Tag: closing the loop

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Learn From My Failures In July – Outro – Closing The Loop

At the beginning of 2015,  I recognized that blindly calling for self-improvement didn’t give me the direction I looked for.I made a decision to give every month a theme. or July, I decided on the concept of closing the loop. I recognized that I often have a problem with closing out things. When added to my love of taking on projects and being involved, I recognized I needed a change.

Wins:

  • Withdrawal – I have started to cut away ideas, projects, and activities that interfere with my current mission of improvement. This has given me some more focus for the things I have in front of me.
    • Lesson –  The power of no is serious, and use it often.
  • Closing – I worked on closing some of the goals that Iprepared for at the start of the year. I also got rid of a few that didn’treflect on what I wanted to do.
    • Lesson – What I did then isn’t what I want now. I am proud that I adapted.

 

Losses:

  • Investigation – I didn’t investigate why I did what I did for clues. Self inspection is a heavy-duty task.
    • Lesson – This is a heavy-duty topic, there is a lot more to this than meets the eye
  • Maintenance – I gave in a lot and didn’t keep the things I loved to do afloat dutifully. This is the first time I recognized how my brain can really talk me out of doing things on a massive level. The white boards in my apartment help, but I think I need to use more tools.
    • Lesson – The brain is tricky, don’t rely on it.
  • Systems – I relied on my mind far too much. Even when I got rid of things, there was no systematic way to go about it. I lost insights that could make getting rid of things easier.
    • Lesson – Don’t just give up things – focus on why you did it and record it for later.
  • Joke Book – Didn’t finish, let it lapse, and fed into the excuse brain.
    • Lesson – Even if and maybe especially if I don’t think it is fun I need to have more alarms.

Important Posts:

Books:

  • Good to Great
  • Great On The Job
  • The Go Giver
  • The Upside of Stress
  • Waking Up
  • Becoming Richard Pryor
  • The Samurai Code
  • Peace Is Every Step

Habits:

At the beginning of the month I settled upon this theme of withdraw and advance.  By the end of this month, I recognized that most of the”battles” that I engage should rely on withdrawing. I haven’t got out of all the things I want to withdraw from, but I am on the path of simplifying. It has provided me with a lot more energy to invest in the things that I care about, and as a result, I am able to do more with what I am given. When I revisit this in the future, memorializing my results is very helpful, and like last month, give me a baseline on which to work from.

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3 Fun Ideas About Deadlines

Deadlines are necessary. When it comes to doing creative work, especially the work that is difficult, it is often best to have a date circled in the calendar that puts pressure on. When I used to think of this idea, I used to think it was a necessary “evil”. The truth is, it isn’t evil at all, but one the ways we can take control of our bias and grow into our better selves.

It is tempting to let the idea of setting a deadline lapse, especially for things you’ve done before*. It comes back to an ego thing. “How many times have I done a design brief? it always takes 7 days so ill just do it.” Most of the time it works, and it is out of sight and out of mind. But there is opportunity that happens in just putting a deadline down.

  • It is on paper, so I can’t mentally change it. It’s easy to “move the goalposts” when there is no deadline. Tomorrow is only a day away, every day.
  • Metrics are important because you can begin to track wins and losses. Both can teach, especially after some time has passed. Doing a post-mortem, even on successful tasks, can get some serious feedback, especially if you can look at it objectively.
  • Whenever I look at my calendar, even briefly, old deadlines remind me of work I have done before. Just having something there, even from years past, can bring me back to what I did at that time.

Without deadlines, it’s very easy to get lost. It also makes sure that you understand what you are working on, and have a clear and present mark to judge yourself. If you write it down, then there is no escape. What is on paper is on paper and it can’t magically change.

*Like all things, this could go overboard. You don’t have to set a deadline for getting a drink of water

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Stuff Is Stuffing Your Brain and You Don’t Even Know It

No action breeds non action.

