Zero Based Thinking
Sure fire way to not achieve anything is quitting. But here is a simple rule for achieving anything. A huge task can be very daunting; so use the law of accumulation – greater accomplishments are sum of smaller accomplishments. Break your task up and achieve it in increments. What are you trying to achieve? What smaller parts can you cut your task into?
Leaders, however, think on their feet and quickly; you have to have the ability to cut your losses fast. Sometimes, you just pick a task that is not worthy of all the headaches and grief. Sometimes, it is something that you can’t be great at – only mediocre. Don’t do something just to be good at it, do it to be great at it. But if you can’t be great – and be realisitc about it -than ask yourself, is it worth it?
Know to how to end things – this is the difference between a calculated risk and a gamble. Both cases involve an action with only a chance of success; however, with a risk you can return to your original position, and with a gamble you suffer long term damage which is hard to pull out of. If something is not work, end it. Costs run deep; you lose your self confidence; and gain tons of bitterness and animosity.
Three types of people:
1. The dreamers and the talkers: They begin their projects with burst of enthusiasm, but their energy fades as they encounter the real world.
2. The enders: Those who bring everything to a conclusion; and their conclusion has no resonance, it is hurried and patched together.
3. Victims of their own success: They have brilliant plans and piled up conquests, but it’s not enough. Over confidence can lead them to that gamble from which they just might not recover.
Your tendency to think in terms of winning or losing is dangerous, you need to have a more fluid and strategic outlook on life. Key is to stay focused on the future while operating in the presenting even with ending things. The matter should not be whether something has come to an end, but rather how you deal with the matter is what matters the most.
Does failure affect you psychologically? Have you learnt any lessons? Did you come out of from the defeat stronger or weaker? Are you standing tall or bitter?
Remember, when the sun finishes its course and sets below the horizon, it leaves behind a brilliant and memorable glow. Its return is always desired.