A few years ago, I shared a presentation called Mindset Matters that I had given to a small mastermind group.
Recently, I have revisited that content in more detail and with finer distinction. It’s become an integral part of my goto presentations and our company dialogue.
One of my core beliefs is that energy is one of the most important things we can measure. I believe it so strongly I paid Gaping Void to put it on my wall.
via GapingVoid
It means exactly what it sounds like - but also a lot more.
Energy affects how you feel, what you do, and what you make it mean. That means it is a great way to measure your values, too. Consequently, even if you don’t recognize it, energy has a lot to do with who you hire and fire. It affects where you spend your time. Ultimately, it even affects the long-term vision of your company or life.
If something brings profit and energy, it is probably worth pursuing.
In contrast, fighting your energy is one of the quickest ways to burn out. Consequently, figuring out who and what to say “no” to is an important way to ensure you stay on the path and reach your goals.
Here is a video I made about the importance of Mindsets.
via @howardgetson
Three Word Strategies.
I believe that words have power. Specifically, the words you use to describe your identity and your priorities change your reality.
First, some background. Your Roles and Goals are nouns. That means “a person, place, or thing.” Let’s examine some sample roles like father, entrepreneur, visionary, etc. They are all nouns.
Your goals are nouns, too. For example, (for us) amplified intelligence, an autonomous platform, and a sustainable edge are all nouns.
How you create or achieve them is done with verbs. So, your strategies are verbs.
Examine your default strategies. They define an action you take. Examples include: connect, communicate, contribute, collaborate, protect, serve, evaluate, curate, share … and love. On the other end of the spectrum, you could complain, retreat, blame, or block (but that wouldn’t be productive).
People have habitual strategies. I often say happy people find ways to be happy – while frustrated people find ways to be frustrated. This is true for many things.
Said a different way, people expect and trust that you will act according to how they perceive you act.
Meanwhile, you are the most important perceiver.
Another distinction is that our nouns and verbs range from timely to timeless. “Timely” words relate to what you are doing now. They relate to your situation or perceived challenges or opportunities. Meanwhile, “Timeless” words are chunked higher and relate to what you have done, what you are doing, and what you will do.
The trick is to chunk high enough that you are focused on words that link your timeless Roles, Goals, and Strategies. When done right, you know that this is part of what makes you … “You”.
My favorite way to do this is through three-word strategies.
These work for your business, priorities, identity, and more.
I’ll introduce the idea to you by sharing my own to start.
Understand. Challenge. Transform.
The actual words are less important than what they mean to me.
What’s also important is that not only do these words mean something to me, but I’ve put them in a specific order, and I’ve made these words “commands” in my life. They’re specific, measurable, and actionable. They remind me what to do. They give me direction. And, they are a strategy (or process) that creates a reliable result.
First, I understand because I want to make sure I know all sides before I take action. For me, it is about seeing the bigger picture. It creates a golden thread from where I am to the bigger future possibility that I want. Then, I challenge situations, people, norms, and more. I don’t challenge to tear down. I challenge to find strength … to figure out what to trust and rely upon. Finally, I transform things to make them better. Insanity is doing what you always do and expecting a different result. This is about finding where small changes create massive transformations. It is about committing to the result rather than how we have done things till now.
If I challenged before I understood the situation, or if I tried to transform something without properly doing my research, I’d be shooting from the hip ... and I’d likely cause more damage than good.
Likewise, imagine the life of someone who protects, serves, and loves. That produces a ripple in the world. Now, compare that to the life of someone who loves, serves, and protects. The result is likely very different.
The order matters!
I’ve set daily alarms on my phone to remind me of my three words. I use them when I’m in meetings and to evaluate whether I’m showing up as my best self.
You can also create three words that are different for the different hats you wear, the products in your business, or how your team collaborates.
Finding Your Three Words
Like recipes, your three-word strategy has ingredients, orders, and intensities. The optimal ingredients, order, and intensities might change as you use your words.
For example, when my son was just getting out of college, one of his words was “contented” because he was focused on all the things he missed from college - instead of being appreciative of what he had. Later, his words switched to “grateful” and then “loving”... each an evolution that paired with his journey.
