Do More of What Fuels You

 

The other day I noticed that my knee hurt when I did a crooked lunge during my workout. My first response was to try walking lunges, reverse lunges, regular lunges, and every angle possible. Without thinking about it, I was experimenting to see if I could replicate the pain.

 

What was the best reaction? To stop doing what hurts. And to replace it with something that would bring me more energy that day.

 

People do the same thing at work. You have a new project with a high maintenance customer and a complex analysis due next week. So you procrastinate. Yet while you wait, you lament the client’s future reaction. You think about the data and all of the elements you wish you had. And you talk to a peer about this bugger of a project.

 

What you’re doing is devoting extra energy to the very thing that drains you.

 

Here are three strategies for shaping your existing role when you’re dealing with “knee pain” too often.

    1. Adjust the scope. Change the tasks and responsibilities of your job by taking on a little more or a little less. Choose the “more of” or “less of” factor based on your strengths.For example, an operations person who has a strong Communication talent could volunteer to write a cheat sheet for teammates who are struggling to understand a new process.

       

      And that same operations person who is getting drained by repetitive analysis could propose a streamlined dashboard that offers more meaning from the data while cutting back hours spent on manual processes.

 

    1. Interact differently. Take it upon yourself to change the extent of your interactions or the nature of them based on your natural talents.For example, a business development representative with high Relator talent likes nurturing accounts. So he volunteers to host monthly dinners with their top 5 accounts. He feels energized by the ability to build deeper relationships.

       

      And that same guy has a weekly meeting with two teammates. He finds it draining and unproductive, and he realizes it only happens because of tradition. It’s what their predecessors did, so they do it to. He suggests canceling the meeting and all three get back an hour of their week to do something energizing.

 

  1. Reframe it. Change the way you’re relating to the work as a whole.For example, a construction project manager sees her work as a way to help people to build memories with their families in their new homes. Before reframing, she simply considered herself a glorified scheduler.