"Your older self is watching you through memories.
Whether it's with regret or nostalgia
depends on what you do now."
- Gurwinder Bhogal
Founding and running a startup can be hectic, turbulent, and disruptive – which might describe a good day. Most of the time, you'll find yourself putting out fires or racing to meet deadlines, pushing forward however possible.
What if one adjustment would add 1% more work today but yield a 10% improvement tomorrow? By adding more intention to your actions, you can grow your business effectively by anticipating risks and exploring opportunities.
Meet Future Me
Can you give yourself 30 seconds of silence? Phone silenced, laptop closed, other devices off. Imagine yourself in two months.
Consider the demands on your time and the results of your efforts. What would be the best scenario? What would be the worst case?
I’ll wait...
Now, think about what choices you can make today to reach the optimistic condition and avoid the negative one.
I know you’re so freaking busy right now, and it may seem ridiculous, but I promise that if you apply a few extra minutes of work today, “Future Me” will have at least one fewer headache and problem to resolve tomorrow.
Adding 1% of your time to proactively consider your future self offers exponential benefits:
Increase team retention and encourage customer upsells and referrals
Mitigate problems, making them easier to solve and providing more options
Improve growth since informed people will be more supportive of your goals
Work for Future Me
Set expectations early. Let people know your objectives, plan, deliverables, timing, and ways to measure performance to focus energy and resources.
There has been a lot of research to show that the best way to motivate people is to set a high but attainable goal.
Communicate Clearly. Tell people important updates, even if you only have partial information. With silence, people may assume the worst-case scenario, and waiting even longer can cause other problems.
If someone gets emotional, change the platform and tempo. For instance, if they are blowing up over email, ask to talk with them tomorrow morning.
Finally, dare to ask open-ended questions like, “What is one thing that I can do better?” The feedback may be tough but useful.
Solve problems directly. If a problem does arise, start to address it promptly. You may not have the full solution yet, but acknowledge it, take responsibility if necessary, and share your plan to resolve it.
Give continuous feedback until the problem is resolved, and after that is done, explain how it will be prevented from recurring.
Being proactive mitigates potential problems and maximizes options for future success.
______________________________ Original image by Stefan Keller who can be found here
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