https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54109216-how-to-think-like-a-lawyer
Learn to think better using Kim Wehle’s method to feel like a lawyer.
Challenge
Pick one thing, go through this bike hat method, and try to break it down into small steps. First, try to make sure you research and find your values. Then create the checklist so that you know where everything ranks. Next, argue the other side or all the sides. Choose something easy that you can see if this system makes you happier.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54109216-how-to-think-like-a-lawyer
Lawyers can make significant decisions because they are trained to dissect complex situations into small bits and analyze them. They are trained to see both sides, which helps them. They are great at breaking down complex ideas into ways people can understand them. They are taught to be analytical and that there are areas of grey that can be used to make decisions. They are great at looking at details and finding nuance and contradictions
Heuristics allow us to make quick decisions based on available knowledge. We can also apply some rules to this knowledge, like thinking the most expensive option would be the better-quality item.
Bias is when we have shortcuts in decision-making, like thinking the newer item is better, which might be true but inhibiting a good decision.
Risk Management might be one way they decide on a topic based on what is the least risky path and what the likelihoods and outcomes of the decision are.
Threat Decisions are made by the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which makes the fight or flight decisions. The choice must be made quickly, and cortisol floods the system with adrenaline. This will help with fighting or running and healing.
Value Decisions are based on our morals and values and need further clarification to ensure we act correctly.
Habit Decisions are made in basal ganglia and have no value or threat. They are quick decisions based on basic information.
Challenge
Think about how you make decisions. Do you make decisions based on your noodle selections differently than how you decide whether to buy a house or a car? Or when you’re making decisions about something moral, that is a more significant issue, what do you take into consideration? What processes do you go into when making decisions based on various complexities?
Links
See how hormones in your body affect your mood and sleep. Find out when they are out of normal ranges.
Dopamine Disorders – The wrong levels of Dopamine can cause lethargy or addictions. Drug addiction can also work against the dopamine system, making them even more addictive.
Serotonin – Serotonin has to do with well-being, gastric systems, and the production of Melatonin.
Melatonin – Melatonin releases when your body starts to prepare for sleep and is responsible for the sleep clock and schedule.
Cortisol – Cortisol pumps out during the morning to wake you up and when danger is around. It produces energy via sugar release to allow you to wake up or run away from danger. I can improve the immune system because, in the past, the threat was also dangerous to our physical health. Keep stress in control to keep this hormone at the proper levels.
Challenge
Consider how some of these hormones may affect your daily life, for example, if you’re having trouble sleeping, have high-stress levels, or are just fatigued. Think about those hormones and decide if it’s time that you talk to your doctor about them because there are treatments for low levels or high levels of all these hormones.
Find out what to do if you have a sudden loss of a job.
Don’t get down or depressed; look at this as a new adventure and do everything to keep yourself from being bitter or angry.
Think about everything you learned and gained skills since you last looked for a job. It is about looking at critical areas you are interested in and your priorities and guiding principles. Think about your budget and how much money you need to live or would like to make.
Think about this as a chance to do something you like better, make more money, or change your work area. This time might be scary, but it doesn’t have to be awful.
Don’t burn any bridges with your last job or other people. Relationships and networking are the keys to your future employment and work. Not only is it essential for you to keep your old relationships going, but now is a time to make new relationships. Think about who can help you find another job. Bring in your team.
Figure out what matters to you in a job and what you would have changed because now is your opportunity
Decide if now is the time to get training or go to school. It is good to learn other new things unrelated to your job. Learning about new items will give you confidence and something interesting to discuss during your new job interviews.
Spend some time visiting family and taking time to do things you can’t do while you have a job.
Write your resume and get an elevator speech so you can talk to others about your future work plans. We covered elevator speeches in episode 19.
Check out job sites and other places to look for jobs to see what is out there.
You might consider counseling or career specialists to help you find a job. Your job is finding a job and being kind to yourself. You are now working for yourself to find your new future.
Challenge
Try to imagine if you are going to get another job. Maybe you’re not looking right now. Perhaps you’re not in danger of losing your job. But pretend for a moment that you will look for a new job. What are those career anchors that are going to make you fulfilled? What are you looking for in a new job? Would it be another schedule? Would it be another pay increase? Would it be another industry? And maybe even jot down some of these things that if you were going to get another job, what would you be looking for? Perhaps this is your chance, then to just casually look in the ads on the websites in the different places to see if any of those jobs meet your needs. But again, if you get but, doing a little dreaming will help you know what’s next.
