March Madness, April Sadness Biases for Investors and Hoopsters Alike

Maybe because the rest of the world is in such turmoil, the basketball gods gave us an eerily predictable and uneventful NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. As we head into the final weekend of “March Madness,” the Final Four remaining teams (Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston) are each heavily favored No.1 seeds for only the second time in the history of the tournament. It’s like having the four largest cap companies in the S&P 500 outperforming the other 496 names by a large margin all at the same time. It doesn’t happen often.

The annual single-elimination national tournament of college basketball’s 68 best teams is usually filled with wild upsets, heart-wrenching losses and game after game going down to the final seconds in which your favorite team either wins or goes home (season over). No best of seven. No consolation bracket. No do-overs. If you’re a bettor, you need a balanced portfolio of heavy favorites, mid-major standouts and unlikely upstarts to come out ahead. Like the stock market, you just never know which name or sector will get hot at just the right time.

March Madness is the ultimate reality show in which on any given night unheralded Fairleigh Dickinson can end top-ranked Purdue’s season in the first round (2023). University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) can end top-ranked Virginia’s season in the first round (2018). St. Peter’s, a tiny commuter school from Jersey City, NJ can send mighty Kentucky packing in the first round (2022) and then end Purdue’s season in the third round, or Florida Gulf Coast can knock out mighty Georgetown in the first round (2013).

This year’s tournament started out predictably unpredictable in the first round as little- known McNeese State knocked out Clemson; No.12 Colorado State beat No. 5 Memphis; and No. 10 Arkansas beat No. 7 Kansas and then No. 2 St. John’s. But, then the upset gods fell asleep at the wheel and went on vacation early. By the time we got to the Elite Eight teams, we had four No.1 seeds, three No. 2 seeds and one No. 3. Great teams all, but pretty “chalky” as the betting community would say. And not very exciting.

What March Madness teaches us about investing

Despite a more predictable than usual tournament, none of the 34 million brackets filled out on the ESPN and CBS platforms remained perfect after the first two rounds of the six-round tournament.

I bring this up because our collective inability to pick March Madness brackets successfully, despite all the data and analysis available to us free of charge and in real time, highlights many of the behavioral biases that so often derail our investment decisions.

Rory Henry, CFP®, BFA™, Director of Arrowroot Family Office and author of the new book              Holistic Guide to Wealth Management, told me if you're looking at your bracket and wondering why you got your hopes up that a “Cinderella” run would bring back the madness, it's not your fault—"you likely fell victim to one (or many) of the psychological and emotional biases” such as those listed below:

1. Narrative Bias. “We crave stories,” said Henry. “The Cinderellas gave us drama, hope, and belief in the improbable. Without them, we’re left with stats and seedings—logical but less exciting. We’re wired to favor the emotionally compelling over the rational,” he lamented.
   
   
2. Recency Bias. Last year’s upsets? “We expect more of the same,” asserted Henry. “But just because it happened recently doesn’t mean it will repeat. Our memories are short, and our expectations are often misaligned with changing realities,” Henry added. Sound familiar investors?
   
   
3. Boredom Aversion is perhaps the most overlooked bias according to Henry. “When things play out as expected, we feel let down. We miss the chaos. We crave the underdog even as we fill out our brackets with safe picks. Predictability feels less human—and less fun.”

I might also add “Loss Aversion” in which the pain of a loss is felt at least twice as acutely as the joy of the gain. It doesn’t matter if you’re filling out brackets or balancing your portfolio. Losses hurt….bad.

For more behavioral bias that derail or investing and bracket-picking plans, see

What March Madness Teaches About Our Biases.

“March Madness has always been about the irrational exuberance of college basketball fans,” noted Henry. “This year, it’s teaching us a different lesson: that our love of drama, our reliance on the past, and our resistance to predictability—and yes, our delight in making irrational picks—are what made March Madness so fun in the first place. And maybe, just maybe, we’re learning that true madness isn’t in the upsets—but in how we process what happens when they don’t occur.”

From where I sit, this year’s lack of drama is likely to become the norm rather than the exception, thanks to the Transfer Portal and the new NIL deals that allow players to make money – in the seven figures for top players -- from the commercial use of their name, image, and likeness.

