#60 September 8th, 2022

Thought of the Newsletter: If you know of someone who has been able to pass all four CPA sections while dealing with extremely challenging circumstances and/or competing priorities I think that can serve as a great source of inspiration rather than jealousy.

Maybe you saw a post on LinkedIn from someone who balanced some combination of full time work, busy season, three kids, taking classes, moving houses, and the CPA exam on top of it all. You wonder how in the world they were ever able to have enough time to get all of that done, or maybe you feel bad about yourself for not doing more. But what if instead you used others’ stories as motivation and validation? If they can pass the CPA despite all they had to deal with then surely that means that you can too! We may not think something is possible for ourselves until we see someone else achieve it. Comparison doesn’t have to make you feel bad; there is a way for it to help you feel encouraged.

Thinking Ourselves Right - The Good and Bad Sides of Self-Justification — Free to Pursue

This is a longer article with an interesting take on human’s natural ability to self-justify and confirm whatever beliefs we have or actions we have taken. It’s the sunk cost fallacy and many other types of mental biases at work. It’s crazy to think about how hard it is for people to change their minds or admit they were wrong. It’s easy to lie to ourselves and filter everything through a lens that will just reinforce whatever we believe, rather than challenging what we believe. The article goes into examples of times when this can be helpful, but I think overall it’s not a great thing. It’s part of the reason everything is so polarizing nowadays. But when we read about the biases like in this article the?hopefully we can bring a greater awareness to it and therefore know when we are falling into a trap of our own design.?

Four Antidotes to Procrastination - zen habits zen habits

We all procrastinate at times, whether it’s on a tough project at work, studying for the CPA or another exam, or doing our household chores, just to name a few examples. Sometimes there can be very legitimate reasons for procrastination, but sometimes that’s not the case. This article has some ways to combat the not excusable procrastination. The first thing to do is ask yourself are you really just tired or burned out? If you are, it’s no wonder you don’t have the energy or willpower to do what needs to be done. Maybe you need some rest and relaxation before you’ll be able to jump in, or spend time with people or on activities that energize you. Can you use commitment and accountability to motivate you? Tell a friend what you need to do or create a consequence if you don’t follow through on the task. The commitment doesn’t have to be huge, but something that’s significant enough that there would be some discomfort if you fail. Is your working space set up to help you or hurt you? Are there shiny things everywhere that will distract you and pull you away by hurting your focus? It’s tough for your willpower to overcome your environment, so you need to set it up to help ensure success. The last point is to shift to the mindset of you get to do things rather than you have to do things. It really can transform how you approach a task when you’re excited and grateful for the chance to work on some thing rather than begrudgingly whining about having to do it. Of course whatever you’re procrastinating on is going to be tough if all you can think about is how not fun and difficult it’s going to be.?

Using Slack: How To Be Distraction Free Like It’s Builders | Nir & Far

We’re all using chat and email tools every day, but what is it like at the companies whose products are the tools that we use? Are they able to use them efficiently and effectively, or do they get distracted as well? This article looks at Slack as a case study of a company that gets it right. Company policy and leadership are very clear on wanting employees to disconnect and not be available outside of normal working hours. Boundaries are encouraged and defended. Slack also recognizes you need to have blocked off time that is dedicated to focused work. Even at Slack you can’t get meaningful progress done if you’re getting interrupted every two minutes. Slack also does a great job giving their employees outlets to voice their opinions and to offer constructive feedback to their leaders. The key there is you need to actually act on the feedback as well. It would be a negative to solicit employee opinions and suggestions but then not do anything with them; that would appear very self serving and fake.?

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/412657

?Your team may be able to function and work well together, but does it have a sense of connection and belonging? Do your teammates know why you do what you do and what your motivations are? Does everyone feel safe enough to open up about those things? I’ve been a University of Georgia football fan for my whole life because of family ties to the school, so it’s pretty cool to read this article about how team connection and belonging helped fuel them to a national championship last season. When you have belonging your teammates can help motivate each other, and help each other through difficulties. When you don’t have belonging it’s more likely players will feel isolated, alone, and only look out for themselves.?

https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/with-7-short-words-tom-brady-just-taught-a-dangerous-lesson-in-leadership.html

This article looks at Rob Gronkowski’s NFL contract incentives as a case study for how companies can create incentives for their own employees. It describes the dangers from all or nothing incentives because that may lead to adverse side effects from employees who are very close to the goal; they may disregard ethics or rules to get that last little part. It’s important to reward your people, just make sure that you’ve considered secondary incentives that the main incentives create.