I absolutely love this picture because it exemplifies an important concept, which I call “Same situation, different story.”
Here we see a man trying to catch a ride home. Like any good hitchhiker, he’s written out a sign for passing cars. The picture shows two sign options (A) To Jacksonville and (B) To Mom’s For Christmas.
In both cases his situation is the same – he’s trying to get home to see his family. But the key difference is the narrative that he’s chosen to focus on. On the left, he’s letting cars know the destination, and on the right, he’s connecting the purpose.
Both are trying to achieve the same goal, which is to get a ride. Both are also legitimate facts. However each option will likely lead to a significantly different outcome. Perhaps he eventually gets picked up based on (A), but he’s more likely to be relatable with (B).
Same reality, but different story; therefore, different outcome.
Much of our life and human potential comes down to the narrative we decide to focus on.
> Are you an overweight person or isn’t it also true that you lost a few pounds this month?
> Did you miss that promotion because you’re not good enough or are you already in a respectable job (one that others would give up a promotion to have)?
> Did you fail or are you stronger because of a setback?
Are you choosing the right facts? Focus on the narrative that is conducive to success… the rest will follow.
I see this problem everywhere; we want to improve our lives, but at the same time, we want to follow the status quo.
It’s foolish when you think about it. How could you possibly get different results by following the same plan?
If you copy what everyone else is doing, you’re sure to be like everyone else.
Going to Extremes
To get extreme results, you must be willing to do something extreme.
Wake up at 5am to workout, meditate, or reflect
Record daily habits or build a decision journal
Lock yourself out of social media to remove distractions
Theres no doubt some people are practicing this, but it’s a small minority. If you copy the crowd, you’re destined to their results. To achieve something more incredible, you must be willing to stand out from the mass and do what others aren’t willing to try.
Sit down and consider what you’re doing differently, and if the answer is not much, make a change.
The Digital Era
I am now convinced that disconnecting from technology (especially social media) is an Extreme Results power move. Taking a walk outside, sitting quietly in solitude, or journaling your thoughts is a unique path that 99% of us aren’t willing to take.
Yet this type of pursuit makes us more human and allows our brains to process the millions of inputs we jam into our heads everyday.
Even if it’s just for 20 minutes, that’s 20 minutes more than anyone else.
Every highly successful person I’ve ever met has had their quirks.
You’ve probably had your own experience, or even heard similar stories from others. It’s funny how this narrative prevails – we finally get to meet someone we look up to, and we expect them the be everyone else. “They should be normal,” we think. Yet they’ve done something so unusual.
Once you realize the connection between quirks and success, you can harness your full potential.
Be yourself. Do something uncommon and go get uncommon results.
There’s a divide on the horizon, and it’s unlike ones we’ve seen in the past.
When we use the word “divide” to describe a phenomenon, it usually refers to access; one group of people has access to a resource, while a second group does not. We’ve seen this around the world with clean water, education, and nutritious foods. If you happen to be born in a country that doesn’t have one of these resources (or a limited supply of one), you’re at a disadvantage and there’s not much you can do about it – tough luck.
But today we’re looking at a different divide, one which I believe will be synonymous with the 21st century. It has to do with access, but in a completely new way.
I call it, “The Next Divide” and it’s a digital one.
Chapter 1:Active vs Passive
Are you using your phone, or is your phone using you?
We live in an amazing time. Your phone can retrieve endless quantities of entertainment, social connection and knowledge.
Consider for a moment that you’re able to travel back in time to 1980. You encounter your 1980’s doppelgänger self and you do your best to explain smartphones in 2019.
Let’s face it, we tend to spend a large portion of our time surfing our phones without meaningful intent. This isn’t completely our fault, it more has to do with the implicit relationship between you and your phone.
While your phone offers you endless possibilities, it comes at a cost. Instead of money, most apps demand something else: your time and attention.
New-age business models
Internet companies (and many smartphone apps) make money by keeping you on their products longer. They do this by monetizing their products through online advertising, which directly correlates with engagement and time spent on their website. The more they know about you, the better they can convert your data into cash.