Why market? It is to make more money in our endeavors. More money means we have more resources to make our business survive and use our money to help others.
Everyone has a professional plan. Having a marketing plan will help you be most effective.
A tiny minority of marketing efforts is influential; you must be selective when you don’t have the time or money to do it all.
That is where the 1-page marketing plan is perfect for a simple, easy-to-follow program.
Advertising is making a poster
Promotion is dressing up like a dinosaur and gaining attention
The press talking about it is publicity
And people laughing about it at the water cooler is public relations
Strategy is your plan for marketing, and a tactic is acting items in the strategy,
Can you learn some things about marketing in your area by looking at the competitors around you?
When you develop a marketing strategy, you want to measure the costs and effectiveness.
It should be compelling to the target. It should offer the target audience something and have a request for them to act. For example, is it to listen to a podcast or buy a product?
You have some small steps to follow up with your customers and track their activity. Did the plan work?
Then after people follow the ask, you should maintain that relationship.
He then talks about his plan. You can find more information here https://blog.12min.com/the-1-page-marketing-plan-pdf-summary/
Before marketing work, you want to figure out who your marketing plan is for. People probably don’t even know who you are. They should learn who you are and what you do.
While you try to get your prospects to buy, they should learn to like what you do.
After the phase, follow up and get your customers to trust your work and buy again or tell a friend. That is the best marketing when you have word of mouth.
You want to target your marketing to a segment of people who might be your customers. You can’t be everything to everything. It makes you not unique. No one will think you are special enough to buy from your competitors. Your plans should have a very narrow focus.
Mass marketing is expensive. You want to be a big fish in a small pond.
To find your audience, you want to score how personally fulfilling this customer is to you. Then you want to achieve the potential for income and how important your product will be to the customer. Finally, when you have found that sweet spot of a group of people you want to work for, and that group can provide you the income, you know you have found your target.
Once you find this target audience, you must learn everything about them with their dreams, wishes, hopes, and fears. What do they buy and read, and what problems are they trying to solve? Then develop a fake person or character who can represent them. What does your buyer look like, then? Then, when you make plans, you can think about them.
With how crowded markets are, you must stand out. You must be unique in a way that makes you stand apart from others, so they buy from you.
Get an elevator speech about your business and products so you can say it right off your head if someone asks you. In episode 19, we talked about how to get an elevator speech. Write with compelling words and emotional terms.
Be clear with your titles and not so creative that they don’t know what you are talking about.
In your follow-up, don’t spam them and make them sorry they signed up.
Never buy lists to text and email. They tend to be terrible quality lists and may be illegal and get you blacklisted.
Create you’re your content and be the voice of your customer. For example, have a blog or podcast to tell your customer’s story. You want them to think about you and say to their friends too.
You aim to turn a prospect into a customer and advocate for your product.
Start on his one-page marketing plan. And suppose you’re going to write a book. In that case, you’re going to have a small business, or maybe you work for a nonprofit organization you wish more people knew about. Start with his beginning plan, which is to figure out who your target audience is, and then try to figure out what message you have for them and what makes them tick. What books do they read? What are their worries at night? What makes them joyful? And try to become the expert of your tribe? Are you one, thanks so much? I appreciate listening to the podcast.
Challenge
If you are thinking about doing any kind of marketing, whether you’re trying to market a nonprofit organization that you’re working for, whether you’re trying to sell a book that you’re writing or a podcast you have, consider creating this one-page plan that he has from this book, to try to find out.
Sisu (Finnish) – It means to have grit or perseverance. If you are at the end of your rope, you still find it inside yourself to keep going. It isn’t even in this concept of big woes. It can be small things and short moments of grit. https://matadornetwork.com/read/finnish-concept-sisu/
Fiero (Italian) – Taking pride in your achievement by accomplishing a goal and not unwarranted vanity or ego.
Engelengeduld (Dutch) – tolerance, patience, and the ability to endure
Novaturient (English) – change your behavior or life by seeking the change and taking steps to get there.
