Make Your Daily Routine Anything But Routine

By Dr. Rob Fazio

The amount of stressors, decisions, and distractions are weighing more heavily than ever on people who need to deliver a return on investment. Under pressure our minds play tricks on us and cause us to be more reactive than strategic. This can be a recipe for poor performance or even worse, the dreaded burnout. Just like our minds can trick us, we can trick our minds to be more engaged. The key is to give our brains a break and create intentional acts of activity. 

Invest In Your Motivational Currency

As you become more aware of what drives you and brings you energy, you will become more productive and lessen your risk of chronic fatigue. What motivated you before COVID, may not be what engages you now. In his book Human Motivation, Harvard psychologist David McClelland looked at social motives and what drives our behavior. His work led to the development of motivational currency, which is an approach to recognizing motivators in yourself, reading the motivators of others, and influencing yourself and others based on an appreciation of their motivators. The core four motivators are: Performance, People, Power, and Purpose. With fewer in-person interactions and more becoming virtual, it’s especially important to increase the probability of successfully influencing those around you by suspending your initial instinct and acting with intention. Create opportunities daily to ensure you are tapping into your primary motivator.

BullyProof Yourself

According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, 49 percent of US workers are affected by bullying. This equates to 79.3 million people. Being bullied impacts your financial, physical, and psychological health and it’s not always easy to see. 

Many of us make decisions based on someone else’s agenda without knowing it. Daniel Friedland, M.D., makes the point that if we want to lead well in the world, we must learn to lead ourselves first. Additionally, we must be aware of how often we get pulled into a reactive rather than a creative state of mind. Start every day by identifying what, above all, you want to accomplish. Then, list your potential triggers that may put you into a reactive state. Triggers could be people or situations. Next, identify how you will take the intensity out of these triggers. One of the best strategies is that as pressure goes up, so should the act of hitting your personal pause button and referring back to what you want to accomplish today. Another strategy is to create strong intentional boundaries that allow you to minimize the noise and drama in your day. 

Balance Self-Care, Other Care, and Business Care

A common mistake that people make is they get out of balance. Some focus solely on getting results and growing their investments, while others are givers and only focus on supporting others. Then there are people who are too good at self-care and would put on your oxygen mask before their own in an emergency on a plane. People who spend time helping others receive psychological and physical benefits. A people-first leadership approach that starts with self-care and also includes taking care of your team, your business, and the greater good gives you the most return on your investment of time. 

Just like investments need to be tailored to individual needs and goals, the same goes for investing your time daily. We will all make mistakes on how we spend our days. Be mindful that the cliché’ “time heals wounds” isn’t quite accurate. It’s what we do with time that heals wounds and moves us toward our objectives. What intentional acts will fill your day? 

Dr. Rob Fazio, OnPoint Advising, has 20 years experience advising on power, influence and motivation. He is the author of BullyProof.