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Tag: Focus
Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, Self-Discipline By Peter Hollins
Following through is hard but gratifying in the long run…
Some people usually don’t follow through because they self-sabotage, misuse their time and energy by procrastinating, setting impossible goals, managing their time poorly, yielding to temptations and distractions.
Other people have internal roadblocks that impede them from taking action because they are either lazy, lack discipline and willpower, fear judgement, rejection or failure, try to be perfect, are too insecure, lack self-awareness, are unconsciously protecting themselves.
Indeed, people who have interval roadblocks and who fail to follow through tend to set unrealistic expectations for themselves and end up underachieving or underperforming.
Furthermore, they overthink everything and lean towards negative thoughts which paralyzes them. Making a decision becomes difficult because they don’t have clear rules and priorities.
They also worry too much. They ruminate on past, present, future, real, fictitious problems that are most likely out of their control.
Finally, they don’t know themselves well enough to create the best goals and environment for themselves.
The Requirements of Following Through
Following through requires four elements: focus, self-discipline, action and persistence.
With focus, you are able to keep “your head in the game and your eyes on the prize”. You concentrate all your effort and energy onto achieving your goals.
With self-discipline, you are bale to regulate your thoughts, control your focus and to work regardless of your emotions and your circumstances.
With action, you are able to get closer to the finish line, execute the plan and translate your intentions.
With persistence, you will develop resilience and be able to push through until you have achieved success.
How To Start Following Through?
To start following through, you have to take a good look at yourself, build a better relationship with yourself, develop the right mindset and equip yourself with the best tools to succeed.
To develop the mindset, you must believe that:
- You are capable and hard work leads to success.
- The steps that you take are purposeful and fit into a bigger picture.
- Discomfort is necessary to success. Following through will require you to get out of your comfort zone and do things that you have never done before.
- The information and knowledge you acquire increase with the steps that you take. You learn more about yourself on top of learning new skills and life lessons.
- Taking care of your mental health will reinforce your willpower and discipline.
Is Following Through Good For You?
Sometimes, you will have to make the decision to follow through or to give up.
To make the best decisions, you have to create a set of rules that will serve as a guideline, a code of conduct, a task roadmap and a mission statement.
Methods For Following Through
To stay motivated enough to follow through, you must identify the things that motivate you.
Some people want to avoid negative consequences at all cost and will do everything in their power to succeed.
Others are pushed forward by the need and desire to improve their lives.
To stop procrastinating and to follow through:
- Associate your present goals with an activity that provides instant gratification.
- Break down huge goals in small manageable steps.
- Evaluate the risks of inaction.
- Create an environment free from distractions and temptations.
- Avoid multitasking and focus on one single task at a time.
- Group similar tasks together and accomplish them all in one batch.
- Create lists of tasks that don’t add value or that are out of your control in order to discharge your mental load.
- Acquire between 40% and 70% of information.
- Allow yourself to recover mentally from time to time to avoid burnout.
Review
There are many reasons why people stay stagnant in life. In Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, & Self-Discipline, Peter Hollins breaks down the psychology and the art of following through on your goals.
Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, & Self-Discipline is recommended for people who struggle to get things done and is full of powerful tools to help you take action and achieve your goals.
Peter Hollins jumpstarts you towards your dreams, shares several tactics to execute whatever you set your mind to and makes some very good points when it comes to the mistakes people make when pursuing their goals.
Following through boils down to extracting lessons from past failures and knowing yourself well enough to create the best environments, rules and roadmaps for you to succeed.
Let me know below what you think about this book!
Favorite quote(s)
Focus guides your thoughts in figuring out how to follow through and directs your actions toward achieving your vision.
Leisure is an important part of life, but if it’s excessive and takes the place of reasonable productivity, then it becomes a vice.
Follow-through is 100% mental. It takes a cognitive effort to follow through on something, especially when you hit discouraging obstacles.
Stop judging yourself and others for being different. We are all different.
Our productivity is very fragile and requires particular care to flourish. Treat yourself to what helps you thrive if you want to follow through.
Ratings 3.5/5
Author
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022 Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World By Cal Newport
According to Cal Newport, Deep Working is “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.“.
What is Deep Work?
