Okay… I heard the mumbling under your breath. Thinking… It’s about time!
How do you increase your capacity?
- Emotional capacity
- Financial capacity
- Productivity capacity
- Relationship capacity
If the key to growth in life is capacity, then you’ve got to learn how to do more.
Right?
WRONG!
The key to increasing your capacity is doing more… of less. At least that’s what I think.
If you concentrate on doing only the things that YOU should do, you will become more effective. Playing to your strengths leaves you practicing to perfection. What you emphasize becomes enhanced. The more you do what you do best, the better you get. You only have so much time.
What do you think?
Of course that leads us to the BIG question. What are you good at? What unique things do only you do?
Let’s talk!
#1 by Aaron M. Potts on Jun 10, 2007 - 1:51 pm
Dave,
You know, I was surprised whenever I realized that I didn’t have an instant answer to this question! I have always prided myself on doing EVERYTHING that I do to the best of my abilities, but that path has taken me through many different careers, activities, and hobbies.
What I do for a living is composing content for and managing all 3 of my blogs. My short answer on how my way of doing that is unique is that I write from what I consider to be a very unique position.
I’ve had experiences and education that are packaged in such a way that no one else could possibly write from the emotional standpoint that I write from, and that makes my online content 100% unique. I stay away from “echo chamber” content for the most part, concentrating rather on delivering my own unique point of view not just in what I write, but in the websites themselves.
So, what do I do well that is unique to me? I Do Things Differently. And I don’t mind saying that I pride myself on that fact!
Great post to start a conversation!
#2 by DaveOlson on Jun 10, 2007 - 9:27 pm
Aaron… It’s funny isn’t it, that we often struggle to define what we’re good or unique at. You are YOU. Now when you say you do things differently… what do you mean? Differently from who or what? No obligation… just more curious than anything.
#3 by Jonathan-C. Phillips on Jun 11, 2007 - 11:11 pm
What unique things do only I do?
humm, as usual Dave, it’s hard for me to reply with only a couple of lines to your post! hehe
Ok, what is it that I do that is unique? This is a difficult question to answer. But I’d say I smile! Simple as that. These days, when you walk on the street, you don’t see much people smiling (for free), seems it’s getting harder and harder to smile, so I smile! That is something that makes me who I am. Honestly, most people that know me, friends, familly, would probably say the same thing, i smile and make people think.
We live in a world of “instant gratification”, so thought provoking questions (like the ones you ask Dave), and smiles have a well-deserved place. And I try to not get tricked too much by instant gratification, and the “easy”. I like to make people think, and a smile can go a long way. Of course everybody can smile (and I encourage everybody to do so!). I don’t know about you, but here in Montreal, taking a walk downtown, you don’t see a lot of people smiling.
great post, as usual Dave!
#4 by Jonathan-C. Phillips on Jun 11, 2007 - 11:11 pm
oopss, here’s the smiley:
#5 by VivienneQuek on Jun 12, 2007 - 7:05 am
Hmm.. what am I good at? Art appreciation. I like paintings, scupture, caligraphy, plays, theatres. And I’m working in an creative industry seeingsadvertisements, marketing collatorals, etc, everyday. I simply like looking at them.
What is it I do that’s unique? Wow, that caught me a while. OK, I know. I do my best not to use the word “try”. I was taught this during a 8-day boot camp. I want to get the right mindset as doing is everything and trying is rather nor here nor there.
BTW, Dave, you got my reply right? Didn’t hear from you since.
Note to Jonathan: I like your smiling efforts. Remind me of the guy who gives free hugs.
#6 by Mike on Jun 13, 2007 - 8:12 am
Hi Dave,
I see connections other people haven’t (probably to maintain their sanity). For instance, your “focus on your strengths” is analogous to Eli Goldratt’s “focus on the constraint” in production systems. In fact, I may just have to blog the details of that thought…
Mike
#7 by DaveOlson on Jun 13, 2007 - 11:25 am
Hi Mike… Thanks for stopping by.
I’m not familiar with Eli Goldratt. Care to share more about it?
#8 by Aaron M. Potts on Jun 14, 2007 - 8:24 am
Dave,
I would have to say that by “doing things differently” I mean that I am consistently able to stay in touch with my own unique point of view and understanding about the world.
What I mean by that is that a lot of people can “talk a good talk” about how they understand what is going on, and how they are going to make some changes or a positive impact, but then their own lives get in they way of their enlightenment!
I have been through a lot, and I have learned a lot, and I never lose touch with that. I’m far from perfect, but I would say with complete honesty that I live in a constant state of integrity with who I am as a person, and that the person that I present myself to be and the person that I am are one in the same, damn near 100% of the time.
For those other few percentages, I have also found that sometimes it is best just to roll with the details of any given situation rather than insisting that everyone there understands MY point of view!
#9 by MorganLighter on Jun 16, 2007 - 6:55 am
Dave – Provocative article. Kinda makes you think.
What do I do that’s unique – well, we’re all unique in one way or another, my uniqueness is that I’m (usually) always positive and happy. I don’t let the little things bother me. People often say, “Why are you so happy all the time”? And I answer, “Why aren’t you”? I subscribe to the old adage –
“God, Give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other”. (Don’t sweat the small stuff).
When ever I start to get “down”, I simply think about all the good things in my life and how fortunate and truly blessed I am. My greatest blessing -
My wife and I have been happily, ecstatically, married for 22 years and we love each other more and more each day. It’s true. My wife’s friends comment to her – “Your husband is so nice..so sweet..so whatever…wish my husband acted that way”. And in today’s society when the divorce rate is over 50%, I think we’re unique.
So, there you have it.
Take care.
#10 by DaveOlson on Jun 18, 2007 - 8:31 pm
Morgan… Thanks for stopping by my place. Hope you found something useful here.
You’ve got great advice about how to turn a “down” moment into something “great”. Gratitude is the key to so much in our lives. Thanks for bringing it up.