Pick Your Battles
I’m not a fan of the 80/20 Pareto Principle-style thought-train. That’s not because it it’s inaccurate, but because it quickly delves into “idea man” thinking. People tend to think, “Hey… I could do 20% of the work and get the same results!”
Big mistake.
I am a fan of picking the right battles though. It’s easy to waste time on stupid, time-costly stuff.
Case in point:
A couple of days ago, I read a book on LinkedIn Marketing. I’m not a big social media guy, but it’s important in internet business.
Now, LinkedIn isn’t the main focus of any business. It’s a spoke on a wheel on the bicycle. You might get a few clients from LinkedIn and not a lot else.
In other words, it’s worth spending a few hours on, but not worth devoting hours a day to. (The same can be said of Twitter – but suggesting as such needs to come with a Trigger Warning.)
Anyway, I was reading this book, and it was terrible.
Its contents basically amounted to:
- Signing up for LinkedIn
- Connecting with your friends
- Writing Your Profile
- Searching for People
- Send them a message saying you’d like to network with them
It was all really basic stuff, probably written for some sixty year old executive who started working on a typewriter and doesn’t understand how computers work.
“Click the EDIT PROFILE button to edit your profile.”
Anyway, this reading exercise was a complete waste of time.
The annoying thing is that it’s my fault entirely.
Battle One: If Material Isn’t Helpful… Stop Consuming It
If I had have asked 20% into the book “This is really rubbish. What are the chances of getting anything useful out of it?” I probably would have saved myself a few hours.
If you’re not getting anything out of something – there’s no point in doing it.
Another non-business example: If you go to the gym regularly, there’ll be indicators that you’re progressing:
- You get sore
- Your bodyfat decreases
- You feel better
- Your waistline shrinks
- Your muscles get bigger
- You don’t get out of breath as easily
These are all basic indicators… and if you aren’t getting them, you are doing something wrong. You’re probably picking the wrong thing to concentrate on.
If you want to get bigger muscles, then lifting a really light weight hundreds of times isn’t giving you anything.
This is annoying, but it’s dangerous because it’s a waste of time.
We’re never getting our time back in any case.
Don’t Reinvent The Wheel
If you have a goal, then reinventing the wheel is one of the worst things you can do.
You should only try and find a better way to do something if a) It’s never been done before or b) You’re already maxing out in terms of efficiency.
If people have achieved your goal before, then copy them. Find people who needed to achieve what you do now and take what they do to learn yourself.
Here’s a good example: Language learning.
Most people bumble and fumble around when it comes to language learning. They’ll pick up a phrasebook, book a holiday to Paris or maybe get a few lessons. They’ll watch some Spanish soap operas or listen to some foreign artists or whatever.
There’s no rhyme or reason, and it doesn’t work. Worse yet, they’ll fall into the language hacking trap and think that they’ll get to fluency in three months with only three minutes a day of effort.
Here’s a better way to do it:
There are diplomats and other folks who have to work abroad and learn languages quickly.
It’s not fun and games if you work for the Foreign Office: They’ll say, “You’re getting posted to Brazil in twelve weeks” and throw you on a 12 week intensive program. There’s no “I don’t fancy it tonight” when you might starve to death because you don’t know how to ask where the grocery store is.
That’s what we’re looking for when we have goals.
So, we find out how diplomats and other people who need to succeed do so.
Then we copy them.
For those who are interested in language learning, the FSI have released all of their diplomat training materials for languages for free. They’re comprehensive and work. You can find them dotted around if you do a simple google search for “FSI languages” or something.
Once You’ve Picked A Battle… Win
Now, you can spend the rest of your life learning a language. There are expats who live abroad for years and pick up the language skills of a five year old.
Or, you can win.
Once you have the materials to hand, power through. Work like you have a need to and do a twelve week course in twelve weeks. Or ten weeks, if you’re a high achiever.
The important thing here is to forget everything else.
You know the system works. Therefore you know that you’re going to get to the level you need to if you just stick to the program.
The biggest mistake people make with learning is that they try to tinker, tamper and “fix” a system when all it really needs is time.
Don’t fall into this trap.
Final Thoughts
When learning something new, you’ve got an easy two-step process:
- Find out what works
- Do it
The thing that holds most people back is the third thing, which is a “Don’t.”
- Don’t mess with what works
- Don’t think you’re going to short cut yourself to greater success
- Forget trying to get around the time/effort commitment
- Don’t waste time on stuff that’s not getting you to the end goal
There will be time in the future to maximise your time investment on learning, but it’s definitely not at the beginning.