Deep Work means that we must learn to focus intensely on a single task for long periods of time without distractions and without breaking concentration.
Deep Work requires a sense of confidence and a conviction that you will succeed.
Deep Work is at a disadvantage in a society that values social media.
Deep Work is not a trend but it can make you more efficient and transform a boring job into a satisfying one.
Furthermore, Deep Work is rare but is valuable in today’s economy.
Finally, Deep Work ethics in the workplace are rare as well. Most people have embraced distraction because it is more convenient and allows us to avoid planning and concentration.
How to train your brain and build habits for Deep Work
To create real value and to get ahead in this economy, it is imperative to develop an ability to:
- Learn and master hard things quickly.
- Produce at an elite level.
There are several rules to Deep Working and to replacing distraction with focus.
Rule #1: Work Deeply daily
Deep Working is about building habits and rituals that go beyond willpower and that will help you sustain focus.
Personal desires such as eating, sleeping, sex, television and music are the main cause for distractions.
Willpower is not sustainable enough to fight off distractions because your will will eventually be strained.
That is why Deep Work necessitates rearranging your schedule. You can schedule Deep Work by:
- Minimizing shallow obligations from your day to day.
- Dedicating a full day or more to concentrate on a task and to shut out all exterior noises.
- Routinely going deep everyday at the same time and for the same amount of time.
- Fit in Deep Work wherever and whenever you can.
Besides scheduling your Deep Work and to maximize your success, you must also establish how, what, where, when, for how long you want to practice Deep Work.
Rule #2: Embrace boredom
Deep Working requires that you focus on a task and reject all distractions in a world where your brain has been conditioned to research distraction.
Outside of Deep Work sessions, you have to take care of your mind, embrace boredom, learn to meditate, schedule a break from focus to give in to distractions, rewire your brain to resist distractions.
Surprisingly, embracing boredom will help you improve the limits of your concentration abilities.
Rule #3: Quit social media
There are many benefits to social media.
However, Cal Newport states that modern technology is to blame for shallow work and suggests that social media should be intrinsically used as a tool.
He also emphasizes that you must assess your priorities in life and the impact of social media on your life.
To regain control of your time and attention, you can apply the law of the vital few over your network tools then avoid using Internet to entertain yourself.
Rule #4: Drain the shallows
A deep life is a good life. - Cal Newport in Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World Click To TweetShallow Work can be damaging to your life.
Shallow Work can be defined as “Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.”
To identify and remove the shallowness from your life, you must apply the following strategies:
- Schedule your entire day to avoid spending time on autopilot and to fully benefit from Deep Work.
- Determine how mush time you are spending on shallow activities and eliminate them.
- Become hard to reach via your network tools.
Review
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Cal Newport explains all the strategies you can implement to become more productive and more focused in this economy .
Cal Newport takes most of his analogies from educators because they have to go in depth in their field of choice and provide quality work.
However, this book is written for bosses and leaders who want to go to the essential, be more productive, efficiently organize their day, improve workplace culture and who want to achieve their highest potential.
It is sad to see that meditation, Deep Working and deep thinking have disappeared from and been perverted by the corporate system.
Indeed, corporate culture promotes shallows activities. People are busy as ever but are often distracted by network tools and forced to break from their concentration.
Furthermore, people –if they are not the person in charge–who practice Deep Working are not well perceived in the workplace even though they are high achievers and improve productivity.
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport is a good reminder to stay focus and to go to the essential in life.
Let me know below what you think about this book!
Favorite quote(s)
A deep life is a good life.
Deep work is at a severe disadvantage in a technopoly because it builds on values like quality, craftsmanship, and mastery that are decidedly old-fashioned and nontechnological.
The deep life, of course, is not for everybody. It requires hard work and drastic changes to your habits. […] But if you’re willing to sidestep these comforts and fears, and instead struggle to deploy your mind to its fullest capacity to create things that matter, then you’ll discover, as others have before you, that depth generates a life rich with productivity and meaning.
Ratings 3/5
Author
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022 Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds By David Goggins
Western society has an obsession for mediocrity and complacency even though we have great resources to excel and even though our minds are strong and are built to endure whatever challenges we face.
Succeeding and functioning at your highest potential is all a matter of detaching yourself from that system of belief, gaining self-awareness and conquering the mind.