Remember, your words should be actions. They should be things you do, ... not just words that describe you. You can also see that in my son’s words. As he grew, the word became a calling to the actions he wanted to approach life with, instead of a reminder of the feelings he longed for.
Once you learn how to create and use these simple three-word strategies, you can use them everywhere.
What are your words?
Media Bias and You in 2023
Information is Power.
Consequently, your choice of information source heavily contributes to your perceptions, ideas, and worldview.
Coincidently, news sources are a lightning rod for vitriol and polemic.
I am still somewhat surprised by the abject hatred I hear expressed toward a particular news source by those who hold an opposing bias. This often leads to claims of fake news, delusion, and partisan press. Likewise, it is common to hear derision toward anyone who consumes that news source.
Perhaps the reality is that most sources are flawed – and the goal should simply be to find information that sucks less?
It's to the point where if you watch the news, you're misinformed, and if you don't watch the news, you're uninformed.
News sources aren't just reporting the news ... they're creating opinions and arguments that become the news. Moreover, many consumers don't care enough to think for themselves or to distinguish facts from opinions.
Here's a chart that shows where news sources rank on various scales. It has default options and over 1400 sources you can add to the interactive version. You can click the image to go to an interactive version with more details. It gets updated every year, and this year's just got released.
via Ad Fontes Media
I once spent fifteen minutes arguing about how you know whether the information in this chart is accurate. If you're curious about their methods, click here.
The "new normal" is to distrust news agencies, big companies, the government, and basically anyone with a particularly large reach.
Perhaps even more dangerous is the amount of fake news and haphazard research shared on social media. Willful misrepresentations of complex issues are now a "too common" communication tactic on both sides ... and the fair and unbiased consideration of issues suffers.
Social media spreads like wildfire, and the damage is done by the time it has been debunked (or proven to be an oversimplification). Once people are "convinced," it is hard to get beyond that.
In reality, things aren't as bleak as they seem. People agree on a lot more than they say they do. It is often easier to focus on "us" versus "them" rather than what we agree upon jointly. This is true on a global scale. We agree a lot. Most Democrats aren't socialists, and most Republicans aren't fascists ... and the fact that our conversation has drifted there is intellectually lazy.
This idea that either side is trying to destroy the country is clearly untrue (OK, mostly untrue). There are loonies on the fringes of any group, but the average Democrat is not that unlike the average Republican. You don't have to agree with their opinions, but you should be able to trust that they want our country to succeed.
I don't know that we have a solution. But there is one common "fake news" fallacy I want to explain at least a little.
It's called the Motte and Bailey fallacy. It's named after a style of medieval castle prioritizing military defense.
Launceston Castle via Chris Shaw, CC BY-SA 2.0
On the left is a Motte, an artificial mound often topped with a stone structure, and on the right is a Bailey, the enclosed courtyard. The Motte serves to protect not only itself but also the Bailey.
As a form of argument, an arguer conflates two positions that share similarities. One of the positions is easy to defend (the Motte), and the other is controversial (the Bailey). The arguer advances the controversial position, but when challenged, insists they're only advancing the moderate position. Upon retreating, the arguer can claim that the Bailey hasn't been refuted or that the critic is unreasonable by equating an attack on the Bailey with an attack on the Motte.
It's a common method used by newscasters, politicians, and social media posters alike. And it's easy to get caught in it if you don't do your research.
Conclusion
As a society, we're fairly vulnerable to groupthink, advertisements, and confirmation bias.
We believe what we want to believe ... so it is hard to change a belief (even in the face of contrary evidence).
But, hopefully, in learning about these fallacies, and being aware, we do better.
I will caution that blind distrust is dangerous – because it feels like critical thought without forcing you to think critically.
Distrust is good ... but too much of a good thing is bad.
Not everything is a conspiracy theory or a false flag.
Do research, give more credence to experts in a field - but don't blindly trust them either. How well do you think you're really thinking for yourself?
We live in a complicated world that is getting more complex.
Hopefully, knowing this encourages you to get outside your bubble and learn more about those with whom you disagree.
Who knows ... Something good may come from it?
Posted at 05:43 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Healthy Lifestyle, Ideas, Market Commentary, Personal Development, Science, Trading, Trading Tools, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0)
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