A simple plan for handling worry

Today I heard a very simple system to handle “worry”

Please understand I have read books like how to stop worrying and start living by Dale Carnegie and a whole lot of other books on this subject. Each of these had some iota of advice which was a little helpful. But most of the times when we worry, our mind actually travels in a spiral so fast that the other pieces of logic don’t quite come up front to solve the worry.

However I heard one very interesting plan by Joe Polish in his I Love Marketing Mastery program. He learnt it from someone whose name I couldn’t get. You know I have deep regard for Joe so I thought of trying it and sharing it with you.

He says its a three step process

Don’t worry alone – share your worry with someone – automatically the worry statement which your brain builds up falls
Get the facts – this helps eliminate the emotions involved.
Have a plan – for the next steps

I have realised that within these three the first step is actually critical. If I can share my worry with others, then my actually feels a little more relaxed. I have never tried it though with family members. Not sure how it work there. With my professional relationships though this does work.

The second and third points actually happen more easily when multiple brains are working together. And as I have mentioned in my posts earlier, once you start taking affirmative action, by working through small steps at a time, the worry automatically starts to fall.

Have a look at this simple 3 step process and let me know how it worked for you in the comments section.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Technology Adaption – the next challenge

Habits, Human Brain, mindset, Product Management, Technology

For product management in a technology company, the big challenge after identifying a single niche then targeting it, is the adaption of the technology.

Most technology based products are integration of existing resources. Very rarely are they designed from scratch for every component.

If by chance your product is designed from scratch then this problem is even more acute for you.

If the end user of your technology is not able to adapt your product easily as in 2-3 steps then even the most technologically superior product will be sent the grave. The human brain does not like change and therefore people resist any kind of new products. This is the biggest blockage for new technologies.

Look at Instagram or WhatsApp, such easy to use apps, therefore the adoption is in millions. It does not mean that the product is simple. I am sure the complexity is enormous, but they have kept it hidden from the customer. The user experience is very elegant and easy to use

Similarly the Iridium satellite phones, with the best pedigree and the ability to connect you from wherever you are in the world, bombed.

When doing product management of technology based products, you need to keep in mind if the existing infrastructure willsupport your technology. How much will the user have to unlearn to use your technology. What can be the simple things you can do to increase adoption.

This is a very complex subject so we will cover over multiple posts.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Eradicating the Writer’s block

Affirmative action, confidence, Evolution, Habits, Human Brain

For all of you who have been reading my blog posts over the last two – three years, you would have noticed that I used to disappear from writing for months on end.

I would keep contemplating forever for the perfect piece, for the perfect English, for the perfect graphs.

Which ended up me not writing anything. And I used to feel lousy also because I was not writing.

Today again I was feeling the same situation. I had a very long day in office and I was exhausted.

But then 2 things came to my mind which I have been following over the last 2-3 months.

These are 2 pieces of advice.

One is from Joe Polish who says being prolific is more important than being proficient. If you will practice enough you will automatically become more proficient- something in line with the 10000 hour rule for mastering any skill.

The second piece of advice came from Russell Brunson in his book Traffic Secrets. He quotes Gary Vaynerchuk in the book, on how he’s built such a huge following. What struck me as critical was his comment about “thinking like a reporter” who has to put just one news report everyday.

I have taken this to heart and started writing these quick posts which you can read while standing in a line at Starbucks or while your sandwich is getting ready at Subway.

How this has helped me is that it has eliminated the pressure on me to write the perfect piece. Instead now I write about whatever is going on with me during the day or on whatever I am working. Also because I am writing consistently, it has improved my confidence, my brain now resists less, and it is on the way to forming a habit.

I would suggest the same for any activity, be relentless, be prolific, do the small things continuously and they will become a habit.

Till next time

Carpe Diem!!!

Lazy man’s guide to growing rich

Affirmative action, compounding, Financial Independence, Human Brain

Outsourcing in a lot of contexts is looked down upon. However by outsourcing the routine tasks that you tax your brain with can help you improve your decision making capabilities.

In addition by ensuring that you don’t use your brain, you can actually grow wealthy

Today I am going to be talking about forcing functions which take action irrespective of of your intentions – which the brain can sabotage.

Once you have outsourced the mechanism to invest systematically by giving your mutual fund the authority to automatically deduct money on a given date from your bank account, your brain no longer has to take any decision and you can just relax

We already have so many decisions to make every day that if we load one more , about investing the money, then the brain will fall back to default mode to take the decision some other day. Which if you had not guessed, doesn’t come any day. And life happens. And it happens to all of us.

We then feel bad and think we are procastinators.

Instead just take one decision with the help of your financial advisor and let your investments get done automatically and you will see your wealth grow. First it will not be appreciable but the longer you keep it, the exponential power of compounding will make its presence felt. And literary you don’t have to think about it. It will work whether you are sleeping or traveling

You can utilize this power of outsourcing brain functions in other areas also. I have asked my bank to pay my telephone and gas bills. So now my brain does not have to bother about the bills, their due dates etc. My bank automatically monitors the service providers and makes the payments and informs me. Since it makes the payment only on the due date, that money earns interest, till the payment is made.

This gives me more time and energy to do more high value tasks while I can be lazy about reaching my financial freedom targets.

Till next time

Carpe Diem!!!