by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Growth, Leadership, Marketing, Mindset, Opportunity, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 18 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Emulate chefs
— From REWORK: Change the way you work forever by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
What do the names Emeril Lagasse, Julia Child, Paula Deen, Bobby Flay, Rick Bayless, Giada De Laurentiis, and Ferran Adriá have in common? They are all famous chefs. Yet, with the enormous amount of restaurants that exist today, why do we know these names better than others? What makes these chefs so special?
While they are indeed gifted, that is not the reason why they are famous. They have achieved fame and success “because they share everything they know. They put their recipes on cookbooks and show their techniques on cooking shows.”
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, authors of Rework, invite us to share everything we know too. “This is anathema to most in the business world. Businesses are usually paranoid and secretive. They think they have proprietary this and competitive advantage that. Maybe a rare few do, but most don’t. And those that don’t should stop acting like those that do. Don’t be afraid of sharing.”
If chefs make a living from their recipes and their cooking, why would any of them create a cookbook with the recipes? Why would they go on TV and show you, step-by-step, how to cook those recipes to perfection? Then anybody could replicate them!
But that’s not how it works, say the authors. The chefs know that the recipes, techniques, and tricks are not enough to beat them at their game. “No one’s going to buy [the] cookbook, open a restaurant next door, and put [the chef] out of business. It just doesn’t work like that. Yet this is what many in the business world think will happen if their competitors learn how they do things.”
Fried and Hanson’s advice? “Get over it.”
And they go on to say, “Emulate famous chefs. They cook, so they write cookbooks. What do you do? What are your “recipes”? What’s your “cookbook”? What can you tell the world about how you operate that is informative, educational and promotional?”
Virtual-knowledge empires are being built online with people and companies sharing what they know. What do you know that you could teach? The world needs you.
ACTION
TODAY: Think about your business. What do you do? You obviously know how to do that very well. How about teaching it to those who are interested? Emulate chefs!
FUTURE: Share your gift of knowledge with those around you. Even if you don’t go outside your company, you can share the know-how with new hires, for example. Or you can set up an internal program for professional growth and development and share your experience and expertise. The more you share, the better you’ll feel and the more of an impact you’ll have on those that surround you.
Know someone who needs to emulate chefs and write a “cookbook”? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 40 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The Celebration Principle
— From Mentoring 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
Happy 4th of July! Today we are celebrating Independence Day in the United States. And it’s a great day to talk about celebration.
In his book Mentoring 101, leadership guru John C. Maxwell talks about what he calls The Celebration Principle: “the true test of relationships is not only how loyal we are when friends fail, but how thrilled we are when they succeed.”
Why does this even merit writing about? Shouldn’t this be a given?
Yes and no.
Yes, because we should all celebrate success, whether our own or someone else’s. And, no, because not everybody feels that way. Oscar Wilde said it best: “Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend’s success.”
Maxwell wrote a book called Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Success a few years back, and quickly found out that everyone identifies with failure. “Everybody has failed, so [sharing failure is] a great way to connect. The problem is that because people so readily identify with failure, they sometimes have a hard time connecting with success. And if they don’t identify with success, they may resent it.”
Maxwell goes on to say that the same qualities that prevent people from succeeding (insecurity, jealousy, etc.), prevent them from celebrating the success of other people. “They constantly compare themselves to others and find themselves wanting. As a result, they have a hard time getting beyond themselves.”
“Beware of the green-eyed monster,” warns Maxwell. “If most people were honest, they would admit to feelings of jealousy or envy when they witness others’ success—even when the people succeeding are close friends or people they’ve mentored.”
So, how to avoid feeling this way? The author suggests doing the following four things:
1. Realize it’s not a competition. “It’s very difficult to achieve success without help. […] Life is better in a community of people you love and who also love you.” Maxwell offers the following reflections to keep in mind and to “be the rare kind of person who is happy when others succeed.”
My success can be achieved only with others.
My lessons can be learned only from others.
My weaknesses can be strengthened only by others.
My servanthood can be tested only under others’ leadership.
My influence can be compounded only through others.
My leadership can be focused only on others.
My best can be given only to others.
My legacy can be left only for others.
So I should commit myself to and celebrate with others!