#1: Self-limiting beliefs
Inequalities in the system, systemic oppression will always exist but are not the core reason why you are not excelling and functioning at your highest potential.
The truth is you are the one limiting yourself.
That is why you must imperatively identify what is holding you back in life.
To do so, you can:
- Get a journal and write down your pain, the list of things that are causing you pain.
- Give shape and name to what is bothering you.
- Create rituals where you call yourself out, face the hard truth.
- Set tangible goals for yourself and keep yourself accountable.
By identifying what is limiting you and creating rituals, you will be able to renew your purpose and reinvent yourself.
#2: The path of most resistance
You must understand that in life, there will always be pain. But if you have a purpose, you can overcome that pain and borrow the path of most resistance.
Before starting your mission, you will have to objectively assess your current situation and abolish your ego for it is the cause of all your problems.
On your mission and on the path of most resistance, you might get depressed and discouraged but you have to be convinced that your depression is a sign that you are no longer in your comfort zone.
#3: Taking Souls
In life, you will be confronted with your own demons, bullies who will oppose you for no reason and will face many other challenges.
You have to prepare your mind for eventual opposition and understand that:
- Challenges reveal your character and your mindset.
- Pain is finite and you can take on any challenge you want.
- You must defeat your own demons before you can defeat your opponent.
The Taking Souls strategy is a game that you play with yourself and yourself only by tapping into your own reserve of energy and power. It allows you to easily defeat your opponent and find your inner beast:
- Know who you are and why you are here and why you are fighting.
- Find areas in your life that need improvement.
- Take on tasks that you deem impossible or that make you uncomfortable.
- List your strengths and weaknesses. Turn your weaknesses into your strengths.
- List the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent or bully. Bullies are already insecure and unstable so it’s easy to get into their heads.
- Remember that the easiest way to fight a bully is to help them.
#4: Flipping the script
Every negative experience creates callouses in the mind. When you know how to avoid negative self-talk, to manage your mind and your callouses, then you can choose fight over flight, push through any obstacles and overcome self-doubt.
To build the most stable callous mind there is, to acquire mental toughness and to improve your character, you need to accept your Self, stop running away from your past, face the source of your wounds, fear and insecurities.
For this reason, when you are facing opposition or a negative situation, you have to:
- Flip the script and stop seeing yourself as the victim of your circumstances.
- Work the hardest when you want to the least.
- Seek excellence to outdo your competition.
- Make your competition admire you and your abilities.
#5: Attaining your goals
Now that you are comfortable with the concept of pain and possess the ability to flip your negative experience, it is time for you to start:
- Feeding off your pain to overcome challenges and to live the life you want.
- Painting a picture of what success feels and looks like.
- Visualizing yourself achieving your goals or overcoming the obstacles standing in your way.
- Using your past achievements to fuel your news goals.
- Putting in the work to succeed.
When all is said and done, don’t forget to take the time to celebrate your success.
Review
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds is David Goggins‘ raw and uncut autobiography.
In Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds, David Goggins aims to help you use your setbacks as fuel for your success, live a bolder life to your fullest potential, master the mind and use it to its maximum capacity.
David Goggins, intense and pragmatic, shares his hardships and successes in his civilian and military lives. Through his story, he encourages people to stop playing the victim and making self-limiting choices.
To make this short, his story is rooted in pain, very dramatic and hard to read. You basically need to brace yourself for the first chapters where David Goggins recalls his childhood.
Throughout his autobiography, we can observe:
- The evolution of his relationship with pain and suffering. He went from enduring pain, to insulating himself from it, to embracing it, to enjoying it a little bit too much, to diligently seeking it, to understanding that he is immune to suffering and finally using his pain as a pillar for his success.
- The shift from Victim to Warrior mentality.
- The catharsis from depicting his life and transferring his knowledge in a book.
- His willingness to open old wounds and repair the broken pieces of his life.
- His weight loss, brutal honesty, resilience, confidence and individual growth.
Furthermore, I couldn’t help to wonder about military life and how they recruit their candidates.
