Hidden Secrets In Ultimate Productivity

Yesterday I wrote a piece about how I am VERY Competitive.

I spoke about "How" you Compete is Important to attaining Success.

Much of my Success has come from an understanding of this concept.

What I was NOT prepared for was a wonderful comment from a dedicated reader of my writing. (PS - Thank you for your comment!)

They basically said that they believed if we were to meet, they would find me intimidating.

This struck me as VERY funny because I do NOT find myself to be an intimidating person.

People who know me would probably say I'm a bit of a... light-hearted goofball.

However, this comment made me realize some things.

When I look at the things I've accomplished, I can see how it might "look" or "sound" intimidating.

From climbing some mountainsides barefoot, and writing over 450 articles in 2 years, to other things I've mentioned elsewhere.

I get why it might "appear" that I could be intimidating!

It also made me realize how in my writing I often talk about things that I do NOT frequently talk about in other parts of my life.

You could say that you see a different side of me through my writing, that you wouldn't normally see in day-to-day life.

Indeed, many of these things I rarely mention in other parts of my life.

Much of my work is as a Leadership Coach, where I put my complete Focus on my Clients.

What are their Challenges?

What are their Strengths?

How do we find ways to overcome Obstacles?

Where do we Venture to next?

What Progress will we be Celebrating on their Paths?

These are the types of questions that fill most of my days.

So, this leads me to what I want to discuss today - the Hidden Secrets of what has led to much Success and how I stay so Productive.

These are things that I have found to be incredibly Important, but which you may not expect to hear from someone who may "seem" Intimidating.

The first thing I would say is that you need to Listen like you know NOTHING.

If I am going to be honest, there is quite a bit that I know, and I'm not an idiot (at least... not most days haha).

I am a Mensan (Tested in the Top 2% of IQ) and I have over 20 certifications in a variety of fields such as Neurocardiology, Neurogastroenterology, Eudaimonolgy, Flow Psychology and Performance, and of course, Leadership, to name a few.

So you might say, in the famous words of Lin Manuel Miranda in the musical Hamilton, "I'm a polymath, a pain in the ass, a massive pain".

However, even though I know quite a few things, I approach every conversation exactly the same.

As if I Know absolutely NOTHING.

I have nothing to gain by appearing smart, and there is a major difference between being "smart" and being "wise".

I'd rather aim to be wise (even if I miss the mark, and fall on my face).

The wisest people I know first seek to Understand others.

When you approach things as if you know Nothing, you end up finding that you Learn significantly more than if you assumed you knew anything.

I have frequently seen Executives come into a conversation assuming they know something, only to never Learn the Truth.

This tends to be the poison in an Organization - That which others know, but don't tell you because you don't truly Listen.

However, when you take the opposite approach, you often find things that are easy to miss.

How people's eyes move when they say things, gut feelings, and minute information that gives significant Insights.

But these ONLY come to us when we approach situations as if we know Nothing.

Think of it like this...

When we already "know" things, we don't look for anything - there's an Arrogance that Blinds us.

When we know "nothing", we find that EVERYTHING might mean "something", and those "somethings" build up as we find more of them.

The next Important thing to finding Success is to find Fun.

Even if it may sound like the things I do have an Intensity to them, the reality is that "if" I'm intense, it is because I have so much FUN doing these things in my life.

How is it that I can write EVERY day?

I find INTENSE joy as I figure out what to write!

How do I blast through so many different certifications?

The things I learn are Exciting and push my Imagination towards the Fascinating Possibilities in Life!

So much of my Life is run by Fun.

Now, not EVERY moment is "Enjoyable", but when you find things are Fun, the Challenge is a PART of what makes it Fun!

Why do people LOVE sports so much?

It is because of the Challenges and the Fun!

Are they also Intense?

Sure - but it is NEVER what players are Focused on.

They are Focused on the GAME.

The thing about Games is that ANYTHING can be made into a Game if you become a bit Creative.

Any job, any chore, truly ANY aspect of Life can become a Fun Game.

Which in turn fuels Flow States!

