Don McMinn

Place all activity into one of two categories: maintenance or strategic.

Maintenance activities are necessary, but they don’t take you beyond your status quo. Maintenance work includes mundane actions like taking a bath, doing your laundry, changing the oil in your car, and cooking meals. Some maintenance functions are more critical—going to work, dealing with medical issues—but they are still focused on preserving the existing state. Neglect them and things begin to break down. But if maintenance activities (also known as custodial activities) are all you ever do, you’ll not advance in life; you’ll exist but not thrive.

Strategic initiatives move you into a better space. They depart from the norm, promote growth, and open new doors.

For instance, one of my strategic goals in 2016 is to make 50 new friends. I will have a one-on-one meeting (perhaps over breakfast, lunch, or a cup of coffee) with these new acquaintances and then follow up with another personal visit, or I might get a group of my new friends together to visit about interesting topics.

Another strategic initiative I’m pursuing is to improve my short-term memory. I want to be able to read a telephone number once and remember it, or hear a phrase or quote and memorize it immediately.

These types of activities will help me become a better person, not just maintain my current state.

Most of us spend 70-80% of our time on routine, custodial tasks, and that’s okay, even necessary. But with the remaining time, let’s break new ground, try something different, and extend our boundaries.

Once maintenance issues become systematized you don’t have to think a lot about them. But strategic actions take initiative and thoughtful planning. Do both.

[reminder]What are your thoughts about this topic?[/reminder]

Summary
What? – There is a difference between maintenance and strategic actions. Do both.
So what? – Maintenance activities only perpetuate the status quo; strategic actions are needed for growth.
Now what? – Craft and adopt at least two new strategic initiatives that you will work on in the next 12 months.

Click here for more information on how your organization will benefit from strategic initiatives.

Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death. —Einstein

Just as we all have a biological nutrient base—we routinely digest a suitable and adequate amount of physical nourishment—we need an intellectual nutrient base (INB). On a regular basis, we must feast on proven sources of “food for thought.”

My intellectual nutrient base includes:

• Books—I read a book a week. Click here to read a previous post on the value of reading.
• Magazines and newspapers— I read National Geographic, Smithsonian, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and the weekend edition of the New York Times.
• The Great Courses (www.thegreatcourses.com)—there are 558 available courses taught by noted professors that can be downloaded in audio or video formats. I’m currently watching The Philosopher’s Toolkit and Scientific Secrets for a Powerful Memory. Lectures are 30 minutes in length. About four nights a week, I watch a lesson before I go to bed. Subscribe to their free catalog for special pricing.
• TED talks are short, engaging, and free. Go to www.ted.com, search by topic, and enjoy.
• Engaging friendships. I spend time with friends that challenge and stimulate my mind.
• Times of meditation and reflection. I often find a quiet place to just be quiet and think.

Customize your own intellectual nutrient base. Just as you have a unique preference for physical food, discover what best nourishes your mind. Experiment with many options and commit to a few.

Your INB will keep you fresh and vital.

When I meet someone for the first time, I can quickly surmise if his or her life is fresh and invigorating or if it’s grown stale. The symptoms of an atrophied life are obvious: threadbare curiosity, tired vision, unimaginative vocabulary, dated and overused stories, and a slow, almost languid pace.

People who have pushed the pause button on their personal development may be described by the fictitious gravestone that reads: “Died age 45; buried age 70.” Quite frankly, those people are uninteresting and lifeless.

But people who are fully alive, current, and vitally engaged with life are interesting to be with and have something to contribute to life and relationships. They provide stimulating conversations and insightful observations. Lifelong learning fosters interesting and growing relationships and is sustained by systematic consumption of an intellectual nutrient base.

[callout]I would like to give you a free digital copy of my book Lifelong Learning. Click here to download a PDF version.[/callout]

[reminder]What are your thoughts about this essay?[/reminder]

Summary
What? – Just as we need physical nutrients to keep us physically fit, we need consistent intellectual nourishment to keep ourselves mentally healthy.
So what? – Your INB will keep you mentally fresh and invigorated.
Now what? – Define and use a personal INB.

Diligence is the constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken. —Atal Gawande

I have never thought much about diligence. Virtues like courage, initiative, honesty, and optimism seem to get all the attention. Diligence appears mundane, simplistic, even boring. But it is the prerequisite of all great accomplishment.

Diligence is putting your hand to the plow and not letting go until the row is hoed. It always requires focus, and often requires aggressiveness and inventiveness.

Initiative takes the lead and diligence keeps up the pace. These two virtues converge to form industriousness.

Diligence is personified in the life of Demosthenes, a contemporary of Plato and Aristotle, who overcame seemingly insurmountable challenges to become one of the great orators of Athens, if not history.

