Don McMinn

Bill Brooks, management consultant, tells how visualizing success helped Florence Chadwick become the first woman to swim the English Channel.

“When Florence Chadwick set out from the coast of France to make her historic swim in 1952, she was full of hope and courage. The lone swimmer was surrounded by boats filled with journalists, well-wishers and a few skeptics. For years she had trained vigorously to build her stamina and disciplined her body to keep going long after everything within her cried out for her to quit.

“As she neared the coast of England a heavy fog settled in and the waters became increasingly cold and choppy. ‘Come on Florence, you can make it!’ her mother urged as she handed her some food. ‘It’s only a few more miles! You’re ahead of schedule!’ But Florence was beaten by the tortuous elements of nature that day.

“Exhausted, she finally asked to be pulled aboard the boat. She was heartbroken, especially when she discovered how close she’d come to her goal.

“‘I’m not making excuses,’ she later told reporters, ‘but I think I could have made it if I could only have seen my goal.’

“Florence determined to try again. This time, she added a new dimension to her daily training. She studied the shoreline of England where she expected to land, and memorized every feature of the seacoast. Each day as she swam, she would replay that mental image of her goal.

“Eventually, she entered the waters again and set out for the coast of England. Along the way, she ran into all the fog, turbulence and cold water she’d met before. But this time something was different. She swam with greater vigor and determination. Even the skeptics noticed her new confidence.

“She became the first woman in history to swim the English Channel.”

What made the difference? She said later that it was because she was able to keep her goal clearly in focus in her mind, even when she couldn’t see it with her eyes.

I’ve used this principle often in life. When training to run the New York Marathon I often imagined crossing the finish line in Central Park. When working on my graduate degree I would fantasize about having Ph.D. as a post-nominal. When I was writing my first book I imagined holding the book and caressing the cover. Starting with the end in mind helped me to persevere when the journey got hard (and it always does get hard).

Starting with the end in mind will not only offer needed motivation, it can help us in practical ways. Visualize the end of a project and then work backwards, identifying the major steps required to complete it. For instance, reverse-engineer the building of a house: in your mind, see the completed house and then dismantle it one step at a time in the reverse order of how it will be built. Reverse-engineer a major project at work or a vacation—any goal that involves multiple consecutive steps.

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

Summary
What? – When attempting a major project it often helps to visualize the completed project.
So what? – Visualizing the end of a project motivates us to persevere during difficult times and it may help us properly plan the project.
Now what? – Choose a project you’re about to start and visualize what it will look like when you’re finished. Keep these images in mind as you work on the project.

[callout]Recommended Article

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

My friend, Phil Bruce, sent me the link to an excellent article written by Peter Bregman, published by Harvard Business Review, titled How to Read a Book a Week. It offers practical advice on how to learn from reading. Click here for the article. [/callout]

 

Feedback is a gift.

Everyone who has physical sight has a physical blind spot. Where your optic nerve exits the eye on its way to the brain, it creates an area on the retina without receptors that respond to light. Any image that falls in this region will not be seen.

Everyone also has a psychological blind spot—areas of your life that are apparent to everyone else but unseen by you.

The Johari Window (see graphic) is a simple four-pane grid that divides our self-awareness into four parts based on what other people know and don’t know about us and what we know and don’t know about ourselves.

To me, the most intriguing area is the unknown—those elements that are yet to be discovered. The most frightening area is the blind spot—areas of my life that are obvious to others but obscure to me.

Your blind spot (singular) encompasses multiple issues. Some of these issues are positive in nature—people may recognize strengths in you that you are unaware of. Some of the issues are negative—people see a flaw in your character or behavior that you don’t see. In this essay we’ll focus on the flaws because they are the hardest to uncover and acknowledge.

One of the greatest opportunities for self-improvement lies in discovering and disempowering these “unknown-to-self” flaws. It’s one of the most difficult things to do in life but the results are significant, even transformative. Here are some suggestions on how to become aware of your blind spot.

• Acknowledge that you have a blind spot filled with numerous defects. What do you think? Does the upper right-hand quadrant of the Johari Window apply to you? Please say yes.
• Desire to journey into this unknown and treacherous parcel of self.
• Find someone who is insightful enough to see clearly what you cannot see and who is willing to speak truth to you. Most people either don’t have the insight or don’t have the courage to do this. Find that rare person who knows you well and is willing to tell you difficult information.
• Ask this person(s) to speak into your life, assuring him or her that what they say will not compromise your relationship.
• Accept what is said. Initially, you may be surprised at what is said and even deny that the problems exist. That’s normal, because it’s a…blind spot.
• Meditate on these areas and embrace them as truth. Notice how they are manifest in your life and consider how these areas have hurt others and impeded your progress.
• In an appropriate manner, go public with your intention to correct the flaws and solicit people who will hold you accountable. Give them a regular update on your progress.

Marshall Goldsmith is one of the most sought-after life coaches in America. He works with high-level executives from all industries. He has a simple but highly effective strategy for helping his clients see and repair their blind spots. His book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There outlines the plan he uses with his clients. If you’re serious about dealing with your blind spot, read this book and follow his plan.

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

Summary
What? – Everyone has a psychological blind spot that can be discovered.
So what? – Our lives and relationships will improve when we eradicate our blind spot.
Now what? – Begin the process of discovering and eliminating your blind spot.

Anybody who acquires deep expertise does so at the expense of breadth. The challenge is to understand how much depth is enough, and how much is too much. —Andrew Hargadon

Most of us develop deep expertise in our profession and that’s necessary and good. Whatever profession you choose—teacher, physician, painter, architect, plumber—be good at it. There’s a bell curve in all human activity; make sure you’re on the right-hand side of the curve.