Flow States are where we are most Productive, most Creative, best Solve Problems, and are most Innovative.

A nice secret is that when we find Fun, we often ALSO find Flow States.

If you make your Life Fun, you'll find more Paths to Success open to you.

My third thing to think about is that it's NOT ABOUT YOU!

It doesn't matter what aspect of life you are looking at, when you stop making it about yourself you'll often find more Success.

Want better Success with Customers?

It's not about you, it's about the Customers.

Want better Success with your Team?

It's not about you, it's about your Teammates.

Want better Success with a Significant Other?

It's not about you, it's about Them.

When you start Focusing on others you'll tend to find 2 things.

First, you'll have more Success with them almost Immediately.

Second, you end up getting more of whatever you Seek.

There is a strange aspect of our Psychology where we feel a need to reciprocate when we have received anything.

However, most people fall into the trap of "waiting" to receive first.

But, when we reverse this and "give" first, we overwhelmingly find that we "receive" significantly more from others.

Now, you DO need to be wary that you aren't abused in this type of giving-first approach - sadly some people are happy to just "take".

However, as a general approach with the VAST majority of people, it works EXTREMELY well.

My fourth point is that you tend to find Success when you Care about Impact.

A major challenge in today's world is that many people are Focused on the wrong things.

They are Focused on things like Money, or Trophies, among other things.

I'm not saying these things are inherently bad, but when we primarily Focus on them, we also find that they tend to stay out of reach.

In my work, I am NEVER looking to get any Money or Awards.

Yet, my clients pay me well and I frequently earn Awards for my work.

The Reason it happens is that I am seeking to Impact at the HIGHEST Levels.

I ask questions like...

How can I help others become more Successful than myself?

How could I get people to their Goals faster?

What could I say that, if people heard, could make a Better World?

If I talk about something I've done, it's because I believe YOU could do it too!

The Reality is that the Results that I've had aren't "really" all that difficult to attain.

The only difference is that I've dedicated myself to certain things, things which anyone could also dedicate themselves to if they chose to.

Including You.

However, it all comes by looking at Impact first.

When you Focus your Life on Positively Impacting everything you touch, there is little that can stand in your way.

Truly, no one and nothing "wants" to stand in your way because your Positive Impact helps Everyone around you.

If people's Lives are better around You, why would they "not" want You around?

I will wrap everything up with this final piece - Don't take yourself too seriously.

Guess what, I'M HUMAN TOO!

It is one of my favorite things to say to people (including myself)!

We all fall down.

We all make humiliating mistakes.

We all have weird quirks that others don't understand.

It's a part of being Human!

When you get "Intense" and take yourself "Seriously", you'll find that Life stops being Fun and you feel like nothing is ever good enough.

You always end up second-guessing yourself, afraid of being seen as a fraud.

You end up hiding in the dark because, at least there, no one can see.

However, if you approach Life without taking yourself too seriously and recognizing that it is normal to just be Human, everything opens up.

You can fall flat on your face and laugh about it because there's nothing wrong with the Process of Learning.

You can appear comfortable in front of people because you're just being yourself.

All tension can be broken when you see the irony in situations where we all have a tendency to take ourselves too seriously.

This openness becomes Freeing.

When you are Free, NOTHING can slow you down.

Without chains, you can suddenly Sprint towards your Goals.

You become more Productive not because you are "special", but because you aren't weighing yourself down with unnecessary burdens.

You get to the Finish Lines of Success faster because you aren't dragging around anything, or hiding yourself from the race entirely.

These are the Reasons I move so fast in Life.

It isn't because I'm "Intense" or "Powerful" or "Cool" (because Lord knows I'm ANYTHING but the definition of Cool!).

No, I do not claim to be any of these things, and I think everyone around me would agree!

I move fast because I'm Free, Perfectly Imperfect as I am, having Fun and Listening to other Amazing Humans, looking for ways to Serve Them.

I Know Nothing, I have Nothing to Prove and Nothing to Lose!

These things may not sound like the Components of Success or Productivity, but I can tell you that they have been ESSENTIAL in my Life.