eZine

Number 176

A client I’ll call “Cara” has lost about 50 pounds. It is something that she wanted to do for years. But, despite occasional spurts of progress, she was not able to maintain a long-term health and fitness program.

One reason Cara found it difficult to concentrate on weight loss is that she is a very busy person with many business responsibilities and a complicated family. And when Cara has a little free time, she also devotes energy to non-profit activities, as well as to studies and practices that support her personal growth.

Earlier this year, Cara faced business setbacks and increased pressures. Now, however, she has bounced back and her life and work are going better than ever. In fact, in the last few months it’s been as though all her studies and efforts have come together, and she is clearing hurdle after hurdle. Cara is making her fitness and other achievements look effortless, and others may envy her good fortune.

It may look like she is on a lucky streak, but I know that Cara has worked hard to build and maintain habits that reflect learning and wisdom from sources ranging from the Bible and Eastern philosophers to the latest in neuroscience. Here are Cara’s tips for creating a fulfilling life:

• State clear, reasonable goals. Cara is goal-oriented, but in the past she sometimes sabotaged herself with her goal-setting process. For example, she might tell all in her circle that she intended to lose at least 3 pounds a week for 4 months. She thought that by broadcasting her big goal she would keep up the pressure and get the job done. Instead, by setting unreasonable targets she repeatedly set herself up for failure. After a couple of weeks of losing just a pound she would quit, saying that it was just too hard for a busy person like her. These days what she does is establish realistic goals and timetables. She shares her plans with only a few people and, when she stumbles, she forgives herself and returns to her realistic plan.
• Visualize your objectives. Cara used to talk her goals to death, but she has learned a better technique. She now reduces each key objective to a few words, and from there she creates a mental picture. For example, she has in her mind the image of the slim and athletic version of herself that she plans to be in 2020. For her most important goals she may even devise a symbol, or icon, to glance at regularly as a reminder of her commitment. She quietly wears a bracelet that displays several of those icons in the form of charms. When she notices her bicycle charm she is reminded that spinning and mountain biking are part of her formula for becoming a fit, energetic person.
• Keep track of progress. As a business executive, Cara knows that it’s hard to manage anything you can’t measure. She maintains daily charts summarizing everything from her calorie count to networking activity and time devoted to her most important projects. She also keeps journals, sometimes including pictures as well as words, and she finds them to be an important tool for keeping on track.
• Work on several areas at once. When she was younger, Cara thought that total immersion was the best way to get things done. One reason she gained so much weight is that there were times when she spent months working around the clock, not thinking about her health or other values in her life. Then, when she could no longer fit in her clothes, she would launch time-consuming food and exercise regimens that inevitably failed because she couldn’t keep them up. Now, however, she reminds herself each morning of goals and achievements in five critical areas of her life. She finds that success in one area translates quickly into increased confidence, renewed energy and greater creativity in the other areas. These are the realms that Cara thinks about every day:
  • health and fitness,
  • business and financial security,
  • spouse and family,
  • spiritual life and personal growth, and
  • fun and adventure.

Number 175

Journalist Daniel Coyle spent five years reporting on “talent hotbeds,” like sports training centers and music academies that produce world class performers. During the same period, he visited and wrote about neuroscience laboratories and research centers studying how brains work and how talent is developed.

In “The Little Book of Talent,” Coyle debunks the old assumption that talent is mostly genetic. The new view, he says, is that talent is determined far less by our genes and far more by our activity, “specifically, the combination of intensive practice and motivation that produces brain growth."

In this book Coyle doesn’t explain the science that underlies the fresh ideas about how people can work smarter and become expert more quickly. Rather, he simply shares 52 brief suggestions for improving your skills, including these tips:

• Buy a notebook. Coyle says that a high percentage of top performers (like Serena Williams and Eminem) keep some form of daily performance journal. He suggests that you write write down and reflect on stuff like results from today, ideas for tomorrow and goals for next week.
• Steal from experts. Coyle says that all improvement is about absorbing and applying new information, and the best source of information is top performers. When you steal from the best, observe them closely, focusing on specifics. Notice concrete facts, like the angle of a golfer’s elbow.
• Find the sweet spot. According to Coyle, “There is a place, right on the edge of your ability, where you learn best and fastest.” He calls it the “sweet spot.” In your comfort zone, you’re working, but not reaching or struggling, and at least 80 percent of your attempts are successful. But when you are in your sweet spot you experience frustration and are alert to errors. It’s as if you’re stretching hard for a nearly unreachable goal, and only 50 to 80 percent of your attempts succeed. To find your sweet spot, ask yourself what you could almost do if you tried your hardest. Go a little beyond the boundary of your current ability.
• Break moves into chunks. Our brains work best when every skill is broken down into smaller pieces. Coyle suggests that to begin “chunking,” ask yourself: What is the smallest single element of this skill that I can master? And what other chunks link to that chunk?
• Commit to brief, daily practice sessions. If your practice is intense, “small daily practice ‘snacks’ are more effective than once-a-week practice 'binges.’” Coyle explains that the reason has to do with the way our brains grow, in small increments each day.
• Notice your mistakes. Don’t avoid the facts when you fail. It’s a learning opportunity. Coyle says “People who pay deeper attention to an error learn significantly more than those who ignore it.”
• Before sleep, make a mental movie. A useful habit developed by many top performers is to visualize their idealized performance. Coyle describes this “as a way to rev the engine of your unconscious mind.”