He was a sickly and frail child, inhibited by a debilitating speech impediment. When he was seven years old his parents died. His guardians stole his inheritance.

But one day, the young Demosthenes heard a speech at the court of Athens given by a gifted orator and was so moved by the man’s stirring voice and inspiring ideas that he vowed to follow suit and become a statesman—one who could persuade others with his words and thoughts. He crafted and followed an improbable plan to overcome his challenges and perfect his skills.

To strengthen his voice and the clarity of his speech he practiced speaking with pebbles in his mouth. He rehearsed near the seashore, working to make his voice heard above the pounding of the waves. He built an underground dugout so he could study without distractions and shaved half his head so he would not be tempted to deviate from his studies by engaging in social activities. He reportedly copied Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War eight times in order to improve his command of language and to absorb its history.

His diligence to study and prepare worked. Through his insightful writing and persuasive speaking he became a leader in 4th century Greece. Some consider him the father of democracy. His speech On the Crown has been called the greatest speech of the greatest orator in the world.

While it’s fascinating to talk about the paraphernalia of Demosthenes’ diligence— pebbles, waves, caves, and a shaved head—we need to examine ourselves and ask, “Are we diligent,” and if so, what is the proof? What habits and routines demonstrate our careful and persistent work and effort?

A lack of diligence will derail our best intentions. Its presence will aid and support our goals and plans.

[reminder]What are your thoughts about this essay?[/reminder]

Feelings are more dangerous than ideas because they aren’t susceptible to rational evaluation. —Brian Eno

Have you watched this video? If not, please do so.

I am surprised by, and sometimes frustrated at, some people’s submission to emotions. Emotions dominate their lives. Rational thought is ignored and facts are resisted. Like the lady with the nail in her forehead, life is seen exclusively through the lens of emotions.

I do understand and appreciate human emotionality—I even wrote a book on the subject. But let’s pursue a balance between emotions and rational thought. Don’t live your life based on emotions, and for sure, don’t make decisions based on emotions.

Can we agree on the following?

Learn to tell the difference between feeling and thinking.

Mark Twain said, “We do no end of feeling and mistake that for thinking.” Often, we’re simply not aware of which part of our brain is most active at any given moment: our limbic system (emotions) or our frontal lobe (thinking and reasoning). When you’re feeling angry, sad, happy, rejected, overwhelmed, fulfilled—those are feelings. When you’re considering data and facts and you favor rational discourse and the thoughtful weighing of evidence—that’s thinking.

There is often an inverse relationship between feeling and thinking.

Sometimes the more emotionally stirred-up we are, the less rational we are. In extreme cases, when someone is emotionally peaked, he or she may be incapable of thinking rationally. Likewise, if we view life exclusively through the lens of rationality, we won’t fully understand the human condition and we’ll miss out on the depth of human experience. Strive for balance. Avoid emotional incontinence.

Don’t immediately act on feelings.

In his must-read book, The Road to Character, David Brooks said, “The point of all this (self-regulation) was to separate instant emotion from action, to reduce the power of temporary feelings. A person might feel fear, but he would not act on it. A person might desire sweets, but would be able to repress the urge to eat them. The stoic ideal holds that an emotion should be distrusted more often than trusted. Emotion robs you of agency, so distrust desire. Distrust anger, and even sadness and grief. Regard these things as one might regard fire: useful when tightly controlled, but a ravaging force when left unchecked.”

When making decisions, rely more on facts.

To make a sound decision, you need facts. Seek them out and prioritize them. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions but not to their own facts. Occasionally, opinions and personal perspectives need to be considered, but not before the facts are examined. For sure, when you’re peaking emotionally, refrain from making major decisions.

In general, rational thinking trumps emotions.

All humans are inescapably emotional, so we can’t ignore human emotionality. Our lives are filled with both positive emotions (I feel affirmed, satisfied, happy, content, supported) and painful emotions (I feel sad, neglected, hurt, alone, unsupported), and they are part of the human experience, contributing to our very existence. But logic and reasoning provide a surer path to truth and progress.

[reminder]What are your thoughts about this essay?[/reminder]

Summary

What? – Live a balanced life in which both emotions and reason are in their place and at their best.
So what? – Don’t let emotions rule your life.
Now what? – If you tend to be overly emotional, work on establishing a more healthy balance of emotion and reason.
Leaders – Emotional intelligence is an important skill for leaders to have. Learn how to control your own emotions and how to properly respond to other people’s emotions. Base your leadership and particularly your decision-making on facts and rational thought.

[callout]Recommended Article

Occasionally, I’ll include in a post, the link to an interesting article which addresses a different topic than the post.

Here’s a fascinating article – Death, the Prosperity Gospel and Me – by Kate Bowler (February 13, 2016; New York Times). It raises some thought provoking issues about the prosperity gospel. Click here for the article.[/callout]