High-Leverage Activities, Unexpected Wisdom, & More

Author

Alex Brogan
June 21, 2023 • Read Time: 6 minutes

Good Morning. Welcome to all the new readers of Faster Than Normal who have joined us since last week!

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

Mental Model: High-Leverage Activities.

Insight: Unexpected Wisdom.

Quote: Embracing Stillness.

Question: Navigating New Horizons.

Poem: The Will to Win.

Cheers,
Alex

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| Mental Model

High-Leverage Activities

The concept of "High-Leverage Activities" is rooted in the principle of focusing on tasks that have the greatest impact on achieving your desired outcomes. By concentrating on these activities, you can maximize your output and overall efficiency.

High-leverage activities are those that require minimal input or effort, but yield a significant return on investment. These activities can be distinguished by their potential to directly or indirectly influence multiple areas of your life or work.

To prioritize high-leverage activities, consider the following steps:

1. Identify your goals and objectives: Clearly define what you aim to achieve, both in the short and long term. This will help you determine which activities are most relevant to your success.

2. List your tasks and activities: Create an exhaustive list of all the tasks and activities you're currently engaged in or plan to undertake.

3. Evaluate the leverage: For each task or activity, assess its potential impact on your goals and objectives. Consider how much time and effort it requires, and how it affects other areas of your life or work.

4. Prioritize: Rank your tasks and activities based on their leverage, placing the highest-leverage activities at the top of your list. These are the tasks that should receive the majority of your attention and resources.

5. Delegate or eliminate low-leverage tasks: For tasks that have a low impact on your goals, consider delegating them to others or eliminating them entirely if they don't contribute to your overall success.

By focusing on high-leverage activities, you can ensure that your time and energy are directed toward tasks with the greatest potential for positive outcomes. This will not only help you achieve your goals more efficiently, but also allow you to maintain a balanced and sustainable approach to work and life.

| Insight

The most valuable lessons often come from unexpected sources.

Challenge: Reflect on a recent encounter or experience that taught you something valuable, even if it wasn't obvious at the time.

| Quote

Katherine May, an author, on the value of slowing down:

"Rest and stillness are not a luxury; they are a necessity. They are the quiet rivers that flow beneath the noise, the water that nourishes everything else."

| Question

As I embark on new endeavors and face unfamiliar challenges, how might I embrace vulnerability and trust in my capacity for growth and resilience?

A Poem I Enjoyed

"The Will to Win" by Berton Braley

If you want a thing bad enough

To go out and fight for it,

Work day and night for it,

Give up your time and your peace and your sleep for it

If only desire of it

Makes you quite mad enough

Never to tire of it,

Makes you hold all other things tawdry and cheap for it,

If life seems all empty and useless without it,

And all that you scheme and you dream is about it,

If gladly you'll sweat for it,

Fret for it,

Plan for it,

Lose all your terror of the opposition for it,

If you'll simply go after that thing that you want,

With all your capacity,

Strength and sagacity,

Faith, hope, and confidence, stern pertinacity,

If neither cold poverty, famished and gaunt,

Nor sickness nor pain

Of body or brain

Can turn you away from the thing that you want,

If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it,

You'll get it!

Have a wonderful Wednesday, all.

Until next time,

Alex

| P.S. — My Weekly Picks