Number 174

Have you ever been in a situation where you make suggestions or take steps that seem obvious, but the people around you act like you’ve just invented the next killer App?

One explanation for the gap between your achievement and their reaction may be that you have finally reached a level of considerable expertise. It’s like when you’re watching athletes who have been honing their skills for years. Their everyday performance seems amazing to you. And if you have worked hard to become an expert in your field, your routine work may have the power to astound your colleagues.

But if you feel unease when you’re given praise for your work, you may be suffering from a bit of the “imposter phenomenon.” Social psychologists say that it is not uncommon for high achievers to experience secret discomfort when their work is praised.

If you feel like an imposter, you might believe that so far you have been lucky, and that your success is the result more of external factors than your own work. Or perhaps you suspect that you are somehow creating a fake impression of competence, and that you’re not nearly as skillful as you appear. Or maybe you always want to discount your achievement, feeling a constant need to explain that your success is really not a big deal.

Another explanation is simply that you have never learned to take a compliment. Perhaps you grew up in a family where people didn’t gracefully say “thank you” in response to praise. And now your knee-jerk response to positive commentary is to minimize your worthiness.

Finally, when praise for your work makes you squirm, perhaps it is because you know that you really were not doing your best. And maybe you think that your employer’s standards are just too low.

Regardless of the reasons that praise on the job makes you uncomfortable, a few techniques will make it much easier to take:

• Set specific goals. If you define precise goals, and your bosses agree to them, ultimately everybody will know whether or not you are successful. If you write down measurable goals, create an action plan for achieving them, and then follow the plan, your success will be hard to miss. You will find praise easier to accept when it clearly reflects the facts of what happened.
• Ask for details. Sometimes positive sounding feedback doesn’t actually feel good because it seems vague and over-blown. If you feel like you could have done much better, but they say “terrific job,” it is hard to know what is really going on. If you have a good relationship with your boss, ask for a more specific critique of various aspects of your accomplishments.
• Calm your self-talk. Maybe the problem isn’t so much their nice words as the way you comment upon those words inside your head. If your habitual response to praise is to tell yourself “you should do much better” it’s no wonder you don’t enjoy it. Notice your internal response to positive feedback, and replace negative refrains with phrases like, “it feels good when they recognize my hard work.”
• Learn to accept compliments. When somebody comments on your good work, say “thank you.” Praise is a gift, and it is rude and unkind to rebuff the giver with phrases that reject their compliments. Cultivate a sense of gratitude for their effort, and express that gratitude with genuine words of appreciation for their tribute. If you feel a need to even things up, find a way to compliment them in return.

Number 173

Whether you are moving to an entirely different organization or just taking on an additional project for your long-time employer, the first few months of your new assignment can be critical. In the early days of your new role, you will lay a foundation that may shape your activities for years to come. While you are getting started, people may watch you carefully, drawing big conclusions from even your small steps.

While you are planning your transition, think about these strategies:

• Know what the job is. It is always important to know who your boss is and what he or she wants from you. At the start of something new it is vital – but not always easy -- to develop a clear idea of what your boss expects. Learn as much as possible about what your boss needs and likes. Have a direct conversation in which you identify benchmarks and timeframes. Your goal is for you and your boss to have the same realistic expectations about what you will achieve in the coming months.
• Don’t try to do everything.
  • Avoid the mistake of trying to accomplish so much in the early days that nothing really gets done. A better approach is to concentrate much of your energy on a few top priorities.
  • Remember the “80/20 Rule,” which says that most rewards in any situation come from a small number of the opportunities. Stated another way, the Rule suggests that about 80 percent of your results will come from about 20 percent of your inputs. While the numbers “80” and “20” aren’t absolute, this principle suggests that a small proportion of your activity always accounts for a large portion of your productivity. For example, if you’re a vendor, about 80 percent of your sales will come from 20 percent of your customers.
  • The idea is to get the biggest bang for your buck. Think of all the things you might be doing, then concentrate much of your time and energy on the relatively few activities -- the vital 20 percent -- most likely to yield the biggest results.
• Spot early victories. Look for ways to get quick results that demonstrate that you are moving in the right direction:
  • Work your network. Make a list of key colleagues, customers and other stakeholders and methodically set up opportunities to visit with them, listening carefully to their input.
  • Grasp low-hanging fruit. As you are making the rounds, look for ways you can deliver quick relief or easy-to-achieve improvements. For example, if people say that meetings have been long and pointless, structure a few brief, tightly managed meetings with clear outcomes. If they complain about a lack of information, start a weekly, one-page bulletin.
  • Create a plan. Draft and share a plan setting out your goals and key milestones.
  • Start a pilot project. When you have an idea of what you want to do, pick the most favorable venue and launch a small initiative that will test and illustrate your approach. Be lavish with your thanks and praise if it succeeds, and learn from any mistakes.

