I love my days without many meetings. Last week I had two days with eight meetings each. That’s getting close to my Atlassian schedule!
On days like that, you only get little 30-minute blocks of work time, and it’s hard to move work forward meaningfully with that kind of schedule. I much prefer large, uninterrupted, 2- to 4-hour blocks for heads down work. I will prioritize those more.
Beyond my increase in client load, one of the contributors to this schedule is networking and business development. I had 27 networking-type conversations in July. I already had 13 scheduled for August before the month even started!
This is where business comes from for me, so I need to keep this up, but I’ll also need to figure out a way to organize my calendar a little better (e.g. not allowing people to book time with me any time I’m free).
I have still been able to prioritize exercise in my day, and it’s having a positive impact. My VO2Max is up to 47. Because my recovery has been better with increased calories and carbs, I’ve been able to work out four times a week: 2x Crossfit, and then 2x either running and rucking. I’ve got two more months until I take my next Dexa scan, and I’m super curious to see what’s happening with my body composition.
In the upcoming week I hope to get to play around with a lot of new software tools. In today’s “Three Things” I share a link to Lenny’s Bundle, which is how I accessed paid tiers on these tools - check it out if you want to try Lovable and such. I used ChatGPT to help me brainstorm different experiments. Now I just need to find time to try them out!
I hope you get to do something fun this week, too!
Kevin
A Quote
“
Rather than trying to prevent all errors, we should assume, as is almost always the case, that our people’s intentions are good and that they want to solve problems. Give them responsibility, let the mistakes happen, and let people fix them. If there is fear, there is a reason—our job is to find the reason and to remedy it. Management’s job is not to prevent risk but to build the ability to recover.
— Ed Catmull in "Creativity, Inc."
Three Things
1 - 🎁 Lenny’s Bundle Sign up for the $200/year tier of Lenny’s newsletter, and get access to a year’s worth of an amazing assortment of tools. Wispr Flow. Gamma. n8n. Lovable. And more! I’ve been enjoying testing them out.
2 - 🕺 Dance Party: Flavour Trip in the Alps I found this couple who record themselves playing house music in cool locations, and immediately turned it on in the kitchen while my son and I made homemade pizza. It inspired me to make scones on the deck with the family this weekend!
3 - 📈 Reach Reporting On a project call this past week, the person I spoke to shared this new financial modeling tool with me. It’s pricey at $150 per connection, but could save a lot of time modeling. I’m debating subscribing to this or Fathom.
(please enjoy this 5️⃣ minute read)
Deep Dive on Perspective Shifts
Your ability to achieve greatness has less to do with the specific skills you develop, and more to do with how you see the world. Your perspective.
Your perspective should not be static.
Take a moment and reflect of all the ways in which your thinking has changed over the few decades you’ve been alive - I bet you see the world differently than you used to!
Maybe you used to have a fixed mindset (“I’m bad at sales.”), but now you have see that growth is possible (“I can learn the skills and habits great sellers use.”)
Maybe you used to feel like a victim of circumstance (“Why does this always happen to me?”), but now you see that you are an agent of change (“What levers can I pull to affect this situation?).
Or maybe you were an individual contributor who liked to make fun of idiot bosses, then later realized most bosses weren’t idiots; you have things you can learn from them.
Whatever perspective shifts you’ve gone though, it’s the perspectives you have today that contribute to why you’re also you’re most effective self today.
I’ve got bad news, though. You’re not done developing new perspectives. 😬
Even worse news: Developing a new perspective is painful.
“Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.” - James Clear in “Atomic Habits”
The Perspective Shift Equation
The engineer in me likes thinking in equations, and here’s what I’ve noticed over the years.
A shift happens when: The Pain of Change < The Pain of Staying the Same
It can be hard to stay the same. Anyone who’s been stuck at a certain level in their career knows this first-hand. Anyone who experiences the same relationship problems in their lives over and over again knows this first-hand!
It’s also hard to change. Your brain has to re-wire itself when developing a meaningful new perspective. That doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen easily.
So perspective shifts only happen when the pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same.
Like water rolling down hill, humans tend to seek the path of least resistance. How can we use that to our advantage? Most people won’t volunteer to suffer through a transformation of their worldview, so we’re going to have to tweak the odds.
