivity and such, mean little if it is for entertainment also. Most of these books have a couple core messages, and these messages are repeated by different authors. Identify what you think you need to work on, and then act on them. After reading a certain number of books, one should start some form of writing or journaling.

Finish Your Projects

Finally, before generating new ideas and elongating your project to-do list, make sure you finish your projects. Tracking your projects – “your projects pipeline” – is critical. Make an Excel tracking sheet where you can monitor your projects, assess deadlines, track progress, etc. I have such a tracking sheet that is use quite effectively, and I can share it with you, just shoot me a message.

Habits and Systems

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Habits and Systems

Habits

“The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken”, -Warren Buffett.

Humans are creatures of habit. Evolution has written this code in our DNA. The program works quite well. It is intended to automate the behaviours that are safe, by providing us with neural rewards. Repeated over time, these behaviours become habits. Machine Learning 101.

Numerous books have been written on this topic. Some of the ones I have read are listed at the bottom of this article.

Habits Lead to Perceptual Control

As we develop intellectually, we want to have a sense of Perceptual Control, i.e. tell ourselves how the world works. Nothing wrong with that; the idea is to have a sense of control in the seemingly chaotic environment.

A perfect example of this Perceptual Control is when you speak to your parents or grand parents. They will tell you how they think the world works and you can detect a sense of calmness in their explanation. Arguments get heated when this perception is challenged. Another good example is religious debates, or any debate for that matter.

This is one of the many ways our monkey brain tries to play tricks on us. It is critically important to challenge one self to always keep this a Perceptual Control in a dynamic state, i.e. always changing with the information available at that time.

Automation

Mental heuristics are shortcuts we learn over time to help us remember certain things. This is a habit. Athletes will tell you that practicing their moves many times over will make the action automatic. This is a habit too. Pick and choose the actions you want to automate, i.e. developing “good” habits.

For example, making breakfast each morning. This is a very tedious task. I do not enjoy it. Mornings are my most creative time of the day and I wan to automate all the mundane tasks as much as possible. I stick to the same oatmeal preparation ritual every morning. I have 2 scoops of oatmeal in the same bowl, add handfuls of seeds and nuts, microwave for a fixed time, add protein powder and milk, mix everything and wait for the same amount of time before eating. This process is fully automated and takes me less than 5mins.

Look for tasks you can automate during your day. This will free up time to be spent on the tasks you do enjoy. This will maximize your ROTI (return on time invested).

Another way to look at this automation idea is to identify all the tasks you do not enjoy doing throughout your day. Then look for time slots where you can fit them without interrupting the original task. Some examples include: making phone calls that involve lots of waiting time while you are driving; reading your daily news digest while using the toilet; brushing your teeth while taking a shower.

Be creative, I am sure you can identify many such opportunities.

Compounding

Time is unidirectional – a result of the Law of Entropy. A consequence of this is actions compound with time, for better or for worse.

If one puts in a little extra effort every day for 365 days, the end of the year result is quite remarkable. Alternatively, if one slacks off even a little every day, the result is remarkable. An elegant way to show this is:

1.01^365 = 37.8

0.99^365 = 0.03

Be strategic with your habits. Put in 1.01 effort every day towards your desired outcome and the results after a year will surprise you.

Habit Triggers

Habits need to be reinforced. Positive reinforcement by rewards, for example dopamine. Negative reinforcement by punishment. Trivial.

Triggers are cues that initiate a habit. Devise your new highly productive habit such that you have a well-defined cue to initiate it. For example, developing a gym habit by placing your gym bag by your door the night before.

Couple these triggers to your new automation habits and you have a very powerful system.

Workflow

Topics mentioned thus far will contribute to your Workflow, i.e. the system you will have in place to accomplish a task. These new action and habits will only take effect permanently if they fit your existing workflows, or fit around your exiting workflows.

Be realistic with any new habits you want to implement. If the new habit interrupts your current workflow, then step back and re-assess. Can you creatively figure out a way to make more time? Trim the fat? Make it work? Is it worth the effort? Is the cost of inaction something you cannot afford? Aka, Opportunity Cost.

Remember, this is an iterative process. Baby steps toward the desired outcome.

The secret to getting ahead is getting started, -Mark Twain.

Crisis

As mentioned above, our brain prefers certainty over new things. If a new thing interrupts predictable, comfortable outcome, then it won’t take effect. We will revert to the know. We are wired in this way. It makes evolutionary sense. Hormonal rewards are administered to reinforce routine.

There is only one cure for Fear, and that is to take decisive Action. If all else fails, then there is one final alternative: Crisis. If there is literally no other way out, if it is a matter to life vs death, then all bets are off. When you emerge victorious from this crisis, you will be equipped with tools that can be life changing; for better or for worse.