Question: What happens when our most valuable businesses operate in this way?
Answer: Our most brilliant data scientists and software engineers are being taken from every other industry to work on the same objective: keep you online longer.
According to Tristan Harris, a “design ethicist,” the problem isn’t that people lack willpower; it’s that “there are a thousand people on the other side of the screen whose job it is to break down the self-regulation you have.”
While you’re scrolling through Instagram, there are thousands of MIT, Harvard, and Berkley engineers running multivariate tests, all to determine the best way to break down your self-control and keep you on their app longer.
Personally, I find myself being used, all the time.
Last week, I decided to open Instagram to see what my friends were up to. My intention was to scroll for 5 or 10 minutes, but 30 minutes later I caught myself mindlessly watching puppy video clips. The power dynamic shifted because I was no longer making the choices.
For the first five minutes, I was in control of the content, but soon after Instagram took over by deciding what to put in front of me. Facebook had been battling for control over my attention, and it had won.
Digital and online for that matter, isn’t a story of all negatives, there are positives too:
When I was 18 I received a guitar as a gift. Before then my involvement in playing instruments was limited, however learning guitar was a cool aspiration I’d always had. Unlike generations before me, I shrugged off formal training, and instead took to YouTube for lessons.
Between the hundreds of videos and endless practicing, I learned how to play guitar and still do today. Sure, that took discipline; I played for at least an hour everyday after school, but there were far less distractions back then.
This is just one small example; there are millions of people who have elevated their musical ability through the type of lessons the internet can provide. If you take a step back and consider this idea, you’ll recognize that people are applying it to all areas of expertise (ie: coding, art, history, the list goes on).
So ask yourself, who really has the power in your tech relationship? And further, are are you trading your asset (time and attention) at a positive return? Or perhaps the technology has the upper-hand?
Summary: The 21st Century has created a new tier of human potential, but the question is…
Chapter 2:Which Group Are You In?
While technology is accelerating our ability to achieve amazing intellectual, creative and productive feats, it’s ability to distract us is accelerating at an equal clip. You can’t go a day without being inspired, yet so distracted at the same time. It’s these conditions that make the digital divide possible.
Sometimes success is 3% brains and 97% not getting distracted by the internet.
Shane Parrish
The digital divide will create two groups:
Group 1 is able to control their focus and leverage technology to improve themselves, and moreover, reach greater potential.
[Technology] is a great way to automate a habit. You can save for retirement with an automatic deduction from your paycheck. You can curtail social media browsing with a website blocker.
Technology can transform actions that were once hard, annoying, and complicated into behaviors that are easy, painless, and simple.
It is the most reliable and effective way to guarantee the right behavior.
James Clear
Meanwhile, Group 2 is trading their time for mindless surfing. Their behavior is not only distracting themselves from the world around them, but it’s also causing them to achieve less.
And technology can rewire our brains.
The Sleeping Scientist
We each have a little scientist named Hank, who manages a lab within our brain. It’s Hank’s job to control your focus, and he does this by balancing your distraction liquid 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There’s a constant replenishment of distraction at all times; your thoughts wander as new stimuli enter and exit your external environment.
Some people are born with more liquid than normal, others develop habits which increase their exposure over time. Ultimately, you train your Hank to manage his beakers in the best way possible. My personal favorite strategy is meditation.
But the crux of the problem is that digital applications are training your Hank to be irresponsible. Have you ever sat down to work on something, only to find yourself distracted 10 minutes later? What about open your phone to do something, and then completely forget?
That’s your Hank falling asleep in the lab, and when Hank doesn’t pay attention, he causes leaks and spills.
Here’s what distraction looks like:
Small naps lead to extreme compounding. . One laboratory spill leads to a broken beaker, which leads to less liquid control in the future. Lab explosions move from a rarity to a constant affair in your head.