“Talent,” said Henry, “is now clustering at big-name programs with deep pockets and brand visibility.” I agree with Henry’s assessment that if you need a skilled point guard, you no longer have to take a chance on 17-year-old high school recruits and wait several years for them to develop in your program. You just go to the transfer portal, search on experienced points guards, and reach out to a proven fourth- or fifth-year player who’s looking for a bigger paycheck at your school. They must no longer sit out a year in order to transfer and wonder if boosters will make good on their under-the-table promises. It’s all out in the open.

And that’s a shame. March Madness has long been the platform for the Weber States, Valparaisos, Gonzagas, Texas Westerns, Butlers, UMBC’s and St. Peters’ to gain national recognition and substantially boost donations and applications. It’s also a chance for the Yales and Princetons of the world to show they can hit the hardwood as hard as they hit the library. Auburn and Arizona learned that the hard way in recent years. Not so this year.

Conclusion

We need those scrapy startups to put the Mega Caps in their place from time to time. Otherwise, we’re just mailing it in and not innovating or getting better. What are you and your colleagues doing to stay hungry and innovative? I’d love to hear from you.

#marchmadness, #innovation, #behavioralfinance

This Word Literally Cramps Your Credibility

Standing in the coffee shop line the other day, I couldn’t help overhearing these cringeworthy conversations around me:

·        "OMG. I literally died laughing!" (No, you’re very much alive, I thought to myself. That’s unfortunate for those of us around you).

·        "I'm literally freezing." (You're probably just cold and under-dressed I thought).

"The dude’s business literally exploded!" (Call the bomb squad? Nope, just hyperbole, I thought.)

“There are literally like a million people in this line!” (Ughhh. Listening to you sure makes it feel that way.)

What do all these anecdotes have in common? Misuse of the word “literally.” Originally, "literally" was a straightforward term with a clear purpose. It meant "in a literal sense" or "exactly" – a way to emphasize that you were describing something precisely, without metaphor or exaggeration.

For instance, if the temperature on the outside patio was 30 degrees, you could say it was literally freezing. Or if a novel was translated from Russian to English, you could say it was literally translated from the original.

Today, "literally" has become the linguistic equivalent of a verbal exclamation point, used to add dramatic emphasis with zero regard for its actual meaning. People now use “literally” to mean “figuratively” or “metaphorically,” which are the opposite of literal. Why? Because in this social media age in which everyone’s clamoring for attention, we feel compelled to make everything sound more dramatic than it really is.

You’ve seen this linguistic laziness in social situations, but it’s especially problematic in business situations where you must be concise and precise.

·       “They literally devoured the competition.” (Had they adopted cannibalism as a business practice?)
 

·       “It literally took them forever to get to cash flow positive.” (No, it did not, because if that were the case you would never stop until you died).

Why you should care

When we strip words of their precise meanings, we reduce our capacity for clear communication. "Literally" used to be a powerful tool for emphasizing truth; now it's become a meaningless filler word used for more drama. Linguists call these words “intensifiers,” but I suggest you avoid using them altogether.

For instance, instead of saying “I literally don’t care,” just say: “I don’t care.”
Instead of saying “I literally know the solution,” just say: “I know the solution.”

How to use "literally" correctly

Use "literally" only when something is actually true in the most precise sense: "After running a marathon, I was literally exhausted and could barely move my legs."

Use "literally" when you're referring to a specific number or fact: “I almost missed the online deadline. I was literally two minutes away from being assessed a late filing penalty."

Conclusion

Abuse and disregard of "literally" isn't just a minor grammatical quirk – it's a symptom of our culture's love for hyperbole and emotional inflation. Next time you're tempted to say "literally," just ask yourself: Did I really? If not and you’re over 16 years old, leave “literally” out of your vocabulary and make better word choices.

What are you and your colleagues doing to be more concise with your language? I’d love to hear from you.

#businesswriting,#thoughtleadership, #productivity

Long Live the Whiteboard

My last post (The Power of Writing Things Down) generated more comments than usual. Many of you were intrigued by research showing how writing things down by hand improves retention, clarity and commitment and also reduces stress.

