Category: Performance

  • Announce A Schedule

    Announce A Schedule

    I was delighted to see one of my favorite productivity motivation techniques called out in Cal Newport’s latest book, Slow Productivity. Committing publicly to deliver results on a schedule creates accountability that forces you to focus. You now face consequences if you do not make good on your promise. Most of the time all you…

  • Hungry Dogs Run Faster

    Hungry Dogs Run Faster

    Jason Kelce quoted his offensive line coach towards the end of an emotional retirement speech. He talked about missing his time as the underdog. Life is often more straightforward when you have something to prove. When you achieve success, you have to keep motivated by finding new doubters to prove wrong. Fortunately, there is almost…

  • Failure is Painful

    We often grow and learn the most through our failures. We like to believe that when we do that right thing, it will feel good. When it comes to learning through failure, even the best kind of failure, this belief is a myth. Learning from failure is not always fun. In fact, it usually isn’t.…

  • 16 Weeks of Time-Block Planning

    16 Weeks of Time-Block Planning

    Time-block planning is a productivity system designed to help prioritize focused work. I have come to the end of my first time-block planning workbook. 16 weeks are in the books. Here are the practices that I have found most helpful so far. 🗒️Keeping my daily calendar in a physical notebook. I constantly need to look…

  • Operating from a place of fear

    …and how to avoid it High-performance is free-flowing, loose, creative, and soaring. Fear tightens us up. Fear tells us not to take any risks. Fear tells us to stay on the ground where the terrain is familiar. Playing while afraid usually hurts our performance. Ironically, when we are afraid is often when we need our…