How to uplevel: 30+ mind levers to get the edge
(This is from Edition 35 of The Upleveler, our weekly smartletter)
There's plenty of advice on #upleveling situations such as decision-making, sticking to a routine, learning better, etc. However, we falter in applying them because there can be too much advice!
Instead, we recommend starting with just one 'mind lever' for each situation. Add these to your mental toolbox, and gain instant leverage over different situations. Here's what we have been using:
Decision-making: learn to do pre-mortems
Habit-creation: piggyback on existing habits
Sticking to a habit: use the Seinfeld Method
Motivation: small wins, regularly
Productivity: learn the Pomodoro method
Giving feedback: keep it actionable
Learning: do it in cohorts that share the same purpose
Knowledge Retention: after reading something, try to recall 3 things without looking
Delegating: give examples along with guidelines
Meetings: begin with publicly stating the ideal outcome for the meeting
Talking about ideas: make it concrete; show, don't tell
Spreading ideas: use a story
Capturing attention: unexpectedness
Curiosity: sample new things semi-randomly
Reading: You have permission to put it down if you don't like it
Brainstorming: seek analogies in unrelated areas
Emails: start with what action you want the recipient to do
Task management: don't use email
Making it interesting: use references from popular culture
Reducing error: use checklists
Ideas for messaging: ask what Trump would do
Making moments memorable: focus on the Beginning and End
Goal setting: visualise a concrete future
Get people to choose in uncertain situations: use social proof
Large To-do list: use the Eisenhower Matrix
Dealing with failure: wait for a day before trying to assess
Networking: ask what's the story behind a name (the person, the org, the product)
Information Diet: Explore, Filter, Exploit
Making charts & visualisations: use the Rule of Thirds (same with photos)
Explaining something: recognise the Curse of Knowledge
Staying healthy: get good sleep
Starting a task: start with 'why are we doing this'
Most of them are simple ideas, or ideas you can quickly learn about. So get going!
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