There’s also the accountability factor. If we take the time to write down our goals or obligations rather than keep them in our head (or phones) we’re more likely to complete them. Taking it a step further, if we write those goals or obligations on a publicly viewable whiteboard, research shows we are up to 1.4 times more likely to achieve them.

The whiteboard (aka marker board, dry-erase board, dry-wipe board, or pen-board) has long been associated with corporate conference rooms. It’s sometimes maligned as an outdated tool in this digital age – like the fax machine and typewriter. But I’ve found whiteboards to be even more useful than ever in this era of 24/7 distraction.

Everyone uses whiteboards differently

I keep an oversize whiteboard in my office even though I rarely hold team meetings there. I like having a large, non-permanent white canvas to organize my thoughts, ideas and obligations. It’s posted right next to the front door and is always in direct line of my sight. I can’t avoid looking at my whiteboard and it has all of my immediate must-do items as well as my longer-term projects that can’t be completed in one sitting. Unlike apps and project management software, I can’t turn it off or swipe left. Those obligations are always staring at me and can’t be avoided.

I’m not big on to-do lists, task lists and punch lists, because they’re so binary. Either you got it done and checked off the list, or you didn’t. That doesn’t leave room for incremental progress, which is so crucial for knowledge workers like us. When you have a complex presentation due two months from now, or a book chapter due in six weeks, or a new client who wants to sign on next quarter, it can be extremely debilitating to see an empty box left unchecked day after day, month after month. It’s far more inspiring to see that you’ve made incremental progress on those long-term initiatives. If I’m roughly 50% complete, I like to shade in half the box next to the project. If I’m just getting started, I shade in a small amount, rather than leaving it blank. And if almost to the finish line, I shade in most of the box, but not all of it.

I use various colors for certain kinds of projects, but my favorite tactic is using directional arrows. As knowledge workers, so much of our day is spent either waiting for someone to make a decision about something we’ve sent them, or they’re waiting for us to act on something they’ve sent us. It’s kind of like a mental tennis match. So, I use left-facing arrows next to items for which the ball is in my court and I use right facing arrows to designate items for which the ball is in a client’s or colleague’s court. Even on days when nothing gets checked off the list, if I leave my office with more right-facing arrows than left-facing ones, I go home in a good frame of mind. By contrast, most notetaking and to-do list apps are linear. They don’t seem to accommodate the unique, free-form way that humans process thoughts, ideas, and workflow.

But a whiteboard isn’t just for brainstorming or keeping track of tasks. It can save you from cranial overload because it gives you a convenient place to dump all the stuff that clutters up your brain. Your tasks, initiatives and projects are captured in a convenient location where you don’t have to think about them until you are ready to address them. That frees up lots of bandwidth for higher and more productive thinking. Even better, you don’t have to set up an account, a log-in, or download an app to use your whiteboard. And you don’t have to sift through endless paper files or cabinet drawers to find an idea or project outline you tucked away for safekeeping many months ago.

 

*** Our free resources section has more about this topic.

But here’s the other benefit of a physical, tactile whiteboard. It’s a finite space. When you start to run out of room, you can’t keep adding expansion slots or writing in a smaller font. You have to start prioritizing and deleting.

I probably re-sort the items on my whiteboard three or four times a day. When something has to be erased from the board because it’s not a high enough priority, I find it tremendously liberating not to have to keep thinking about it.

As Winston Churchill liked to say: “Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.”

Conclusion

What are you and your colleagues doing to capture tasks and make incremental progress? I’d love to hear from you.

#businesswriting,#thoughtleadership, #productivity

The Power of Writing Things Down

When I’m rushing out the door late for an appointment, my wife inevitably asks me to pick up some skim milk, real butter and jumbo eggs on the way home. “Three items. Nothing unusual. I’ve got this,” I tell myself and commit the task to memory.

