Tag: values

Breaking habits

Fabrizio1 Comment

Breaking a habit feels bad.

And it’s true whether you are just getting started or you have been at it for years already.

It just feeds that little voice in your head that tells you that you are a failure, that you will never make it, that it was all just an illusion, and that the truth is you don’t deserve it.

Of course, the reality is that building a habit is difficult, keeping it alive is constant work, and never missing a beat is impossible.

To keep that little voice quiet, you need an extra effort to see the 61.

Yesterday I forgot to post on the blog, for the first time in almost four years.

Today, though it’s difficult, I want to focus on the 61.

Let’s go.

Risk and reward

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Some people do good work. Some people do poor work. Most people do average work.

And the reasons for that are two: risk aversion and reward seeking.

To do good work, you need to be able to deviate from the norm, find new ways, expand the possibilities. In most organizations, this is a risk, and most people prefer not to take it.

To do good work, you also need to be rewarded and recognized for both the success and the failure. In most organizations, average gets rewarded, and most people adapt.

If you are designing how your team will work, keep in mind risk aversion and reward seeking. And remember that if you do what everybody else is used to do, you (and your team) will probably fall in the middle.

Making sense

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It doesn’t make any sense.

But seeking sense in what happens around us is a pointless exercise. It means you are trying to explain with reason something that goes beyond it. Feelings, moments, circumstances, relationships. Seeking sense is a rigid activity that aims at fitting the world into familiar boxes.

A better thing to try is seeking purpose. Purpose is the way you connect the dots. It is loose by nature, and it adapts to time and events. Seeking purpose is a flexible activity that aims at shaping your story into the world around you.

The next meeting

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The outcome of your next meeting is going to be dependent on the following much more than it will be on your communication and argumentation skills.

  • Whether you are usually the one who gives others work to do or the one who takes work away from other people’s shoulders.
  • Whether you are usually the one who points fingers and assigns responsibilities or the one who brings others together to find a solution.
  • Whether you are usually the one who gossips behind other people’s back or the one who stops a gossip the first time they hear it.
  • Whether you are usually the one who does things at their own terms informing as little people as possible or the one who seeks involvement and promotes open communication.
  • Whether you are usually the one who is close to any type of feedback or criticism or the one who appreciates other people’s input and improves based on that.

Superpowers

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Three superpowers that are underestimated and that will get you through most things in life more easily. Plus, a tip on how to train them.

  1. Patience, that is the superpower to give things and people their time, without imposing your view or trying to bend them. You can train this with meditation.
  2. Listening, that is the ability to sit down in a conversation without thinking at what you will say or do next. You can train this by learning about coaching.
  3. Consistence, that is the ability to show up every day, even when no one is watching you or holding you accountable. You can train this with journaling.