So over a short period (1-2weeks), the difference is marginal. However as the time series extends further, the differences become insurmountable.
I’ve written about the power of compounding many times; Albert Einstein dubbed it as one of the greatest wonders of the universe. Talk about a bold statement, especially from a man who revolutionized modern day physics (and astronomy).
Summary: Whether you’re in Group 1 or Group 2, will become a life-changing characteristic.
Over the next ten years, this macro trend will lead to enormously disparate outcomes. Great or terrible, it all depends on which group you fall into.
Chapter 3: The AI Revolution
We’ve now established that access (per the traditional sense) isn’t the problem; each group can connect to the internet at relatively similar speeds. Instead this divide focuses on the way in which people leverage the internet (use the resource).
Enter Artificial Intelligence, aka: the great accelerator.
AI is a comprehensive subject, so I’m going to over-simplify a bit here. If afterwards readers have greater interest in the mechanics, I can write up a separate blog post. But for now, let’s just say there have been some major advancements in the field.
Once of the largest breakthroughs is around this idea called deep learning.
Previously you could only train a computer to follow a set of rules (or simple algorithms). You would tell a machine that if it hears the phrase, “Knock, Knock” it needs to answer, “Who’s there?” Any variations from “Knock, Knock” and the computer not be able to respond.
Now, with deep learning, we can give the computer a massive set of data (in this case jokes) and train it to learn humor. Scientists watch it learn in real time and correct it whenever it makes a mistake. After lots of data and repetition, it eventually “learns” the idea.
Mechanically the computer forms connections just like how our brains do. These are called neural networks, and to get a better visualization of how these systems work, you can check out the Tensorflow Playground.
What does this mean for the Digital Divide?
AI is (already) learning your behaviors, tailoring content, and therefore be able to break you down significantly further.
Remember those thousands of MIT graduates running multi-variate tests? Now imagine if they programmed a super-computer with more power and genius level pattern recognition. They will now discover things about you that were unfathomable with humans experimenting alone.
Summary: AI is forming a massive crater in the ground, and it is going to push the two groups further apart.
It will be on us to make sure there are enough formidable bridges to provide opportunity for those stuck on one side, however more likely than not, AI Valley will destroy your hopes of crossing… if you wait too long.
Conclusion: Big Distractions or Big Dreams?
I believe these gaps will be filled over time, but it’s going to take time and large innovations in technology.
Right now companies are making money off of your time and attention, so there’s no incentive to turn a passive person into a more active person. Yet, if we want to grow to our total potential, we need to flip the script and change the way we use our attention ourselves.
Which side of the digital divide will you be on?
The earlier you decide, the more you’ll gain.
“Don’t be on your deathbed someday, having squandered your one chance at life, full of regret because you pursued little distractions instead of big dreams.”
Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak with student leaders at Vanderbilt University.
They gave me ten minutes and free range for topic, so naturally I chose Human Potential. Part of this lecture contains material from my happiness talk which I present at Google.
Check it out below, and if you enjoy, please subscribe for more.
Everyone has trouble delaying gratification, but some people have it worse than others.
Let’s explore why it’s so hard, and how it connects to your success.
Part 1: It’s not (totally) your fault
Our brains are wired to favor immediate reward.
Two Million years ago, our only priority was to stay alive. Cavemen didn’t have time to sit around and contemplate life (sorry Aristotle!), instead they needed to hunt and gather. Our human brains encouraged this behavior through a short-term feedback loop, which worked really well. This simple system was at the root of our survival; don’t be eaten, successfully procreate, and improve living conditions.
While humans have evolved and developed the ability to rationalize, our brains continue to use the same decision-making system.
It’s as if we have the newest iPhone, but it’s running on the original Mac software.
Using fMRI machines, scientists can observe what is going on in our brains while we make decisions. Ultimately, it’s a fight between two parts of your brain; emotional vs. rational.
When we choose immediate gratification, our emotional parts are in control; when we choose future rewards, our rational parts are running the show. (Brain Battles, 2004).
