Tag: direction

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It Doesn’t Happen Overnight

The idea that success is a straight line is how they trick you from taking steps to succeed.

Every single person I know is attached to much more failure than regular people.

The difference is, they use failure as a data point.

Instead of complaining, they try to understand:

  • What they think went wrong?
  • Who can they talk to try to understand a different perspective on why they failed?
  • How can they do better next time?

All the “success” porn that make people seem like overnight celebrities is a superficial track.

Consistent success is executing the boring stuff, having the self-awareness to ask for help, and setting a direction for the next project.

 

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Blog Direction for 2017 – New Year Themes!

At the end of the year, I take the time to reflect. This post, and the others like it, are my lessons for 2016. My hope is by reading them; you get a sense of what my overall lessons were. My hope is by writing them; I’ll have a place to archive my memories. In the future, they are quickly sorted and filed when someone looks for insight.

2017 is on the way, and we can’t stop it.

Like I did last year, I want to make some changes with the focus of Life as Usual.

New themes and new opening posts

Next year, I’ll be bringing in a new set of themes. Like the last two years, each topic has its month. Unlike the last two years, I’m announcing the themes ahead of time.  Also, they are attached to one of the three tenets. Everything, for now, goes through self-awareness, direction, or execution.

Here they are:

  • Self-Awareness
    • Emotional Propulsion
    • “You” in Your Work
    • Cargo Cult Science
    • Comfort with Nothing
  • Direction
    • Mastery is Subtraction
    • Jeopardy Knowledge
    • What Do You Want
    • Good Creates Bad
  • Execution
    • The Water Down Effect
    • Keep Firing – The Consistency Effect
    • Get to the Punchline
    • Avoiding SINO – Symbol in Name Only

Video is coming in a big way

We are investing in video, heavy. First, the Life as Usual video blog is coming back. We’ve leveled up the audio and video. Also, at the start of each month, there will be a video part with each theme post.

Want a sample? Here (Pass – atbusy)

https://vimeo.com/181973716

Delivery

I want to make it easier for you to enjoy this blog, and part of it comes with fixing the “pipes” I’m using to deliver the information. I’m making a pledge to invest in this in 2017.

One of the changes starts with the branding. By the end of January, all branding will be consistent. After that, Social media, and from there, the world, hopefully.

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Own the Decision

own the decision

Create credibility by taking responsibility

Own the decision by taking responsibility for it.

Although it can get painful if you care about “optics,” it’s a quick fix for credibility.

There are few things more frustrating than working with someone who changes direction regularly. It’s textbook intellectual laziness from a leader.

Changing direction in the middle of a project is usually the result of not being thoughtful with the people to whom you delegate work.

It’s easier to “spray and pray” because finding a direction is hard work. It requires confidence and vulnerability.

Use this exercise to start to own the process.

Exercise:

Before you start a project or process, find the answers to:

  • Who?
  • What?
  • Where?
  • How?
  • Why?

Your answers to each of these is no longer than two sentences.

Thinking about who, what, where, how, and why and clearly articulating each one makes delegation easier: it frames the project from its start.

Then, if you have to change something, you have a quick tool to see if fear is operating; if those five elements don’t change, your shift won’t be effective.

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Staying On Course Can Lead You Off Course

Don’t Lock In

Sometimes I look at racetracks. I find them fascinating. They hold high-performance vehicles. Those cars run the same stretch of road over and over. The ability for cars to do something repetitive, for years at a time, is fascinating.

Building one is an investment. They spend time curating it and because of that, they get better in the same spot.

Fantastic for racing and the growth of the sport.

Great, except life, isn’t a repetitive course unless we force it to be one.  As a result, there are consequences.

This “lock-in” causes us to miss the beauty of the things around us. When we don’t stop and enjoy the roses, we miss out on the opportunity around us.

Instead of enjoying the life around you, you stay locked in a pattern.

When you lock into a pattern long enough, it becomes the new standard.

In that sense, staying on course leads you off of it, especially if you want to grow.

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Thank You, altMBA

The altMBA is powerful.

When I started writing this, that is the first thing I thought of, so I figured why not start with it? The program was a rousing success for me. I learned a ton of tactics that change the path of the projects I engage in. I learned how to ask better questions and how to give feedback.

There was one change that may have set my life in a different direction, and that is the idea of “direction” (no pun intended).

Before doing this program, I was a ball of energy with nowhere to go. I often sat, shaking, generating, but with no way to understanding of direction I missed making a real impact. I dismissed it.I made it a point to avoid direction at all cost because it felt wasteful. Even in my first post in the program, I dismissed goals.

Now, because of the work of altMBA, I have changed.

When I did the work, and saw how powerful asking the question “Who is this for?” was, and how much clarity that question had when it’s asked earnestly and with an open mind, it was shocking. This led me down a path of understanding someone’s world view. I’m now more particular about the transformation I want to make. Most importantly, I’m shipping more impactful work in a much shorter time.

Direction is a force multiplier, and with this new strategy regarding my work, I can’t wait to see what’s next.

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