Table of Contents
This is a summary of everything i have learnt and continue to learn throughout my Life & my Journey in technology.
High-Level
The Core to whom I want to be, broken into sections:
The Detail
Personality- who am i, what kind of person do i want to be?
- Be polite and respectful of others, for example, say good morning to as many people as you can from when you enter the office to when you get to your desk. Its a very simple thing, but being polite can generate a positive environment. Be interested in other people. Remember The Number 1 motivator is feedback on results.
- Don’t be overly effected by other people Two monks and a Woman — Zen story , The Millionaire Next Door
- Have a good attitude if you have a problem, find a solution, don’t just complain about it. For example, rather than just complaining about a flickering light above your desk. Find out who to speak to and try and get it fixed.
- Contagion is normally something you think of with respect to say the flu. But viewed in an office and company environment. Think how good or bad news or attitudes can spread. What happens when someone who has been “infected” gets home?
- Be a Critical thinker:
- Challenging Status Quo: Don’t do things just because they’ve always been done that way.
- Consider Multiple Perspectives: Take different viewpoints into account.
- Prioritization: Focus on what truly matters, even if there are tempting distractions.
- Problem Reframing: When faced with an issue, find alternative solutions beyond the obvious.
- Effective Listening: Listen more than you speak, be actively engaged in understanding. Understand what makes different people tick some people are like waves in and out
- Self-Reflection: Be open to admitting the potential for being wrong.
- Learning from Setbacks: Analyse setbacks, prevent their recurrence, and extract lessons.
- Time Management: Recognize the importance of making the most of each moment.
Related Reading:
- Think about who you are working with?
- The blind men and the elephant
- How to Win friends and influence people
- Why being respectful to your coworkers is good for business
- What kind of people are you working with?
- The Blind Men and the Elephant
- “No Mud, No Lotus”
- The Importance of Smiling
Focus & Daily Approach
6. Work out the X things that drive you in life and make sure they are balanced and not in need of attention, while a lot of these do overlap in places mine are:
- Be a Dad
- Be a Husband
- Career & Job
- Health , both Physical and Mental – Mindfullness
- Financial Wellbeing Magical number
- Self Improvement
7. don’t spend time worrying about what you cannot control, instead focus on what you can control
8. Keep focused and remove distractions if needs be i.e Mobile phones
9. Watch less TV
10.Aim to Work smarter v longer
“Being busy and being productive are not the same thing. It’s easy to be busy. It’s hard to be productive. Being productive is not about doing more; it’s about concentrating all your energy on the few things that matter.“
Also see The Productivity Project & Organize Tomorrow Today (which includes a real good basketball analogue)
11. experiment and test assumptions i.e remove phone from the room you are working on, reduce browsing the internet, take longer breaks or more shorter one’s, try blocking out time for key tasks, etc…
12. There are different ways to approach this but i like working out my goals for the week and then breaking each day down. Making sure i have time for things like exercise. I find keeping a Physical work Diary like “Clever Fox Planner Schedule” very useful (i started on a simpler daily planner but i found it didn’t include as much as i needed and wanted for long term planning and reflection)
Also see Time Blocking & Stolen Focus
Thinking more long term
Don’t get caught up in distant goals or 5-year plans. Life is not linear; it’s a series of meandering paths. Focus on the next step, on what’s in front of you now. There are no ‘aha’ moments; only tiny, incremental gains. And that’s OK. Keep at it
13. think of your career as a business. Invest time in yourself
- you don’t belong to your employer
- think of your employer as a customer for your business
- like a business, you need to be evolving and improving
- think of yourself as a brand
Also see The new rules of work & You Don’t Actually Know What Your Future Self Wants
14. take a leaf out of Dave Brailsford and looking for find 1 percent improvements in overlooked and unexpected areas.
Also see Power of Compounding
“Compound effort, like drops of water, may seem insignificant at first, but over time, it has the power to shape mountains of achievement” ChatGbt
Think about this
If you were to truly grow 1% every day, then you calculate the potential for growth in the year as an exponent, 1.01 to the 365th power. I’ll save you the time, that equals 3,800% in one year. That is a pretty insane amount of growth, and I think we’d all agree that would be a good year.
But what if we pick something more reasonable, say .1% every day. At the end of a year you’d experience 44% growth, meaning you’ve expanded your capacity by almost half of what you were previously capable of! That still would be incredible progress.
https://www.selfimprovementdailytips.com/podcast/1-every-day-3-800-every-year
15 Aim to be so good at your job your bosses cannot ignore you
