Category: performance

Quit It!

“What am I doing?” Have you ever had one of those moments – maybe days or even weeks – of clarity when you realize that what you are doing is not moving you towards your long-term goals? Your actions, your job, your daily routine are taking caring of some immediate need, but are doing nothing to help you fulfill some greater purpose.

Seth Godin tackles this subject in his slim volume, The Dip. He offers a simple idea: maybe we should be quitting, quitting the things that are not moving us towards some purpose, goal or accomplishment. If what you are doing to survive is not moving you towards being the best at something, you should quit the distractions and focus on your purpose.

How about you? When you envision your greater purpose, the thing that you were built to do, how do your current activities move you towards that bright future? Are they? Or are your activities putting you in idle, revving your engine, surviving, but not moving you towards your purpose?

What about the dip the author refers to? Godin shares that getting to be the best at something requires a lot of time and effort in the trenches, working hard, sometimes in anonymity, moving towards that goal. There isn’t a lot of glamour and prestige in the dip, but if you make it to the other side, you can be the best at something, something that truly matters to you.

I was fortunate to stumble upon this book and it challenged me, and even though it is several years old, it is still relevant. I am considering what I need to quit so I can devote my time and energy to those things most valuable to me. How about you? What are you doing, what are your goals, and are you making progress towards them? Or are you just doing what you need to pay the next month’s rent? What will change in your life to move you back onto the right path?

Comments? Share what you are doing, not doing and quitting. Maybe you will inspire someone else.

Yeah, But What’s the Score?

The New York Yankees took the field yesterday ready to win. Their energy and enthusiasm was on display from the first moments as they ran out and took the field, hosting the Baltimore Orioles in what turned out to be an electrifying game. Derek Jeter was at his best, turning plays, connecting for convincing run-producing base hits and leading his team. He and the rest of the team were motivated to win, self-starters from beginning to end.

Yeah, but what’s the score? Did the Yankees win or lose? By how much?

We live in a world where we own our numbers, and people want to know them. Whether you are discussing your job performance with your boss, selling your company’s products and services to potential clients, or selling yourself to a potential employer in a job interview, the numbers count. No numbers means lots of uncertainty and frustration, just like the sports report above.

Know your numbers. Keep tracking them, understanding how they define your performance and how you can make them better. Specific performance described with metrics is more believable and useful to buyers (bosses, customer and interviewers) than a truckload of self-anointed adjectives like can-do, self motivated, go-getter and other happy talk that everyone uses to describe themselves. Stand out from the crowd with performance. Back it up with the score sheet.