1: Yesterday, we discovered the mission statement for our lives.
Our Massively. Transformative. Purpose.
Now what?
High, hard goals.
“Big goals significantly outperform small goals, medium-sized goals, and vague goals,” says Psychologist Gary Latham, considered one of the godfathers of goal-setting theory along with Edwin Locke.
High, hard goals are Gary and Edwin’s technical term for big goals. Which are the second type of goal Steven Kotler outlines in … continue reading
1: Yes, the research is clear: Goal-setting improves our performance.
But there’s more to the story.
“Simple as the idea of goal setting might seem, there’s trouble in the particulars,” Steven Kotler writes in his brilliant book The Art of the Impossible.
“What the research shows is that not every goal is the same, nor is every goal appropriate for every situation and—most important—the wrong goal in the wrong … continue reading
1: Lumberjacks.
The researchers divided this ferociously independent group into teams. “Some teams were told to work smart and fast, but no pressure, do your best,” writes Steven Kotler in The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer.
“Others were given quotas. This much wood for a good week of work, this much wood for a great week,” he writes. “It’s important to note that there was zero financial … continue reading
Getting better at getting better is what Rise With Drew is all about.
Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On Friday, I share something about myself or what we are working on at PCI.
This past summer, we received some exciting news. Fortune magazine named PCI the #55 Best Medium Workplace in the U.S. This represented the achievement of our long-term … continue reading
How has University of Alabama coach Nick Saban built “perhaps the most dominant dynasty in the history of college football?” asks Ryan Holiday in The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph.
1: He doesn’t focus on winning, at least not the way other coaches do. Instead, he teaches “the process.”
“Don’t think about winning the SEC Championship. Don’t think about the National Championship,” … continue reading
1: The technology team at IMVU agreed to a hard deadline: Six months—180 days—to launch the startup’s product and attract its first paying customers.
“It was a grueling schedule, but we were determined to launch on time,” writes Eric Ries in his book The Lean Startup. As the company’s Chief Technology Officer, he was responsible for meeting the deadline and delivering the app, which would allow users to create … continue reading
The year is 2004. A seventeen-year-old girl is sitting in the office in front of a computer. A group of anxious entrepreneurs is standing behind her. They work for IMVU, a start-up technology company that allows people to create avatars when Instant Messaging.
The girl chooses her avatar and customizes it, deciding how she will look. She says, “Oh, this is really fun,” IMVU’s Chief Technology Officer Eric Ries… continue reading
“Jer, please tell my new assistant your story.” The Costco buyer made this request to start the meeting.
Jerry Swain, CEO and founder of Jer’s Chocolates, smiled at his VP of Sales. It was done: They were going to land distribution in Costco, one of the biggest whales in all of retailing. Put a fork in it. Book it.
How did Jerry know? Because they weren’t being asked about … continue reading
Imagine it is January 1.
“A year from now, your company is having the biggest New Year’s party it has ever thrown. Your entire team, your friends, your family—everyone has gathered to celebrate this year, your company’s biggest year ever. You are celebrating because you achieved … what?” ask Mark Moses, Craig Coleman, Chris Larkins, and Don Schiavone in Making Big Happen: Applying The Make Big Happen … continue reading
Aristotle tells us: To flourish as human beings, we need targets. We need goals.
This week we’re reviewing some of the key lessons from Brian Johnson’s Optimize Coach course. Today’s lesson? Happy people have projects. That’s step one.
In choosing goals, we want to aim for something just beyond our comfort zone. If it’s too easy, that’s boring. If it’s way too challenging, we lose interest. It’s the “Goldilocks” lesson: … continue reading