Everything in your place has a place in your head. Some things are there for intellectual gain (books), physical gain (weights), or nourishment (food) but there are other things that you aren’t sure about. I have a foot massage machine that I haven’t used since 2012 that stares at me every time I need a towel. I enjoy foot massages, but I have never thought, you know what would be a good idea? Plugging up this foot massage machine I bought and letting it happen. There wasn’t any set up other than plugging the unit in, but that was a lot to handle.

Things sit for a long time. Even as they sit, declaring an action for a thing that is inactive is work. Unless you get more stuff and need that space, what is the harm in moving it? That foot massage machine sits in that closet for me because I try not to buy things anymore outside of books other than once a year(SHOPPING DAY!!!! I splurge on all the Amazon wants, my version of Christmas). I don’t see it often, and it seems a lot easier to let it sit there in the closet. Removing an electronic device in New York City is a headache legally. I could leave it in a box by the side of the road, but I don’t care to get anyone a ticket.

So, in turn, it just sits there.

When I go to other people’s places I visit , I keep track of things that haven’t moved. Stuff sits in a lot of apartments gathering dust. It is great to count dust gathering objects in an apartment during bad conversation at a house party. Bonus points if you nod your head while you do it, so it looks like you are listening (I really shouldn’t do that, but it makes me look attentive – working on it).

As I mentioned above, I am not innocent of this on the other side. I am bad at letting things go because it is easy to sit and let things gather dust. They seem to not be a bother, until after I meditated today and thought, once again, about things taking up energy, no matter how little you think of them. I had a completely different blog post today planned and ready to go, but instead I ended up writing over 400 words about a foot massage machine I don’t use.  So much  to the idea that this doesn’t bother me.

I am getting rid of that and the other stuff that doesn’t add to my well-being this weekend. Also, making it a point to get rid of everything once a month. It is another open loop, and an easy one to close at that.

 

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Cartographers > Taco Bell

Building a system is hard work. It takes diligence to acknowledge the problem, find out the symptoms, look for aberrations, and then put what you built-in place.  I have struggled with the idea of system making for years. It is easy to get lost in any of those steps, especially for me, because I over think and analyze myself into paralysis. After a week or two sweating the problem I end up with nothing, all because I didn’t want to move on from wearing green socks to red socks (long story).

Pride is the problem. We tell ourselves that we can steel our way through. If we just focus our will power and discipline we can get through all of it. Then we fail, blame ourselves, and sit down and eat Taco Bell. I have eaten a lot of Taco Bell. This doesn’t solve anything, and just causes more problems. (What do you do with all the sauce packets? Do the green packets keep? )

This year, after a lot of Taco Bell, I recognized my issue with system building. I constantly plot out journeys, I get ready, and after getting my socks(green and red), I don’t know the next step. I begin to meander. I take a few steps, I meander some more. And then I end up back where I started. It became clear to me that I needed a map. Even better, I should seek cartographers (map makers). If I have important points plotted out, then it becomes a lot easier to follow them. I didn’t have to do this alone.

 

Find cartographers in your life. They can take any form – a mentor, a teacher, even a great book. There are people who have lived more life or a different life than you. If you listen, you notice everyone has something to teach, a little map for you to follow. It is up to you to accept or reject it, but if you find people who design great maps, it is your duty to keep them around.  They will help you, and even if you have to spend a little money, recognize everything except time is negotiable.

By passing on what they know to you and ensuring you are on the right path, those cartographers will save you time and allow you to explore more. Even better, there will be less nights for Taco Bell. That is better for everyone.

 

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Quit! If it isn’t working QUIT!

Put it down, walk away, get back to comfort.

It is so easy to quit. You experience a brief shock, but soon you go back to your equilibrium. You get to stop what you are doing and get back to where you are comfortable.This is a good thing. That is a hard thing for me to swallow, I look at quitting as bad. I used to think it stopped growth, that I was weak if I couldn’t hack it. It was condemning my entire being by stepping away from something.

