A.B.C. TOOLBOX #3

Items that have inspired me and may inspire you.

Hello! Welcome to the A.B.C. TOOLBOX bulletin - a weekly selection of ideas, tools and people that I have come across and found interesting. Thank you for all the feedback and comments I receive. I will experiment with these new ideas to make the content as valuable for you as possible. 

Remember: it is written with the intention to inspire and help you grow in business. I hope you will enjoy it!

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A. Dealing with your side-business

Let’s get down to business. 

Have you ever invested your time, money and emotions in a side-business, yet results have disappointed you? Do you actually feel drained right now with your project and have no clue what to do about it? 

As a serial initiator who loves following shiny objects myself, I have landed in that position multiple times in my career. I describe strategies I have used to make the most out of any uncomfortable project in my new blog post: “Dealing with your side-business".

B. A book that introduces practical philosophy

Philosophy sounds to many people of action like a boring matter for those who over-think things. On the other hand, our fundamental set of values and model of thinking both seem crucial to the outcomes of any work. Thus studying philosophy might lay the groundwork for the “why” behind any leader's strategy.

I decided to look for a practical philosophical toolset. As Stoicism has become very popular recently amongst the self-development community, I decided to give it a try.

"The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations for Clarity, Effectiveness, and Serenity” by Ryan Holiday is an amazing introduction to the principles of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and more.

What I like about this book is its simple format - 366 short chapters that start with a quote from one of the Stoic masters and are followed by a practical and modern explanation. Each chapter not only sparks your thinking in a certain direction, but also suggests a specific action to take. It is not oversimplified and leaves a lot of room for reflection.

It is also available in Polish (for my Polish readers).

C. You surely LOVE meetings

I often see people bored or disengaged in meetings, don’t you? Sometimes I am one of them myself. 

Best case: staring mutely, thinking about picking the kids up from school. Worst case: replying to emails or texting. 

I have built three mental models to use when deciding to participate in a meeting and yet not seeing the value when in it. 

Test these three ideas for getting engaged in a meeting when you start to lose focus: 

• Do it for someone else - there is at least one person who cares and wants to achieve something through this meeting. Do your best to understand it and empathize out of respect and curiosity. Bring whatever skills you have to get good karma in motion. Even if your first feeling is: “it is none of my business”.
• Exercise your brain - problem solving, listening to people, observing how people interact is a skill you need to build up by training. Think of a meeting as an opportunity to work out in a practical environment. Make notes and observe human dynamics. Test your ideas.
• Be present where you are - there is no feeling worse than being half-heartedly involved in an activity. Like one part of me is in the meeting while the other wants to do something else. That is the most draining feeling. In that case decide - leave the meeting and go for a walk or stay and make the most of it. Don’t float about in mindlessness - life is too short.

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That's it for this weekend. Let me know what you would like to read about - any questions, ideas related to business development? Just reply to this email.

Have a great weekend!

Greg Albrecht

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