But then comes the pesky addendums to the list about 30 seconds later. “Honey, if you see the picante salsa, not too spicy, in the jar not the can, that would be great,” she adds with full confidence that I’ll remember. “They’re right by the low-salt gluten-free taco chips, you know, with the corn meal and the sea salt not the regular salt. So, pick up an extra-large bag, not the normal large,” she adds. “We have people coming over this weekend.”

 

Uh oh.

 

I tell myself I better write this list down. I won’t have time to hit the store until after work and there’s too much time to forget. In the old days I would have whipped out a pen and Post-It note and stuck it to the dash of my car. And here’s the funny thing. The Post-It note would often go missing by the time I got to the store. But since I took the time to written down each item on the list, it was locked into my short-term memory, and I usually brought home everything my lovely wife requested.

 

But now everyone makes fun of my system, so I try dictating a voice memo to myself and add the request to my task-remind app. And, more often than not, my grocery run goes sideways and there’s hell to pay when I get home.

What’s going on?

In this fast-paced world of AI, digital transcription services and note-taking apps, it seems like we’d be getting better at remembering things and organizing our thoughts. But all of this technology may be is making us even more distracted, less organized and increasingly stressed. Research shows that writing things down by hand improves retention, clarity and commitment and can also reduce stress.

Here’s why.

Writing engages different cognitive processes than typing or mental notetaking alone. When we write something down, we process information more deeply and retain it better. A frequently cited study by Dr. Gail Matthews at Dominican University found that people who wrote down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them compared to those who didn't.

The research found that the act of writing things down in a notebook or a journal involves more cognitive activity than typing it out on a keyboard or on a screen. This means that more areas of the brain are activated, and they are activated more intensely as we write compared to when we type.

There’s also the accountability factor. If we take the time to write down our goals on paper or on a publicly viewable whiteboard, we are 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to achieve them.

Then there’s the act of handwriting itself. a new study in Frontiers in Psychology suggests that handwriting may be irreplaceable when it comes to learning. Researchers found that writing by hand activates far more extensive and interconnected brain networks compared to typing, particularly in regions linked to memory and sensory processing.

Neuroscientists say that when we write our goals or intentions down, encoding takes place in our brains. Scientists say encoding affects the choices we make and how we act in extremely profound ways, even if we’re not conscious of it.

“As a card-carrying boomer, I keep a paper diary in addition to my electronic calendar,” admits Cecil Nazareth, CPA, senior partner of a thriving international tax firm, adjunct professor at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business and part-time field hockey couch. Nazareth is one busy guy. But as he describes in his latest book, Making A Difference, “Some of my staff laugh at me, but the paper diary really helps prevent me from missing client tax deadlines, teaching assignments and family obligations. If you write everything down, it won’t slip through the cracks,” he adds. “There’s just something about writing down an important assignment or appointment on paper that makes it seem more real and less likely to be overlooked.”

Minimize distraction and procrastination. Personally, I’ve found that writing things down by hand won’t tempt you with other distraction like digital devices do. Swipe into your phone to take a note in your note-taking app and you’ll find your finger wandering over to the Instagram app. And the Twitter app. Soon enough, even though you finished typing your note 10 minutes ago, you’re still idling the hours away on your phone.

Clarity. The human brain has on average 6,000 thoughts per day. Putting our thoughts on paper is a powerful form of decluttering. When we declutter our lives, whether it's our brains, our desk or our garage, we become more productive. When you write your thoughts by hand, you can only write one word at a time. Your thoughts slow down to match your writing speed and you’ll find that it’s easier to slip out of your overthinking mindset. You’re also forcing yourself to decide what’s most important. But, if you’re taking notes or writing out to-dos on a screen, there’s literally endless space to do so; it’s actually pretty easy to mindlessly type out highlights from a lecture or make a list of every single thing that you’re thinking about in the moment.

Better attention span. The act of writing by hand requires our full attention. Because we are fully engaged, our thoughts are less likely to wander off into tangents. That’s quite rare in this day and age where attention spans are markedly shorter. Developing the habit of writing by hand will strengthen your sustained focus and attention muscles. This will help your complete tasks and become more detail oriented.

 

Improved productivity. A study published in The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience showed that writing by hand improves neural activity in certain parts of the brain, particularly those associated with focus and attention. In contrast, the ease of typing can make it tempting to multitask, reducing overall productivity.

