Is your blind spot blocking your progress?
The compounding effect of thinking and instant gratification
Whenever I am given new information, a new idea or concept my following thought goes to the practical application of it. I am an engineer by training and for me, learning comes from doing. I believe this applies to all aspects of our life.
In more complex subjects such as self-awareness, trial (with error) and simple daily practices are crucial.
We are systemic creatures, what we think and how we act has an impact on us and others. How we interact with ourselves has an impact on how we interact with others. How we feel about ourselves has an impact on how we make others feel.
We are the nucleus of our environment. How we navigate the future depends on us. We play a crucial role.
What I say here is not new and is common sense. But where it does falter is in the practice. Common sense does not lead to common practice. Over the years, from my learnings and experience across the world, what I found missing was effective ways to turn common sense into common practice.
Common practices as effective methods to navigate our future by understanding the interplay of the various aspects of ourselves. In most instances, we are solely responsible for blocking our progress.
Our blind spot helps us sabotage ourselves, by defying something beneficial for the sake of instant gratification. A short-term gain for the ego but a long-term loss for potential.
All these are obstacles we face regularly but are not taught ways to overcome them. It is left to experience to teach us and there is nothing wrong with that. I am a proponent of learning by experience. It is the best way to learn.
But how do you we call ourselves out when we are defiant?
To quote Adam Grant, psychologist, and author, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, you’re in luck. Effortless excellence is a lousy teacher and a fickle friend. The achievements we savour most start with a struggle and end with hard-earned mastery. Success is sweeter — and more repeatable — when it’s the product of deliberate practice.’
From practise to practice
The thing about humans is that we are on autopilot for most of our day. The brain is wired to conserve energy whenever possible. In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear says that it is human nature to follow the Law of Least Effort. When choosing between two similar options, we naturally gravitate toward the option with the least amount of work.
So, we are happy to keep doing the usual (practise) than pausing and creating a practice to achieve something more. To be efficient daily, we need the help of our autopilot but to achieve something new, to successfully navigate the future we need to re-orientate ourselves. This deliberate practice is how we get out of our own way.
It does not have to be a complex practice. But it takes conscious effort and some discomfort to make it a practice. At first, it may feel like a forced routine, practise. But over time it becomes a practice.
I have a simple practice of checking in on my thoughts and emotions periodically during the day. It is a practice that has helped me over the years when starting and ending my day, preparing for meetings or events.
What is your daily deliberate practice?
