Game 1 of the first week of the 2016 AFL finals kicked off in exciting fashion with the Western Bulldogs upsetting the West Coast Eagles. Game 2 was even more thrilling with a kick after the siren deciding the outcome of the Geelong and Hawthorn game. Coaches say there’s greater intensity in finals and it’s always interesting to see storylines unfold and how players and teams perform at the most important part of the season.
Are you scalable and sustainable?
Success is difficult to attain in business, sport and even our personal lives. There seems to be competition for our time and attention in everything we do. I was watching TV when the latest NAB more than money campaign said: “on average only 50% of new businesses actually succeed.” The statement hit me right between the eyes because I’ve recently been thinking about what it takes to be both scalable and sustainable.
Is striving for perfection slowing you down unnecessarily?
Have you ever planned the perfect beach holiday but it wasn’t as good as expected because it rained? You see for most of us perfection is basically impossible to achieve. Striving for quality is conceivable, but perfection isn’t due to capability, the time it takes to perform the task cost effectively or outside factors.
Reaching a goal isn't the same as achieving a goal
Be careful of the distraction known as Pokémon Go
Align rhythm to the 3 phases of momentum
Want to achieve more goals?
Have you considered adjusting your rhythm to get balance?
Seventy percent of a meditation class I regularly attended 10 years ago were meditating as a way to deal with either stress, anxiety or depression due to having difficulty in coping with their job. More recent research identifies two-thirds of today’s employees are feeling overwhelmed. Yet, for busy workers, I believe work-life balance is more of a myth than something we can achieve on a regular basis. What’s more realistic is aligning our rhythm to get balance based on what’s important in our lives in a day, a week or month.
What upsets your rhythm?
The activity we’re doing gets easier when we’re in a rhythm and consequentially we’re able to either get more done or perform at a higher level. This is evident at work but also applies to everyday scenarios such as going for a run in winter where starting off in the cold can be reasonably hard and uncertainty can creep in with “I don’t think I can do this today” but if we persevere until we get into a bit of a rhythm our mood usually changes to “I’m glad I got going as this wasn’t so bad after all.”
What rhythms will help you be successful this financial year?
Should you do that to start work?
Do you have a defined rhythm for work?
If you have teenage kids and you’re anything like me then your weekends are probably crazy busy with being a taxi service to get the kids to part-time jobs, sporting commitments, parties and the like. It also means early mornings and late nights, so anything I need to do for myself I try to fit in around the gaps before the next activity we need to dash off to.
Is your level of energy high or low?
Over the recent long weekend my 15 year old son played in the Nunawading Basketball Tournament. The schedule was punishing with 4 games on Saturday (the first started at 10.15am with the last finishing at 11pm), 3 games on Sunday and the Grand Final on Monday. Besides skills and teamwork, the ability to perform almost became survival of the fittest so refuelling, rest and recovery were critically important for the athletes.
Energy determines which activity you do well
Fly like an eagle
Are you a slave to email?
Technique and effort underpins success
Can you find what you need quickly?
Are you just spinning wheels at work?
I’m sure at some stage you will have come across someone or multiple people at work who are forever telling everyone how busy they are but you don’t see them doing much of what I’ll refer to as the real work. And when you think about it it’s not all that difficult to look as if we’re busy but if we're not getting outcomes then all we are doing is spinning wheels.
How about trying a speed hackathon to make progress quickly?
Without being given any notice have you ever had to participate in something new and enjoyed the experience? Part of learning for a child is full of experiences like this, but as adults we don’t seem to get as many instances where we need to adapt quickly. Or is it that we’re set in our ways and don’t recognise or maximise learning opportunities?