I finished up this morning’s Zoom call and then I tiptoed back to bed, snuck in, and started shivering under three layers of blankets.
There were two things I wanted to get done today. The Zoom call was one. And I managed to get it done, in spite of being sick with some unidentified illness.
I’m telling you this in case you’ve written me in the past few days and haven’t gotten a response. It’s because I’ve pared down what I’m doing to the absolute essentials.
I also wanted to share a little psychological hack I learned from John Carlton. Carlton writes:
Gary Halbert used to buy himself watches, or cameras, or even boats (preferably used wooden craft requiring thousands in maintenance, but that’s another story) whenever he finished a big gig. As a reward for a job well done.
I’ve always rewarded myself with free time (as in taking the phone off the hook for an entire week, or splitting to hang with friends).
It doesn’t matter what, precisely, the reward is (as long as it’s meaningful to you)… but the ACT of rewarding yourself fires up the motivation part of your unconscious brain.
You might think it’s silly to connect Carlton’s watches-and-sailboats advice to my situation today.
So be it.
But I don’t think I could have pulled myself together for the call had I scheduled more work for myself right after, and had I not promised myself that shivery, four-hour nap as a reward.
But anyways. Here’s an email-writing tip. Wrap up what you’ve been talking about by giving your reader a takeaway he can use today. So here it is, in Carlton’s words:
Fastest path to burnout is to finish a grueling gig, clear the desk, and then start the next grueling gig.
What the hell are you thinking, you’re Superman?
Decompress, go shop for a goodie, teach your brain to associate end-of-job with fun rewards.
Main key: The reward cannot be something you’d buy or do anyway. It has to be pure excessive nonsense (like Halbert’s 14th watch or 3rd boat) that delights your Inner Kid.
Last point:
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