optimization
Care, but not t-h-a-t much
Sunday, September 9th, 2007“Whenever a social interaction looms so large in your mind that you view it as watershed event in Western Civilization, you are in trouble. You’re caring too much and with that you lose the requisite detachment necessary for success.
There’s a prosaic saying that whenever a person is overcome with feelings, be it anger or desire, he or she “can’t see the forest for the trees”. Oddly, or maybe fittingly, when that happens you move in close that you might even swear, “There is no tree, only a knothole right here.”
In other words, what you must do is to train yourself to step back, so that you can see the pattern, relationships and interconnection of things.”
Excerpt taken from Negotiate This!: By Caring, but Not T-H-A-T Much
This not only applies in negotiation, but also in the endeavours we undertake. Do you sometimes suffer from mental blocks in your work, or the things you do ? I do. Besides the occasional perfectionism bout, I think one other reason is that I care too much for the outcome of my efforts. This excerpt is a stark reminder to me to care, but not that much.
Caring too much about the outcome will only impede progress because we are too afraid to try. We are forever aiming and aiming but never firing.
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The Curse of Perfectionism
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
Perfectionism is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can push you to strive for higher standards of achievement. On the other hand, you can get stuck if you insist to make everything perfect before you produce a piece of work. Worse, if you think that you have to be perfect before you try anything, you will never get around to doing it.
I remember, in biology class some years ago, the teacher instructed us to sketch a certain specimen. Many of my classmates were already starting to draw, but I was still staring at the specimen thinking how I should draw my first stroke. After a while, my friend sitting next to me decided to help me out and started drawing on my piece of paper. She told me to stop musing and just get started. It didn’t have to be perfect, just get it going. Just do it.
I realise that I suffer from the curse of perfectionism. Maybe that’s why I’m a “late developer” in some aspects of my life. Sometimes I try to remind myself about this, but most of the time the perfectionism in me raises its ugly head and hides behind the guises of “high standards” and “I’m not doing it until I’m sure I can do it very very well”.
It’s not wrong to expect high standards for myself and the work I produce. However if it starts to affect the momentum and get you stuck, then it’s truly a curse. Sometimes it may even result in “brainfreeze” where you get stuck on a certain point and you just can’t break through. Much like a dog tied to a pole trying to free itself by running in circles.
Perfectionism can also affect your self-esteem because you are always comparing yourself to the high standard which you set for yourself. When you are learning a new skill, it’s not possible to be perfect during the initial stage of learning. So if you keep comparing your performance with the perfect score you imagine for yourself, you are going to get demotivated very quickly. And that’s not going to help you in learning the skill.
You don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it going.
Do yourself a favor. Don’t judge yourself the first 20 times you try to execute a new skill.
And as we progress along the learning curve, it’ll be worthwhile to remember the 80/20 rule and the law of diminishing returns as you try to perfect your work.
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How To Get A Breakthrough And End Procrastination ?
Friday, August 10th, 2007
How often do we catch ourselves saying “Wait…”, “Not today”, “Maybe tomorrow” to the things which we know we should be doing ?
Procrastination is a time thief - it steals from us our most precious resource, time. The longer we delay doing the things which will benefit us, the further we push back the success which we desire.
So how do we get out of our comfort zone, get a breakthrough and end procrastination ? What we need is an inspiration to action, and then carrying it through with action.
Asking ourselves the two questions below can help us gain much inspiration to action, produce a much needed mental push and a change of perspective. However, inspiration remains a thought until it is acted upon by doing it right away. Acting on it and keeping up the sustained effort will build a habit.
Keep focused on the reward, not the process.
1. What is the one thing I don’t want to do today, but if I did it, will change my life and/or business ?
2. How will I benefit from doing the thing which I don’t want to do, but if I did, will change my life and/or business ?
3. Do it now. If logistically impossible to do it now, schedule in writing a time to do it.
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How to do more with less
Friday, July 27th, 2007
Do you catch yourself saying “I’m busy” often ?
I do. Sometimes, I set targets at the beginning of the day on what I want to accomplish for the day. However, as I get through the day, I find my attention distracted by numerous things unrelated to my targets.
An afternoon on a precious weekend can get burnt away quickly just by sitting in front of the computer, surfing mindlessly site after site. The visual stimulation of the internet world is easy to make one think that he has done much intellectual activity. But at the end of the afternoon, what has he gained, truly ?
On one of these afternoons, I came across this article by Willie Crawford on how he manages to get it all done. I think they are good tips, especially these ones which I find pretty useful.
5) Specific times for most routine tasks
6) Set time limits for many tasks.
9) Only “touch” each email once… if possible. When you open
an email, decide right then and there what needs to be done
with it and take care of it.10) Learn to say no…
11) See each project through to completion before starting
the next… Pick a project to focus on, and then work on ONLY that project
for an allocated amount of time, or until completion.14) Finally, know the value of your time. Perhaps the simplest
way to “value” your time is to set an income goal for yourself.
Ultimately, good mental discipline and self-control are the keys to personal effectiveness.
For the full article, click here
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