The One thing giving you a pushback

Energy, Fear, Human Brain, procrastination, Productivity

The human brain is designed for ensuring your survival at all times. Given that most of us – especially those who live in democracies are generally safe – the brain does actually does not need to do too much for survival. But because that’s the inherent design, things can’t be changed.

Which means that the brain will pushback on all kinds of new things that you think of doing, because it inherently means that it will need to work more. If it works more it will consume more energy, which in turn is a risk if there’s a sudden need for survival issues.

I have been trying to analyse everyday – sometimes successfully and sometimes without success – at which points did I face resistance or pushback, which caused me to procrastinate. There’s actually an interesting podcast which Dean Jackson and Dan Sullivan used to do called The Joy of Procrastination. They had an interesting take, that you should actually plan your day based on the procrastination points that you face everyday.

Once you realise that the pushback or resistance or procrastination or fear means that the brain is thinking that new work is involved, it could actually be good for you. So thinking in these terms, I am working now each day on trying to identify one point of resistance and then actually do that thing. Sometimes it has been writing an email to a prospect, sometimes its a difficult conversation with a colleague.

I am not sure if all the activities that I have done are actually becoming successful but there’s a great sense of relief after I do the thing, where I was facing push back.

While I am working on that aspect I am also trying to figure out, how I can make the Domino effect come into play, when I am doing these things which are giving me a pushback. I will keep you posted if I can build an “algorithm” which can help me make me geometrically more productive because of these activities.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Thanks giving – Gratitude

ego, Gratitude, Happiness, Human Brain

When I was a kid my mother was always insisting that whenever I interact with people, I use two phrases always …..’thank you sir & if you please’. I had taken them to heart and it is something that I have used with everyone from bell boys to CEOs and the guys who serve me coffee in front of the CEO when we meet.

In the US people will be celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend and I would also like to thank my readers and especially those who follow my blog. I know you’ll have a lot of options and limited time, so the fact that you share that time on my blogs is very critical to me. I hope I live up to your expectations.

My mother was a very intelligent lady, but I am not sure if she knew the impact those two statements have on us, when we speak them from a neuro science perspective. When in a state of gratitude / thanks keeps you happy. When you are in that state, you can’t be having negative thoughts because in a state of gratitude your brain feels safe. It doesn’t have survival at stake.

With the second phrase, by saying please you do two things. One you don’t let your brain bring your ego into the picture. Also the moment you say please, the other person’s guard is also let down, because you are requesting not ordering.

In today’s world our egos have become so fragile that we get into a rage at the slightest indication of someone even making a statement let alone ordering us. So when we start with ….can you please, if you can please….you are also helping the other person relax and listen to your request. She still may say no. But because she is relaxed she will not react in defensive manner.

By being in gratitude and saying thanks many times a day and requesting versus ordering also keeps you happy. So thank you all .

Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Hedonic – Adaptation. impact on your marketing

Human Brain, Marketing

In yesterday’s post I wrote about the how you can benefit from this ability of the brain to easily adapt to the new normal. So if you get money automatically deducted from your account for a systematic investment, then your brain will quickly adapt to having less money to spend and you will be able to build a decent amount of corpus. While these two categories are considered as “sin” products, even in things like milk or bread or shaving blades you can see this “hedonic” adaptation play out.

Lets look at how this can also help you in your marketing and how some brands actually utilise this. If you look at alcohol and cigarette companies – they have been able to pass on price increases or tax increases to customers without any dent on their profits. This is because our brain gets used to the new price rise very fast and justifies the price to itself with the lack of taste in other brands.So someone who is used to having the Chivas Regal will have it at almost any cost and similarly someone who’s used to having Jack Daniel’s will have it even if they increase the price.

On the other hand in the B2B space, in IT, the cloud has been one of the key drivers for a lot of applications with a lot of software companies now offering their products on a pay per use model (also called SaaS offerings). Now once you get used to working one set of applications that you have subscribed to, then a two dollar increase on a per month basis, initially gets you thinking, but after couple of months you don’t even think about it. But the software company who has more than a million subscribers has suddenly increased its revenue by more than a million dollars a month with this minor increase. Some people who are really tight financially and find the existing price per month already on the edge of their spending capability may decide to close the subscription, but most will continue.

Therefore your agenda should be to figure out a way to get the customer, because once you have the customer and your product or service is good, then you have the ability to influence higher margins either on the same product or alien products.

Till ext time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Hedonic – Adaptation, Treadmill etc.- How it impacts your finance

Fear, Financial Independence, Human Brain

This word is suddenly in vogue or I have suddenly started noticing it. I have come across this word in more than 6 books in the last two months. Initially this word sounded very dangerous to me. Even though I read the meaning, it didn’t register with me in one go.

Remember I have told you multiple times, that you should get the money automatically deducted from your savings bank account and deposited into your investment fund – a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP). This way your brain will not need to make decisions every month. If you try to do this physically yourself, your brain will always show you all the reasons, why this won’t be a good idea because of some fear it throws up.

Since your brain was designed to ensure your survival as its primary objective, you can’t blame it for throwing these curve balls at you to ensure that it save energy for an attack, when it will need to be in full action.

During my recommendation for these SIPs, I also mention that you won’t even realise after some time that the deduction has happened , because you will adapt to spending only from the money that is left over.

This adaption to the new normal which human beings undergo so easily has a term in the English language called “hedonic adaptation”. In simple terms it also means that we quickly get involve into a new inertia, based on our environment very quickly.

This is exactly what happens when you get a pay raise. When you get the letter with your raise, you are euphoric. Then you get your first pay which is at the increased level. The euphoric has turned down to happiness. By the second month your increased salary also gets completely spent like the earlier salary. Its because you adapt to the new salary and your expenses increase to match the new salary.

So use this human tendency to your advantage to move towards your financial independence.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!