I learned from a young age that quitting is weakness. By quitting,  you were letting the world (ridiculous) down by not showing up. Then I headed to the real world, and saw that the best quit all the time.

Now, it is easy to take this idea and run it up the flagpole to the land of extremes. I can quit everything and get back to comfort and live happily ever after. But that isn’t so, and you will continue in the same place you were before you started. Targeted quitting, like targeted growth, is essential. It helps you get out of that comfort box.

Comfort is the enemy of targeted growth in a specific idea, but an ally when you focusing. When I say that I mean if you are working with juggling, and you are getting comfortable with juggling, then you aren’t growing. However, if you want to earn how to juggle, and you are uncomfortable with juggling and writing, it’s best to fall back to a place where you are comfortable with writing by quitting and put that energy into juggling. In that way, quitting is a tool to get you where you want to go. Quitting becomes a release of energy, reinvested in yourself. Comfort is good, if used to get you more uncomfortable towards your target.

 

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Your Future Self is like Santa Claus

I hate the future guy.

The future me is always doing the right things. He always gets the trash taken out. He always gets to work on time. He always makes the bed in the morning. My future self is always two steps ahead, getting things done without me.

I can never catch up. No one can. Your future self is far too good. He doesn’t falter, he doesn’t fail. Your future self is Santa Claus on steroids, instead of appearing once a year, he appears daily, a sack full of things to make us happy.

My biggest problem with the future self is the same problem I have with Santa Claus. It isn’t what the future self does in the future, it’s what he doesn’t do in the present. He makes a lot of promises for the future that he can’t keep. When the future self is ahead of schedule everything is fine, but once things get present, he is always somewhere else, attempting the next thing. It is nothing but a trap that keeps us where we are. The future self, and its running partner, procrastination, constantly find ways to get into your head.

Look, it always feels good to procrastinate. The future you is always ready to handle it. “You’ll get to it later” is like a panacea for all that ails you. I sit here and type this before a weekend where my future self scheduled to do a lot of things, and once again, I am almost ready to let him handle it.

The only thing that is stopping me is a thought. I think “what has your future self done in the present.” It worked this morning.  I am typing this post now when I generally would be eating takeout (In New York City it’s very easy to order breakfast) kicking my feet up and discussing nothing by text, waiting on the future self to handle it.

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Theme For July: Closing The Loop

To the victor goes the spoils.

It’s a great quote. Makes me think of battle and victory. Battle happens all the time. We fight them every day, some with our to-do list, some with our calendars, and many with ourselves. Each battle is different, with some bigger than others, but all are important when we fight them, at least we think they are.

One problem I notice is the lack of stopping the battle. With most battles, you can either advance or withdraw. Either option gets you closer to a win-lose or draw scenario. Getting to the end of something, even in a loss, means you can get to the next step. I procrastinate and get stuck. Each battle is a chance to grow, and by getting stuck, I simply lose energy. I want to avoid the loss or even the draw by sticking around and not moving.

This is why this month I am focusing on closing the loop. The idea of forcing decisions, and ending up with either a win loss or draw, moves me forward. Hesitation ,ultimately, is nothing more than a vampire, looking to drain me of my energy while convincing me that procrastination is alright.

Some things I want to see this month:

  • Entering – How do I enter a project. What is my system when it comes to organizing and getting projects well-defined.
  • Maintaining – How do I know something is going well? Are there check-ins? Stake holders? Consequences ?
  • Exiting – When is it time to go? At what point do I claim victory, retreat, or tell myself to stick it out?

There is no way for victory without finishing the fight. I want to face this head-on this month, making decisions that will either get me out battle or push me through the muck. By closing the loop, I plan on having a lot more energy going forward.

The three things listed above are not in stone nor the only things I want to work on this month. Like all good plans, this one is subject to change. Each month I plan on researching and reading, hoping to see if anything interesting pops up.I am open to anything throughout the month, so fire off a tweet @thehonorableAT if you have any suggestions. I would especially love to hear about teachers, books, or classes, but any tidbit will do.

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