Book 2 Post 2
Feel Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You, by Ali Abdaal.
This is my first self help book and I didn't know what to expect. I have always stayed away from these books as I feel like they would only be bs motivation and that I would rather do other things with my time. I went into this book with that exact mentality. I feel like with enough motivation to do something you can just get it done, and you dont need books like this. I have found this motivation from mainly stress and feeling that I need to do it. I was wondering if this book would change this or give me a new perspective.
I really like what it had to say about mindset. This was one of the big takeaways that I got from the book. The fact that mindset is where productivity comes from. This overall theme was perfectly summarized in the quote:
“With this mindset shift – from ‘have to’ to ‘choose to”
I think that this mindset shift is really where the growth comes in. It is like a light switch. When you get it you get it. But it does take time to get to that point where you start getting to that point and that's why the book talks about small steps to that goal. With everything its way easier if you do small actions. Anyone can take a step, but many don't want to do a marathon. A marathon seems like a lot. But if you break it up, start small, build endurance eventually it wouldn't be that bad. You cant think of a journey of life as I have to climb up the hill, but instead break it up into steps. Nobody builds a company by just building a company. There are many steps that you have to do in order to work towards that goal. Once you break it down it is more manageable and easier to accomplish. I really liked this mentality shift that I got out of the book
Another important part that I got out of this book was about aligning your goals with your values. This made a lot of sense when I read this and stuck with me throughout the book. Why are you doing this. Why do you care. When you make it personal, give it a reason, things are way easier to accomplish and have motivation for it. If you do it to do it without a reason you are going to be miserable and it will be extremely hard for it to happen. This was a great way to justify why and why I dont do things and really reflect on why, and even re evaluate the things I do.
My final takeaway was understanding there are multiple was to induce motivation in people. This is really important in a leadership setting as one size does not fit all. It is important to see what makes people tick so that you can better inspire them and get the most out of them.
Billy, this was an excellent analysis. I really took in the part where you mentioned aligning goals with values. If one's goals don't align with their values it is very easy to derail and lose sight of why you're striving for it in the first place. However, on the other hand, it is very motivating to see it through and achieve our goals when they are correlated to our morals.
ReplyDeleteMy friend Shine is currently striving to join the PGA. While I share the same goal, my efforts pale in comparison to his dedication. I typically just go for a run and hit the course once a week. In contrast, Shine is fully committed. He trains with his coach four times weekly, and nearly every day, he drives back from Riverside to practice on the golf course. When I asked him how he manages all this alongside school, he always responds, "Because I don't feel like I have to do it; I always feel like I get to do it." I never quite grasped what he meant until I read your post. So once I finish my current readings, I chose to delve into this book to gain a better understanding myself.
ReplyDeleteBilly, I really enjoyed reading this. I have to agree with Enrique, aligning goals with values is a pillar for success, and you elaborated it so clearly. Thank you for your clear analysis and perspective!
ReplyDeleteI read the same book and I've noticed that a lot of people chose it and all sort of had the same experience with it: they were skeptical but hoped the book would help, and then found an epiphany about mindset within the book. I have been trying to shift my mindset to "get to" and it's been an interesting change. Especially being at USC, I feel like it's a disservice saying "I have to go to class" or "I have to do this assignment." every thing we do is an opportunity.
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ReplyDeleteBilly, your analysis was spot-on, I too read the same book. The bit about aligning goals with values really hit home, as I too had the same sort of analysis for the book. When goals and values don’t match, it's easy to lose track, but when they do, it's a huge motivator to see things through. Cheers mate!
"When you get it you get it", words to live by. I think all of us want success, or productivity. We all want to give up bad habits and replace them with good ones. But it comes with time, effort and consistency. You can't speed run behavioural change
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