Inuuqatigiittiarniq (Inuit) – Respect for other people and a commitment to harmony and peace.
Meraki (Greek) – loving your creations and efforts and what you do in life. It is a love of labor and creativity. . https://greekerthanthegreeks.com/2015/03/lost-in-translation-word-of-day-meraki.html
Tempest Fugit (Latin) Time flies and is going to run out. Therefore, we must look at it as a precious and fleeting commodity.
Þedda redast (Icelandic) – Technically, it means external relations, but everything will work out just fine. It is an optimistic way to look at life but also includes this stoic, calm view of things that happen in life. And if even it doesn’t work out, it will in the end anyway. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180603-the-unexpected-philosophy-icelanders-live-by
Aftselakhis (Yiddish) – Wanting to do something after someone tells you that you shouldn’t.
Fernweh (German) – Having a longing or being homesick for a place you have never been.
Shouganai (Japanese) – Don’t worry or think about issues you can’t do anything about.
Mudita (Javanese) – Being happy or having joy for other people’s happiness.
Verschlimmbesserung (German) – Trying to make something better, but you made it worse instead.
Kummerspeck (German) – It is translated as “bacon-grief,” which means eating and gaining weight to get comfort or stress relief.
Kuidoare (Japanese) – When you eat yourself into going broke, which maybe is a word that goes with “bacon grief.”
Challenge
Think about which one of these personal attitudes stuck with you. Which one do you like the most? Is it sympathy for other people? Or is it this concept that everything will work out in the end? And I want you to think about how this philosophy helps you face challenging times when trying to do something better in your life.
Links
https://proofed.com/writing-tips/15-useful-foreign-words-that-dont-exist-in-english/
105 – Best Advice of the Last Year – https://smallstepspod.com/?p=3316 – On the second anniversary, I offer up what I think the best advice of last year was for this season.
Don’ts
Do’s
Challenge
CRAAP or TAARP? – Created by Sarah Blakeslee to help people decide how to ensure data is from a good source. She developed the standard Currency (or Timeliness), Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose (Point of View). Her students told her that the acronym stood for CRAAP, and she embraced it. There are many names they call this standard CRAAP, CRAB, CRAP, TRAP, TARP.
Currency or Timeliness – Is the data current enough to matter, and do they use timely, recent, and useful references? It is too easy to report old material.
Relevance – Is the data on the right topic for the project? Does it have the right audience in mind for your purposes?
Authority – Does the person who wrote the information an authority or expert on the information, either by experience or education? Does their process of collecting the data make what they are saying true? Ensure the people you reference have the authority to make their claims confidently.
Accuracy – Are there mistakes that are blatant or show sloppiness by the author, which might mean there are reasons to be concerned? For example, could the data be biased or not even true or select information to prove the point?
Purpose or Point of View – Was this writing backed by someone or had a purpose? Is it meant to convince someone of something, or is it purely an academic article? Again, make sure your data isn’t trying to sell you.
Don’t Save Volatile Data – If the data becomes outdated quickly, there is no point in saving it. Perhaps keep the site that researches this topic or make a note of the topic. Quickly advancing research will become old fast.
Personal Bias – Does the author have a viewpoint that taints or alters the whole work? It might be ok to use if you get other views too.
Actionable – Does the data provide the right call to action from the listeners or readers? If you are hoping to get action, it should have the ability to urge people.
Correct Data for the Right Format – Some data is suitable for podcasts, others for posters, and others for academic papers. Ensure that you have the right research for your purposes.
Create an Action Plan – Create a plan for the data and how you will use it. Knowing the proper way to use it will help you stay focused.
Challenge
Take a hard look at whether you’re using good sources. And then, in the future, can you think about this CRAAP or TAARP method of analyzing your data and making sure that your data is timely, and accurate? Ensure that it has authority, meaning coming from good sources and that it’s relevant to what you’re trying to study, that there’s a real purpose to this data, that it fits the format you’re trying to do, and that it has the proper purpose. Finally, ensure that you’re using good resources when finding data.
Links
How to Curate Data – We have so much data and information. How do we deal with the sheer volume? How can we tell what is worth storing or referring to and what is fake or useless to us?
