Are you doing ONLY things that move you forward?

Yet another card without an attribution. I came across multiple versions from various sources, which frankly, I can’t place right now so apologies to the respective authors. Trying to go as far back as possible (there have been many versions over the years), the oldest reference seems to be Mark Twain’s, “What you don’t do determines what you can do.” This statement works just as well.

In reality, it is often more difficult to stop doing what you are already doing – and shouldn’t – than starting something new. Whether this difficulty is ultimately caused by force of habit, inertia, or sunk cost fallacy, we tend to spend effort, energy and funds on activities we are doing for one simple reason – we’ve always done it.

The key here is identification of what we are doing that we shouldn’t be doing at all. These time hogs are not moving us closer to our goals, or are even actively detrimental on our path. Everything we do has a cost – even if it is a cost of not doing something else, better.

How do you identify such an activity? When coaching, we often have a “You gotta stop” exercise as part of our leadership meetings. Some companies follow the example of ClearCo’s famous “The Stupid Stuff we do” email (dedicated email address where everyone in the organization can identify something they should stop doing). As a starting point, gather with your team, grab a pile of sticky notes and brainstorm what everyone thinks you should stop doing. You’ll be amazed by what you learn!

What is it that you are doing today that you shouldn’t?