5 Things Overachievers have figured out
Well, it’s a new year and it’s time to tackle all those problems we said we would do “next year” in 2016. Here are 5 beliefs that I used to jumpstart my resolutions going into 2017.
1. How will you measure your life?
If you’ve ever worked in a big company — you know that metrics are the name of the game. How do you know whether you’re doing good, your team is doing good, the business is doing good? Metrics.
My challenge to you is to transfer this methodology to your life. Start 2017 clearly defining the KPIs of your life. Whether it be relationships, money, skillsets (such as coding or designing), hobbies (sports, hiking, eating, anything really), etc. Figure it out and write it down! For me, I realized after a few sessions of meditation — that I want a certain amount of money in life before I depart this planet (enough to be financially free, follow my journey here)
For additional reading, Harvard Business Review has a great article on this by Clayton M. Christensen.
2. Systems & Models
We all know the classic saying, “It’s all about the journey, not the outcome”. After you have a general direction (refer to step #1), it’s far more effective to deep dive into how you are going to get there. Instead of saying “you want a six pack or beach body” — I’d be more curious as to how you plan to get there: what’s your workout schedule, routine, and timeline.
Also, since my goal is financial freedom, I’ll talk about it here. If you are tired of looking at fancy cars, bags, or shoes on Instagram, figure out how you will get there. How much money do you need, what investments are you going to make, what risks are you going to take, and your timeline!
If you’re curious about reading more, James Clear summarizes the concept very well here.
3. Think Long term.
In the end, setting a goal is still inevitable — overachievers love goals. But I challenge you to AIM BIG. For example, let’s talk about career. Stop thinking about your next promotion. Ask yourself where you want to be in 3–5 years, how you’ll get to that Partner, VP, Director, Staff engineer level career wise. The name of the game is VISION.
4. Lean into risk.
The higher the risk the higher the reward. Everyone wants a safe, guaranteed route to become successful, but Elon Musk once said during an interview: “There’s a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their ass-covering.” So next time you’re in a meeting with some “important” people, SPEAK UP. Please. You don’t need to quit your job to go create a startup, but start dealign with uncertainty and risk. The best way to get better at anything is through practice, experience, and sometimes failure.
5. Progress not money is the key.
This one is cliche. But everyone starts somewhere and gets better from there. Just do it, you’ll be happy as long as you’re getting better. At least that’s what I learned from Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar :)
That’s all from me. Thanks for taking the time to read through my first Medium post. I’ll be cooking up some new stuff, please chime in with your feedback and thoughts!
