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Category: Inspiration

Power down

Do you power down your devices or put them to sleep? Are your machines and electronics constantly running or do you turn them off to conserve energy?

What about yourself?

When was the last time you gave yourself a day to “switch off” — a day disconnected from alerts and email dings and calendar reminders. A day powered down and turned inward to reflect and enjoy the people around you.

Schedule one day this week for a “digital detox.” Your smartphone can wait and whatever email arrives in your inbox will be there tomorrow.

Extend the life of your battery. Power down.

Close but not too close

Intimacy isn’t only found in relationships. The energy you put into work and into yourself also requires closeness, attention, warmth, and care.

How much effort are you putting forth? What are you holding back? Are you “all in” or hesitantly waiting to see how things pan out?

It is natural to build mechanisms to protect yourself from pain and disappointment and failure. But if the defenses you’ve built are stopping you from establishing meaningful relationships and putting your best work into projects that are important to you, it is worth evaluating whether such precautions are necessary.

Which boundaries are essential and which are limiting your growth as an individual, a partner, a colleague, and as a friend?

Pace yourself

No runner wants to crawl across the finish line. Racers practice their pace and know how much energy they need to exert for each mile.

Entrepreneurs need this skill, too.

Go all out in the beginning and you risk having little steam in reserves. Aim for a steady stream of effort and intention, however, and you will have the endurance and patience to persevere through even the most challenging situations.

It matters less how strong you come out of the gate. What is more important is how much effort you can put forth down the line.

What is your sacrifice?

If you don’t have an answer, you don’t love it enough.

If you care, REALLY care about (fill in blank with your: project, partner, job, client), you will sacrifice something. Results don’t come without sacrifice.

You might sacrifice time or quality or money or reputation or fame.

But if you don’t know what you have sacrificed, either you don’t care enough or you aren’t fully aware. And the only way you know if your efforts are worth anything is if you can identify what you have given up and what you have received in return.

Bonus: Read how Nepal has taught me about the sacrifices involved with love.

Two communication channels

Communication is a cornerstone of healthy, successful relationships. Your ability to communicate affects all aspects of your life: your workplace, at home, in personal relationships, even your vacation.
We can define communication in one of two categories, open or closed channels.
Open channels:
Are clear and direct
Leave less room for misinterpretation and confusion
Question-centric
Neutral
Energy flows freely
Creativity is encouraged
Closed channels:
Can be vague and dismissive
Result in assumptions and over-analysis
Statement driven
Judgemental
Energy is blocked
Limited exchange of ideas
Communication skills don’t come naturally to everyone but can be practiced and developed in time.
Look for ways to build and promote open channels of communication. Schedule check-ins. Develop mechanisms for feedback. Ask thoughtful questions and take time to listen to the answers.

Two factors to measure success

How do you measure your success, is is the numbers in your bank account, your title at the firm, the number of clients you land in a month? In this moment, do you consider yourself a failure? Or would you describe yourself as a success?

I have written about how we define and measure success and have asked monks and entrepreneurs and academics what they think. So much of our unhappiness stems from comparison and self-worth — I don’t have a house like she does, look at the wife he has, she was promoted so quickly, he’s making six-figures and I’m stuck at five.

It is easier to see the missing pieces. Thoughts about what we do not posses overtake contemplations about what we do. It takes concentration to remember the places from which you came, the lessons learned along the way, the growth that took years and months to master. Ignore the numbers, as Howard Schultz (Starbucks) realized. Happiness is a fluctuating bar.

I’d like to propose a new method of measuring success. Two factors, actually:

1.) Progress.
2.) Satisfaction.

Progress can be measured by revisiting your starting point. Have you moved forward? Has your company/relationship/personal trait improved by some degree?

Satisfaction is felt and requires some honesty on your part. Do you have a sense of accomplishment or reward at the end of the day? Can you look in the mirror with contentment? With pride?

Progress and/or satisfaction.

If you can claim one of these two characteristics, you are a success. If you have both progress AND satisfaction, you are in an excellent position. Keep going.

Are you making a difference to one person?
Are you doing work honestly and with passion?
Are you focused on integrity and vision?
Are you pleased with your efforts?
Are you able to show up day in and day out?

The root of unhappiness lies in your definition of success. It’s worth revisiting what and who you think is successful and why. Maybe you are, too.