On one hand, does the military hire people who don’t know what to do with their lives, who completely lack purpose or are at their wit’s end? Then, the military breaks them down, builds them up into superhumans, gives them a patriotic purpose, and pours into them their way of thinking to get these superhumans to obey them and do whatever they want without asking questions?
On the other hand, according to David Goggins, “Hell Week is designed to show you that a human is capable of much more than you know. It opens your mind to the true possibilities of human potential, and with that comes a change in your mentality.”.
Needless to say, it’s amazing what these soldiers put their mind and body through but still survive. I wonder if they know how much they lose or gain mentally and emotionally doing so? If they are able to function outside of that institution and with that level of trauma?
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds should definitely be called “How to make the best out of the worst”.
While reading this book, you will experience a lot of sadness, twisted experiences, inspirational and funny perspectives on life. Just life!
As much as I had a hard time reading this book, I couldn’t put it down.
Let me know below what you think about this book!
Favorite quote(s)
Nobody likes to hear the hard truth. Individually and as a culture, we avoid what we need to hear most. This world is fucked up, there are major problems in our society. We are still dividing ourselves up along racial and cultural lines, and people don’t have the balls to hear it! The truth is racism and bigotry still fucking exist and some people are so thin-skinned they refuse to admit that.
There is no more time to waste. Hours and days evaporate like creeks in the desert. That’s why it’s okay to be cruel to yourself as long as you realize you’re doing it to become better. We all need thicker skin to improve in life.
I looked at the people who were making me feel uncomfortable and realized how uncomfortable they were in their own skin. To make fun of or try to intimidate someone they didn’t even know based on race alone was a clear indication that something was very wrong with them, not me.
Self-improvement takes dedication and self-discipline.
The first step on the journey toward a calloused mind is stepping outside your comfort zone on a regular basis.
Until you experience hardships like abuse and bullying, failures and disappointments, your mind will remain soft and exposed. Life experience, especially negative experiences, help callous the mind.
Ratings 4.5/5
About the author
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Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, & Self-Discipline By Peter Hollins
Following through is hard but gratifying in the long run…
Some people usually don’t follow through because they self-sabotage, misuse their time and energy by procrastinating, setting impossible goals, managing their time poorly, yielding to temptations and distractions.
Other people have internal roadblocks that impede them from taking action because they are either lazy, lack discipline and willpower, fear judgement, rejection or failure, try to be perfect, are too insecure, lack self-awareness, are unconsciously protecting themselves.
Indeed, people who have interval roadblocks and who fail to follow through:
- Set unrealistic expectations for themselves and end up underachieving or underperforming.
- Overthink everything and lean towards negative thoughts which paralyzes them. Making a decision becomes difficult because they don’t have clear rules and priorities.
- Worry too much. They ruminate on past, present, future, real, fictitious problems that are most likely out of their control.
- Don’t know themselves well enough to create the best goals and environment for themselves.
The Requirements of Following Through
Following through requires four elements: focus, self-discipline, action and persistence.
With focus, you are able to keep “your head in the game and your eyes on the prize”. You concentrate all your effort and energy onto achieving your goals.
With self-discipline, you are bale to regulate your thoughts, control your focus and to work regardless of your emotions and your circumstances.
With action, you are able to get closer to the finish line, execute the plan and translate your intentions.
With persistence, you will develop resilience and be able to push through until you have achieved success.
How To Start Following Through?
To start following through, you have to take a good look at yourself, build a better relationship with yourself, develop the right mindset and equip yourself with the best tools to succeed.
To develop the mindset, you must believe that:
- You are capable and hard work leads to success.
- The steps that you take are purposeful and fit into a bigger picture.
- Discomfort is necessary to success. Following through will require you to get out of your comfort zone and do things that you have never done before.
- The information and knowledge you acquire increase with the steps that you take. You learn more about yourself on top of learning new skills and life lessons.
- Taking care of your mental health will reinforce your willpower and discipline.
Is Following Through Good For You?
Sometimes, you will have to make the decision to follow through or to give up.
To make the best decisions, you have to create a set of rules that will serve as a guideline, a code of conduct, a task roadmap and a mission statement.
Methods For Following Through
To stay motivated enough to follow through, you must identify the things that motivate you.
Some people want to avoid negative consequences at all cost and will do everything in their power to succeed.
Others are pushed forward by the need and desire to improve their lives.