Most people won't subject themselves to pain voluntarily.
The counterintuitive implication of the equation
If we want to develop new perspectives in order to become more effective versions of ourselves, then there are two things we can do.
We can lower the pain of change.
Or, counterintuitively, we can increase the pain of staying the same.
Increasing the Pain of Staying the Same
One of the first things you can do is develop awareness of the pain. Where are you getting stuck in your life? Are there things coming up in work or in personal relationships that are difficult?
Don’t combine this with victim thinking. If you're answer to this question was like, “Oh yeah, there’s a problem, Sheila always…” that’s the wrong line of thinking.
Don’t blame others, just be aware of the problem. “I keep having conflict with others at work” is a more effective statement than blaming Sheila.
Not every problem involves others. Another perspective shift might be going from thinking that busyness is a status symbol, to caring more about leverage and impact. Awareness of that problem might start with recognizing a too-full calendar, or seeing there are things you’d like to say yes to, but can’t.
The second big thing you can do is to create a compelling vision for yourself. When the thing you want is so big and so inspiring, it’s easier to identify what’s getting in your own way - including you.
For example, an individual contributor who aspires to run a company of their own is MUCH more likely to want to learn from their current boss than an individual contributor without that aspiration.
Or, an entrepreneur who aspires to create a large organization is going to be MUCH more likely to see their full calendar as a problem than someone who is fine with the current size.
With awareness and a compelling vision, the pain of staying the same is going to feel very large - you'll see clearly how it's blocking you from your vision.
Seeing it as a blocker is what's going to compel you to change.
Decreasing the Pain of Change
The other lever you can pull is to decrease the pain of change. A few things that can help with that:
Be Humble, Be Curious One of my favorite quotes comes from Ian Leslie in “Conflicted”: “Behind many disagreements is a clash of cultures that seem strange to each other. Don’t assume that yours is the normal one.” (emphasis mine).
Just because YOU see the world a certain way does not mean that’s the ONLY way to see the world.
Watch other people around you. Everyone is rational in their own world. What are they doing? How is that different from you? Is there anything you could learn?
Be curious enough to see that there are many ways of being in the world, and be humble enough to change when you discover something more effective.
It's not obvious to me why an ugly Christmas sweater at the pool is a good idea, but I won't know until I ask!
Recognize Past Change Reflect on your past changes. Even though the change may have been difficult for “past you,” “current you” can see that it was worth it.
The next time you are faced with the potential for change, you’ll see that change isn’t that scary from the other side, and be more likely to go on a similar journey of change now.
Keep Your Identity Small If your identify requires that you see the world a certain way, it’ll be that much harder to change. If your identity is “I’m a scrappy startup CEO,” you’ll have a hard time pivoting to the type of leadership required at 150+ people.
If you’re on the cusp of change, and ever feel like, “But that’s not who I am,” then your identity is getting in the way.
Tip: verbs are better than nouns in your identity. Things like “I’m a scrappy startup CEO” lock you in more than “I seek the right leadership method for every stage of growth.”
Bringing it All Together
Every leap you’ve ever made, professionally or personally, started with a fresh lens on reality.
1️⃣ Notice the friction. Where do you keep stalling? That’s the pain of staying the same. 2️⃣ Paint the vision. A vivid, motivating vision amplifies the cost of staying the same. 3️⃣ Lower the hurdle. Curiosity, humility, and a flexible identity make rewiring easier.
When the pain of clinging to your old view is more than the pain of change, the conditions are ripe for a perspective shift. Your job is to tilt the odds, and then be willing to see the journey through to the other side.
Call to Action
Work through these steps this week:
↪ Spot the sticking point: Jot down one area where you’re frustrated or bored. ↪ Paint a vivid alternative: Write a sentence describing what “better” looks like six months from now. ↪ Pick one micro-action: Schedule a 30-minute block this week devoted to exploring a new perspective (book, podcast, mentor, or experiment). ↪ Tell me about it: Hit reply and share what you chose.
If a colleague feels boxed in by their current viewpoint, forward this issue of The Catalyst and help them start their own shift.
With humble curiosity, Kevin
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