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- 002 | It's Now or Never 🥖🌹
002 | It's Now or Never 🥖🌹
I made you a GPT to get unstuck
Lauren Gibson
August 09, 2024 • Reading Time: ~ 7 minutes
002 | The Future of Work is Now.
Welcome back to the Bread & Rose Work Club.
Each week, we reflect on what's needed to live in the future of work, share inspirational readings, and a curated playlist.
Work is changing at such a rapid pace. There is no better time to act than now.
So in this week's issue, we cover how to embrace the now through:
A personal story on a friend ‘stuck’ in their growth
The actionable steps to unblock being ‘stuck’
Identifying the psychological barriers
What science says about doing the action now
A GPT designed to get you unstuck
Let's get it.
What's Coming Up
📓 The Power of Now
Recently I spoke with a close friend in my network who felt 'stuck’ on a project.
The problem?
He avoided that word like Covid-19.
No acknowledgement. No time spent understanding what's wrong.
So, while discussing updates to my business, I brought up his project because we were working on something similar, although separate from each other.
He was testing content formats to generate a larger audience, which could land him more leads.
He started the testing period of the project way before me, yet noticeably I moved on to Step 2 of hitting Publish while he still sat at Square 1.
He was silent about his progress, so I brought it up.
The fact I had done the thing he had not yet achieved reassured him to admit what he was avoiding.
“Not satisfied,” was the response.
A feeling of dissatisfaction is the worst.
But admitting the feeling is the first step in unblocking the action.
And knowing that you are on that path is the start of a new feeling.
Ideally, one we’d all enjoy:
He levels up his business and I see my friend thrive.
Next, we spoke about his barriers to the success he wanted to achieve.
These are thoughts we all share at some point: Fear of failure, need for perfectionism, lack of experience, worry that the result falls on deaf ears.
We took each one piece by piece to observe and dissect.
Turns out, the fear was misplaced.
Did he have everything he needed to succeed? — Yes ✔️
Was the project objective aligned with his goals? — Yes ✔️
Next step.
After a psychological change, there needs to be a physical one.
What is easiest is an environmental change.
Choose something to associate with this new action: You can work in a different location, wear a specific piece of clothing, rename the project, add an environmental cue, do 10 pushups before the action.
When you change the way you do the work, the work you do changes.
So we agreed: add new lighting.
A simple change but an inspirational setting.
Finally, the creative energy flowed. He just did it.
❝
“How” is always more important than “What”. See if you can give much more attention to the doing than to the result that you want to achieve through it.
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
❍ Steps to Getting Unstuck
(Optional) Find someone - A trusted individual who has done the work.
Admit the issue - Call it out for what it is. Write it down. Speak it aloud.
Acknowledge Why - Identify the psychological barriers (select below).
Recall the Goal - What's the project objective? If unaligned, scrap it.
Change it Up - Get out of your head, change the environment, breathe.
Do it - Cue the Nike swoosh.
❍ Psychological Barriers
Identifying and naming a specific mental block not only helps you focus on it clearly but also allows you to admit its presence, recognize its impact, and find effective strategies to overcome it and move forward.
If you feel stuck, return to this list for clarity:
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❌ Why not now: money, time, place, confidence, connections, experience.
✅ Why not now: money, time, place, confidence, connections, experience.
Do you see a difference? I don't.
It's not what you have but how you use what you have.
❍ Why Now? The science says
Dopamine Release on Completion - Feel good ASAP.
Pre-crastination Phenomenon - The brain prefers it. Research by David Rosenbaum suggests that doing tasks ASAP helps to minimize mental resources and free our brain to do other tasks.
Impact of Delay on Reward Processing - Immediate actions that promise quicker rewards can be more motivating than those with delayed gratification.
Reduced Decision Fatigue - Acting quickly on smaller decisions can preserve mental energy for more significant decisions.
Reinforce Future Behavior - Doing it now can activate brain regions associated with goal achievement and positive emotions, making it more likely to occur, according to fMRI scans.
❍ Ask ChatGPT for help
I made you a GPT 🤖 - Click below and have fun!
🔗 Links - What I'm reading
⚡️ Updates
Last week, I shared about ‘getting out of your comfort zone’ with Faith Foushee, a freelance writer and author of the Unsettled Newsletter.
Funny enough, I covered this topic in more depth in this week's letter. Last week, when I was put on the spot, I delivered a 2-step approach: Admit it, then Apply it —
🎧 Playlist
Every week, 5 new songs. Choose your platform 👇
📥 Final Thoughts - Poll
This information helps me better serve you. Take 5 seconds and let me know:
What skill is most crucial for thriving in the Future of Work? |
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