To stop procrastinating and to follow through:
- Associate your present goals with an activity that provides instant gratification.
- Break down huge goals in small manageable steps.
- Evaluate the risks of inaction.
- Create an environment free from distractions and temptations.
- Avoid multitasking and focus on one single task at a time.
- Group similar tasks together and accomplish them all in one batch.
- Create lists of tasks that don’t add value or that are out of your control in order to discharge your mental load.
- Acquire between 40% and 70% of information.
- Allow yourself to recover mentally from time to time to avoid burnout.
Review
There are many reasons why people stay stagnant in life. In Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, & Self-Discipline, Peter Hollins breaks down the psychology and the art of following through on your goals.
Finish What You Start: The Art of Following Through, Taking Action, Executing, & Self-Discipline is recommended for people who struggle to get things done and is full of powerful tools to help you take action and achieve your goals.
Peter Hollins jumpstarts you towards your dreams, shares several tactics to execute whatever you set your mind to and makes some very good points when it comes to the mistakes people make when pursuing their goals.
Following through boils down to extracting lessons from past failures and knowing yourself well enough to create the best environments, rules and roadmaps for you to succeed.
Let me know below what you think about this book!
Favorite quote(s)
Focus guides your thoughts in figuring out how to follow through and directs your actions toward achieving your vision.
Leisure is an important part of life, but if it’s excessive and takes the place of reasonable productivity, then it becomes a vice.
Follow-through is 100% mental. It takes a cognitive effort to follow through on something, especially when you hit discouraging obstacles.
Stop judging yourself and others for being different. We are all different.
Our productivity is very fragile and requires particular care to flourish. Treat yourself to what helps you thrive if you want to follow through.
Ratings 3.5/5
Author
-
The Leader Planner13,95€
-
The Leader Planner13,95€
Subscribe to Journey To Leadership
10 Affirmations Leaders Need to Say to Themselves First Thing In The Morning
The leadership position comes with its own set of hardships…
You can sometimes wake up in the morning and feel like the world is against you. You will try to stay in bed or will simply underperform and not reach your set of goals.
Successful leaders understand that they have the power to change some things in their lives, that what they do and say to themselves in the first few minutes will determine the quality of their day.
Wondering how leaders affirm a successful day?
1. “I am working towards becoming my Best Self”
Leadership is a self-improving journey. Leaders working towards their best selves are proud of themselves, don’t settle for less, live out their potential and are purposeful with everything that they do.
In addition, they know that they are enough, know what is best for themselves and others, expect excellence from myself and others.
They accept themselves for who they are and take advantage of their uniqueness.
Finally, they have standards and will not remove them for anyone.
2. “I am confident about my abilities”
People come to leaders for their advice and expertise.
Leaders have to be confident enough to share information, make good decisions and guide people in the right direction.
3. “I have a strong support system”
Leaders surround themselves with people who understand their vision, who uplift them and who encourage them to do their best.
4. “I am resilient”
Leaders are strong enough to handle any obstacles and stay calm in tough situations.
They understand that there is a solution for every problem, that obstacles are opportunities to grow and the more challenges you face, the closer you are to success.
Furthermore, the difficulties in life will make you question your accomplishments and your value. However, you have to be grateful for the difficulties because they will teach you something about yourself.
5. “I am positive”
Leaders who think better experience a larger life and more successful endeavors.
They understand their attitude towards life matters. Therefore, they:
- Rise above negative thoughts.
- Don’t pay attention to slights and bad actions.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff. If it will not matter in the next five years then it shouldn’t matter now.
- Don’t take on people who are agents of chaos, who steal their joy or energy.
If you stay positive, positivity will be attracted to you.
6. “I believe that I will succeed”
Not trying to sound like a Disney movie, but everything leaders need to succeed is already within them, they just have to believe it and realize that past mistakes don’t define them or their future success.
They expect greatness out of my life and I take the necessary risks to achieve them.
They dream big, accomplish all their goals and turn their dreams into reality because they believe that they can achieve whatever they set their minds to.
7. “I am focused and am not ruled by my emotions”
Your emotions impede you from enjoying life to the fullest. You have to understand that you have the power to control your emotions and make the best of your day.
