WEEK 35: BE A PRO

WT = Waiting Time. DT = Development Time.

PLANNING (task, scheduling, and WT = DT):  I plan to write the W6 Leap Year post in the site Medium onWednesday at 6PM in study. I plan to turn those small WT's into Grateful Time, where I look to see what I can be grateful for in those situations. For example, last week I thought how grateful that we are to have a healthy and happy son. He has the use of all of his faculties and laughs constantly!

EXECUTION (strategies used):  The streak of completing weekly task on the first planned date is now up to two! I was able to follow through using the Implementation Intentions strategy, as it has helped me follow through and complete the tasks on a consistent basis. In addition, I used another old strategy that I had not used in a while this week.  Although I use a combination of all of them throughout the week, there are always some that are used more than others depending on what comes up. For example, I relied heavily on the Be a Pro strategy this week, as I was able to fall in love with boredom and overcome my temptation not to complete the task. The highlighted strategies that were used in the week are listed below  along with the I CAN'T statements that they help overcome. 

PROCRASTINATION: I CAN'T because I do not have enough time, do not feel like it...

1. Early Scheduling = Implementation Intentions: This is a strategy that I credit to completing my tasks on time, and it was a huge benefit this week. I learned this from James Clear and it improves the likelihood that you will follow through on your goals up to 3X what you normally would do. In this strategy, you first plan a [TASK] to complete and then schedule a [TIME] and [PLACE] to complete the task as early in the week as you can. 

Three benefits are produced from doing this. First, you get a sense of accomplishment if you complete the task in the beginning of the week at the scheduled time. In addition, it allows you to devout more time to do additional tasks to reach your goals within the same week. Second, it provides more time to complete the task if you have to deal with something else at the first planned time. Third, you are 2X to 3X more likely to follow through on your actions. 

2. Be a PRO: I actually learned this strategy through Tim Ferris and James Clear. First, James Clear wrote that it does not matter what you want to become better at, the only skill that separates a "Pro" from an "amateur" is the ability to show up. Showing up entails sticking to a schedule and doing the work, especially when you do not want to. This is the only thing that separates the two!The difficult thing is that being a pro requires us to be consistent, and we often let the challenges of everyday life get in the way and only attempt to do the work when we feel motivated. This produces small gains if any at all and leads us to frustration. Pros' consistently show up, day after day and fall in love with the boredom and monotony of sticking to their schedules and completing the tasks that take them closer to their goals and produces their best work. 

Tim Ferris, a professional in life-style redesign, said on his 4-Hr Work Week blog that "Practicing key habits when we don't want to is the most key habit to all." This reinforces this idea of being a "Pro" just by showing up. 

There will be days when you do not want to complete a key habit or activity, but to be a "Pro" just SHOW UP! Fall in love with the boredom, stick to your schedule, and complete the tasks that move your forward.

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Week 35 in the books! I am almost 2/3 through my Leap Year process of pursuing, discovering, and achieving my dreams this year...wow! At times, it almost seems like yesterday when I started, but then there are other times when I look at all I have learned, and it seems like so long ago.

I was reminded of the importance this week of sticking with your key habits in order to be a "Pro." Life presents us with daily challenges that can take us away from pursuing the things that we want. However, these are the times that we need to take a breath and reflect on what strategies have helped us overcome similar situations in the past or learn a new one to help us in the present moment.

For example, there was a situation at work where I had to deal with a difficult person. I think we all have those people in our lives that make it a challenge to work with. To make a long story short, I reacted instead of thinking what strategies that I had used to deal with difficult people in the past. As you can probably guess, this only led to frustration. Meggo, being the great wife she is, calmed me down and told me to think of what I had done in the past to overcome similar situations. I took a breath and remembered that these situations are best dealt with by not reacting and taking action, but letting them play out. After that, I was able to think clearly and let the problem go. Funny thing, is that once I got to work the next day the problem was resolved by the end of the day. The moral of the story, stick to what works, strategies, in times of frustration or stress.

You will have times on your Leap Year process where life will present challenges in the form of situations, people, or a combination of the two. You might react, that is fine, but then take a breath and then reflect on what strategies have worked in the past or what new ones ( I will provide these for you) that you can learn to help you overcome these situations. Then move forward with that choice.

What went well?

I was able to use the "Implementation Intentions" and "Be a Pro" strategies to complete the weekly tasks this week. For example, this week I thought how writing another post in the Medium site would not make a difference and the temptation to not complete the task crept into my mind. Although I only thought this only for a brief moment, I reflected back earlier on my Leap Year process when I felt like my weekly tasks would not make a difference. Then I remembered the "Be a Pro" strategy. Then, there was no more struggle in mind as I knew I just had to SHOW UP and do the work! 

What is something we can improve upon? What actions can we take next week?

I have actually been helping two fantastic people start their own Leap Years' and have not done a great job of meeting with them in the past two weeks. I want to do a better job of carving out some time so that I can support them pursue, discover, and achieve their dreams. There feedback has been invaluable to me, so I plan to use an Implementation Intention and set a time where we can meet.

What is something to avoid next week?

I will not resist any situation next week. Although a situation may seem difficult on the surface, I will take the advice from Andy Drish and Dane Maxwell and not resist it, but welcome it, as I know there can be learnings from all situations.