Posts Tagged Self-improvement
Seek Discomfort
Posted by enrique s in Career, Motivation, lifehack on October 16th, 2009
Photo by colinedwards99
There are always two choices, two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it’s easy. - Unknown
Just about every piece of advice tries to make your workday less stressful. To-do lists help us rank our tasks in order of importance. We’re offered the following steps to deal with those dreaded tasks:
- Don’t do it
- Delay it
- Deflect it
- Delegate it
- Do it imperfectly
- Do it
Why does “Do it” wind up at the end of the list? Why such an aversion to a challenge? Do these self-help gurus doubt our capacity to rise to the occasion? I think we’re passing on great opportunities for personal growth.
When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I’ve never tried before. - Mae West
Because I get bored easily, I’m always experimenting. I guess you’d call it Lifehacking to some degree. Perhaps this makes me a little weird, because I can’t just leave well enough alone. For instance, I gave up drinking coffee this summer. People ask me: Why? Do you have a medical condition? When I tell them that I just wanted to see if I could do it, they look at me like I have three heads. People just don’t tackle hard things anymore. We’re becoming a nation of wusses.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rather than run from change, I embrace it. I’ve changed jobs several times just because I felt that I needed a new challenge. So have many other famous people. It’s a little scary to leave a place where you have a routine for a new job where you don’t know anyone. But I think the first step to real personal growth is to break out of your comfort zone.
So I challenge you today: Skip all of the easy items from your to-do list. Pick a challenging one, something that you’ll really have to apply yourself in order to finish. The Big Kahuna. Then get busy. It may take you longer than the other “gimmies” that you’d normally tackle first, but you’ll get more satisfaction when you’ve completed it. I know, because I did this a few days ago. It was a killer assignment, with many complications, and I had to involve other people in order to move forward. But after 3 days, I completed this magnum opus, and gained some respect from my peers for my work ethic.
So it’s time to get uncomfortable. Let me know how you made out.
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Corporate Barbarian Links: Sports Physical Edition
Posted by enrique s in Blogging, Frugality, Leadership, Links, Motivation, lifehack on August 22nd, 2009
My son had his sports physical this week. Two doctors had to accommodate hundreds of high school athletes. Needless to say, the wait was a long one. I waited in the car, and a baseball game on the car radio would have passed the time, but the Yankees were playing a late game in Oakland. I’m glad that I brought a book. Hemingway was good company. I love his short stories:
Here are some great posts from the last week:
Steve at Brip Blap relates a story about packs of wild dogs in Bucharest, and how he overcame his fear of them. He eventually made them fear him. It’s a great example of facing and overcoming your fears.
Katie at Frugal Urbanite thinks the PF blog sphere has become boring. She thinks that personal finance bloggers are afraid to be a little different. I’ll take her advice, and try to keep things interesting. That’s why I also blog about coffee addiction, survival kits, and my crazy neighbor.
Craig Harper has a great post about changing your personal reality at Stepcase Lifehack. He shares eight strategies that may not be comfortable to implement, but are effective in helping you take control of your life.
Jared at Technotheory wants us to stop waiting for others and forge ahead. He says it becomes clear who gets things done, and who is suited for government work.
Five Cent Nickel warns about taking frugality too far. Don’t cross that line where you start making yourself and others miserable by taking foolish risks.
Brad at Persistence Unlimited wants us to BF Skinnerize our commitments to get through the rough patches. He talks about using rewards as well as punishments to keep ourselves on track.
David at My Two Dollars reveals the man who’s still driving a 1929 Ford Model A. He’s a throwback in our throw-away society.
Jason at Dumb Little Man offers 8 great ways to motivate yourself when you just don’t feel like it. Everyone hits a lull, and one of these might be the tonic to snap you out of complacency.
Have a great weekend!
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How Long Have You Been At Your Current Job?