Whatever you focus on will grow. So, focus on the positives and on things you can control.
8. “I am open to learn something new”
Leaders have access to so much knowledge nowadays. So, when leaders stop learning, they stop improving and keep repeating past actions and behaviors.
Leaders must keep an open mind, embrace new ideas and relearn some fundamental truths.
9. “I live in the present moment”
Leaders have to learn to leave the past in the past.
Therefore, leaders must not look back at their past failures very long. However, it is critical to extract a lesson from all your experiences and then move on.
They don’t complain and let go of anything that doesn’t serve them.
They acknowledge that everyday is a new day. They get another day to prove their potential and achieve their purpose.
10. “I am safe wherever I go”
The Fourth Agreement states that you shouldn’t take anything personally.
People will try to take out their insecurities on you when their issues are not directly linked to you. As Eleanor Roosevelt declared “No one can hurt you without your consent”.
Last Words Of Advice!
Taking the time out to reframe your mindset first thing in the morning will increase your chances of having a successful day.
Thinking about your best qualities can help you improve your leadership abilities, lifestyle and work performance.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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The Leader Planner13,95€
Subscribe to Journey To Leadership
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022 Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World By Cal Newport
According to Cal Newport, Deep Working is “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.“.
What is Deep Work?
Deep Work means that we must learn to focus intensely on a single task for long periods of time without distractions and without breaking concentration.
Deep Work:
- Requires a sense of confidence and a conviction that you will succeed.
- Is at a disadvantage in a society that values social media.
- Is not a trend but it can make you more efficient and transform a boring job into a satisfying one.
- Is rare but is valuable in today’s economy. Deep Work ethics in the workplace is rare as well. Most people have embraced distraction because it is easier and allows us to avoid planning and concentration.
How to train your brain and build habits for Deep Work
To create real value and to get ahead in this economy, it is imperative to develop an ability to:
- Learn and master hard things quickly.
- Produce at an elite level.
There are several rules to Deep Working and to replacing distraction with focus.
Rule #1: Work Deeply daily
Deep Working is about building habits and rituals that go beyond willpower and that will help you sustain focus.
Personal desires such as eating, sleeping, sex, television and music are the main cause for distractions. Willpower is not sustainable enough to fight off distractions because your will will eventually be strained.
That is why Deep Work necessitates rearranging your schedule. You can schedule Deep Work by:
- Minimizing shallow obligations from your day to day.
- Dedicating a full day or more to concentrate on a task and to shut out all exterior noises.
- Routinely going deep everyday at the same time and for the same amount of time.
- Fit in Deep Work wherever and whenever you can.
Besides scheduling your Deep Work and to maximize your success, you must also establish how, what, where, when, for how long you want to practice Deep Work.
Rule #2: Embrace boredom
Deep Working requires that you focus on a task and reject all distractions in a world where your brain has been conditioned to research distraction.
Outside of Deep Work sessions, you have to take care of your mind, embrace boredom, learn to meditate, schedule a break from focus to give in to distractions, rewire your brain to resist distractions.
Surprisingly, embracing boredom will help you improve the limits of your concentration abilities.
Rule #3: Quit social media
There are many benefits to social media.
However, Cal Newport states that modern technology is to blame for shallow work and suggests that social media should be intrinsically used as a tool.
He also emphasizes that you must assess your priorities in life and the impact of social media on your life.
To regain control of your time and attention, you can apply the law of the vital few over your network tools then avoid using Internet to entertain yourself.
Rule #4: Drain the shallows
A deep life is a good life. - Cal Newport in Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World Click To Tweet
Shallow Work can be damaging to your life. Shallow Work can be defined as “Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.”
To identify and remove the shallowness from your life, you must apply the following strategies:
- Schedule your entire day to avoid spending time on autopilot and to fully benefit from Deep Work.
- Determine how mush time you are spending on shallow activities and eliminate them.
- Become hard to reach via your network tools.
Review
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Cal Newport explains all the strategies you can implement to become more productive and more focused in this economy .
Cal Newport takes most of his analogies from educators because they have to go in depth in their field of choice and provide quality work.
However, this book is written for bosses and leaders who want to go to the essential, be more productive, efficiently organize their day, improve workplace culture and who want to achieve their highest potential.
