book.chapter The personal pathway

Purposeful managers are defined by four unique personal habits that enable them to achieve meaningful tasks. First, they display focused energy, deliberately channeling their efforts towards clear goals instead of squandering time on unrelated issues. Second, they employ self-discipline to carry out well-organized actions, arranging their time to concentrate on what is truly important rather than what is merely urgent. Third, they synchronize their emotions with their intentions, fostering mental lucidity about their objectives and protecting their focus from diversions. Finally, they set an example, chasing their own goals before trying to motivate others. Essentially, purposeful managers sway their teams by showing consistent execution. They concentrate on perfect strategy implementation rather than bemoaning limitations like restricted budgets. Simply put, purposeful managers stop trying to do more and instead strive to do the right things. Their capacity to channel personal determination and energy sets them apart from frenzied or detached managers. By embracing these four personal habits, any manager can shift from distraction to purposeful action. They have energy and clarity. They take actions with clear goals. Managers who take effective actions rely on a combination of energy and focus rather than mere motivation. Energy is vigor fueled by intense personal commitment and hands-on involvement with the details that allows quick and effective actions to be taken in high-pressure situations. Focused people can concentrate even with multiple distractions. Purposeful managers have high levels of both energy and focus. To enhance personal action-taking ability, energize yourself and your work. Set some clear and ambitious yet achievable goals that feel concrete, encourage stretching, are believable but challenging, and not overwhelming. Suppress feelings of negativity by developing sufficient positive feelings and emotions. Detached managers, in particular, are overwhelmed by negative thoughts and ideas while action-takers dwell more on deepening their personal wells of self-confidence by networking with supporters and mentors, or by engaging in sports and hobbies that consistently create good feelings. Strengthen your confidence in your ability to actually achieve your goals by dwelling on past comparable achievements, finding a mentor to provide meaningful feedback, or experimenting and rehearsing to build the required skills. Energy implies a level of involvement that is more than just doing something - it is subjectively meaningful action that genuinely matters to the action-taker. It also implies effort and exertion fueled not only by external pressures but also by inner resources. Purposeful action is self-generated, engaged, and self-driven behavior. Focus is your ability to visualize a positive result and having the courage to commit to work towards that goal. The more vivid your mental image, the stronger your focus and greater your personal attachment to that objective. Look for the most vivid way to visualize your intentions by placing a clear mental image of what your goal looks like at the front of your mind and mentally seeing yourself doing the steps to reach it. Embody your goal into a compelling and attractive mental model. Make a personal commitment to act and take full responsibility for achieving your goal rather than leaving it to some amorphous collective. You'll only make this intensely personal commitment if your goal aligns with your values and beliefs and you're motivated by the potential rewards. Without that link, you'll be tempted to walk away when trouble appears. Your personal commitment provides tenacity and purpose. They utilize self-control. They seek disciplined, focused actions. Defining willpower and motivation provides clarity on how they enable habit formation. Willpower refers to resisting temptation or overcoming obstacles to achieve goals, considered an internal strength developed through practice and discipline. Motivation differs as the internal or external force driving us toward goals via rewards or incentives. An example where both motivational types intersect: Checking Kinnu daily due to genuine interest signifies intrinsic motivation, driven by knowledge pursuit where completion reward matters less. Simultaneously, Kinnu’s gamification through virtual streak rewards provides extrinsic motivation. Determining which one to target first depends on the context. Willpower and motivation remain integral for habit creation and change. Typically, willpower helps resist urges while motivation supplies reasons pushing certain behaviors. Similarly, when aiming to exercise more regularly, willpower enables sticking to the routine whereas motivation stems from better health and fitness goals. Ultimately, willpower and motivation intertwine rather than operate independently, evidenced by research on those perceiving willpower as unlimited experiencing less stress and negativity in goal pursuit. Timing also optimizes willpower, like utilizing it when feeling particularly inspired toward objectives. Additionally, focusing on one goal at a time leverages willpower most effectively rather than tackling multiple aims simultaneously across different areas. Beyond exercising willpower for resisting temptation toward goals, establishing intentions, committing fully to them, protecting focus, and defining when to disengage strengthens achievement. Very few managers ever feel fully engaged toward goals where success signifies the only option. Harnessing willpower involves visualizing desired outcomes, eliminating alternatives, and manipulating environments to stay the course through positive emotions while building confidence and energy reserves to conquer obstacles. Planning stopping rules from the outset also prevents persisting when obviously unachievable or investing excess effort once already completed. In all, willpower galvanizes mental and emotional energy to manifest intentions against distractions, temptation, self-doubt, and