effeciency

Better Work Through MORE Willpower.

In business and in life, we all struggle with Willpower.  Willpower, as described in The Willpower Instinct by Dr. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.d, an amazingly awesome book, is both the iWant power (wanting to do/get/be something) and iWont power (wanting to stop doing/getting/being something).  In business, this is usually doing the “hard work” that will actually make a difference.  In Marketing, for example, it means ‘actually talking to customers (some say yick!)’… or stopping  the ‘usual marketing we always do’… or ‘killing that poor product/brand’.  THIS BOOK is the definitive resource for improving your Willpower (both iWant and iWont).   If you want to lose weight, be more productive, be a better person, or whatever you “want”… READ THIS BOOK NOW!  I, for example, WANT to write a non-fiction book about marketing.  Ironically, this book is so rich and filled with examples and real studies, I think I may ‘use’ this book for iWant power, AND ‘use’ this book as a guideline for how to write non-fiction.  I should mention I do not know the author personally… but I would love to do one of Dr. McGonigal’s seminars.

So, what did I get out of this book?  Here’s a few takeaways…  I’ve ordered a physical copy too, so I can better quote the book and use it as a writing reference (since I only read this on Audible so far).

  1. Meditation Increases Willpower.  
    • (the simple kind, where for 5-10min a day, you just relax and ‘not think’, but listen to your breathing)…
    • (also, get enough sleep/and eat healthy.. it increases willpower (really))
  2. Forgiveness Increases Willpower.  
    • (learn to forgive yourself!  based on Scientific research, forgiving your splurge will be MORE impact-full than punishing/blaming yourself!).
  3. Find a way to Motivate Yourself.
    • The Chance of a Random Reward drives Willpower.
    • (give yourself random rewards for successes, think of the goal/future self).
    • (lotto tickets as a reward).
  4. Social Pressure Fuels Willpower (and Weakness).  
    • (stay away from social settings that might make you lose in your willpower goal.  Find mentors or sponsors who support your goal.  Make your goal public.)
  5. Think of your “Future” Self. 
    • (just thinking about your future self leads to greater power for iWant or iWont).
  6. Don’t try to Suppress Thoughts/Cravings. 
    • (when you try ‘not’ to think of something, you end up thinking more of it… when you try to reject bad thoughts, you have them more and worse… in both case you ACT on them more.  Instead, “accept” the thoughts, and then accept that you can control your actions.)
  7. Change iWont into iWant.  
    • (iWant power is easier than iWont.  Dieting does NOT work.  Wanting to eat ‘more’ of healthy foods does!).
Here’s a great video by Dr. McGonigal about Willpower:

Delegate or become your company’s bottleneck.

“Okay everyone”, he says in that snide nasal tone you know SO well. “just a reminder, your revised proposals are due by Monday morning.”  You look on bemused that you have to do this.  You’re not nervous, just annoyed.  You would have been done by now if you didn’t have to make a proposal first.  “James, your idea needs some refinement, you need to include more widgets and less dongles like this,” the nasal tone interrupts your reverie.  Its a good thing you didn’t start yet, your idea just got mangled beyond recognition… its now 100% more safe, and 1000% less interesting.

We’ve all known the manager that refuses to delegate.  They want to be involved in EVERY decision.  They want to be “presented to” and (if your lucky) given a recommendation.  It’s usually either a VERY capable person (who is super-duper smart and works super hard), or a VERY nervous/worried person who is constantly thinking about CYA (Cover Your Ass).  In the first case, they are doing it because they probably DO have great ideas and maybe could do it better/make it better.  In the latter, they are doing it because they are worried that if it gets screwed up, they will lose their job.  In either case, they are doing it wrong.  Refusal to delegate means you ARE the bottleneck in your system.

There are two principles that are being ignored here.  First, the principle of trust.  In both cases, they are not trusting their co-workers (or subordinates) to do the work right (well).  The second is efficiency.  In both cases, the manager has sacrificed “efficiency” by putting themselves in the work-flow.

I can’t change your manager over night…but here is how you can change him (and/or yourself)!

1. introduce the concept of “guidelines”.. pre-approved guides within which one can operate without approval.  Budgets, schedules, milestones, and boundaries.  (e.g. $500 per month spending maximum for needed stuff)

2. introduce the concept of “good enough”.. a standard that is admittedly below your BEST’s best, but that is good enough to get the job done without taking your Best’s time away.  (note: works well when the BEST is the manager in question, or he thinks he is).  [not that I know from personal experience] 🙂

3. introduce the concept of “front man”.. a front man not only has ownership of the project, but gets exposure as the leader to higher-ups.  This concept is a win-win-win… the CYA guys, get to CYA.  The subordinates get higher-up exposure, and the higher-ups, get to see new faces!

Now, start delegating, and work on the stuff that really matters.