Productivity Game

Learn to Thrive

Home Archives for 2016

Archives for 2016

Achieve Perfection with Imperfection

little bets book

Little Bets by Peter Sims

By expecting to get things right at the start, we block ourselves psychologically and choke off a host of opportunities to learn.” – Peter Sims, Little Bets

I’ve always felt pressure to minimize mistakes and get things right the first time.
My ‘perfectionist’ mindset makes it hard to come up with new ideas.

People like Chris Rock, Frank Gehry and the Pixar filmmakers are perfectionists who systematically make mistakes to discover new ideas and develop great products. How is this possible?

I read ‘Little Bets’ to find the answer, and this is what I discovered:

1-Page PDF Summary of Little Bets

The Power of Daily Consistency

compound book

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

What is easy to do is also easy not to do.” – Jim Rohn

Making a small, consistent and seemingly insignificant action each day can generate incredible results in our lives.

How?

The Compound Effect.
Author Darren Hardy has written the ‘The Compound Effect’ to explain how we can achieve massive results in our lives through daily consistency.
I’ve made the following video to illustrate his core message:

1-Page PDF Summary of The Compound Effect

Generating the Happiness Advantage

Happiness Advantage Book

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

The fastest way to disengage an employee is to tell him his work is meaningful only because of the paycheck.” – Shawn Achor, The Happiness Advantage

Most of us experience a lack of ‘happiness’ in our jobs. Most of us think that this is normal and happiness at work is a cute luxury…

Well most of us are seriously limiting ourselves if we think this way.

Author Shawn Achor has spent his adult life studying the science of happiness and performance, and his findings are startling.
Watch the following video to learn how you can gain the happiness advantage:

1-Page PDF Summary of The Happiness Advantage

The Accidental Creative

Accidental Creative

The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry

If you are one of the millions among us who make a living with your mind, you could be tagged a creative.” – Todd Henry, The Accidental Creative

The challenge of being a ‘creative’ in today’s workforce is that we’re expected to create on-demand. We can’t afford going weeks or months between great ideas.

So how can we learn to be creative on-demand? How can we be sustainability brilliant?

Watch the following video to find out:

1-Page PDF Summary of Accidental Creative

Deep Work is Significant Work

deep work

Deep Work by Cal Newport

Deep work is not some nostalgic affectation of writers and early-twentieth-century philosophers. It’s instead a skill that has great value today.” – Cal Newport, Deep Work

Deep work generates results that other people find hard to replicate. In our hyperconnected world, deep work creates products that scale and impact millions of people. But we live in an age of constant distraction where deep work is a dying skill.

I’ve made the following video to help you understand why deep work is essential and how you can incorporate deep work into your daily schedule:

1-Page PDF Summary of Deep Work

The Toxic Effect of Ego

book

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

“Not me,” you think. “No one would ever call me an egomaniac.” Perhaps you’ve always thought of yourself as a pretty balanced person. But for people with ambitions, talents, drives, and potential to fulfill, ego comes with the territory. – Ryan Holiday, Ego Is the Enemy

I thought that ego (a powerful belief in our own importance), could lead to success. After reading Ryan’s book I’ve realized that I am dead wrong…

Ego is a destructive force in our lives. It’s a major distraction to doing meaningful work and achieving long-term goals.

Watch the following video to understand why ego is so dangerous and how you can combat it:


1-Page PDF Summary of Ego is the Enemy

How to Master Anything

Peak Anders Ericsson

Peak by Anders Ericsson

Are you trying to master a skill but not seeing progress?
Do you believe that enough experience (like 10,000 hours) will lead to mastery?

Author Anders Ericsson has studied expert performance for 30+ years and found that simply doing does not lead to mastery.

The right sort of practice carried out over a sufficient period of time leads to improvement. Nothing else.” – Anders Ericsson, Peak
In the following video I outline what the ‘right sort of practice’ is and how it leads to mastery:

1-Page PDF Summary of Peak (The Deliberate Practice Method)

8 Ways to Remain Emotionally Indestructible

  1. Expect nothing from no one (secure your own future).
    • A trusted friend will let you down from time to time. They have other things to worry about than you. Don’t think less of them, simply stop expecting them to always be there for you.
    • A well-intentioned company will let you go when the economy crashes. Don’t except a good thing to last forever. Always be learning skills and seeking opportunities.
  2. Expect everything to go away one day.
    • Realizing everything could vanish in an instant (your favorite people, your health, your freedom) makes you grateful for everything you have. It’s hard to be worried or anxious when you’re grateful.
  3. Do imperfect work, but strive to make it better.
    • Seeking perfection may seem noble, but it’s generating unnecessary anxiety in your life.
    • Instead, make early prototypes, write terrible first drafts, and start with a mediocre performance. Once you’ve done something, aim to improve upon it as many times as you can. Great work requires many iterations.
  4. Focus on skill development, not goal achievement
  5. Never follow a plan, but always be rehearsing plans.
    • “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
    • Developing and rehearsing a plan allows you to see the potential pitfalls of what you are about to do and makes the unknown less terrifying.
    • When it comes time to act, following a plan is a recipe for disaster because it doesn’t allow you to rapidly improvise when things change. As Mike Tyson once said, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
  6. Prepare for the worst: financially and emotionally.
    • Each year, buy insurance and top up your savings to protect you and your family from ANY disaster that could occur in the upcoming year. Then stop thinking about it for 365 days.
    • Before doing anything ‘risky,’ consider your recovery plan. If you can’t recover then don’t do it. When you look hard enough you’ll find you can recover from most setbacks. For example, leaving your job on good terms and trying to start a business is OK when you know that you could always go back to your job.
  7. Make the decision with the most options and make big decisions through a series of smaller decisions (short trials).
    • Make the decision that allows you to change direction should circumstances change.
    • Break down your big decisions into a series of smaller decisions to test assumptions and gain valuable information before jumping in head first.
      • Trying to decide which city you want to move to? Rent a condo in the neighborhood where you plan to live for 2 weeks.  Act as though you are living there for 2 weeks. Is it what you expected?
      • Trying to decide whether you should quit your job or not? Take a 3-week stay-cation and work on your side business to see if takes off and if doing that work is really something you want to do full time.
  8. Own less and save your money for experiences.
    • When you own something you need to maintain it. When you own something you fear losing it.
    • When you save your money for experiences you get to enjoy planning, doing and talking about it after.
    • Maintaining the memory of a meaningful experience requires zero ongoing maintenance and there is no need to fear losing it.
    • Experiences can become more valuable over a lifetime because they often lead to new skills that serve you for a lifetime.
Inspired by Derek Sivers