Gather Details – The first step is to gather details. Whether you start with many details ad pair down or start small and grow the data where needed, you must find the right system.
Curate Like a Museum – Museums must pick what will be displayed and how it is organized for the visitors. They expect to see what aligns with the museum’s topic and what exciting items to display. That is the same attitude you want when curating your data.
Write a Data Plan or Charter – Decide when working with data or a project to create a plan for the data. What kind of data do you need? Is this a deep dive or an overview? In what format will the data need to be presented? A podcast or a blog article, or an infogram?
Make it Your Own – Take data that others created and research with it. Then make it your own. You do not wish to plagiarize or copy other people’s work or steal their efforts but instead, learn it and give it a new life with your perspective and creativity,
Get the Data to The Right People – figure out with data the correct format for it. For example, some data is great for video and others for audio, and some information is excellent for text and graphics.
Give the Proper Attribution – Always give the proper attribution and credit people’s work. It will provide appropriate credit to the data source and help people find more details if they are curious about the topic.
Pare It Down – Too much data or overwhelming people with a flood of information will weaken your message. Instead, pare down the details to the right level for the audience and the topic. Imagine if you had to pay for each word. What words and sentences would go away?
Challenge
think about how it is that you’re curating your data. Whenever it is you’re trying to look up a particular topic, do some research on a specific issue. What process do you take to ensure that you’re getting good information that’s accurate for your project?
Keep learning, keep questioning and keep your career fresh and growing.
Beginning, Middle, and End? People often think about work as having a beginning, middle, and end but is that how work must be? Do we just go up a hill for our career and then down until retirement? It paints a bleak picture of the work world.
Work as a Journey – instead of looking at work as this big up and down, it is a journey with easy parts, challenging climbs stumbles, and wins. We can look at an adventure with big plot turns with a trip.
Questions and Humility – Learn how to ask great questions but not beat people over the heads with them. We want to ask questions to honestly learn what is happening, how we can solve it, and understand people better. It is the only way we can learn and grow.
Learn, Earn and Retire – Instead of looking at work as an up and down, look at it as a continuous cycle. We must consistently learn and earn and learn and earn. That way, our careers grow. We grow! We become better and more confident and happier with our jobs.
Now We Continuously Learn – Because jobs are higher tech and fancier machinery and knowledge industries, we must learn and learn and ask questions. It keeps us at the peak of our careers and makes sure we are ready for the next career adventures.
Renew Your Mind, Reset Your Career – Resetting your career is about constantly learning and looking at your skills and abilities so you can decide which path your path should take. It might mean you have to stretch a bit to
Confidence, Age, and Experience – With age, people gain confidence, and that is primarily because of built experience. Suppose you were the type of person who believed in “faking it until you make it” then you might feel less confident because you see the newer or younger employees gaining skills and knowledge and possibly taking your spot. Instead, you should build that knowledge so you can be more confident.
Build Bridges with Everyone – Meet people in your work and office of all experiences, levels, and teams. Those bridges will help your career and will help you solve the more significant problems at your workplace because you will have learned from your great questions and your years of experience.
Building Our Own Identities – By being both a mentor and an intern, you have the best of both worlds to ask good questions and give great advice. This identity will set the stage for your new work identity as a learner and an excellent advisor with experience. This will refresh our careers and our image work.
Regaining our Beginners Mindset – If you get stuck where you no longer want to learn or no longer feel you can know. To get back to a great career, you must regain your beginner mindset, which means you ask questions and trace your thinking to ensure your assumptions and experience are leading you down the right path. You will learn new things to inject knowledge and energy into work.
Foster Honesty – We can’t fix what we can’t be honest about. Creating a culture of honesty will allow people to feel free to tell you when something is wrong or what conditions something must be solved. When you have an honest reputation, people will come to you with ideas and problems.
Humble Inquiry – Remember always when asking questions means being humble. Asking questions with that humble attitude will allow people to be honest and let you get to the root of any issue.
Challenge
Think of three ways that you could be a mentor. How can you help newer people in the company do better and reach their potential? Then think of three ways that you could be an intern. How could you learn more? How could you ask better questions? What questions could you ask to bring new and creative ideas to the problem?
Links