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Mental Models

Leadership Isn’t a Popularity Contest

February 8, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Leadership Isn't a Popularity Contest Smart leaders accept that some decisions—like letting someone go or pulling the plug on a project—might not sit well with everyone, but tough decisions must be made for the greater good.

Leadership demands a tough mindset. While considering conflicts and respecting diverse opinions, leaders must prioritize decisions based on facts and organizational goals rather than personal preferences.

Leadership isn’t for you if you can’t handle others’ disapproval. Seeking constant approval and validation only weakens your ability to hold yourself accountable.

Idea for Impact: As a leader, be tough when you must and kind when you can. Raising your likability should be an aspiration and not a goal. Being trusted to make the right decisions is more important than sacrificing short-term popularity.

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Filed Under: Leadership, Leading Teams, Mental Models Tagged With: Attitudes, Conviction, Decision-Making, Discipline, Ethics, Likeability

Resolution Reboot: February’s Your Fresh Start

February 1, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Resolution Reboot: February's Your Fresh Start At the beginning of the year, we all get hyped up with that whole “New Year, New Me!” vibe. But once the confetti settles, our resolutions crash and burn faster than a balloon with a slow leak. Come end of January, we’re like, “What resolutions?”

If you’re aiming for a February reboot or you’ve kicked things off strong and want to keep that momentum rolling all year, watch out for these resolution roadblocks:

  • Willpower Woes. Counting on willpower alone usually doesn’t cut it for long-term goals. Instead, work on building discipline gradually, taking small steps, and cutting yourself some slack when things don’t go as planned.
  • Ignoring Psychology. Knowing what makes you tick is crucial for real change. Figure out what triggers your bad habits and tweak your environment to make it easier to stick to your goals.
  • Negative Self-Talk. Beating yourself up when you slip up only makes it harder to stay on track. Treat setbacks as learning experiences, accept your limitations, adjust your expectations, and keep pushing forward.
  • Overreaching Goals. Trying to tackle impossible goals is like sprinting a marathon—you’ll burn out fast. Take it easy by setting achievable milestones each month and gradually building momentum.
  • Lack of Specificity. Swap out vague resolutions like “get fit” or “be a better person” for specific, doable goals. Start small, like running a mile or cutting out afternoon sodas, and keep checking in to stay on track.
  • Accountability Absence. Goals often fizzle out without someone to answer to. Pair up with a buddy, join a group, or use apps to keep yourself focused and motivated.
  • Overlooking Progress. Celebrate the little victories—they’re what keep you going. Don’t just focus on the big picture; recognize every step forward to boost your confidence and motivation.

Idea for Impact: If January didn’t pan out like you hoped, no worries! Give your New Year resolutions a reboot. Turn those intentions into solid themes, keep tabs on your progress, and set some fresh targets. Snag a new planner, jot down some realistic goals, and let February be the month you truly kick it into gear and start smashing those resolutions!

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Filed Under: Living the Good Life, Mental Models, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Discipline, Goals, Lifehacks, Motivation, Procrastination, Targets

When It’s Over, Leave

January 27, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

When It's Over, Leave Persistence is admirable, but there’s a thin line—it can easily tip over into stubbornness. Continuing to nurture or sustain something that has hit a dead-end or has ceased to thrive is futile and may even be detrimental.

Once a situation or relationship has run its course, investing more time and effort into a lost cause is just a waste. Resilience kicks in when you let go of specific expectations and embrace the current reality. Instead of stubbornly clinging to the past, shift your focus to what you can control. Quitting isn’t always a sign of weakness.

Idea for Impact: When it’s over, leave. Pivot. Don’t water a dead flower. Acknowledge closure, let go, and channel your energy toward fresh opportunities or areas of growth instead of holding on to what’s in the rearview mirror.

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Filed Under: Living the Good Life, Mental Models Tagged With: Assertiveness, Balance, Decision-Making, Discipline, Persuasion, Wisdom

Think Simple, Lead Better

January 26, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Managers sometimes make decisions that unnecessarily complicate things Managers sometimes make decisions that unnecessarily complicate things, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Newbie MBAs often bring in their overly rigorous perspectives, frameworks, and analytical tools. However, if they don’t use them wisely, the theoretical frameworks learned in the comfort of the B-school classroom can actually make things more complex in the trenches of the workplace. Collaborating with someone experienced, practical, and familiar with the company’s ins and outs can significantly improve managerial decision-making. Effectiveness comes from finding the right methodical balance and simplifying things when it makes sense.

Idea for Impact: Not everyone is naturally inclined to simplify, but with some on-the-job experience and feedback from the crew, managers can learn to cut the fat and make things smoother over time.

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  5. Everything in Life Has an Opportunity Cost

Filed Under: Mental Models Tagged With: Balance, Clutter, Decision-Making, Goals, Happiness

When in Doubt, Write it Out

January 24, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

When in Doubt, Write it Out Taking a breather and jotting down your thoughts can help shake off that stress loop from doubts, confusion, and big decisions.

When stress hits, your mind tends to replay the same negative tune, trapped in a feedback loop. Engaging in free-writing, sketching out a mindmap, or creating a list of pros and cons provides your mind with a reprieve, alleviating the overwhelm and offering a fresh perspective.

Idea for Impact: Putting your reflections on paper helps clear things up, letting you tackle one thing at a time without drowning in all your worries. Plus it signals to your brain to stop overthinking on the issue.

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Filed Under: Health and Well-being, Mental Models Tagged With: Anxiety, Mindfulness, Stress, Time Management, Wisdom, Worry

Don’t Do the Easiest Jobs First

January 15, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Eat that Frog; How to get your working day off to a good start Yes, it’s hard to hit the ground running in the morning. It’s tempting to mark easy tasks off your to-do list—switching over your laundry or checking email in a few minutes, but you never stop there. The sense of accomplishment you’ll get from such small things usually never builds up.

