Life by Design

It can be easy to resign ourselves to fate, to allow ourselves to be conditioned into learned helplessness, waiting for a saviour to come to our aid. Or to succumb to insurmountable odds. But the truth is, more often than not, we have more control than we think. There is always room to make a move, or at the very least, choose our response to the things that stand in our way.

I also explore the idea of 'relaxed productivity' touching on techniques you can use to build your schedule around your life as opposed to just building your life around your work. 

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There is a lot you can’t control sure enough. You can’t control completely what other people do? You can’t control the weather, you can’t control the economy. You can’t even control the things that happen to you. So, when things go awry, or things are a little difficult, it is easy to blame something else. And the f**ked-up thing about it all is that, it is true. Your excuse is true. But you do have control over one thing – your reaction. And that is all you need. Control how you process your emotion and control the action you take.

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Having the crasftsman's mentality means approaching your life with an eye to excellence. It demands a true passion for what you do and a commitment to doing it as great as you can. It is an intrinsic drive to be the best you can be, and it is invaluable in the path to getting what you want.

I also chat about the importance of putting your goals in front of you. Having them easily accessible and constantly within sight can have many benefits, like serving as a literal reminder in the midst of competing demands, priming your mind to recognise opportunities and cultivating the burning desire you need to push over the long run.

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The craftsman’s mentality is that of love, exacting standards and insatiable drive. The craftsman loves what she does and will go to great lengths to do it the very best she can. Good enough isn’t good enough. It must be absolutely incredible.

Consider the mentality of the craftsman as a precursor to excellence. It will improve your quality of life and be an invaluable resource on the road to getting what you want. The craftsman enjoys the pleasure of doing a thing well for its sake. Becoming a craftsman means taking responsibility for your work and making sure it is executed with care and due diligence.

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First Ramble Show after a while away. Here I talk about the Art of Letting Bad things, the inevitable tradeoffs that come with life. If you are pushing and focusing on your One Thing, other also important things are going to fall through the cracks sometimes. And when bad things happen, when misfortune strikes, do you have the tools to stay even keel, focus and do the right thing.

I also talk about Learning to Suffer, an idea I have explored multiple times in my writing. Learning to bear strain and suffer, endure painful experiences or stress on the road to success is vital. Some of the things you have to do and go through will be shitty, how do you suffer properly and emerge stronger and more resilient on the other side. 

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When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. – Henry Ford

There are many true facts about life, but there is one that is particularly uncomfortable to look at and deal with – bad things happen. Sometimes they happen as consequences of our actions, sometimes they just happen. If this is a fact of life, is there a way to embrace and navigate it? Can we learn how to handle misfortune in our pursuit of our success and happiness?

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The greatest thing you could probably do for your productivity and quality of output is to put your phone on Airplane Mode. Being able to shut off from the world and streams of distraction and focus completely on a task for an extended period of time is an underrated superpower in this day and age. It will set you apart and help you get things done.

I also talk about the need to evolve and change as you succeed. What has brought you to this level of success and being will not be what will take you to your next level. In fact, it could now be the thing holding you back. You have to have the right shifts in perspective, action and experience to break through to your next level. 

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There is a feature of the iPhone (and most other phones I would imagine, I’m hopelessly lost to the Apple hype train) that is irrefutably the best feature of the phone. It is not the above average camera (Samsung kicks its ass in my opinion), it’s not the design and how sleek it looks, it’s not the fact that it makes me look cool when I whip it out. It is the airplane mode function. With a swipe and a tap, I can turn the device from a portal to the infinite distraction machine that is the internet into a shiny paperweight.

Deep Work is the reason my phone is on airplane mode at least 50% of the time. This book is the reason I am many times unreachable, much to the chagrin of my friends and clients. It is also the reason I have been able to work on my business and my brand consistently over time. It is the reason my design work has gotten stronger, the reason I’m learning faster and the reason my general productivity (the ability to get things done) has doubled or maybe even tripled.

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There are two ways of going after a goal. You could try to brute force it, or you could build systems around it. One relies on your willpower and stamina. The other conditions you naturally over time. Approaching goals with a systems mindset allows you to leverage the incredible power of compound effect in your favour.

I also explore the dark side of success, explaining why achievement and success are good, but won't make you happy. In your pursuit of growth and success, do not forget that the main things that add to your happiness and fulfilment are the ordinary simple things. 

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The power of a goal is readily compelling. It is the shining beacon that calls out to us, it is the big thing we want to achieve. And so usually we set it and then we hack away at it every day, or whenever we remember, trying things, failing, learning and trying again until we finally get there. This typical process requires a great deal of willpower, motivation and drive to get started and keep things moving.

The idea of ‘Systems > Goals’ strikes a chord with me because it dovetails nicely with things I have blogged about before like ‘trust the process’, and ‘making time work for you’. It is understanding the incredible power of compound effect and leveraging that in your favor. There is a reason why the most prolific artists and creators of all time swear by some sort of system or routine. Routines free up energy to be creative where it counts, doing the actual work. Systems provide the framework to achieve greatness over time.

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Website: otoabasibassey.com

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