It is sad to see that meditation, Deep Working and deep thinking have disappeared from and been perverted by the corporate system.
Indeed, corporate culture promotes shallows activities. People are busy as ever but are often distracted by network tools and forced to break from their concentration.
Furthermore, people –if they are not the person in charge–who practice Deep Working are not well perceived in the workplace even though they are high achievers and improve productivity.
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport is a good reminder to stay focus and to go to the essential in life.
Let me know below what you think about this book!
Favorite quote(s)
A deep life is a good life.
Deep work is at a severe disadvantage in a technopoly because it builds on values like quality, craftsmanship, and mastery that are decidedly old-fashioned and nontechnological.
The deep life, of course, is not for everybody. It requires hard work and drastic changes to your habits. […] But if you’re willing to sidestep these comforts and fears, and instead struggle to deploy your mind to its fullest capacity to create things that matter, then you’ll discover, as others have before you, that depth generates a life rich with productivity and meaning.
Ratings 3/5
Author
Cal Newport
Cal Newport computer science professor at Georgetown University. Cal Newport is also the author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.
7 Steps To Be A Positive Leader In Adversity
From workplace bullying to job loss, from an unsatisfied customer to a tough team, from company crisis to personal drama, adversity often catches us by surprise.
Indeed, we never see it coming. If you are a leader, you will definitely be subjected to it and will have to learn how to wear adversity like a badge of honor.
Wondering how to stay positive in the face of adversity?
Why be positive?
Without adversity, we wouldn’t do, create anything or grow as people.
The most effective way to deal with adversity is to stop worrying, to maintain a positive and optimistic attitude.
People enjoy positive people and are most likely to help them. Positive people:
- Are able to overcome adversity.
- Are high performers.
- Are most satisfied with their relationships.
- Focus on the future and are resilient.
- Focus on their strengths.
- Have clear goals. They actively work towards their goals and understand that they can change the outcome of a situation.
- Have control over their lives and see stress as a small bump in the road.
- Know that their mood can be controlled.
- Don’t waste their time and energy on drama.
When life puts you in tough situations, don’t say “why me”, say “try me”. Click To Tweet
There are a few strategies to keep your composure and maintain a sense of self.
#1. Assess the situation
Adverse situations are necessary and often come out of the blue.
Sometimes, the situation is not as bad as it seems.
The first step is to identify the origin of the situation and the possible outcomes.
Then, assess the criticality of the situation.
Finally, come up with different potential solutions to your problem.
#2. Change your mindset
Once, you have assessed the situation, it is detrimental to accept your reality, let go of the past and rework your perceptions of adversity.
You can tell yourself that there are always solutions to a problem, that your situation is not as bad as it seems, is only temporary, or can be an opportunity in disguise.
In addition, to change your mindset:
- Visualize yourself beyond your situation.
- Be grateful for what you have. There are people who are in worse situations than you are.
- Understand that your situation is temporary and that you are passing through and will come out safe.
#3. Gain control over your situation
Staying organized and focused will help you gain more control over your situation.
- Focus on what you can do and measure your progress.
- Write down your task for the day in order of importance so you can focus on it.
- Learn your job and become an expert in your field.
- Learn to say no without having to explain yourself. There are different ways to politely express refusal. “I’ll think about it”, “I’ll get back to you”, “I have a prior engagement”…
#4. Gain control over yourself
Adversity makes everything seems out of control and generates a lot of extreme emotions.
Keeping your composure requires a lot of emotional discipline. To do so, take care of your mind, body and soul.
Take care of body
Exercise to keep your confidence up and to quiet your mind.
Take care of your mental health
- Work on your mental health.
- Take time off and stay in a quiet place to meditate, to make peace with yourself, to cope with your problem, to sleep.
- Quickly identify your thought pattern.
- Express your facts, emotions and your adversity in writing.
- Write down your past achievements and what you did to overcome past obstacles as well.
#5. Keep your vision alive
To stay positive, you must keep your goals and your vision alive.
In doing so, remember your mission statement, your purpose and the reasons why you have joined the company.
#6. Maintain your sense of humor
Making fun of your problems can help you understand them and alleviate your load.