Frees up working memory. Our working memory, also referred to as our short-term memory, is the RAM of our brain. Our brains are incredible machines, but our RAMs are sadly limited. Unlike our long-term memory, which is vast, our working memory cannot hold too much information at a time without freezing up or encountering performance issues. An overburdened working memory degrades our cognitive function, causing us to make careless mistakes.

Enhances creativity and problem solving. There’s a reason why many creative thinkers—writers, artists, and innovators—still prefer pen and paper for brainstorming and problem-solving. Writing by hand engages different neural pathways, often leading to more creative thinking and better solutions.

Stress relief. One of the best ways to quiet a busy and racing mind is to write things out longhand. Getting our thoughts and feelings on paper can offer a sense of relief. It can turn our minds from chaotic to calm in an instant. That is what the concept of writing therapy is all about and it’s extremely beneficial for our mental health. If you don’t have the time for long-form writing, you can still engage in some writing therapy by doing periodic brain dumps. This is one of the things the bullet journal is good for. This is the process of externalizing our scattered thoughts by writing them down. At a later time, these brain dumps may be organized into lists or reflections.

 

In my next post I’ll discuss why writing on whiteboards is so effective for organizing your thoughts, staying on track and preserving your sanity.

 

Conclusion

From enhancing your career, to reducing stress, to improving your relationships, taking the time to write things down strengthens your cognitive muscles and makes you more present. Sometimes going slow is the perfect antidote to this fast-paced world.

Our free resources have more.

What are you and your colleagues doing to improve your notetaking and recall? I’d love to hear from you.

 

#businesswriting, #thoughtleadership, #businesscommunication

#businesswriting, #thoughtleadership, #businesscommunication

Don’t Be a Wise Guy (or Gal)

Lately I’ve been hearing more and more abuse of the suffix “wise” by people trying to make themselves sound more important.

During the recent World Series, a TV announcer reassured us that New York Yankees ace pitcher Gerrit Cole hadn’t changed “demeanor-wise” after giving up a game changing grand slam to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Grammar-wise and word-economy-wise, the announcer could have simply said: “Cole’s demeanor hasn’t changed” or better yet “Cole hasn’t lost his composure.” The announcer was a highly paid professional communicator. He didn’t have to be so lazy.

Acceptable uses of "-wise" do exist, particularly in established words like "clockwise" (the direction of the clock) or "lengthwise," (the direction of measurement taken) in which the suffix genuinely adds meaning. However, taking it upon yourself to create new "-wise" words is ineffective communication and generally not, Hmmmm, wise if you want to be taken seriously as a writer, speaker or leader.

Here are some reasons why:

1.     Grammatical Awkwardness. When "-wise" is added unnecessarily, it creates clunky, unnatural-sounding language. Many of these constructions sound forced or simply incorrect. For example, "moneywise" or "weatherwise" often feel grammatically jarring.

2.     Redundancy. In many cases, there are already established and more elegant ways to express the same meaning. Instead of saying "budgetwise," you could simply say "regarding the budget" or "in terms of the budget."

3.     Overuse in Business and Corporate Jargon. The "-wise" suffix has become a particularly notorious marker of corporate buzzwords. How often do you say or write "businesswise" or "performancewise"? It’s often seen as lazy language that lacks precision and clarity.

4.     Potential Misunderstandings. Sometimes, these "-wise" constructions can be ambiguous or confusing. The meaning might not be immediately clear to all listeners or readers.

5.     Professional Communication Standards. In formal writing, academic work, and professional communication, these constructions are typically viewed as unprofessional and imprecise.

Another reason I don’t like the suffix “wise” is because it implies you’re insecure or just stalling for time to find the right words:

“Budget-wise we’re on track, but time-wise, we not going to meet our deadline.”
“Snow-wise the roads are clear, but weather-wise I’m not sure what’s coming.”

 

It’s frustrating for the listener, but we hear this all the time. We’re all busy work-wise, so why not respect us time-wise and be more concise grammar-wise? Are you cringing yet?