2. Celebrate when others see success. “Not everyone views success the way you do… look at things from other people’s point of view. What are their dreams? What goals have they set? What battles are they fighting?” Celebrate with them when they accomplish something that is important to them!
3. Celebrate successes others don’t yet see. “Sometimes people make great strides and aren’t even aware of it. [… Have you ever] worked on a project and felt discouraged by your progress, but had someone else marvel at what you accomplished? It is inspiring and makes you want to work that much harder.” Same goes for you, celebrate the successes of the people that surround you, especially those that they may not see.
4. Celebrate most with those closest to you. “The closer people are to you and the more important the relationship, the more you ought to celebrate. Celebrate early and often with those closest to you—especially with your spouse and children if you have a family. It’s usually easy to celebrate victories on the job or in a hobby or sport. But the greatest victories in life are the ones that occur at home.”
ACTION
TODAY: Look at the people who surround you and look for things to celebrate that they don’t see. It will be a nice surprise when you point those things out! Celebrate with a nice word, an email, a handwritten note, a cupcake, a full party (if you have time to plan it), or however you see fit. The goal is to start celebrating!
FUTURE: Make it a habit to celebrate and share the successes of others. Be genuinely happy for them and your life will be all the better for it. And don’t forget to share your success with others too, so that they can celebrate with you.
Celebrate someone’s success by sharing this post! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Goals, Habits, Mindset, Parkinson's Law, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 41 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Most important tasks
— From The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman
We all have a very long list of things to do on a daily basis, but not all of our tasks are the same: some of them are very important and some are not important at all. “Everything on your plate is not critically important, so don’t treat everything on your task list equally,” says Josh Kaufman, author of The Personal MBA.
“A Most Important Task (MIT) is a critical task that will create the most important results you’re looking to achieve. […] If you want to make the most of your limited time and energy, it pays to focus on completing the tasks that will make the biggest difference first…”
As simple as this is, by taking a few minutes every morning (or preferably the night before) to identify the most important tasks, you’ll be able to focus on accomplishing them first. Kaufman recommends creating a list of two or three MITs and focusing on getting them done as quickly as possible. Further, he suggests keeping your MITs separate from your general to-do list, by using such things as a 3 X 5 index card or Dave Seah’s awesome Emergent Task Planner (free).
The key to figuring out what your MITs are, according to Kaufman, is to ask yourself the following questions: “What are the two or three most important things that I need to do today? What are the things that—if I got them done today—would make a huge difference?” Those are the only things that should go on your MIT list.
And to be über productive, Kaufman recommends combining your MIT’s with Parkinson’s Law. Remember, this is the law that states that, work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. (Wikipedia).
How do you do this?
Easy: set an artificial time limit. “If you set a goal to have all your MITs done by 10:00 am you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can complete the day’s most important tasks.”
And by doing this, you will create a state of focus and effectiveness (flow) that will give you permission to decline interruptions that aren’t important. “If you’re working on your MITs and someone calls you, it’s easier to ignore the call or tell the caller, ‘I’m working under deadline—I’ll get back to you later.’ By definition, everything that’s not an MIT is not as important, so it’s easier to say no to noncritical interruptions.
Combine this with the Be Awesomely Effective miniseries and you’ll be ultra-productive. And you’ll have the rest of your day to deal with anything else that comes up, or to dedicate to crossing off items on your non-MIT task list.
ACTION
TODAY: Take 5 minutes to figure out your MITs for today. Also, take a look at Dave Seah’s Emergent Task Planner. If you like it, download it, print it, and use it today (it’s a great, free resource). If not, think of the best method for you to have a separate list with your MITs.
FUTURE: As you continue to use the MIT + Parkinson’s Law concept, go back and read the Be Awesomely Effective miniseries. This will help you create the best environment where you will hopefully achieve a state of flow.
Know someone who could use some advice on creating MITs? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Resources, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 42 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Fresh start
— From WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Dan Pink
July is the start of the second half of the year. Where did the first half go? It evaporated!
How did you do? Did you move forward in your goals? What did you accomplish? Where do you need to change course? Where do you need to start again?