  Commit to productive habits. It takes discipline to get off to a great start. Think about the kind of person likely to succeed, and start acting like that person. Identify practices and standards that will make you effective:

  • Select productivity tools -- like a calendar, “to do” list and planning approach -- that will keep things moving smoothly.
  • Commit to systems and processes. such as those that shape the way you follow up on meetings, thank people for their contributions, answer questions and share information.
  • Manage your energy, so that you can be your best, by committing to a schedule of exercise, healthy sleep, down time, and activities that bring you renewal.
  • Know yourself. Think about your past performance, get feedback from colleagues you trust, and consider assessments like the Myers-Briggs instrument. Acknowledge your weaker points and be aware of the kinds of tasks and challenges you tend to avoid. Create practices that will build on your strengths and challenge you to overcome your weaknesses.
• Have a plan. “Dive in and sink or swim” is not a great strategy for launching your initiative. To keep you focused and moving forward you need to create some kind of plan. An excellent book to help you craft a road map is Michael Watkins’ “The First 90 Days – Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels.” Although a focus is leadership, the book can serve as an excellent guide for anybody starting a new job.

Number 172

You’ve probably heard many times that the ability to think and plan strategically is critical for both organizations and individual professionals. But it is not always clear just what that entails, and how you can get better at it.

By my definition, “strategic thinking” means looking at the big picture and developing insights about how all the parts relate to one another. “Strategic planning” means organizing those insights into action steps that will move you toward accomplishment of your critical goals.

If you want to enhance your strategic capability, here are ways to start:

• Begin with a pause. You can’t think clearly about the big picture if you are overwhelmed by details that need to be addressed in the next few hours. The great strategists routinely take time out to get some perspective. Regularly schedule blocks on your calendar for thinking about your goals and how to achieve them. This might mean setting aside a few minutes at the start of each day, or committing to a lunch time with just you, your calendar and your “to do” list. It also could mean mini-retreats for your whole group. The time you devote to reframing and broadening your viewpoint will pay off with greater accomplishments in the long run.
• Look around and listen. It’s harder to develop new insights if you stick to the same old routines. If you want to be more strategic, broaden your sources of information. Ask new questions, listen to different people, read something else and go to events you don’t typically attend.
• Launch your planning with a vision. Spend some time thinking about what you want to achieve and what success could look like. Start with the fundamentals, like the mission of the organization or your own core values. Then visualize what it will be like if you are wildly successful. Don’t get bogged down in text. Instead, make lists of the elements of success, and, better yet, draw a “mind map,” a diagram or picture. The more graphic your vision is, the more powerful it can be in shaping your activity. Techniques like “image boards,” where a collage of pictures illustrates your vision, can be effective because they engage more areas of your brain.
• Use the “Strategic Triangle.” Professors at Harvard’s Kennedy School came up with this model to help non-profit groups develop effective strategies. In my simplified version, you can “do the Triangle,” and lay the groundwork for your strategic plan, by asking three sets of questions:
  1. What is your vision? What are you trying to create? And how will that relate to your organization’s broader mission and/or your own key values?
  2. Who are the stakeholders? Before you start listing action items, think about everyone who could conceivably have an interest in, or be impacted by, your vision. What could your vision mean for your bosses, your customers, your colleagues and even regulators or rivals?
  3. What resources do you need? What will it take to build the capacity to make your vision a reality? What systems, procedures, expertise and channels of communication should you put in place?
• Know where you’re going and how to begin. Whether you’re crafting a multi-year strategy to guide a huge organization, or coming up with ways to make your life better, the essence of the planning process is identifying specific steps that will move you toward the vision. The most important elements of your plan are (1) a brief description of where you want to go and (2) a list of specific immediate steps, with due dates, to start you moving in that direction.
• Find a useful format. Your broad strategic vision can be in your head, but strategic plans should be in writing (and reread frequently). A simple plan might include your vision statement, your top three objectives, and your specific goals for the next week and the coming quarter. A key is that, with a quick look, the plan will make sense to you and the people you lead.
• Learn from the experts. Many books and websites offer strategic planning templates. For example, in his guide for mid-size businesses, “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits,” Verne Harnish offers a detailed strategic plan organizer that asks you to identify:
  • Targets (where you want to be in 3 to 5 years);
  • Goals (what you need to achieve in the coming year to move you toward your Targets); and
  • Actions (what steps are you going to take by specific dates to assure you reach your Goals).