 

“Wise-ing” up every noun you come across is like listening to teens and tweens use “like” every third word – “it’s like ridiculous.” It adds nothing. It reminds me of returning to my native Philadelphia and hearing folks use the word “jawn” to refer to any type of person, place or thing under the sun. Similar to “like,” jawn is a placeholder words that clog up communication flow and make you sound grammatically lazy.

 

“Yo! Tony. Hand me that jawn over there so we can get this jawn fixed already and go home!”
“Did you guys make it to the jawn last night? That place was jumping!”

 

 

Conclusion

I laugh when I see all the self-help books and videos offering to help people expand their vocabularies. Why not just do a better job with the words we already have. Before writing, speaking or posting, ask yourself if you’ve chosen the right words to convey your intended meaning. A wise man once said: “You can do more with less.”

Our free resources have more.

What are you and your colleagues doing to streamline your communication? I’d love to hear from you.

Ditch the Duplicatives

Just when I thought we were eradicating cliches like “space” and “low-hanging fruit” and “it is what it is” from business communication, a new scourge has surfaced – the duplicative. That’s when you add redundant words to a simple phrase to make it sound more important. Stop doing it!

 

I don’t have stats to back this up, but my guess is that the trend started during the last election cycle. Seemingly every pundit on TV was trying to analyze the “tone and tenor” of candidate X’s speech. Technically, the tenor is what you say, and the tone is how you say it. But is it really necessary to throw in both terms when you could simply say the speech was inspiring or rambling or aggressive or nonsensical? Viewers and voters would get the idea. The pundit’s just trying to sound self-important. Same goes for “The Great State of” preceding the state from which a particular politician hails. It’s pompous and unnecessary. If you spend any time traveling the 50 states, you’ll realize many of them are mediocre at best. At least Oklahoma is honest on its license plates: “Oklahoma is OK.”

 

Same goes for “rules and regulations” (aka “rules and regs”). Technically, rules are set by individuals or organizations and apply within a specific context. Regulations are set by governmental bodies and have wider applicability. They’re sometimes legally binding, unlike rules. But most of the time when business leaders, HR people, law enforcement or military people sprinkle “rules and regs” into their prose, it just means “you better do what I say!” They’re using the extra verbiage to sound more official. Don’t do it in your own communication.

 

 “First and foremost” is another one of those duplicatives that grates on me. If it wasn’t the most important, why would you list it first? If safety wasn’t the airline’s “foremost” concern why would they emphasize it at the beginning of the in-flight demo? Just use one or the other when trying to state the importance of something.  

 

“Out and about” is another one that’s been overused since the COVID restrictions were removed. “The revelers will be out and about after the concert ends.” Or “the trick-or-treaters will be out and about tonight since the weather’s so nice.” Can they be out without being about? I don’t think so. Just say: “they’ll be out” or “they’ll be celebrating.”

“We’re still in the early innings” started creeping up in corporate-speak and political-speak during the Major League Baseball playoffs. Just say “early on” or better yet, “initially.” When you’re long-winded like that, no one is going to wait around for you to tell us about the 7th inning stretch or the bottom of the ninth. You’ve already lost them.

Finally, when it comes to summarizing, “at the end of the day” is just as pompous as saying “when it’s all said and done.” Why not just say “ultimately“? I’ll take one word over six any day of the week.

As we approach the end of this post, you might be bracing for “last but not least” a passive aggressive way of implying that someone or something is still significant despite being mentioned at the end. “Last but not least, I’d like to thank our sales team. Without their efforts, we never would have achieved a record year.” You’re doing the sales team a favor by mentioning them at the end of your communication. It’s leaving a lasting impression on the audience. You don’t need to call excessive attention to “last but not least.” Just say “finally.” It’s the folks mentioned second or third from the end who ought to feel slighted.

 

Conclusion

As the old expression goes, “less is more.” If you can train yourself to get to the point using fewer (and better chosen) words, your listeners, viewers, readers and employees will respect you. Avoid redundant language that adds no value to the message. Our free resources have more

What are you and your colleagues doing to make incremental progress every day? I’d love to hear from you.