pessimism. It bolsters focus throughout action-taking, far surpassing motivation’s ability to just maintain routines rather than driving complex, creative, and innovative goals requiring sustained effort against uncertainty and opposition. They envision the future. Purposeful action-takers make choices. Managers face critical decisions during their careers that are like Caesar crossing the Rubicon, committing to a path that cuts off other options. In these moments, emotions pull in many directions, uncertainty and inner conflicts overwhelm, time constraints press, and managers feel unsure of their genuine thoughts as rationality conflicts with intuition about what's right. To act decisively and create momentum, thoughts must align with emotions about goals. There are three strategies to achieve this alignment: First, harness supportive emotions by focusing deliberately on positive outcome images to create energy, considering how success will feel, planning for setbacks, and identifying constructive mental prompts. Avoid superficiality by balancing positive outcomes with potential negatives; this tension enables enthusiasm and perseverance. Second, manage distracting emotions, both positive and negative, primarily by making other options seem less appealing, not by ignoring doubts. Inject humor, discuss fears with trusted friends, use others' doubts as motivation, distance from negativity - the objective is to activate pride and regain momentum by outwitting yourself so goal reality overwhelms fear, leveraging emotion into action. Third, enter the Flow where rational goals and deepest emotional preferences overlap. Here, you feel completely absorbed and automatically reach for higher goals because actions feel natural, not strenuous. To reach this: modify goals to harmonize thoughts and emotions; identify deepest desires and greatest fears, analyzing their origins; picture steps eliciting negative reactions and increase tolerance of those feelings. The aim is aligning thoughts and emotions about goals. In the Flow, rationality and intuition converge so you can stand behind goals intellectually and emotionally, enabling persistent, purposeful action. Creating this alignment resolves doubts that continually resurface and exhaust those lacking it. Contradictions and multiple projects inevitably stimulate creativity but over time sap energy, lead to half-heartedness, short-term views, overwhelmedness, poor performance. Crossing the Rubicon eliminates such goal conflicts and confusion, replacing them with confidence, determination, priorities, and tuned-out distractions. From this willpower - behind disciplined execution even when uninspired or tempted - and an infectious results obsession where giving up isn't an option. Resolute managers resolve to succeed no matter what. They overcome common obstacles. They ignite their own dreams first. Before developing a genuine bias for action, three traps of inaction must be overcome. The first is the trap of overwhelming demands, where expectations and attractive alternatives fully consume you. Lost in endless tasks, new opportunities to move forward may be missed. Surprisingly, these situations are often self-generated - busyness over thoughtful creativity. To become an action-taker: Develop a personal agenda, clearly defining goals to provide perspective for daily actions. Practice slow management by thoughtfully prioritizing and organizing demands by priority rather than urgency. Structure contact time, being available to direct reports at designated times, enabling uninterrupted blocks for high-quality work. Actively shape demands and manage expectations by concentrating on exceeding key stakeholders’ expectations. The second trap is that of unbearable constraints, feeling rules, regulations and budgets squeeze out room for significant actions. While real, some freedom may exist within the system. Map constraints to find wiggle room to exploit. Be flexible, separating must-haves from nice-to-haves, willing to compromise to move forward. Selectively break some rules, as sometimes it is better to apologize than wait for permission. Question outdated, inappropriate rules - people may applaud initiative over blind obedience. Get comfortable with and tolerate conflict and ambiguity in order to productively work through them. Action-biased people do this. The third trap is that of unexplored options, intense focus on immediate needs causes tunnel vision, missing regular opportunities. Though you may feel little discretion, purposeful action-takers are more autonomous. To better explore options: Become aware of choices, asking “Who forbids this?” and “What would the consequences be?”. Actively expand choices by analyzing challenges differently and clarifying personal discretion. Build knowledge and competencies to identify more choices, gain credibility and open opportunities. New knowledge enables easier movement forward. Exercise freedom to act intelligently and enjoy making choices and a difference - the satisfaction from innovative, self-started action is intoxicating. Most managerial jobs encourage mindless busyness over purposeful action. Fortunately, managers can overcome the traps of overwhelming demands, unbearable constraints and unexplored choices. What differentiates the entrepreneur is seeing and acting on new combinations while most see only normal daily business. The new combinations will always exist, but action and entrepreneurial energy are indispensable and decisive. A manager becomes a purposeful action-taker by developing energy and focus, building willpower, aligning emotions with goals and overcoming nonaction traps. This effectiveness is not only important individually but also for leading others. Without energy, managers cannot motivate or inspire. Without priority focus, they cannot provide orientation, channel others’ energy or set the right agenda. A leader's first task is taking charge of their own willpower capacity. Their second task is building context, culture and encouragement so others can create impact beyond routine.