In order to set your mind to giving, you have to rid yourself of the expectation to get something in return.
Of course, mixed motives will play a role. But it’s eternally unsatisfying to keep a ledger of what goes and what comes.
Give freely and you will be ready to welcome any reward.
We can’t keep assessing productivity in terms of quantity.
The amount of emails we reply to.
The number of meetings we have scheduled.
How many conversations we are in.
How late we are leaving from work.
The quantity of leads, presentations, or projects we deliver.
Productivity needs to be a function of a goal we set and of the actions we take towards that goal.
If within a measure of work (an hour, a day, a week) we complete something that takes us closer to the goal, that’s where we find meaning.
The rest is just a poor proxy. Just faked busyness.
There is one important metric that should be considered in any report.
It’s the cost of what you have achieved.
Not only monetary cost – though that is always a fantastic way to start, that would immediately set you apart from the vast majority of people – but also the cost in terms of energy, in terms of time spent, in terms of forgone opportunities.
Adding the cost to your reports can very much give you a clearer picture of how effective your work is.
It’s surprising how many teams are not aware of how much their achievements cost.
It turns out anger spreads faster than joy, because it does not need strong ties – and most of our relationships are weak, particularly nowadays and particularly on social media.
If you share something negative or enraging, it gets picked up more likely by people who don’t know you or are mere acquaintances. While if you share something positive or joyful, it most likely will stop at your closest ties.
The idea that something liked, shared, commented, viewed is good is fundamentally faulted. We need to change that before we can actually look at the future of social media.
When you lose control, your instinct tells you to control whatever it is left. The problem is, often what is left does not need your control.
If your relationship is going downhill, you strengthen your grip on your kids. Do this, don’t do that, come here, go there. Of course, they don’t need any of that.
If your team is failing to meet their goals, you double down on your team members. This is wrong, we should try that, why is this happening. Of course, they don’t need any of that.
If your creativity has hit a plateau, you focus more and more on the small details. Let’s refine the tone, let’s make it perfect. Of course, the details are – in most cases – meaningless.
It’d be great if you could just let go of control in the first place, so as to not risk to lose it at any point. It would save a lot of trouble.
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