I did very well in some areas and, frankly, I’m not proud to admit that I had no progress whatsoever in others… (!). But I must accept and learn what went well and what didn’t, so as to course-correct and move forward.
Tama Kieves, in her book A Year Without Fear, says “Focus on your present chances, not your past disadvantages. Are you repeating history by repeating the story of your history? The past is over. It’s a new dawn. It’s a new you. There are infinite chances to reinvent yourself. The past is over.”
As we move on with the rest of the year, today is one of those infinite chances to reinvent yourself. So, how about starting again in this second half of the year with those goals that stalled somewhere between January and June?
Dan Pink, in his book WHEN, says that “Just as we human beings rely on landmarks to navigate space—‘To get to my house, turn left at the [gas] station’—we also use landmarks to navigate time.” These dates are called temporal landmarks.
Further, some people use these temporal landmarks to start anew, and this is called “the fresh start” effect. Pink explains, “ To establish a fresh start, people [use] two types of temporal landmarks—social and personal. The social landmarks were those that everyone shared: Mondays, the beginning of a new month, national holidays. The personal ones were unique to the individual: birthdays, anniversaries, job changes.”
“Temporal landmarks interrupt attention to day-to-day minutiae, causing people to take a big picture view of their lives and thus focus on achieving their goals.”
Pink offers a list of 86 days in the year that are especially effective to make a fresh start:
- The first day of the month (12)
- Mondays (52)
- The first day of spring, summer, fall, and winter (4)
- Your country’s Independence Day or the equivalent (1)
- The day of an important religious holiday—for example, Easter, Rosh Hashanah, Eid al-Fitr (1)
- Your birthday (1)
- A loved one’s birthday (1)
- The first day of school or the first day of a semester (2)
- The first day of a new job (1)
- The first day after graduation (1)
- The first day back from vacation (2)
- The anniversary of your wedding, first date, or divorce (3)
- The anniversary of the day you started your job, the day you became a citizen, the day you adopted your dog or cat, the day you graduated from school or university (4)
- The day you finish [reading WHEN] (1)
ACTION
TODAY: Decide to make a fresh start on those goals that you want to get done this year. Today is the beginning of the second half of the year and a Monday too. Happy temporal landmarks!
FUTURE: Pick a few temporal landmarks between now and the end of the year to check in on your progress. That way you can always course-correct, pivot or start anew, remember that there are infinite chances to reinvent yourself.
Know someone who could use a fresh start today? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Goals, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 11 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Make time your friend
— From The Art of People: 11 Simple People Skills That Will Get You Everything You Want by Dave Kerpen
“I wish you had more time for me” is what author and social media guru, Dave Kerpen, kept hearing from people important to him, both at work and at home. Kerpen gets requests every week by dozens of people who want his help or to work with him. Since he is so likeable and responsive, he replies to each person who asks for his help. (I know this first hand, because he responded to my request to interview him about his book, The Art of People, when it came out. You can watch the interview here.)
“If you’re at all like me,” Kerpen says, “you try to be nice—or helpful—and take every call, reply to every email, or even agree to every meeting. Yet he had a powerful realization when he attended a conference hosted by Verne Harnish (entrepreneur extraordinaire and author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits and Scaling Up). Harnish said, “You can understand your professional strategy with one quick look at your weekly calendar.”
Kerpen took a look at his calendar on his phone and realized “it was filled up with meetings and phone calls with people [he] didn’t know who probably would make no difference to [his] business or [his] life.” At that point he had to set his priorities straight: first was his family, and second his employees, investors and customers.
The natural question that ensued for Kerpen was, “Why was [he] sacrificing time with [the people who were his priority] to take all those meetings with strangers?”
So he decided to set aside a two-hour slot every week that he calls office hours. During two hours every Thursday, Kerpen talks with the people who have reached out to him for help, by scheduling 15-minute conversations. Kerpen explains, “I still reply to and try to help each and every person who comes my way. But once the time slots are full, they are full, and people have to sign up for the following week’s office hours, or the next week’s hours, and so on.” This has made it easier on him to say no or to refer the person to the next available slot during his office hours.
In reflecting about his system, Kerpen advises, “You don’t have to create an office hours system and meet with everyone who wants your time, of course. But you do need to figure out a way to prioritize your time, the most precious asset you’ve got, carefully.”