This explains why, when we’re under stress, we tend to break goals and indulge in bad habits. Stress basically numbs our prefrontal cortex and gives complete control to the amygdala.
It’s like emotional morphs into Muhammed Ali, while rational downgrades into a nostalgic childhood geek.
Place your bets.
But there’s a greater issue.
Today’s world is significantly different than that of our ancestors; our goals are at odds with our brains.
Want to get in better shape?
Work-out daily, become lean months later
Want to start a business?
Operate on annual losses, see profit years later
Want to be more financially independent?
Save and invest for decades, have enough to retire comfortably later in life
We’re in a constant fight against immediate reward, and our ability to overcome it is extremely predictive of future success.
This is especially true in the 21st century, but, before we apply it to our lives today, let’s take a quick look back on history.
Part 2: Human time dilation and relativity
Time dilation is a scientific concept discovered in 1897 by Joseph Larmor (source). Time dilation occurs when two people are looking at the same event but observe a different amount of elapsed time.
When this gets discussed in the scientific community, it’s focused around velocity and gravitational fields. For example, when we are on Earth we look out into the universe and view things in “Earth-time,” which is based on our gravitational field. If we were on Mars, we would see the exact same events, but happening slightly slower. This is because the gravitational field on Mars is different, and, therefore, time moves at a different speed.
Have you seen the movie Interstellar?
The scene below is touted by some astrophysicists as one of the best visual representations of time dilation ever. In this scene, part of the team spends less than 15 minutes on a high-gravitational planet. When they return back to their ship, 23 years has passed for the crew members who remained on board.
I posit this is happening everyday, all around us.
…
Instead of velocity and gravity, it’s based on our experiences and use of technology.
Here’s what I mean:
The technology we use has subtly established new baselines for our expectations and our patience.
This change began a few centuries ago, but it is progressing. Quickly.
Months: In the 1600s, when settlers first arrived in America, they set up a monthly horseback post between New York and Boston [1]. Back in that time, that was the speed of communication and exploration; it was their reality. Think about it, not only did they wait months to receive messages by post, but it took them months to sail across the ocean and arrive in America. Their reference point for time was in months, basically the currency or units of exchange.
Days: Once the United States Postal Service was established in 1775, improvements in infrastructure allowed mail to be delivered on a more regular basis. By the 1800s, Americans were becoming used to receiving new mail each day, a vast improvement from the century before. With this improvement, the new baseline shifted from monthly to daily.
Hours: In the late 1800s, Alexander Graham Bell figured out a way to transmit sounds over wires, creating the landline telephone [2]. While the invention occurred in the 1800s, consumer adoption didn’t start taking hold until the 1960s [3]. With a telephone in every home and office, it was expected that you’d be able to answer or return a call within a few hours of receiving one. What was also widely popular around this time? The color television and the evening news. These technologies helped create a new world, one understood by the hour.
Minutes: Ray Tomlinson is credited with inventing email in 1972 [4], but it wasn’t until the 1990’s when email became more adopted by everyday people. Likewise, microwaves become common in every home, which meant one great leap; foods that were meant to take an hour to cook, would now be ready in minutes. Children born in the 90’s are also referred to as the “Microwave generation” for this reason. Kids growing up at this time naturally saw the world through minutes, and would now be able to have another basic need even faster than their parents.
Seconds: Steve Jobs. Just by saying his name, you likely pictured two things; iPhones and black turtlenecks. We can credit him with the proliferation of smartphones, and along with those, improvements in mobile apps, sites and tools. A few seconds, can feel like an eternity. And if you need proof of this point, 53% of mobile users abandon sites that take longer than 3 seconds to load [5]. Today, for better or worse, the baseline is seconds.
The baseline leaps between generations continues to accelerate.
The boxes are getting smaller and the clocks are halvening. Improvements are taking less time to develop and, when they go into production, their addition is exponential.