My company has an intranet home page where they post service milestones. One of the guys who was featured this week has hit the 40 year mark. FORTY YEARS AT ONE COMPANY! Wow. These guys must be as rare as 300-game winners in baseball. It’s like Cal Ripken playing his entire career with the Orioles. I guess I should applaud his longevity. But when I see people who hit these milestones, I think to myself, “What’s WRONG with this guy? Hasn’t he ever taken a chance on something new?”
Why move around?
Now, I’ve been working a lot less than 40 years, and I’ve worked for many companies in many different industries. I’ve learned new skills by jumping around, as each industry has its own nuances. Working for different bosses has exposed me to a variety of management styles. I’ve been able to glean the best practices of each company that’s employed me. I’m not saying that my career path is for everyone, but I think variety is the spice of life. Working for one company only exposes you to one point of view. In order for a baby bird to fly, it needs to leave the nest. To grow professionally, eventually you need to change jobs. Otherwise, you’ll become a one-trick pony and stagnate.
Spreading my wings
You could argue that while I’ve changed companies throughout my career, I’ve stayed in the same field. True, to a certain extent. But each job that I’ve held was a departure from the previous job’s procedures, responsibilities, managers, coworkers, and customers. Not to mention friends. It’s a bit scary to leave your friends and start over as a stranger at a new job. But I think that I’ve helped the companies that I’ve joined by bringing a fresh perspective to their organization. Being an outsider, I could approach a problem from a different angle than everyone else. But not everyone will welcome your new ideas.
Who does this guy think he is?
If you try to share your successes at your new job, be prepared for some resistance. Everyone’s leery of the New Guy. They don’t know what your true intentions are. I’ve had some of my plans sabotaged by old-timers who wanted to see the New Guy fall on his face. So when you start out, remember to tread lightly. Nobody likes a showoff.
But we’ve always done it this way…
Even after you’ve been accepted by your new coworkers, you may still run into resistance. People like to stay in their comfort zones. I’ve heard “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” more times than I care to remember. Most people are resistant to any kind of change, even if it’s for the better. But keep at it. If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably inclined to embrace change. I say, do more than that. Become an agent of change.
How to survive the new job
I say, take the leap. Sure, you’ll be apprehensive. You’ll probably HATE your new job for at least a few weeks. I know that I did, many times. You won’t know the procedures, and you’ve been dropped into a new corporate culture. You may have a different lunch hour, or maybe you can’t talk on the phone. You’ll feel like a fish out of water. Even when I left a hellhole job, I missed my coworkers. It’s easy to second-guess your decision when you wind up eating lunch by yourself, knowing that your former colleagues are out enjoying Pizza Day.
Now, spread YOUR wings
But don’t let that feeling of unfamiliarity stop you from growing. If you want to make an omelet, you need to break a few eggs. Your career is the omelet. Your new job is one of the eggs. Or maybe it’s the onions and peppers. Whatever. My message is: DON’T BE AFRAID OF CHANGE!
Or in forty years, YOU may be celebrating a one-company career.
Follow me on Twitter: CorpBarbarian
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Progress Report: Giving Up Coffee, Part 2
Posted by enrique s in Productivity, lifehack on March 27th, 2009
Here’s an update from an earlier post on giving up coffee: I’m down to two cups a day! I haven’t been down to two cups a day since my twenties. And I’m not a walking zombie, either.
I’m having one cup in the morning, and one after dinner. I don’t have any cravings during the day, either. My body has adjusted to the reduction in caffeine, and I find that I’m sleeping better at night. Waking up in the morning isn’t the ordeal that it used to be.
One side benefit is that I’m more productive. It sounds counter-intuitive, but I’m getting to work earlier, and there’s no “adjustment period” after I get to my desk. I don’t have to finish my coffee before starting work; I just get right into my day.
Another benefit is my reduced weight. I won’t attribute all of it to the coffee, but I’ve dropped over 20 pounds in the last 2 months, with no trips to the evil vending machine. I used to grab a candy bar to go with my coffee, so no coffee = no candy bar. That’s about 300+ calories that I’m saving each afternoon. So cutting the java has definitely helped.
