by Brice Hogan
September 22, 2022 | bricehogan.com
Hello Everyone,
Here is your weekly dose of thoughts, ideas, and other things. This is the stuff I have been thinking about and exploring this week.
Hope you enjoy this week's issue!
As always if you have any feedback or suggestions about the newsletter reach out to me at bricejhogan@hotmail.com
Brice
An Idea from me
When asking for Advice
There are going to be many people in life, a mentor, friend, a colleague who may tell you the direction you should go with your life.
Does that mean you have to do what they did? No. Everyone's journey is different, and because their path was successful doesn't mean it will be for you.
Focus on what excites you and what your passionate about. Eventually, you will find that it all works out in the end.
What I Listened To: A Bit of Optimism. A podcast with Simon Sinek
Happiness with Arthur Brooks
How can we be happy in the work that we do? Great question right? We spend a good chunk of our waking time working. Life is too short to be unhappy at something we do almost every single day.
It's worth investing a half hour of your time to listen to both Simon and Arthur talk about things that can help you to be happier at work and in life.
Documentary I watched Persona: The Dark Truth Behind Personality Tests
I was really moved by this documentary. It was somewhat unexpected because of how personality testing can have such a massive impact on so many individuals.
Here are some interesting facts:
Personality Testing is a $2 Billion dollar industry
The Myers-Brigg and the Big 5 are the two most used personality tests
80% of Fortune 500 companies use personality tests (1)
About 80 million people complete a personality test each year
The history of personality tests is fascinating. The most popular test is the Myers-Briggs test. It was developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers a mother and daughter. The interesting part is that neither were psychologists.
Definitely, a must-watch in my book because of how it affects so many people. Always remember we are not our personality tests. We are much more than that. Personality tests don't take into account how we can change, and how we can affect others.
Something to Think About: Expanding Your Comfort Zone with Mini Habits
When trying to improve our lives we usually set some type of Big Audacious Harry Goal our BHAG. It usually happens around New Year's or birthday typically. We get all motivated to:
Lose weight
Start a business
Get organized
Spend more time with family
Learn a new skill or hobby
Now think of whatever your BHAG is. Now here is how it usually goes you start quickly, you sprint to your goal, and then within a few weeks or months you have made no progress and you retreat back to your comfort zone.
This is why most people fail at achieving their goals. They try to do too much too fast. And it's frustrating. I have been there a few times with starting a business or trying to exercise more. It's all about habit development. They need to be small.
Instead of trying to tackle too much all at once develop mini habits to increase your comfort zone.
To expand our comfort we need to do it with small little habits. As a result of a more measured approach, you don't wear yourself out. You can steadily stretch your less comfortable zone, and when it feels too uncomfortable you move back to the expanded comfort zone.
Repeatedly doing this ensures
You don't get mental fatigued
It's measured
It's small.
Eventually, you begin to achieve milestones that lead you to the goal you want to achieve.
My 100 Push-up Habit
Here's an example. I have a goal to do 100 pushups in a row. Now trust me I tried doing 100 in a row once and I wasn't even close.
So I started with 10 and hit that pretty easily. Next was 20, then 30, then 40, 50, and so on I am up to 80 in a row right now.
But there is no way I would have been able to do this if I didn't develop that mini-habit each day. Some days I don't hit my goal and that's ok. What matters is the attempt and the progress that I've made. I am going to be able to do 100 in a row and when I do I am going for more.
Now it's your turn to take something you want to do and start small, set a mini-habit that is easy, consistent, and doesn't require a lot of motivation to do, and see how your results change.
Must Read Book
Build by Tony Fadell
If you are an entrepreneur, hell even if you're not. This book is amazing. One of the things I love about it is it's more of a real-life reference book. Tony calls it a mentor in a box. If you don't know who Tony Fadell here are a few of the things he invented:
iPod
iPhone
Nest home
Some of the biggest technological advances we have ever had are directly a result of Tony's ideas.
He will admit though, that he was the biggest failure when he first started his career and through the many companies he started. He had to learn a lot of hard lessons along the way, but eventually, those lessons paved the way to his success.
So be sure to check the book out and find out how to fail and become a success.
