Category: Success

What Does This Situation Need?

This question comes to us from the TV show Ted Lasso. In the context of the show, it is a strategy in football (soccer), but like many lessons from the show, it is applicable in every part of life.

When a situation develops and you find yourself struggling to take action, this presents a simple plan for handling it. Take a step back and think: what is needed at this moment in time? What is lacking that I can provide? What would make things better?

A key part of this advice is to just stop for a moment to assess. Oftentimes, particularly in a crisis, it feels like there is no time to think, only to act. In reality, though, the right action is much more effective than the wrong action, and taking a pause to consider may be the most important thing you can do.

Also important is determining the proper course of action. If the right action is significantly better than the wrong one, how can we determine what is right? How can we evaluate all the actions we might take to determine the optimal one?

This philosophy suggests thinking about what is missing. This can be challenging because every situation is different. And while at times what is missing is obvious, in others it can be hidden.

Maybe what is missing is communication — two people are both trying to achieve the same goal, but are going about it differently and aren’t working together. Or maybe there aren’t enough helping hands, so you might need to recruit some people to help out. Sometimes you just need some financial resources to add to the mix.

Of course, even if you can identify what is lacking, it’s not always possible to supply it. It is just important to recognize that, however, and look for other ways to address the lack. If you can’t provide what is missing, maybe you can provide someone else who can.

All of this relies on situational awareness and analysis. Being able to accurately figure out what is going on, determining why things are happening, and theorizing how things could be different with different actions taken is important. That takes practice.

Chances are there are areas in your life that could benefit from this way of thinking right now. Can you think of any? How can you test out this approach?

Related questions: How do you need help? How do you define success? When have you made good from a bad situation?

 

Do You Celebrate Small Wins?

Keeping motivated when working on something long and complicated can be a real challenge. In order to do so, do you celebrate small wins?

In theory, celebrating small wins seems like an easy and effective way to do this. Celebrating makes you feel good, and a bunch of smaller victories will eventually turn in to a large one.

However, in practice there are many obstacles standing in the way of marking progress in this fashion.

First of all, it can feel very unnatural. Our society encourages us to make a big deal only when something is finished. But celebrating something partway done may feel premature. “Don’t count your chickens until they hatch,” as the saying goes.

Similarly, if you make the wins too small, celebrating can feel downright silly. To use a trivial example, if you are reading a thousand page book, finishing page one doesn’t seem like anything noteworthy. However, you can’t finish page one thousand without finishing page one first. Sometimes, even the smallest of accomplishments can be worth commemorating.

Another problem with our societal expectations comes from celebrating at all. Some of us are taught from an early age to be humble. If that is the case for you, denoting your own accomplishments can feel like boasting or bragging, which may be frowned upon.

Can you get past these issues? How might you go about structuring a project so that there are obvious points to mark your progress, and yes, even to celebrate? Do you make a point to think about your own victories, or to play cheerleader for other people to point out the progress they are making?

Related questions: How do you define success? What keeps you motivated? How do other people motivate you? How can you turn a loss into a win?

What Traits Have Led To Your Success?

Success, in all facets of life, is due to many factors. Thinking about your successes, can you identify just a few traits that led there?

In our culture, the trait of hard work is often praised. This is understandable, because it is something entirely within your control. You can decide how much attention and time you devote toward a project.

And no doubt, hard work is important. Of course, there is also the saying, “Work smarter, not harder.” This would suggest outside the box thinking, perhaps, is valuable.

The list of possible traits a long one, with possible contradictions.

Perhaps you find success due to the high quality of people you surround yourself with. Or you have always made it a point to be early for every meeting. Saying yes might lead to new opportunities; setting boundaries by saying no could be important for some.

Honesty, as they say, is the best policy, and maybe you agree. Being well connected can open many doors. So can being generous with your money and/or time. But looking out for yourself — if not you, then who? — might lead to personal advancement.

And then there are things completely out of your control, which could be lumped together as “luck”. Perhaps success is little more than being in the right place at the right time.

Consider the times you have had success, whether in your personal or professional life. Can you identify particular traits that come up again and again? If so, what might you do to play up to your strengths?

And if the answer is no, what might that say about succeeding in life?

Related questions: How do you define success? When is it useful to fail? How has luck shaped your life? What is important?

Do The Ends Justify The Means?

When you are trying to achieve something notable, is it acceptable to follow questionable methods so long as you get to a good place? Do the ends justify the means?

When you are striving to achieve a moral end, it is tempting to use any means to get there. It is particularly true if there is some obstacle in the way that is preventing you from succeeding. “If I can just make it happen,” your inner voice might say, “I know the good that will come from it.”

If you think in a strictly transactional sense, this might well be true. Let’s say you have to do a slightly bad thing to reach a goal that makes a significant positive impact. In this scenario, the good that results is much more impactful than the bad that happened along the way.

As the saying goes, though, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If you follow the above reasoning, it might well be possible to justify any action, no matter how vile, by expecting an even greater good to result. If that good never ultimately materializes, then what?

A different popular saying illustrates the difference: “You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.” The omelette — the positive that comes out at the end — is worth whatever rules must be “broken” along the way.

Occasionally you might well be forced to act in ways that an earlier you might find unacceptable. As you get older and more experienced, you might well take a more nuanced approach. Or is that just a way to justify bad actions? Do the ends justify the means?

Related questions: How do we know we are right? Are religion and morality linked? What makes an action evil? When should you not follow the law?

What Does The Government Do That Wouldn’t Be Done Otherwise?

Governments can be slow, inefficient, and wasteful. Despite this, are there things that only a government can accomplish?

The government of a country behaves differently than an individual or a for-profit company. As a result, there are things that a government can do that would be too expensive, take too long, or otherwise be problematic for someone else.

Private companies are subject to different motivations. A company has an incentive to offer a product or a service at the highest quality and lowest price that it can. Otherwise, a competitor might steal away customers.

However, there are no competitors for a government. The incentives are different, and that might mean proliferation of waste or fraud, which many people are concerned about. There have been many efforts over the years to reduce fraud and abuse, with varying levels of success.

Still, there are some things that a government can do that private enterprise cannot or will not. One of the more common examples is the postal system. To send a letter via the postal service, cost might be around a dollar or so. You could send that same letter via a commercial shipping company (like UPS or FedEx), but it would be much more expensive.

In part, that’s because the goal of the two is different. The company’s goal is to make a profit. The government’s goal is to deliver the public’s mail — even if it is done at a loss.

Can you think of other examples of projects that have to be done by a government, or they would be more expensive or wouldn’t get done at all?

Related questions: What role should the government play in our lives? What are our responsibilities to others? How much power does an individual have? Where does authority come from?