My goal is to cut my coffee drinking to one cup a day. This will take a lot of willpower. But with longer daylight hours, I’ll probably be doing more yardwork, and I hope to drop the after-dinner cup o’ joe.
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Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
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Quick jump to my second job. I got to work with an “older” gentleman of about 50. His name was Ed. He took the time to teach my younger, snot-nosed self everything he knew about Lotus 1-2-3 (this was in the mid-’80’s), including how to write macros. I didn’t think people that age even knew how to turn on a computer. This guy was really good. I was an eager student, and we pushed each other to become better.
Jump ahead another 5 years. I’m interviewing for a new job, and the question comes up about my computer skills. “So, you know how to write macros?” Heh-heh. Sure I do. I was taught by the best. Let me at those spreadsheets!
I got the job.
I got a lot of jobs because of my proficiency with computers. But I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for Ed. Even though I’ve switched from Lotus, to Quattro Pro, to Excel, the skills were transferable, and I never feared a new software package again.
Thanks Ed, wherever you are. You continue to inspire me, and I still stand on your shoulders. Even though I’m about 40 pounds heavier.
I’m also standing on the shoulders of the blogs that inspired me to start this blog, such as Free Money Finance, The Simple Dollar, Get Rich Slowly, Problogger, Yet Another Blog About Money, Unclutterer, My Two Dollars, Smart Passive Income, Brip Blap, and many others.
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The Unthinkable: Giving Up Coffee
I’ve cut down my coffee drinking. I used to drink ten cups a day - well, ten mugs, really. I used to associate my coffee drinking with working. Anytime that I had a task that I was procrastinating about, I would get a cup of coffee. It was my “on” switch, a physical reminder that it was time to get cracking.
My addiction started in college, and just got worse when I landed my first job. The building we were in had no cafeteria, and I used to buy coffee twice a day from a coffee truck that served the industrial park. The receptionist used to announce it’s arrival over the PA system. I can remember going through caffeine withdrawal whenever I got stuck in a meeting when the roach coach arrived.
Things really started to get out of control at a later job, where coffee was free! I thought that I hit the jackpot. But I was getting more agitated with every cup that I drank, and I eventually would hit the candy machine for a snack to go with my java. When I started my current job, one of the first things that I did was scope out the cafeteria hours. Much to my chagrin, the cafeteria closed at 2 pm, so I had to plan my coffee trips accordingly.
About two years ago, in an effort to gain some control over myself, I started bringing in green teabags from home as a substitute. This brought me down to about five cups of coffee a day (two when I woke up, one for the ride to work, and two after dinner). I kept to this ration until this past September, where I cut down to three cups a day.
I can report that I’m no worse for wear. I’m drinking more water than ever, and I’ve even cut out the green tea. I’ve stopped my association of coffee and snacks with working, and my productivity has increased. I bet some of my former coworkers would never believe the change in me, as it seemed that I was always holding a cup of coffee.
I unexpected benefit came from my addiction reduction: I’m saving about $25 a week, and over $1,000 a year, by not buying coffee at work. I’m still working on giving it up completely, which is my ultimate goal.
What addictions have you given up in the past year?
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Pay it…backward?
My son was recently accepted to his first-choice college. It happened on Fat Tuesday, so we were all in a joyous mood. The next day, I thought that I should try to do some good, and stopped to get ashes before going to work. My company was also holding a blood drive, and I donated a pint, which also helped my friend (a Blood Captain). But it also made me feel really good, and I had a great day in terms of productivity. This feeling was sustained for the rest of the week.
It got me thinking about the opportunities that we have to do a little good, whether helping a coworker in the office, or a complete stranger asking for directions. As long as this buzz persists, I’m going to make more of an effort to be proactive with helping others.
Link worth checking out:
NCN at No Credit Needed is having a random giveaway of debt reduction books this week. Check out how he used goal setting as a strategy to reduce his debts.
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