Use this knowledge and turn your crisis into an opportunity. Entrepreneurs know this trick well enough. A crisis can be devised such that it helps you grow from the experience.

Systems vs Goals

Goals are good for short term accomplishments. But they come to an end. Then what?

Systems are a result of habits. You can accomplish any goal by working through a system. Sure, there will always be a first time when you develop this system for this specific goal. But when you accomplish this goal, your system carries forward to the next similar goal. Habits lead to Systems Thinking.

This argument is masterfully explained by Scott Adams in his article.

Scheduled Maintenance

Once you understand the building blocks of habits and systems, and you have a workflow in place that facilitates the desired outcomes, it is imperative to have in place scheduled time blocks where you reassess and plan. During these scheduled maintenance sessions, you will take account of your progress, be critical of what didn’t work, and think about how to improve.

Schedule these times in your calendar, put it on repeat.

What gets measured, gets managed, -Peter Drucker

What gets measured, gets accomplished.

Book Summary: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The king of such books, in my opinion, is this book. Here is a summary on these 7 habits below. You can Google search for wallpaper-type images on the internet and stick them on your wall.

  1. Be Proactive: one of my favourites, the best way to predict your future is to create it. The opposite is to be Reactive, where you are not in control. Take charge of the situation. Your life is a product of your decisions, not your conditions.
  2. Start with the End in Mind: before you start any new project, think about “the why”. Why is it that you want to do this? Envision the end result: is this something that you are looking forward to?
  3. First Things First: Prioritize. Time is a limited resource. Make it count.
  4. First Understand, then Seek to be Understood: if we try to understand others first, before defaulting to the offensive, which is to assume we are misunderstood, this will resolve most of the conflicts.
  5. Win-Win: think win-win. It is not necessarily a zero-sum game. Look for creative ways to solve problems where both parties are better off than the starting point.
  6. Synergize: the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts.
  7. Sharpen the Saw: finally, after you have perfected all of the above, look for opportunities to grow. Learn constantly.

Identify your weakness, and just work on one thing at a time.

Book Summary: The Power of Habit

This book is another gem. It gets into the nitty-gritty of habits:

  • how they are formed in the first place: choice>repetition>reward>habit
  • what triggers them: cues, hormonal, environmental
  • how to change your habits: cue-routine-reward, keep the cue and reward the same, work on changing the routine
  • cravings: are entrenched habits
  • keystone habits: identifying these keystones and working on changing them cause ripple effects on other habits
  • willpower: a finite resource; not a skill
  • crisis: is an opportunity to change a habit
  • familiarity and peer pressure: reasons to carry on with some habits
  • habits can be changed

Book Summary: The Compound Effect

Compound your habits over time, and what do you get? Your personality.

This is the sequence of events:

  1. Your core values, your “Why”, drives you
  2. Your choices, you always have a choice…
  3. …become your habits, good or bad
  4. Discipline yourself for the good habits
  5. Momentum propels you forward, relying on your willpower and positive reinforcements
  6. Hitting the brick wall of your max, then keep pushing to go the extra mile. This is the difference between a mediocre and a professional
  7. Compound the above over time and you get…
  8. …YOU

Sources:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey.

The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg.

The Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy.

Pareto & Parkinson’s Law

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Pareto & Parkinson's Law

These two laws, if realized, have the power of accelerating your productivity significantly, guaranteed!

Understand what they are, how they work and you will benefit. The sooner you start implementing them, the better it is. Because the compounding principle will take effect – the earlier you start an action, the more returns you get over time.

Pareto’s Law: 80-20 Principle

It means that about 80% of effects are a result of 20% of causes. This can be applied to practically anything. There are a lot of articles and books published on this topic; a simple Google search will give you sufficient knowledge on this subject. Be careful no to over-research. Once you understand what it is, start applying it. A few of the books are mentioned below.

To apply it, you will focus on energies on the 20%, i.e. the causes that effect 80% of results. Be mindful of these and work on improving this ratio.

Parkinson’s Law: Time Inflation

Ever wonder where time goes? When you have an important task to complete and you assign 2 hours for it’s completion, for example. Only to realize that now you will need 3 hours instead?

This is Parkinson’s law in effect. The amount of time you think you will need to complete a task is exactly the amount of time you will need.

Force yourself with a tight deadline and you will be surprised that it was all the time you ever needed. This is also called “the magic of imminent deadline”.

Again, you can Google search this topic to your heart’s content. But spend enough time on this to understand what it is and how you can benefit from it. Apply the Parkinson’s law in researching for the Parkinson’s law.

Source:

The One Thing, by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan

Eat That Frog, by Brian Tracy

The 4-Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferris