The next time your team (or your family, friend group, etc.) has a big decision to make, assign one person to play the role of “devil’s advocate.” Make sure to choose someone who is good at challenging opinions and presenting alternative ideas without ruffling feathers—the goal is to encourage deeper thinking, not start an office war.
According to Suzi Orman, personal financial expert, addressing the worry that keeps you up at night should become your top financial priority. Your financial worries might relate to too much debt, paying for your child’s college education, or insufficient savings to fund your retirement. Identify your top worry and two small steps you can take this week that will move you toward resolving this key issue.
Schedule a new volunteer activity to participate in over the next 10 days. This may be part of an organization’s commitment to serve the community, or it may grow out of a community need about which you feel strongly.
Make a list of everything that you need to get completed for the next month—both at work and outside of work. Then, block time on your calendar for when you will complete each task. Break large projects into smaller chunks of time, and block that time on your calendar. Don’t forget to also block time for personal things, like dinner with friends, trips to the grocery store, or workouts at the gym.
Bring to mind the last book or article you read. On an index card, write down one to three practical things that you can immediately apply or implement based on what you read.
List all of the characteristics of a recent decision or situation that caused you discomfort. Congratulate yourself for making the decision despite all of those characteristics!
Prevent yourself from procrastinating by identifying the underlying fears that inevitably lie at the root of this behavior. Write down your answers to the following questions: What fears are driving your procrastination? Fear of failure? Fear of disappointing others? Fear of not being perfect? Set those fears aside by focusing instead on how you will feel if you don’t give yourself enough time to do your best work.
Think about a recent sale. Did you focus more on closing the deal, or on providing customer service during and after the sale?
Many critical decisions are made when under a deadline or with internal/external pressure. When facing these circumstances, do you become too deliberative and miss potential opportunities? Or do you charge ahead while armed with inadequate information, possibly leading to outcomes that create unintended consequences which could have been avoided with a bit more thoughtfulness? Diagnose your usual decision-making patterns and evaluate the positive and negative outcomes you have experienced in the past. Then think about how you usually handle urgent issues, and write down at least two other approaches you could use in the future.
Brainstorm your perfect job and/or organization to work for. What would your role be? What specific responsibilities would you have (e.g., tasks, projects, management assignments)? What type of environment do you want to work in (e.g., large or small, working independently or in teams, organizational culture, workplace setting, travel or no travel)? What is your career path (e.g., promotion opportunities, cross-functional opportunities, working with teams)? How are you compensated (e.g., salary, commission, bonuses, benefits)?
