Self Improvement Daily Podcast

The graphic, which was shared by Simpluris Inc founder Troy Hoffman, is a pyramid divided into four layers, with the bottom layer being is the biggest and broadest, and the size decreasing as you near the top. These 4 levels correspond to the 4 stages of learning, which are unconcsious incompontent, conscious incompetent, conscious competent, and unconscious competent. Those might sound like complex thoughts, but think of each one individually.

So, the bottom of the pyramid is unconscious incompetent. This is an awareness issue where, “you don’t know what you don’t know”. The unconscious part means it doesn’t come to mind, and the incompetent part means you aren’t capable. And since most things in life fit into this category, it is the biggest on the pyramid.  

The next step up is conscious incompetent. This is where you know that it exists, and might even believe it is important to know or master, but you haven’t. It’s that you realize that you don’t know something, but could begin to learn it if you want.

Then, it’s conscious competent, where you have learned and are capable of doing something, but it requires effort and focus. Of our skills, this is most common because we have to be really deliberate about engaging with the skill.

And last, at the top of the pyramid, is unconscious competent, where you can perform without thinking of it. This isn’t necessarily flow state, but it’s the point where you can execute at a high level without even thinking about it.

The reason I ran through these different stages is because having self-awareness about your skill level is essential. Being honest with yourself, and performing the tasks that you are best at and best suited for, will help you be a better contributor for your team and make better use of your time.

Have no excuses. The reality is, there is nothing I could say that would be more impactful on the subject than what Former president Barack Obama says in the video.

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I want to share this thought by the always inspirational, sports marketing wizard David Meltzer.

Try to see things through, and like David said, 99% is still stopping short. Sure, the end is in sight, and the result at 99% is no different than the result at 100%.  You may be right, but just in case you’re not, wouldn’t you want to find out?

David believes that last one percent, the extra mile, is an area many people don’t enter, and therefore, it is rich with opportunity. He also believes in the mentality of pursuing 100% and going all-in in the things you do and seeing things through to their entirety, minimizes regret and teaches a valuable lesson.

The difference between ordinary, and extraordinary, is a little extra, that last 1%. Cheesy quote aside, small differences can actually be large differences if you give them the chance to be!

I learned today’s tip from the wonderful Irene Whalen. Although I have only used it a few times, it has been extremely effective. 

In 7th grade, Irene was told by one of her teachers that if she had a question and wasn’t immediately called on, she was to put her hand down and cross her fingers so that she could remember to ask it at a more appropriate time. So instead of having students keep their hands raised and distract the class, they could quietly remember their question and ask it when prompted later.

Irene has taken this concept and applied it in many different areas in her life, remembering to grab a specific item at the grocery store, as a reminder to tell a story after the current conversation has moved on, and to do that one chore first thing when she gets home.  

Crossing your fingers, of course, competes against the alternative of just remembering the question in your mind. In my experience, crossing my fingers has been much more effective, and here’s why.

The act of crossing your fingers creates a strong association with your thought, and the slight discomfort and inconvenience it provides makes you think about the reason why your fingers are crossed, more often.  Essentially, this helps move the thought from your short term memory into your long term memory, because you are frequently prompted to recall the thought and therefore more likely to remember it.  And you could also argue that performing this physical action activates more areas of the brain and dedicates more brain power to remembering the thought, and therefore will be recalled more easily and more often.

This works so well that I now remember, from over a month ago, that I was in the grocery store and needed to buy an oven pizza.  It’s pretty crazy, but it works.

So, give it a try. The next time you’re driving home, or preoccupied with something else, try crossing your fingers, and see if it helps you remember to follow through on whatever that is.

Will power. It’s something you’re either born with, or your not, right?  Wrong!  Studies show that will power is actually utilized like a muscle, and that it depletes in strength when you use it just like a muscle does. There’s a really cool study done at Case Western University that I want to quickly share. One group of participants were asked to eat a cookie, and another group was asked to eat a radish with a plate of cookies next to it that they couldn’t eat. Then, both groups did a difficult puzzle, and the study found that those who resisted the cookie gave up sooner because they had already expended their will power.

Here is how to train your will power, and there are two will power workouts to do that.  

The first workout is to set yourself up for success by writing down what you need to do and when it needs to be done by. This is like stretching your muscle and getting it ready to go. Workout 2 is to condition yourself and build discipline. Make a plan for how you can tackle the task gradually and follow through with it. I’m feeling stronger already! Give those two exercises a try next time you don’t feel like doing something.

I’m just going to jump right into it. Clean up your computer desktop. The reality is, our desktop is our virtual workspace, and maintaining organization and format helps to increase productivity. Benjamin Franklin once said, “For every moment spent in organizing, an hour is earned”, and I believe that. The obvious piece to that is organization helps you find things easier, and waste less time searching for that file or folder that you need. But, that doesn’t actually account for that much time in the day. What I think Franklin was alluding to is that taking the time to look for things serves as a major disruption to your work-flow.  

As we get going on an assignment or project, we build momentum. Our thoughts start stringing together to align everything into one vision, helping our work to naturally layer on top of itself. When you’re in the groove, and you have to spend extra time and energy in preparation, it breaks up that momentum and makes it harder to seamlessly continue where you left off.

Lastly, if you’re the kind of person that gets stressed out with clutter and extra stimulation, then a clean desktop will help you to be more effective with your work just because it is more comfortable for you.

So, there are a few ways to get organized. My technique is to create folders and put my miscellaneous documents and images in those folders. This helps decrease the overall volume of content on my desktop. My rule of thumb is I like having two thirds of my laptop desktop empty. It seems like the right balance for me, but I’m one of those people who can’t stand clutter.  

 “Good things are coming. Can you feel it?". Just because things are a certain way doesn’t mean they are going to be that way in the future. Life can change so fast, and that lucky break or well-earned breakthrough might be around the corner. There’s an excitement about the unknown, especially if you are working hard and applying yourself. Opportunity is abundant and you’re ready to grab it!

The feeling that those good things are coming, provides the validation you need to continue applying yourself. It’s a surge of energy that helps you put a little extra in everything you do. Also, that energy has a strong pull on the good things you are trying to attract, bringing them closer to your grasp every single day.

So believe it. Good things are coming. Can you feel it?