Why High Standards are Ruining You

Curse of Competence...

Productivity advice for the week:

The Curse of Competence

If you’re reading this, you’re either my mum (hi, Mum), my friend (hello, friend), or really into productivity (or a combination of the three).

If part of you strives for a more productive life, you are likely competent in your field of work.

You have high standards. You achieve.

However, I have come to theorise that this may, at times, be to your detriment.

Chris Williamson has spoken about the idea, “The Curse of Competence.”.

If you’re good at things and have high standards, you assume that you should always do well.

Which means that success is not a cause for celebration but the minimum level of reasonable performance. - Chris Williamson.

When you are in a position where victories (no matter how small) don’t feel worthy of celebrating, you’ve forgotten where you were and how far you’ve come.

I am not asking you to celebrate victories for the sake of it, but to reignite your will.

To stoke the ever-dwindling fire that is motivation.

High standards are awesome.

But never forget where you started.

You once wished for the things you now have; never forget that.

Organisation advice for the week:

Live 24 Hours Ahead

What would tomorrow you want today you to do?

One of the best questions you can ask yourself.

You’d rather play FIFA than complete that assignment or do your taxes.

But when you have to wake up early to do the assignment/taxes the next morning… you’ll regret it.

We had a “Wellness” lesson this week. The teacher said that he runs 1 mile every day, and while he often doesn’t want to do it, he always pushes through.

Not once has he regretted it.

This is applying the 24-hour principle, but in a smaller time frame.

He thought about his future self. He took care of his future self.

Sometimes the best form of self-care is just getting on with it.

And sometimes it’s a hot chocolate with a mince pie. (I’ve had fifteen mince pies for this Christmas period so far.)

Word of the week:

Gregarious= Fond of company, sociable.

Quote of the week:

When a Most Valuable Player candidate misjudges a ball and falls on his duff, he does it in the sight of millions. You should be willing to do it before your teacher and a few friends or fellow students. If you're always thinking about appearances, you can never attain the state of concentration that's necessary for effective learning and top performance." - George Leonard (Aikido Instructor)