IMPLEMENTATION (strategies used): This is the second week in a row that I completed a task that was not something that I had originally planned on doing, but still made progress towards writing the book. Different from previous weeks, I did not get frustrated as I was able to implement the strategy CVFA. In addition, an old strategy that I had not thought of in a while also surfaced this week and I have listed that first. As always, I have referenced the strategies that I consistently use on a weekly basis.
1. Equal Odds Rule: This strategy I learned from James Clear and this strategy was actually coined by a Harvard-trained phycologist Kevin Simonton. He researched the impact of scientific publications and the effect on its readers. Keith found that any given scientist could write a game-changing publication or an average one that could be easy forgotten. James went further and made the connection that you could be an artist, teacher, lawyer, athlete, or the average Joe schmo like you and me, and we are all equally likely to produce a great piece of work or an average one. Essentially the only determining factor is frequency. What do I mean by this? The more you create, the more likely you will produce a great piece of work. Why? Well, if you think about it the more that you produce, in whatever area that you work in, the more chances you get to creating an excellent piece of work. The higher number of attempts allows you to produce more average pieces, that might be easily forgotten,but you are also able to learn more skills from this increased production. This in turn, increases the probability that you produce a great piece of work. In simple terms, the more you create, the more likely you will create an excellent piece of work.
2. CVFA: This strategy really helped me be aware and release judgement. I have been using this Implementation Intentions strategy where I schedule a task to be completed at a certain time and place. This takes the choice of not completing the task away and saves my will power for more important things. In addition, it statistically gives me a higher percentage of completing the task itself. Although this gives me a higher probability of completing the task, it also gives me the opportunity to judge myself if things do not turn out exactly as I planned. We all have this need for control, but I learned something from Tony Robbins to help combat this.
The initialism for the strategy is CVFA. In this strategy you stay Committed to your Vision, but are Flexible with the Approach. In the past two weeks I have been able to connect with Zephan Moses Blaxberg, the author of A Year of Purpose, who has written a book on how to rescript your life, and he has agreed to start providing coaching sessions in the coming months. In order to prepare for the first session, I needed to work through seven sets of life redesigning questions for the future. This coupled with the fact that I had been sick since Wednesday, the date at which I scheduled the task, brought up a mini problem for the week. Do I complete the original task or do I shift gears and complete the questions in order to prepare for the first coaching session? I thought about this for a second, and realized that preparing for the first coaching session is a part of the Vision of what I want to complete this year, so I was Flexible with the Approach and bypassed my original plan and answered his questions. There will be times when this will happen to you, but don't beat yourself up, as if the task still helps you be Committed to your Vision, then be Flexible with the Approach.
3. Agreements: I was able to learn about this powerful strategy from Jack Canfield called agreements. In this strategy you keep and fulfill all of your agreements. By doing this, you boost self confidence and you slowly prove to yourself that you are a person that is able to complete whatever you agree to. This in turn, allows you to take on more challenging tasks, as you have trained the subconscious mind that you are able capable of such endeavors. My suggestion is to first start small, prove to yourself by consistently completing easy actions that you have agreed to. Second, only commit to things that you know that you will be able to complete. After you have proven to yourself that you can keep your agreements and your confidence grows, take the opportunity to agree to more challenging tasks on the process of discovering, pursuing, and achieving your dreams.
4. The Enkrateia strategy: Enkrateia is the antonym of Akrasia and means "in control of oneself" and I learned this from James Clear. This involves three strategies in one to combat Akrasia, or simply put procrastination. First, create a Commitment Device, which increases the consequences of a bad behavior and decreases the effort to carry out a good one. For example, to eat less sugar, you can clear out all candies in your house, which reduces the effort to not eat sugar at home. Second, incorporate the 2-minute rule to initiate tasks, as the hardest part of following through is getting started. Third, utilize implementation intentions, or identify a [date] at certain [time] at a specific [place] to complete a task. By incorporating this you will be 2X to 3X more likely to follow through on what you planned.
5. Early Scheduling = Implementation Intentions: T
6. Seinfeld strategy: I learned the Seinfeld strategy that from James Clear. It is called this because a young comedian once asked Jerry Seinfeld how to become a "better comedian." Jerry said take a huge calendar and place a big X for everyday that you write jokes, and if you can place an X for every day of the year, then you will become a better comedian. This strategy makes your progress visible and provides additional motivation to continue the streak of completing weekly tasks that move you towards your goals for the year.
7. 3-Bucket System: I learned the 3-Bucket system from Jeff Goins who breaks up the process of writing into three easy steps. First, create a place (physical or digital) where you can collect ideas. Second, schedule a time to draft the first version without the pressure of making edits. Third, edit your draft after you have taken time away from it. This process makes writing much easier and I find myself producing better writing in a shorter amount of time.
8. Got 2-minutes: I learned the 2-minute rule from James Clear and it helps you initiate a task, as usually this is the most difficult step. This strategy helps you focus on what you would do in the first 2 minutes of starting a task and then complete those actions. I often times do this and then look up at the clock and see that I have been working for well over 2 minutes. I have now merged this with the "Got a Minute" strategy, which is used to turn any amount of free time into productive time. It comes from Vierordt's Law, which states that when estimating a previous task, people overestimate short durations and underestimate long ones. Simply, we regularly overestimate how long it will take to accomplish meaningful tasks. task. Often times they can be accomplished in a short amount of time. So don't judge if you will start something by how time you think you have, just star!
REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Week 27 was quite a normal week. I planned a task to complete, implemented it, and then now I am reflecting about. Although there was not a monumental breakthrough that occurred this week, I was able to connect to previous learnings to help show the power of consistently completing the weekly tasks.
First, I am finally becoming a PRO! In Week 12, I referenced something I learned from Jeff Goins, which was "activity follows mindset." He said that you start to succeed when you first decide to become a professional in whatever you choose, and then the activities of becoming a pro will follow. Well, In my DPA process I have been working to become a pro at achieving my dreams, and more specifically being a better writer, so that I can finish my book this year. Although the activities this week did not seem to produce any huge learnings on the surface, I actually finally connected what it meant to be a pro. Essentially, I fell in love with monotony of the weekly tasks. This is how James Clear defines a professional. He wrote about the difference between an amateur and pro and saw that pros show up and complete the work no matter what life throws at them. Where as amateur might not complete the task if presented with a difficult situation. This finally made sense to me and I see that I am becoming a true pro, as no matter what challenges life presents me on a weekly basis, I show up and complete the tasks.
Second, I wanted to expand a little more on the Equal Odds Rule that I mentioned above. The whole premise is that anyone, that includes you, can produce amazing work! You just have to produce on a more frequent basis. I thought back on the 27 weeks that I have devoted to the DPA process and read some of my earliest posts (wow!). I will be honest and say that I really had no clue how to organize my ideas into a coherent thought and was averaging about 400-500 words per post. While now, I look back to my average posts and they are averaging around 1300 - 1400 words per posts and the content is better organized to boot. I know that overall word count does not equate to meaningful work, but following the Equal Odds Rule, I am able to write better posts as I consistently produce content on a weekly basis. This in turn, allows me to learn more skills to improve my writing and create game-changing pieces much sooner than expected. I agree some of my work is still average, but there are ones that I look back and say, "wow I wrote that, that is pretty cool!" It is similar to throwing a lot of darts at a bullseye, as the more you throw the higher the probability that you will hit it. To end this week, I leave you with the following challenge to employ the Equal odds Rule and just produce more content in whatever medium you work with (art, writing, digital designs...) so that you will get to your greatest pieces sooner, rather than later.
Thanks for tuning in and see you in week 28.
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