Consider how often you may check social media after you’ve added a post, or how often you refresh your inbox after an important email has been sent. Do you think of it in months, days, hours, minutes, or seconds? The sheer speed we now have has changed our definition of delayed gratification; time has recalibrated.
Which takes us back to our kid and grandparent graphic; same reality, different baselines.
Your baseline is highly predicated on the way you choose to use the technology available. If you allow it to control your expectations and understanding of speed, you will continue to have difficulty delaying gratification.
And, gratification, is where this all comes together.
Part 3: Where everything comes together
Our greatest pursuits are set on long time horizons.
The more ambitious the goal, the longer you must persist without immediate results.
Perhaps this is one reason why we look at wildly successful individuals as if they are cut from a different cloth. It’s as if they possess some sort of magical power to accomplish remarkable things, meanwhile, we are merely “average.” Yet, fundamentally, they are more masterful at delaying gratification. A small part may be in their genes, but I’d posit it’s mostly hard-work, focus and comfort when waiting to reap reward.
The Reward Delayed Timeline
They are achieving goals that have longer reward delays. As their ambition and impact increase so do the stakes and risk. Are they immune to reality and natural stress? Certainly not. They stay grounded and honest to the necessary waiting period needed to get the job done. By surrounding themselves with others who are similar, it makes goals feel more possible and recalibrates their natural baseline to a new timeframe.
More delayed gratification = more ambitious goals
“The first order thought of instant gratification is a crowded path, ensuring mediocre results at best. Delayed gratification, which requires second order thinking, is less crowded and more likely to get results.”
A simple example would be writing this article. Believe it or not, this article took two months to complete. That meant opening a Google Doc hundreds of times, only to see incomplete or partial work. The writing too underdeveloped so I couldn’t share my work for feedback. I was forced to wait.
Here’s the thing, if I had to plot it on the Reward Delayed Timeline, it’s not that high; it falls somewhere around “Skilled.” It’s measly compared to a founder starting a business (Industry Leader) or a personal favorite of mine, Elon Musk (World Changer). Getting humanity to Mars is at least a 30 year project, which has minimal feedback loops along the way. That’s some serious second order thinking.
How to elevate your second order thinking
Step 1: Determine your most ambitious goal
Print a copy of Reward Delayed Timeline (download here)
Plot your top 2 or 3 aspirations on the chart
Step 2: Ask the questions
Are your reward expectations sitting on the right time horizon?
If not, either adjust your goal or reset time expectations
Work backwards, set micro-goals that prove you’re progressing
Step 3: Commit to to the delay
Whenever you feel down on yourself, pull out your timeline
Remind yourself how ambitious your goal is, and at what delay level you committed to.
You can do it.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Anyone can change the world, but it takes patience
As our baseline shifts, it becomes harder to stay on task, delay results, and produce deep meaningful impact.
I believe that if you can put your phone down and detach more often, you’ll be better at setting time-delayed goals and sticking to them. By focusing your efforts on a reward-delayed timeline strategy, you can correctly plot the ambition, skills and patience needed to get the job done.
Because once you become a master of yourself, you can master anything.
In the 1950’s after rigorous mathematical computations of the physics of our anatomy, experts concluded that it was impossible for a human to run a mile in less than 4 minutes.
A physical impossibility, scientists said. Then along came Roger Bannister, who in 1954 broke the barrier with an official time of 3:59.4
Suddenly, the floodgates opened. Within a month, Roger’s record was beat. Within the next four years, runners would continue to oust each other. Today the record stands at 3:43.13
We tend to look at averages to determine what is attainable. Truth is, we do not know the limits of human potential. Our brains change in response to our actions and circumstances.
When we bring talented people together our baseline for achievement rises and suddenly we’re all breaking records once deemed “impossible.”
Ninety-Percent of life is about showing up… on time
Compounding interest is perhaps one of the most important and powerful discoveries of our time.
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.”
– Albert Einstein
Einstein wasn’t just referencing money when he said those wise words; in nearly every domain of life, compounding can either make or break you. If for example, you only get 1% better everyday for a year, versus 1% worse, you’ll be over 1000% better by end of year.