Maintaining your sense of humor in times of adversity is a conscious choice. To do so:
- Have a good laugh and make fun of yourself.
- Try to start your day with a smile on your face.
- Look around and find things that will make you smile.
- Be kind to other people, compliment them and put a smile on their face.
- Give back to your team or to your community.
#7. Muster up a strong support system
Your relationships are what will get you through in hard times. That’s why you don’t have to shut yourself off and you must:
- Surround yourself with successful and positive people.
- Take the time to vent and talk things through with someone you trust.
- Ensure that you make time for intimacy.
Last Words Of Advice!
It is important for you to know when it is time to move on.
Moving on doesn’t mean that you are weak or that you cannot handle yourself.
It simply means that you have control over your decisions, that value your health and sanity more than your job, that you understand life and are at peace with yourself.
Furthermore, remember that:
- You are only human.
- You are not the only one going through adversity.
- Your story can help someone overcome theirs.
- Your past mistakes don’t define who you are.
- You must not take your problems personally.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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The Importance Of Risk Taking In Leadership
All leaders have a clear vision for their lives.
They are willing to go through tough waters to achieve their vision.
However, they know that the greater their vision, the greater the focus needed, the greater the risks taken, and hopefully, the greater the reward.
Wondering how to take risks and step out your comfort zone?
Taking risks means stepping outside of your comfort zone.
Furthermore, risk taking is an inherent human trait and plays a major part in the life of leaders.
Risk taking may depend on the leader’s age, generation and financial background.
Risk taking is contagious. When your team sees you initiating risks and stepping out of your comfort zone, they ble will feel more comfortable doing the same.
For the past few years, risk taking has been treated like a disease.
Nowadays, taking risks is valued because it provides opportunities even though the consequences can be disastrous.
I believe that the old saying “with high risks come high rewards” is still defensible.
Taking risks is not reckless as long as they are calculated.
Why should leaders take risks?
Some people try to avoid risks and others fearlessly walk straight into it.
However, leaders are willing and obligated to take risks.
The key rewards of risk taking as a leader include longevity, meaningful experiences, increased finance, and a more motivated, loyal and trustworthy team.
People don’t take risks simply because of fear. They are generally afraid of failure, of success, of being vulnerable, being wrong, or admitting their errors and limits.
How to take calculated risks?
Risk taking can be an effective leadership strategy. To take calculated risks:
- Define clear goals and a vision.
- Gather information to estimate your risks. Do your research to unveil potential obstacles and give yourself time to find a solution.
- Measure your resources and the costs of your actions.
- Take a moment to evaluate the negative and the positive outcomes of your decisions. Study the pros and the cons to make the right decisions.
- Do something that scares you everyday. Get out your routine and try new activities to uncover your limits and who you truly are.
- Be aware of your own abilities and surround yourself with people with complementary skills.
- Learn to trust yourself and your decisions. It is important to listen to your gut, to distinguish your intuition from your emotions, to avoid overthinking or over-analyzing your decisions.
- Understand that you are your only limit and that you set your goals.
- Increase your emotional intelligence. Don’t let your fears make decisions for you. What ifs will stop you from taking chances.
- Learn from your past failures.
- Practice taking risks and prepare yourself for rejection. Rejection is not as bad as it seems and usually doesn’t last as long as regret. Regretting a moment or a situation is definitely worse than being rejected.
- Avoid spreading your self thin, examine opportunities that come your way, and learn to say no to opportunities that seem too good to be true.
- Test your ideas to a wise sounding board that you trust and that can be candid with you.
- Be reactive. Be on the lookout for possible breakthroughs or setbacks, and be ready to correct mistakes.
- Embrace change and always expect the unexpected.
- Don’t try to be perfect. In case of failure from risk-taking, practice forgiveness. and failing forward.
- Don’t make assumptions and keep learning.
- Become resilient.
Last Words Of Advice!
In life as in work, risk is inevitable just like failure is. Remember:
- Fortune favors the bold.
- The risk is always worth being taken and can be life-changing.
- Don’t be too overconfident or completely eradicate fear in order to properly estimate risks.
- Recognizing the positive outcomes of your risk taking will create momentum and gain in confidence so you can do it again.
Let me know when was the last time you have taken risks and what was your reward?
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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