Manifesto

Bottom Line Up Front: This is my manifesto, “…a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer” (according to Wikipedia)

kennedy

  1. If everything is important, nothing is important. You can’t focus on everything, so pick the things that are important to you and never lose sight of them no matter the work load you are facing. My enduring top two are leader development and fitness.
  2. Fitness = Survival. The fit will survive longer and better than the unfit.
  3. Physical Fitness = Nutrition + Sleep + Stress + Activity. You must account for all four. Hard exercise is at best a portion of what it takes to function at optimum levels mentally and physically. Activity includes more than direct exercise also. Avoid sitting for prolonged periods. Sitting is the new smoking.
  4. Antifragile (not resilient) is the opposite of fragile. Fragility is a loss of a favorable state under stress. Resilience is only the ability to return to the same starting state under stress. Antifragility is the ability to improve your state under stress. Seek to be antifragile and comfortable in chaos! Thrive in dynamic environments under diverse conditions. See this article for more on this concept.
  5. An 80% plan executed violently is better than a 100% plan executed too late. Perfect is often the enemy of good enough. Sometimes perfect is needed; know when.
  6. Always ask yourself: What do I know? Who else needs to know it? Have I told them? Most people forget the last one.
  7. Be aggressive, seek challenges, and don’t be afraid to fail by taking calculated risks based on sound judgment. It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
  8. Single-tasking is more productive than multi-tasking. Focus on one thing at a time and do it brilliantly. By the way, it is OK to close your email to get other things done; I do it often.
  9. Life is a people business. Relationships matter and should be fostered. Call or talk in person vs email or text whenever possible. It shows a degree of humanity often lost in a digital world.
  10. Know the task, purpose, intent, and priority of everything you do. When you get a possible project/task, use the following steps to determine your actions:
    1. Do I want to do this? If no, drop it. If yes, move on
    2. Can I do this in less than 5 minutes? If yes, do it. If no, prioritize according to the chart below and identify the next action to get started. Make sure you and your supervisor(s) agree on the priority!
Urgent Not Urgent
Important Priority 1 Priority 2
Not Important Priority 3 Priority 4

 

 

QUESTION: Do you have any manifesto-type principles that you live by? Post thoughts to comments.

4 Comments

  1. My manifesto principles:
    1. Anything in life that’s worth doing is worth overdoing.

    2. There’s never an appropriate time to complain.

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