Welcome to the Deploy Yourself Newsletter. Every two weeks I share what impactful leadership looks like to show your own power. I also share the most insightful lessons and stories I encountered in the last two weeks. You can also read this issue online.
Hey,
Three Ways To Shape Your Future
All of us are heading into a “future”.
The only question is – Is it a future of our choosing? Or is it a “default future” – the one that is waiting for us if things continue as they are?
Part of being a leader is acknowledging that we do not control our future. Once you accept that, you stop fighting things not being your way.
That allows you the humility and freedom from resistance and frustration. It allows you to be in charge of your actions.
You can not control your future. But you can shape it. You can always be in charge, never in control.
Understand and take charge of your emotions, your thoughts & conversations, and your actions. And you will start to shape your future.
Three specific ways you can shape your future is by:
- Declare and go after what you want. If you want something, either go after it or stop “wanting”. Continuing to want a future but not going after it is an invitation for disempowering emotions like frustration, resentment, and hopelessness. Make a declaration (to a limited set of people or publicly) to bring forth your commitment for the journey from where you are now to where you want to be.
- Ask and make requests for what you need. Unless you ask, the answer will always be NO. Ask people to join hands with you. Ask people to support you financially or with other resources. Ask people to volunteer their time. And if you can not figure out what to ask to whom, ask for advice and help. Find out who has done what you want to do before, and ask for mentoring or coaching.
- Take the next tiny step. Often it is having a simple conversation. Every time you are stuck, ask yourself – what is the next conversation I can have? Sometimes it is a conversation you need to have with yourself (self-reflection)? Unless you take the next step, you will always be in the same place. Go have the next conversation.
What are you living into a default future? Are you ok with that? If yes, wonderful. However, if not, what is the next step you can take? What is the missing conversation that you are not having?
If anything is unclear from the above or it sparked a question, reply back. If you are thinking it can’t be that easy, remember I never said it would be. The above is very simple when you understand it fully, but not easy. Reply back to share what you think. I read and respond to every reply.
Articles and Stories Which Have Fascinated Me
One
Why Unreasonable Goals Are Better For Your Growth And Success?
We all have our definitions of what is reasonable and what is not. You know what’s reasonable and what is not, and you set reasonable goals for yourself.
This sounds like a fine approach, but is it?
Setting unreasonable goals could, in fact, be the better choice. That means aiming for what you think is unreasonable, looking at your reasonable goals and raising the bar a few notches.
When setting goals you’re easily capable of achieving, you avoid chances of failure but also avoid reaching your full potential. It was Robert Browning who said that “a man’s reach should exceed his grasp.”
What if we are capable of achieving much more than we think? Wouldn’t it be a pity if we never found out, and keep aiming too low.
In this article, I share that the most important benefit of going for unreasonable goals is that it will help you expand as a person. You can lose your money and possessions. But you can never lose what you have become.
It is not about what you get or achieve. It is about who you BECOME.
From an article from my desk
Two
10 lessons from 10 years of Entrepreneurship
- Leave room for magic. Don’t let logic control you.
- Your secret ingredient is people. Quickly recognize and invest in your force multipliers.
- Contrarians often spot opportunities that others overlook. But being a contrarian doesn’t mean throwing out every industry norm.
- Embrace the gift of feedback. What feels like friction is actually polish.
- People might not remember what you say. But they always remember how you make them feel.
- Develop your storytelling abilities. This will amplify everything you and your company want to say.
- The best people will join your company for a “why,” not a “what.”
- Culture comes from the top, the bottom, and everywhere in between.
- Gross margins are your ticket to freedom.
- Be prepared to give if you expect to have to take.
From an article on Fast Company where Scott Norton and Mark Ramadan, cofounders of Sir Kensington’s, share their learnings in their final shareholder letter.
Three
5 Things High-Performing Teams Do Differently
- High-Performing Teams Are Not Afraid to Pick Up the Phone
- High-Performing Teams Are More Strategic With Their Meetings
- High-Performing Teams Invest Time Bonding Over Non-Work Topics
- High-Performing Teams Give and Receive Appreciation More Frequently
- High-Performing Teams Are More Authentic at Work
From a Harvard Business Review article by Ron Friedman
Four
How High Achievers Find Balance (podcast)
Some quotes and notes from this podcast episode with Michael Hyatt
“Fast-forward to the end of your life. What will you wish that you had done differently? Palliative care nurse Bronnie Ware recorded the regrets of her dying patients. Among the five most common? “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.” Bronnie observes, “This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. . . . All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”
Many high-achieving people tend to have two leisure modes: feeling weird, unsettled, and distracted when taking time off — or vegging out on screens after exhaustion.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi advises doing something that’s not related to work at all to get you into a different mindset.
Spending more time on a hobby that has nothing to do with work can boost confidence in your ability to perform your job well.
From a podcast interview with Michael Hyatt on the Coaching for Leaders podcast.
That’s it for now. If you have any questions or feedback, or just want to introduce yourself, hit reply. I read and respond to every reply. All the best,
Sumit
(Twitter) @SumitGupta
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