#businesscommunication, #thoughtleadership

 

Suffer from Completion Anxiety?

During the peak of my marathon running days, there were plenty of times I’d be facing a 20-mile training run on a humid Sunday morning. My legs were still heavy from my Friday speed workout, plus I often had a slight hangover and some annoying minor injuries.

 

Sweating out the next 2-1/2 hours alone with your thoughts can make even Navy SEALs want to throw the covers over their heads. But I’d tell myself: “Just get through the first 20 minutes and then call it a day if you’re not feeling a little better. At least it will speed up the hangover recovery.” Most of the time I’d make it to the 20-minute mark, trying not to look at all the happy people heading out to Sunday brunch, the beach or the air-conditioned mall, and convince myself to grind out another 20 minutes. At the 40-minute mark, I’d do another gut check. Get to the 60-minute mark and then reassess. “I might not make it the full 20 miles today, but at least I’ve got a respectable number to put down in my training log.” And then another 20 minutes would be behind me, and then the mindset shift to: “I’m more than halfway to today’s goal. Might as well keep going for another 20.” Rinse, repeat, spit.

 

I bring this up because the 4^th Quarter is underway, and we’re starting to hear more and more excuses from clients for not getting their weekly writing assignments done. Whether it’s your turn to do the firm’s weekly blog, or byline an article for a trade journal or finish the next chapter of your book, we’re seeing more and more zeroes in our weekly progress meetings.

I get it, this is the time of year when client obligations seem to increase, just as time gets compressed due to year-end deadlines, family obligations, travel delays and volatile weather.  

You vs. You

“In the battle of life, your toughest opponent will always be yourself. It's YOU vs YOU every single day,” explained motivational speaker, David Goggins. To win, you have to callous your mind, push past pain, and do the things you don't feel like doing.” See Goggins’ No Excuses Mentality [video]

Goggins’ approach might be too hardcore for some of you, but situations like these shouldn’t be tolerated at any professional services firm. For three weeks, one of our clients told us he didn’t have time to review our edits to his 800-word blog post – something that didn’t require more than five minutes of his time. Another client took almost a month to clarify two sentences (30 words) in the lead paragraph of her column for a widely read national trade journal. She missed the deadline and a very high visibility opportunity for her firm and personal brand. Another client took over two weeks to get his headshot and an up-to-date bio to the producer of a Top 100 podcast and missed the interview opportunity.

Ouch!

Are you busy or a perfectionist?

I get it. We’re all super-busy putting out fires and dealing with client emergencies. But if you don’t carve out a little time to work ON your business rather than always in it, you will never move yourself forward in the thought leadership ecosystem.

 

When it comes to writing, we’re here to do most of the mental heavy lifting for you. We just need a few minutes of your undivided attention to tap into your expertise. Otherwise, the end product won’t sound like you or ring true with your audience.

 

When preparing for your weekly Gut Check™ calls with us, just tell your assistant to hold your calls, turn off your mobile phone and set aside 20 minutes to focus exclusively on your next assignment for us. When 20 minutes is up, you might not have reached the end zone, but at least you moved the ball down the field and picked up a couple of first downs. You can build on that momentum for the following week.

Isn’t that a lot better than telling yourself: “I don’t have time for Berkowitz this week,” or “I’ll never get this done, so why bother?”

 

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, “Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.” Many of you are detail-oriented professionals. When you say you don’t have time to write/edit/review, you’re telling us you don’t have time to make it absolutely 100% perfect. We don’t need perfect, and neither does your audience. They just need authoritatively good and more importantly, they need to hear from you on a consistent basis.

 

As my college track coach used to bark at us: “Anyone can run fast when they’re feeling good; we’re going to teach you how to run fast when you feel like crap and your ass is falling off.”

 

Conclusion

 

You may not set a personal best every day, but by making consistent, incremental progress, you’re becoming the best professional you can be. That’s called the “Kaizen Effect,” named after the Japanese word for continuous improvement.

What are you and your colleagues doing to make incremental progress every day? I’d love to hear from you.

 

#goalsetting, #practicemanagement, #contentdevelopment, #thoughtleadership, #DavidGoggins