A friend recently complimented me, “Anton, you are always growing.” However I cannot take full credit. From early childhood, my father instilled in me the habit of listening to motivational tapes and reading inspirational books. I wrote my first goals onto paper by age 6.
Pop introduced the “You Squared” philosophy to me when I was in high school. The book, by Price Pritchett, attempts to teach the reader how to make quantum leaps: accomplishing far more, in less time, with only a fraction of the effort you’ve been giving (see Timothy Ferris’ 4 Hour Work Week for a similar philosophy).
Going from you to you squared requires a paradigm flip. Price gives the example of a fly trying to escape a house. The fly, seeing the outdoors, slams repeatedly into a window. He tries harder and flies faster in an effort to escape. The fly continues until death. Only feet away is an open door. With a paradigm flip, the fly would escape with minimal effort.
Like the fly, many of us continue the same course of action despite poor results or failure. We assume that if we work harder, we will succeed. However the assumption, that “doing more of what we are doing” always works, is flawed. When a method fails to produce results, it must be reevaluated. So why do so many of us continue the course despite poor results? I say continuing is easy, reevaluating is hard.
Many creative successes are born from stressful states. Next time a method fails to produce the results you want and the inclination to “just try harder” arises, take a step back and ask yourself, “Is this the best course of action? Or is there a better alternative.” My bet: you’ll be happy you asked the question.
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