INVESTED: A Distinctive Resolution Theme for 2020

(royalty free graphic)

A friend reminded me of an interesting story… Picasso was doodling on a napkin in a café. A woman sat near his table and was in awe of Picasso’s nonchalant mastery. Picasso began to throw the napkin away when she abruptly interrupted and said, “can I please have that napkin? I’ll gladly pay you for it.” Picasso stopped surprised, looked at the woman and said, “Sure. $20,000.” “What?!!” the woman gaffed. “This drawing only took you a few minutes while drinking coffee!” Picasso quickly replied, “No ma’am, this drawing took me 60 long years.” Picasso put the drawing into his jacket and walked out of the café…

Setting the origin or reality of this story aside, it got me thinking about my plans for 2020. Knowledge is a lifetime practice. However, a traditional New Year’s resolution involves how to get more things done, how to find more time, or how to resonate confidence and attitude towards achieving success. All are important basics to learn. This year I’m challenging myself to take on a resolution that is much more distinctive and more self-serving. It’s purposely selfish. This year’s theme is to be “INVESTED” : to INVEST in education or to be INVESTED in that learning or self-development practice.

Let me explain…

It’s no coincidence that great leaders get more things done; they have seemingly unlimited time, and they resonate confidence. They influence individuals around them for added bandwidth. As a consequence, you’ll never hear them say they’re out of time. But they also learn, learn, learn- “faking it until they make it” — until they’ve got it. At the same time, they realize they’ll never fully “get it” so they rinse and repeat over and over again with almost careless vulnerability. Knowledge grows like interest, making the mind the most valuable asset we have.

An investor I respect attributes his great success to “True wisdom is knowing what you don’t know” — harder than it sounds. The best thought process to approach this is to always assume you know nothing. This mindset leads to a path of continuous learning and daring, yet humbling, leadership traits that foster success (Author Brené Brownis a good teacher here):

• Gratitude
• Empathy
• Vulnerability
• Getting it right vs being right
• Candor and clarity
• Risk taking
• Shared purpose
• Checking your ego and bringing your pride

Sounds fantastic. The question is back to HOW to make this happen: Great leaders take the time to invest in themselves, FIRST. And the irony of putting yourself first, assuming you have the right priorities, is that putting yourself first ultimately elevates business performance. You’re in your position for a reason. If you do well, the business does well. If this principle does not hold true, there are a) more urgent personal items you must get sorted, or b) your career priorities are too far incongruent from your natural state. That is…you’re likely in the wrong position and need a change.

So, brief recap. Great leaders invest in themselves first, aligned to priorities, that result in elevating the business.

Which leads to another principle I inherently believe in: work/life balance. Balance doesn’t exist. I’ve tried it — unsuccessfully. It’s all just called “Life’. Therefore, to find success, to find sanity, one has to integrate next actions that are both personal and business oriented. Besides, “the most creative ideas aren’t going to come while sitting in front of your monitor.” Scott Birnbaum, a vice president of Samsung Semiconductor.

As I start 2020, I take the time to perform a yearly retrospective; reconcile and ensure my commitments (not goals) are set for the indefinite future. (Why do I use the word “commitment” instead of goal? Ask your life partner if they want you to have the “goal” of staying together or be “committed” to staying together. Words make a difference.)

These commitments will be built on three habits I’ve learned not to cave on:

1. Get Sleep. Read “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker and I won’t need to explain why.

2. Hydrate. Google “dehydrated brain” for all you need to know.

3. Exercise. Humans were NOT meant to sit 90% of the time. Exercise is my coffee.

I’ll have specific, measurable commitments with accountability partners for:

A. Family and relationships

B. Personal health

C. Skill development

D. Business & career

Next, I’ll determine how I’ll decidedly spend my time with 112 available hours in a week. I’ll also perform a time audit once a quarter to keep myself honest. Here it is:

25%: Professional Development

— 10%: Continuous Learning (Industry, Books)

— 10%: Personal Brand (Podcast, Blogs, Keynotes)

— 5%: Board Advisory and Investments

21%: Family, Relationships, Charity

20%: People, Clients, Alignment

15%: Visioneering & Strategy

10%: Organization and Culture

8%: OpEx and Business Reviews

1%: Crisis Management

All build upon my INVESTED, committed principles for 2020:

Your time is limited. “death is the best invention of life” — Steve Jobs.

I’ll be INVESTED in myself as a FIRST priority. You should be too!