Figure out what works and do it.
Figure out what doesn’t work and stops doing it.
This is incredibly simple. And yet, like anything simple, it’s incredibly hard to do consistently.
When I first learned martial art, I did a lot of things that don’t work. For the last 13 years since I joined Musokai Karate, I learned to do more what works and less what doesn’t. And it’s more like climbing a mountain with no top. The climber learns to enjoy the climbing and the views on the way. If the climber ever loses the focus of doing what works, the climbing itself becomes incredibly tough and it’s only getting tougher and tougher.
When I got into the corporate environment, I learned a few things that don’t work such as gossiping, bullying people, following what everyone else is doing, being a lone wolf… And few things that work: personal development, teamwork, leadership, customer-focus,… Yet, it’s just too easy to be busy with doing what don’t work. Figuring what works and doing it becomes a mantra that separates being successful and being miserable.
When I figured out that being in a declining and bureaucratic environment doesn’t work, I moved on.
When I figured out that being a victim doesn’t work, I chose to be an owner.
When I figured out that being an effect doesn’t work, I chose to be a cause in the matter and takes a firm stand.
What have you figured out in your own experience that don’t work? What are you doing about it?
It’s really a choice to choose doing what works. And overtime, it becomes a habit: figure what works and do it.
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The Samurai Coach 