D
Deleted50669
Guest
I tried an interesting exercise recently to get to the root of why I was action faking before undertaking my current project. Granted I had a few sales here and there, it was freelance work as a writer, which is still being employed by someone else.
Borrowed from the lean six sigma ideology, the "five whys" is a simple approach leaders take to understand the root drivers for poor performance. It can easily be applied to the self. Here is what mine looked like (granted it was four whys):
Problem: I was not taking action towards a fastlane project.
Why? : I didn't believe I could build a product that solves a problem at scale.
Why? : I didn't think I had the knowledge / skills to find a real problem and solve it well with a product.
Why? : My attitude was too focused on my current capability, instead of the possibilities for the future through learning.
Why? : My current job is stressing me out so much that it's making me impatient and as a result I look for easy ways out.
....
Now I recognize that stress is creating a victim attitude, instead of a learner attitude. What can I do about this?
Solution 1 : Ignore negative thoughts and act anyway. It's hard to believe in something that doesn't exist yet. I need to believe that I have enough intelligence and grit to change the world in some way, and do not waste time in doing so.
Solution 2 : Look at product development as an incremental process. "Rome wasn't built in a day." is overused because it's true. I need to just start, and trust that I can adapt as I go.
Solution 3 : Remind myself that my JOB is a means to the fastlane, not the end. I know my identity is not "employee", it's just a purpose I am temporarily serving along my journey to freedom.
Solution 4 : Find people who have common aspirations for support (this forum, among others). Be willing to be open with other people, and work on trusting other people to be there for me.
Borrowed from the lean six sigma ideology, the "five whys" is a simple approach leaders take to understand the root drivers for poor performance. It can easily be applied to the self. Here is what mine looked like (granted it was four whys):
Problem: I was not taking action towards a fastlane project.
Why? : I didn't believe I could build a product that solves a problem at scale.
Why? : I didn't think I had the knowledge / skills to find a real problem and solve it well with a product.
Why? : My attitude was too focused on my current capability, instead of the possibilities for the future through learning.
Why? : My current job is stressing me out so much that it's making me impatient and as a result I look for easy ways out.
....
Now I recognize that stress is creating a victim attitude, instead of a learner attitude. What can I do about this?
Solution 1 : Ignore negative thoughts and act anyway. It's hard to believe in something that doesn't exist yet. I need to believe that I have enough intelligence and grit to change the world in some way, and do not waste time in doing so.
Solution 2 : Look at product development as an incremental process. "Rome wasn't built in a day." is overused because it's true. I need to just start, and trust that I can adapt as I go.
Solution 3 : Remind myself that my JOB is a means to the fastlane, not the end. I know my identity is not "employee", it's just a purpose I am temporarily serving along my journey to freedom.
Solution 4 : Find people who have common aspirations for support (this forum, among others). Be willing to be open with other people, and work on trusting other people to be there for me.
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum:
Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.