Small tasks may make you feel as if you’re being super-productive, but when you start your working day with such a laid-back approach, it’s easy to get stuck in a pattern of avoiding demanding, complicated tasks. When you reach the end of the day, you’ll find you’ve not achieved anything substantial at all—just a lot of ‘stuff’ that won’t make much difference. Tackling your easiest tasks first won’t build confidence for the harder ones.

In his bestselling book Eat That Frog! : 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (2001,) self-help author Brian Tracy recommends taking on the most challenging task first—the large, hideous frog. Your frog is almost certainly the task you’re most likely to put on the back burner, but it’ll also have the greatest impact.

If you want to trick your brain into getting started, use my 10-Minute Dash Technique to launch that first step of the ‘frog’ that’s the toughest. Within 10 minutes, you’ll find that getting started and feeling good about your progress means it’s easy to build momentum. Seemingly difficult tasks get easier once you get working on them. That’s how you lower the threshold for taking action and building momentum. When you’ve accomplished a high-impact ‘frog,’ you can power through the rest of the day knowing that your most important task has been achieved.

Idea for Impact: Unleash your productivity potential. Don’t fill your day with small things that add up. Yes, you can move over the laundry in a few minutes, but don’t stop there.

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  5. Zeigarnik Effect: How Incomplete Tasks Trigger Stress

Filed Under: Living the Good Life, Mental Models, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Decision-Making, Discipline, Getting Things Done, Motivation, Procrastination, Tardiness, Task Management, Time Management

Don’t Try to ‘Make Up’ for a Missed Workout, Here’s Why

January 11, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Why You Shouldn't 'Make Up' for a Missed Workout Fitness enthusiasts adhering to a training plan often grapple with the guilt of missing a workout. The temptation to compensate by intensifying the next session or sneaking in extra exercise on a designated rest day can be counterproductive.

Sustainable progress, not desperate measures, is the key to achieving fitness goals. Trying to make up for missed workouts risks injuries, overexertion, and excessive fatigue, ultimately undermining your training efforts.

Overtraining without adequate recovery hinders progress. Sometimes, it’s wiser to let go of a missed workout, as a single session won’t determine your overall success. By releasing the burden of guilt, you can shift your focus towards establishing a sustainable fitness routine.

Life’s unpredictability means it’s okay to recalibrate your expectations and prioritize consistency over perfection.

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Filed Under: Mental Models, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Change Management, Discipline, Goals, Motivation, Perfectionism, Procrastination, Targets

5 Reasons Why You Should “Go For It”

January 8, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Rather than wallowing, hesitating, and wasting time agonizing over choices, it’s crucial to take action:

  1. Escape comfort’s embrace; you’ll have more to gain and less to lose.
  2. Life’s brevity echoes with unspoken desires. Dreams find their roots in uncharted territories.
  3. Unfettered by opinions, discover your inner strength. Pursuing your passions increases the likelihood of success.
  4. Embrace the journey, bidding doubts farewell. Love-driven pursuits pave the way to success. Adaptability allows for course corrections.
  5. Life’s treasures lie beyond the known; even in the worst case, a participation certificate awaits. The only things you will regret in the future are the things you don’t do today.

Idea for Impact: True greatness emerges through risk and venture.

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Filed Under: Mental Models, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Anxiety, Decision-Making, Fear, Motivation, Personal Growth, Procrastination

Pitch Problems, Not Ideas

January 4, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Many teams impede innovation because they center innovation on ideas and not problems.

Ideas make people rush to solutions—problems make people identify with them and commiserate. Ideas are easier to kill; problems aren’t.

When you anchor a proposal in a truly great problem, you’ll find that colleagues are more likely to build on it rather than attempt to destroy it. Problems promote listening and building reciprocal trust.

Idea for Impact: Innovation should be centered on problems, not ideas.

Encourage everyone to pitch problems, not firm proposals.

Sell the problem, and you’ll get less resistance.

As I’ve mentioned previously, the best marketing minds work on creating a customer—previously unaware of a problem, the customer becomes interested in considering the opportunity and finally acts upon it.

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Filed Under: Business Stories, Mental Models, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Creativity, Innovation, Persuasion, Problem Solving, Thinking Tools

Busyness is a State of Mind

January 2, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Busyness is a State of Mind Refrain from judging how busy you are based on how much you must do. When there are too many things to do, you feel busy, and when there isn’t much to do, you feel not busy at all.

Busyness is generally in the mind. It’s the feeling of being scattered about what you don’t have. You can only ever do one thing at a time, so when you claim you’re busy, you’re referring to all the distractions, regrets, apprehensions, fears, and uncertainties that keep your mind unsettled. Busyness is the mental clutter, meaning there’s scant space to think. An overwhelmed mindset can contribute to a sense of being overly busy, even in situations where the workload might be manageable.

Idea for Impact: Being busy is indeed a state of mind, not a state of affairs. When you get overwhelmed, ask yourself, “Am I actually busy, or does it just seem this way? The things I’m doing—and supposed to do—don’t inherently mean I have to keep believing I’m too busy.” Find your focus.

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Filed Under: Living the Good Life, Mental Models Tagged With: Balance, Clutter, Mindfulness, Perfectionism, Simple Living, Stress, Wisdom

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About: Nagesh Belludi [hire] is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based freethinker, investor, and leadership coach. He specializes in helping executives and companies ensure that the overall quality of their decision-making benefits isn’t compromised by a lack of a big-picture understanding.

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Unless otherwise stated in the individual document, the works above are © Nagesh Belludi under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. You may quote, copy and share them freely, as long as you link back to RightAttitudes.com, don't make money with them, and don't modify the content. Enjoy!