But there’s a point at which more expertise is unnecessary and even distracting. Do a cost-benefit analysis before going extreme. Will the cost of pursuing more expertise outweigh the benefit of doing so?

I have a friend who is extremely good at his profession, but that’s all he knows how to do. He has no other interests in life. He has burrowed deep into a narrow niche and lives only in that small area.

I have another friend who is extremely good at his profession, but she also has a broad curiosity about life and explores and excels in many areas. I prefer her approach.

Our world is a fascinating place; adopt a broad approach to life.

Be a jack of all trades and a master of one.

When considering depth and breadth, it need not be an either/or scenario; it can be both/and. Thomas Huxley said, “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” I like that. Have one well-developed area of expertise and stay fresh in that area, but also pursue multiple areas of interest.

Don’t underestimate your capacity to do more.

We all have more band-width than we think we do. Most of us can do 30-40% more than we’re doing. So don’t think that you can only handle one thing in life; bite off more than you can choose.

A broad knowledge base will make you a better and more interesting person.

In Western civilization, the “Renaissance person” (also called a polymath) is, presumably, the ideal to strive for—a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. Think Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci—men who were multi-skilled and deeply impacted the world.

My son-in-law, Jonathan, is a polymath. He’s an emergency room physician, an instrument rated pilot, entrepreneur, sailor, flight surgeon for an F16 squad, works well with his hands…and the list goes on.

My associate, Paul, is a polymath. He’s musically talented, has a black-belt in Karate, is a master chef, speaks fluent Spanish…he could teach at the college level in multiple disciplines.

If I were Captain of a “game of life” and could choose my teammates, I would pick these two men. They are fully alive and have the focus, aggressiveness, and inventiveness to do anything they want to do.

I’ll close with a well-said thought from science fiction writer, Robert Heinlein: “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

Questions for you, the reader:

• In what area of life are you a “master”?
• Have you developed other areas of interest? Name them.
• Are you curious about life? Do you want to pursue broad knowledge?
• Identify an area of your life in which you need to say, “I’ve gone deep enough.”

Go deep and broad.

I’ve written other essays that relate to this topic:

• Maintain a bucket list
• Do more

[reminder]What do you think about this essay?[/reminder]

Summary
What? – In life, strive for both depth and breadth; you don’t need to choose one or the other.
So what? – Your life will be more enjoyable and you’ll be better able to contribute to society if you develop multiple interests.
Now what? – Audit your life and decide how deep you want to go in each major area. Begin pursuing more areas of interest.

 

It’s more important to fail at something that matters than to succeed at something that doesn’t. —Regina Dugan

 

Ms. Dugan packs a lot of wisdom into this one sentence. I remember the first time I read it; my wife, Mary, and I discussed it over dinner, and then I meditated on the sentence until it found a place in my mind.

Here are my most recent thoughts.

Define what matters to you.

Place all your activities and actions into one of two broad categories: things that matter and things that don’t. The only category you need to define is the first category—things that matter; by default everything else falls into the second category. Your list of things that matter will be personal and finite; there is no limit to the number of things that don’t matter.

Your things-that-matter list may include things you don’t enjoy doing, but must do. For example, there may be aspects of your job that are unsavory, but if you want to stay gainfully employed, they must be prioritized.

This list may also include mundane activities that serve a higher purpose. For instance, I exercise three times a week, once to exhaustion. I don’t enjoy working out, but it keeps my body in shape so it will enhance, and not hinder, the activity of my mind. (Einstein once said that the only purpose of our body is to carry our brain around.)

But most of the entries on your things-that-matter list will be things that you value—quality-of-life issues.

Prioritize what matters.

An unexamined and undisciplined life will inevitably drift toward the unimportant so we must focus and prioritize our actions. Priorities are defined destinations—everything else is just infinite space. Think of it this way: a ship in the ocean can meaninglessly drift in an unlimited number of directions but will only reach a specific destination when directed.

A life without priorities is like a ship without a rudder.

When pursuing what matters, allow for failure.

View failures as both unavoidable and acceptable. Management consultants Pfeffer and Sutton said, “Setbacks and mistakes should be viewed as an inevitable, even desirable, part of being action oriented. The only true failure is to stop trying new things and to stop learning from the last effort to turn knowledge into action.”

If you’re afraid of failure, you’ll never move beyond your safe zone; you’ll never leave sight of the shoreline for the vast ocean. Instead of thinking, “Failure is not an option,” think, “Failure is an option, and there’s a good probability that it will happen.”

When you fail, look for causes, not excuses. Analyze what happened, identify causes, learn, and adjust.

Although failure is a natural byproduct of living an aggressive life, never be cavalier about failure and don’t romanticize it. Failure is not acceptable if it is the result of slothfulness, poor planning, or poor execution.

When pursuing what matters, incremental progress is profitable even if you don’t reach the ultimate goal. For instance, if your goal is to get a degree in anthropology, every course you take toward the degree is profitable, even if you fall short of finishing.

It’s okay to fail at something that matters.

Don’t be beguiled by meaningless success.

Some things masquerade as success but are not. That is, actions are not equivalent to results; being busy is not commensurate with productivity.

When you succeed at things that don’t really matter, you can develop a false sense of wellbeing and accomplishment. A quarterback can post impressive statistics—passes completed, no interceptions, total passing yardage—but still lose the game.

For the past 40 years I have used the week between Christmas and New Years to plan for the upcoming 12 months. I evaluate where I am in life, make course corrections, and decide what my plans and goal will be for the new year. I define what matters and how I will pursue it. I encourage you to do the same.

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

Summary
What?– It’s more important to fail at something that matters than to succeed at something that doesn’t.
So what? – Analyze all your efforts and make sure you are focused on priorities.
Now what? – Analyze your failures and successes and make sure both are related to important matters.