P12. Be Flexible on the Perception of Your Passion
Develop some form of passion in your current work so that get fired up.
Passions:
1. Helping people solve problems
2. Improving the healthcare system
3. Baking cakes and opening a patisserie
It's important to find your own form of passion. You don't need to match with someone else's. A long as you know what is what gets you fired up, you stick to it and keep working hard at it. Passion can be a combination and it doesn't need to be single-sided. There is no guiding principle of passion. It's what you choose to believe. What's important is finding the energy that makes you happy and fired up in the morning. Try to grab onto anything you do that sparks your inner something - whatever diamond in the rough it may be - and walk out with it.
P13. What Would Marvin Do? Find Your Role Models
Identify different role models to fit your development goals - the more the merrier.
When you are faced with making sensitive decisions, you need to be equiped with the right mindset. Marvin is McKinsey's founding managing director, was a strong advocate of having role models. Having a role model in mind does not just stop at dealing with sensitive topics. It has a postive influence on a range of things including dealing with your team, dealing with your client, and talking to your superiors. It's especially useful in communication and decision making.
Human beings have a tendency to frame things in a narrow way. A role model lets you take away that narrow frame and see the big picture. Go into the granularity of, say, presentations: for small meetings I will act like person A and for big meetings like person B. You should have at least a dozen people in your role model Hall of Fame.
P14. Know What Gives You the Most Energy in Your Day
Manage your energy gains and drains via knowing what you like and dislike throughout the day.
Think: what usually drains most of your physical and mental energy comes from stress due to this lack of control. A single philosophy separate successful leaders-to-be and the lackluster: all leaders know how to get energy from their time and release stress out of their systems. Successful people have a tuned-in mindset not only on how they achieve outstanding goals but also in their approach to dealing with the stress and energy drain that everyone faces.
When you're busy, you need to know what will be important for you to get your energy back and reduce your stress levels.
Follow 7-3 rule, count how many 'positive energy' gains stack up against 'negative drains' and make sure you have a healthy 7-3 ratio. The key point here to adopt an energy-giving mode. Treat your mental health the way you treat you body.
Finally, an important thing to remember is that successful leaders leave their problems and stress at work.
P15. Go Jogging to Smell the Flowers
Help prolong your perceived time and set priorities through detaching yourself from daily preoccupations.
Time is precious. In doing a simple, short, and measued exercise routine, there is huge payout on actual time spent versus perceived time gains. In other words, some exercises allow you to strench or prolong the time you feel and smell outside world. Jogguing and other forms of 'alone-time' exercise allow you to structure your thoughts clearly and set your top priorities - step back to see big picture. This is also an actual physical exercise that allows the brian to physically switch modes. Put into practices:
1. run during the day or at night.
2. run for time rather than distance
3. create a goal
4. run alone
The key concept is physical activity, which alllows you to distance yourself from the current work. Make sure you force yourself to recognize the magic of life: live each and every day to the fullest. It will definitely act positively in your work.
P16. Create a Commitment Plan
Achieve greater things in life by setting aspirational targets and sticking through your plan.
Long-term vision, mid-term goals, and immediate goals are very useful reminders to set high aspirations. For starters, compartmentalize into four sections: business/career, family, personal health, and friends/network. fill out three or four outcome or results oriented phrases and have a checkbox next to it.
1. become more proactive and achievement driven
2. measure your progress year after year
3. start believing anything is possible and you mean it when you say it.
When write your commitment plan, deploy a sound structure, such as divide a piece of paper into three horizontal sections across the page then carry this paper wherever you go
1. how you will achieve each outcome
2. challenges you are going to face
3. why achieving each result is a must
Knowledge has a half-life, and if you are not on top, you will be seriously selling yourself short. When you start finding your job easier than before, it's usually a warning sign. The danger is that no one will tell you what more you can do if you're doing well 'at your current job.'
To pursue the leadeship track, plan and create your own commitment plan. within these goals, you will definitely find what you are lacking right now. They will propel you to ask the 'right people' qustions or 'when was the last time...' questions.
