Just recently I recorded a 3-Part Series on Decision Making Mastery on my LIFE MASTERCLASS Podcast series, which I figured would be of value and benefit for you. I also thought if you got something out of these presentations, you might then do yourself a favour and grab a copy of my book too. 😉
The 3-Part Series includes the following three presentations, which you can watch on YouTube (the links below will take you to the YouTube presentations):
My first point is to highlight the fact that making decisions uses energy. The brain consumes about 20% of the energy produced by the body, and doing critical thinking (like making decisions) by firing up the prefrontal cortex of the brain is one of the major energy users in the brain.
If we want more energy and vitality each and every day, we need to be extra conscious about have we use and consume our energy. Make sense?
The second point I would like to make is that during times of uncertainty, especially where there are a lot of things happening in your environment that are beyond your control, the brain is likely to be in an elevated state of alertness (to keep you ‘safe’), which is also a major energy consumer.
Get ready, because I am going to plug my new book – Decision Making Mastery: Become a Skillful and Conscious Co-Creator in Your Destiny – in the very first part of this blog post. Check it out. Okay. Done.
Now to share with you one of the elements I talk about in my book, that I think is really important for us to acknowledge, understand and practice in our own lives. And yes, you already know what it is. It is about changing your mind.
My observation
At the time of writing this, I have been doing this thing called ‘coaching’ for over 13 years now. I have worked with 100’s of people from all walks of life. I have observed them make lots of great decisions, and I have observed them make some terrible decisions (myself included).
What I have come to know as a ‘fact’ is we all make bad decisions.
On the back-end of 2020, I decided that when I sat down and gave my full attention to what I wanted out of this new year, I would take an even deeper approach to that question.
And as I like to teach: great answers come from great questions.
‘What do I want in 2021?’ is a pretty lame question; so it did not get any attention. And to merely ask what I wanted to do in 2021 was still not cutting the grade. It was not taking the conversation deep enough.
After a very whacky 2020 and the fallout still washing over into 2021, it was time to go a lot deeper. So I headed to my favourite bungalow in Candi Dasa (at Pondok Pisang), and while sitting on a sun bed, looking out over nothing but the ocean and the skyline, I got out my diary and worked on answering a number of questions to the best of my ability.
I have read 100’s of books over the last 20 years, when I made a commitment to self education through reading non-Fiction books. It really was a game changer for me. Here is a list of some of my favourites – by topic. I have an asterix besides some of my more favourite favourites. I like to read quite broadly, so that I am more likely to come up with novel and creative ideas, but putting different pieces together in unique ways.
Generally I have 2-4 books going at once.
If you have read my work before you might well have read my definition of what leadership is all about. It goes something like this: ‘A leader creates the environment that is conducive to the success of the team.‘
This applies to whether we are being a leader of ourselves or of others. And for the purposes of this conversation I am most interested in personal leadership. Leadership of self, and as it relates to the path to self-actualization, which according to maslow’s model is at the top if the pyramid.
My personal experience, observation and hypothesis is the singular hardest step to take on the self-actualization path, or what I also call the personal development or personal growth path, is…
Acceptance of personal responsibility.
When I was in my 20’s I used to believe I was ‘unlucky’ and that is why bad things happened to me. I used to think it was because of bad bosses, that I didn’t have a higher level of professional success. I used to blame my girlfriends personality on the relationships not working. I blamed people’s lack of attention to my needs for me having a skiing accident that required a knee reconstruction. Blame. Blame. Blame.
Who loves cleaning?
I imagine there are some of you out there joyfully waving your arms around in the air, and others of you who are thinking what a stupid question to ask. “Of course I don’t like cleaning!”
Me personally? I LOVE a good session of cleaning.
The joy of seeing something transformed from messy to organized, or from dirty to clean. It is a rather satisfying sensation if I do say so myself.
Do you know who else loves cleanliness and orderliness and simplicity?
Your BRAIN.
Especially when the external environment (outside your house) is a bit of a train wreck.
I consider myself to be a pretty calm person, especially in a crisis situation or when my best thought-out plans turn to complete and utter sh#t.
And the reason for my calmness is definitely a nurture over a nature thing. In other words, my ability to stay calm, centred and grounded in a challenging situation is not a genetic trait I inherited from my parents, but a result of habits I have learned (some from my parents) and a number of daily practices I am committed to.
Essentially you can enhance your ability to remain calm, grounded, centred and unflappable by replicating these two practices.
I won’t go in-depth about the physical health practices I do (aka: exercise and nutrition), because I am going to assume you have a good enough idea about that and if not, then read The Guidebook to Optimum Health. The thing to note is our physical practices contribute to the amount of energy we have available to get stuff done plus the quality of our mental health. So my health practices are essential, but not the primary focus of this conversation.
This article follows on somewhat from my last post where I talked about increasing productivity, creativity and effectiveness, but it is inspired by a book I recently finished reading called Essentialism by Greg McKeown.
If I was to choose to describe the way that I primarily live, my guiding philosophy, I would call myself a bit of a Stoic, and having read this book, I would say I am also a bit of an essentialist. There is actually a lot of overlap between stoicism and essentialism.
The motto of an essentialist philosophy is: LESS BUT BETTER
I am not sure about you, but I am liking the sound of that!
Who would like less commitments, responsibilities, projects or tasks on their plate?
I sure as hell have my hand up for that.
Let me explain a little bit more about what essentialism is, and then share some specific strategies.
I don’t know about you; but I like the idea of getting MORE out of LESS.
Spending less time and energy and getting bigger outputs and RESULTS.Does that sound of interest for you too? If so, you have come to the right place.
Recently I was away for a couple of nights with my business colleague on a ‘work getaway’ where we aimed to get really clear on our business initiatives, develop some creative ideas for a project and also to establish how to get the most effective results possible.I realised while I was there I was SUPER productive, creative and effective at doing the work thing and so I thought I would do a quick analysis to see what made that place experience so effective, and how could I bring that level of output back to my (home) office.