I always feel energised after listening to podcasts by self-help guru, Tim Ferriss, in which he attempts to ‘dissect excellence’ by interviewing a range of successful people.
In an interview with Scott Adams, creator of the very popular comic strip “Dilbert”, a piece of advice that struck a chord was “the goal is to maximise yourself”. This concept is surely meaningful to everyone, but it presents a different way of thinking about your priorities at work; why would I not focus on what has the highest positive impact on things that are important to me – however we might want to define ‘important’?
One way to think more about maximizing yourself is to re-arrange your To-Do list (at home or at work) according to the tasks that will provide the biggest ‘bang for your buck’. As Dilbert might suggest, our ‘to-do’ lists are often brimming with several fake emergencies, endless unnecessary meetings and a multitude of projects destined for oblivion. It sounds common sense but at work especially, it’s so easy to slip into the habit of working on the things which contribute little to our real priorities. I have certainly found it very useful to re-focus my day-to-day activities according to how they contribute to maximizing me.
Thinking about how your actions help to maximize yourself is not just a different way of looking at your ‘to-do’ list – it also goes hand in hand with the idea of continuous improvement and extending one’s abilities. There is mounting scientific evidence that continuous improvement and venturing into unchartered territories delays the onset of disease and makes us happier.
Below are some resources to consider for maximizing yourself.
- Read
– http://empathylibrary.com/ book recommendations that give you a different perspective and broaden your horizon
– http://ryanholiday.net/ invaluable advice on how to read for knowledge and the ugly truth about speed reading
– www.brainpickings.org excellent write-ups of books that you would not ordinarily come across
- Professional services
– http://www.theschooloflife.com/london/shop/classroom/ an alternative business school
– Why not consider a coaching session to draw out what maximizing yourself means to you?
– Personality / preference tests (Hogan / MBTI / NEO / FIRO-B inter alia)
- Use gaming theory to maximize any part of your life.
Check out www.superbetter.com