Whether it’s plainly saying no or limiting the time you give others, the reality is that we all need a system that works for us. So take a look at your calendar and determine whether you need to make changes as Kerpen so aptly did.
ACTION
TODAY: Take a look at your calendar over the last month. What do you see? How are you prioritizing your time and with whom? Make a list of all the people with whom you’ve spent time and determine whether they fall into your priorities or not.
FUTURE: Develop a system that works for you, your priorities and your goals. Put it to the test for the next month. Explain to the people in your priorities what you are doing, so that they can give you feedback at the end of that month. After the 30 days are up, check in with yourself and with the people with whom you want to spend more time whether it’s working. Compare your calendar to the past month’s and see the difference. Adjust accordingly and test again, and keep going until you’ve built a system that works well for you.
How about sharing this post with someone in your priority list so that they can make you a priority too? You can share via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Duplicate yourself – Part 1
Duplicate yourself – Part 2
Duplicate yourself – Part 3
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 27 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Duplicate yourself – Part 4
— From Work Less, Make More: Stop Working So Hard and Create the Life You Really Want! By Jennifer White
Welcome to the 4th and last part of this miniseries. So far we’ve learned how and what to duplicate, and todays’ idea will focus on knowing when duplication works.
This is very important, because part of planning for anything is figuring out what success will look like. To address this specifically, Jennifer White the author, writes:
Take a holiday where you cut yourself from the office. […] It takes courage to trust the folks you put in place. When you get back from your sabbatical, you’ll be able to see what falls apart, what doesn’t get done correctly, and what is substandard work. It’ll give you insights into where your duplication process works and where it doesn’t.
Will you ever be free unless you duplicate who you are? You’ll never know when you are free because you’ve been unwilling to test the system. Knowing that the system works gives you a sense of relief when you’re not working. You’ll certainly make more of your life without carrying all that guilt.
Most people don’t have the courage to test their duplication system. They don’t want to feel superfluous. They want to feel as if the whole world would crash around them if they weren’t there.
[…] Don’t hinder your ability to Work Less, Make More by needing to feel needed. You want to feel superfluous. You want to be taken out of the picture. You want to have such strong people around you that you no longer have to worry that the job’s getting done.
It’s the only way to free yourself up to live the life you want to live. Don’t worry. You’ll find more interesting, exciting things to propel yourself forward, and you have the space to be the creative force behind your future success. Think duplication.”
This reminds me of the process that lifestyle design guru Tim Ferriss created to be able to let his business work without him. He duplicated himself by creating systems, training a team and setting up the technology(ies) needed to make this happen. You can read all about this in his bestselling book The 4-Hour Workweek. (Here’s a post on productivity from that book.) Ferriss says that if your goal is to “free your time to focus on bigger and better things […] it’s not about working smarter. It’s about building a system to replace yourself. […] Preparing someone to replace you (even if it never happens) will produce an ultrarefined set of rules that will cut remaining fat and redundancy from your schedule. Lingering unimportant tasks will disappear as soon as someone else is being paid to do them.”
Another entrepreneur who duplicated and “outsourced” himself was Chris Ducker. He did it in about a year. And he did it with a virtual team and systems. As a result of blogging his journey to fulfill his goal of becoming a virtual CEO, he eventually launched Virtual Staff Finder, a company that helps busy people find virtual assistants. You can read about his journey and how to get help from virtual assistants in his book Virtual Freedom.
ACTION
TODAY: Jennifer White suggests doing this great exercise: “Draw a line down the middle of a blank sheet of paper. Write delegate on the left side of the page. Write duplicate on the right side. Evaluate each task you do. Can you delegate this task or should you train someone to duplicate. Don’t stop until the entire list is done. You’ve just developed a plan—once you have the right technology and people in place—to allow yourself to take three months off without losing money. It’s up to you to put the plan into action.”
FUTURE: If you like this concept of duplicating yourself to work less or simply work on other things that bring you more rewards and satisfaction, give some serious thought to duplicating yourself to free up time and space in your life.
Hope you enjoyed this miniseries! 😀 Please share it with someone who would like the idea of duplication. You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
