What Do You Do?

What we do says just as much about who we are than anything else. Your actions, what you make urgent, how you react when someone brings a concern to you or an idea, all decide what others perception of you is going to be. How are you prioritizing that or at the very least making sure you’re putting your best self forward for others to be inspired by or rejected by?

I’ve made it a simple. Focused reflection daily. Three really simple questions at the end of my day, in my journals, to realize my projected reality. It’s really helped me in my different careers and different spaces where I have had a lot of influence on others opportunities to show up as they truly want to. I realize as humans we subconsciously, as well as consciously want others to see us as super-human or infallible. But, be that as it may, the best thing we can do is to show off how fragile we are, human we are, vulnerable.

Here’s the questions I ask myself, at times even share out loud with others my findings:

What worked today? What am I really optimizing for in becoming the best version of myself I can be? For whom?

What didn’t? Did I even do my best?

What can I do differently tomorrow or in the next opportunity I am gifted with?

I like them. They’re simple, yet deep. If you answer them honestly everyday as you log in your journal, you might even notice as I did some themes. You can perhaps find when you’re optimized as the best version of yourself, when you not, and even how you can reach more in your circle of influence. You can find what triggers you to be in those different places. What spaces are the most conducive to you being or helping others be their best. Simple, yet, truly remarkable at helping us figure it out reflectively.

I love what James Clear has to say about it:

“People often think it’s weird to get hyped about reading one page or meditating for one minute or making one sales call. But the point is NOT to do one thing. The point is to master the habit of showing up. The truth is, a habit must be established before it can be improved. If you can’t learn the basic skill of showing up, then you have little hope in mastering the finer details. Instead of trying to engineer a perfect habit from start, do the easy thing on a more consistent basis. You have to standardize before you can optimize.”

James Clear

This very simple reflective exercise is in my experience, all about standardizing. Doing this small 5 minute self-reflection everyday for over a month even, showed me incredible insights that helped me optimize along the way until I felt it was good enough.

Show up! Reflecting at the end our day how we did, being accountable to that output, is a simple way to show up. The most unconventional easiest things we can introduce ourselves to are the at times the most common things we can do to reach great peaks of performance.

Standardize that effort to show up, even for a few minutes at the end of each day to reflect in a journal. Like I was, you will be amazed at how much you can learn or do better the next day. Then we can have the opportunity to help others do the same. But, only after we learn the art of showing up ourselves. Your teams, family, and friends are watching you show up everyday.

What do you want them to see, get curious about, and learn more about?

✌🏻 Shawn