When you break it down, success is actually played at the margins; it’s about getting slightly better each day over a long period time, instead of dramatically better in one fell swoop. [James Clear on Marginal Gains]
The classic example is saving for retirement. When you start early and stay consistent, accumulating a large nest egg becomes much easier. With an Employer Match, a 20 year old could invest as little as $5 each day to retire a millionaire by 67 (The Impact of a Starbucks Latte).
If you imagine compounding as a Dr. Seuss-like machine, there are two ingredients going in to create varying levels of “Success” that come out the other side: TIME (when you start) and INVESTMENT (deliberate practice).
Here’s the best part about it, you control both inputs. Given the first example (1% better), you can see that, if time is on your side, you actually don’t need to invest nearly as much. However, the longer you wait, the more you’ll need to catch up. If you contribute $1,000 each year into an investment account, which compounds at 7% each year, below is the final balance you’d have by age 67, based off what age you START:
If you start at age 5, you’ll be a millionaire. Say you wait until half way through this chart (31 years old) to begin, you’d end up with a mere 17% of the total opportunity.
Perhaps the more powerful input you control is how early you start, not how much you invest.
Intellectual Compounding told by greats
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
-Benjamin Franklin
Most people know about financial compounding, but few recognize intellectual compounding. That is, the same exponential curve can apply to your growth as a thinker, an entrepreneur, or any related skill. If we were to plot how much you push yourself to learn, we see the same 1% better trend lines. By learning everyday, you become better at learning new things and adapting to your environment; it’s not a linear relationship, but instead an exponential lift.
“Read 500 pages every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up like compound interest.”
-Warren Buffett
The prolific speaker, Tony Robbins, has also acknowledged this phenomenon. When Tony started his career, he wasn’t nearly the presenter he is today. In fact, Tony says one of his co-workers was much better than him, which made Tony wonder why. What was difference between them? Did his co-worker have a gift that Tony was incapable of? Not even close. Tony realized he was only giving 1 presentation a week, whereas his co-worker was giving about 3 a week. So to be better, Tony quit his job and started giving 3 presentations a day. In about 2 months time, Tony gave the equivalent number of presentations that the other guy would give for the rest of the year.
Tony massively elevated his deliberate practice, but he also started early. While his fame emerged after his first book release at age 28, his first job as a motivational speaker was at age 17 – a full 11 years earlier.*
“The most important thing to do is start investing now so you can unlock the power of compounding.”
-Tony Robbins
We typically over-praise the individual versus their positive habits, environment, or commitment to growth. Whether you’re starting a business, a new job, or working towards an ambitious goal, compounding is the secret sauce that gets less attention. When we think of becoming great in any domain, we usually think about working harder and longer than the proverbial other guy. Instead, we should be thinking about starting one day earlier than ‘the other guy’.
Timing needs a higher priority
Working hard is the easier part; it’s not difficult to wake up an extra hour earlier or stay at the office after hours if it’s something that you find deep purpose and potential in. Figuring out when to start though, that’s hard.
“Bookstores have an entire ‘how to’ section but not a ‘when to’ section… [Yet] timing… can be everything.”
Perhaps we can simplify this though; start now. There are probably millions of great ideas waiting to be unlocked, but we’re too afraid or too slow to start. When you understand compounding, you give timing the attention that it deserves. Successful people understand this and it’s why, when they get asked about their biggest regret, many of them answer that they wish they had started sooner.
One of my favorite high school teachers used to say, “Ninety-Percent of life is showing up on time.” He would go on long tangents about the value of time, whenever someone arrived late to class. Ironically, we’d end up spending anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes of class time listening to him dissect the topic. To him, it was imperative to show up, but the more important point was to be on time.
Reflecting more than a decade later, I believe he understood something much deeper about timing. If you want to be the next Mozart, you can’t wait 30 years to begin learning piano, you need to show up when the opportunity first strikes. When you’re late to start, you miss much more than just the opening credits of a movie; you miss the character development, the plot, in fact, you never reach the conclusion. Using compounding interest, a late entry could reduce your returns by 100x; that’s the chance to learn, grow, or become your best self.
To take advantage of our total potential, we need to be on time.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
-Benjamin Franklin
Most people know about financial compounding, but few recognize intellectual compounding.
That same exponential curve can also be applied to your growth as a thinker, an entrepreneur, or any knowledge-seeker. Albert Einstein called this the greatest power in the entire universe.
What are your greatest skills waiting to be developed further?
When we start early and stay consistent, our ordinary talents become extraordinary talents.
Compounding interest helps us achieve our greatest potential but, just as importantly, lifts everyone else around us up too.
We tend to confuse the two and that’s a big mistake.
If you’re like myself, when you set your most ambitious personal goals, they tend to sound something like this:
Appear on the Forbes, ‘[insert age] Under [insert age] List’
Get promoted at work
Increase my net worth to $XX
What do they all have in common? These are all backward looking indicators. In other words, they are signals that you’re doing well, but in the past. While achieving these accolades does correlate with success, they aren’t predictive of future success. Rather, they are proof that success has already happened, in the past.
Your goals should really sound more like this:
Learn a new (seemingly unrelated) discipline
Embrace a new positive habit backed by science
Reach out to non-local friends more regularly
The difference? These are all forward looking indicators; they don’t show off as accomplishments in the typical way we view “success.” Yet, if you do any of these things, it’s easier to predict your performance in the future. Following through on these goals won’t get you a celebrated medal, but they are the positive tactics that actually get you there.
Learning from successful people
What do Warren Buffett, Mark Cuban, and Bill Gates have in common? They are vivacious learners. They dedicate many hours each day to reading about new subjects, because it challenges their mindset and allows them to connect independent ideas. That’s a forward indicator – agile mental models produce novel ideas but will never receive an accolade for habit itself.
What do they also have in common? They are all Billionaires. Their net worth continues to climb and is a testament to their consistent ability to keep growing as individuals, entrepreneurs, and thought-leaders. That’s a backwards indicator – it reflects back on their total economic output to date, in the past.
That’s the formula.
The most powerful forward indicator is happiness
Compared to their neutral or stressed counterparts:
Doctors are 19% more accurate at diagnosing their patients
Sales people are 37% better at closing
Operationally, we can be up to 31% more productive
That’s just the beginning; there are studies that show we are more creative, better at problem solving, and more resilient and innovative when we are happy versus neutral or stressed. *
When we increase wellbeing in the present, all of our our future outputs rise. We are a product of our environments. So, elevating these inputs also helps those around you; your family, friends, and co-workers. Start with happiness and finish with more success.
We should be challenging our employees and organizations to set forward looking predictors
How are you going to push yourself to self-learn this year?
What’s the one positive habit you will commit to practicing this quarter?
When will you find time to connect with your network this week?
Ignore the accolades, because they come later.
Remember, when our team commits and crushes the small stuff, we need to celebrate too. Our brains are wired for short-term feedback loops, which makes forward predictors hard to set and follow through on. It’s easy to choose a well-known award to gauge success, but it’s the abstract and consistent daily habits that really produce it.
By adjusting our measuring stick of success, we can elevate everyone around us. Eventually producing more backward predictors that we know and love.
The U.S. Government spent billions of dollars attempting to land on the moon. Many people complained that the money should have been spent on poverty.
Randy Pausch once responded,
“When you use money to fight poverty, it can be of great value, but too often, you’re working at the margins. When you’re putting people on the moon, you’re inspiring all of us to achieve the maximum of human potential, which is how our greatest problems will eventually be solved.”
Our greatest breakthroughs happen when we aren’t focusing on the issue at hand, but instead broadcasting our most ambitious goals.
By working on things that fascinate us, we create industries that don’t yet exist and solve problems we never imagined possible.
