Introduction
Welcome to The ContraMind Code.
The ContraMind Code provides you with a system of principles, signals, and ideas to aid you in your pursuit of excellence.
The newsletter shares the source code through quick snapshots for a systems thinking approach to be the best in what you do.
The Code helps you reboot and reimagine your thinking by learning from the best. It also enables you to draw a blueprint for what it takes to get extraordinary things done. You can share your valuable thoughts and comments and start a conversation here.
Take a journey to www.contraminds.com. Listen and watch some great minds talking to us about their journey of discovery of what went into making them craftsmen of their profession, to drive peak performance.
How To Motivate Yourself To Change.
All of us go through this challenge. We want to change, but change is hard. We try a few things for a few days and then give up. What does it take to motivate yourself to change? This article from Psyche Weekly offers some interesting insights into motivation and how understanding it can serve as a catalyst for change.
‘Motivation is a multifaceted concept that involves not only being willing to change, but being ready and able.’
‘When reality and ideal are sufficiently different, you become uncomfortable. You start thinking about change.’
‘Readiness indicates that you not only recognise a need for change but see this need as a priority amid all the other competing priorities in life.’
‘Finally, being able refers to having confidence in your ability to change, and being in possession of the necessary knowledge and skills to make the change.’
How can you begin or take steps to change?
‘Recognition of a problem is the first step toward building discrepancy – that is, recognising the difference between your reality and the ideal.’
‘Determine what’s most important and why: Prioritise your efforts by exploring what’s most important to you.’
‘Build confidence: When you don’t have enough confidence, you might find yourself downplaying the importance of the behaviour change, and feel like you want to give up trying. Your self-talk might be full of thoughts such as: ‘It’s too hard,’ ‘I don’t have time’, or ‘I can’t do anything about it.’’
‘Make a plan: Think of the ‘big picture’ first. Next, zoom back in to develop and refine your specific goal for change. Try listing at least 10 actions, steps or tasks that will help you make progress. Then, go through the list and rate each step from 1 to 5, where 5 is an action you feel capable of undertaking, and 1 is an action that’s too difficult, vague or impractical at the moment.’
Setting up a system of rewards will also help you stay motivated and reinforce positive changes along the way.
Read the entire article here.
How To Avoid Achievement Trap And Find Lasting Fulfillment.
Think about this for a minute - Have you ever felt like this? ‘You are desperate and insanely focussed to achieve a goal and once you have achieved it, you feel empty.’
In the Excellence Actually Podcast, this episode brings out why there are so many contradictions between being achievement-oriented and finally having a sense of fulfillment. Is there a way to find lasting fulfillment without getting into an achievement trap? The hosts Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg, and Clay Skipper bring this out very well in their conversation and explain what it takes to get to this ‘Ikigai state’.
Here are some brilliant lessons and takeaways that can make you think and nudge you to want to listen to this episode:
Scottie Scheffler, currently ranked world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, has held this position for over 150 weeks and made a comment in one of the interviews about how golf ultimately doesn't fulfill him. That’s quite crazy, right? They go on to decode his statement as to why he said what he said. According to them, what it really meant was his steadfast devotion to working towards greatness, but detaching from the results, showing up to continue doing the work after a win. Only then can excellence be achieved.
We need a deeper understanding and appreciation of what success and failure mean: “We had this acceleration of virtualising success and failure that tied our entire identity to, am I going to be successful at this business or in the sports world? Am I going to capture the medal? That is all that matters. And when that came about, we said, hey, forget this, like, nuanced version of competitiveness.”
We have to start understanding that winning is not everything. But, tying our worth to winning and what it does to you and the people around as a human being is vital. Winning, when it defines our character, there is a different joy and fulfillment you will get, and it is not influenced by the event of winning itself.
“You've got to let go of the expectation that achieving a big goal is going to give you lasting fulfillment. You've gotta select goals where the process of going for them is something that is going to bring you enjoyment or growth.”
You can also listen to this episode on
Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube
You Need to Be Bored. Here's Why.
Is boredom all that bad as it is made out to be?
Harvard Professor Arthur C. Brooks explains in this video how boredom has the power to unlock your creativity, activate a powerful brain network, and can, in fact, protect you from depression, which is a huge mental health issue today.
Prof. Arthur explains boredom as a tendency where we are not occupied cognitively, and when that happens, our brain switches to a default mode network. He asserts that boredom forces you into thinking about things that make you uncomfortable.
Prof. Arthur says a majority of our behaviour is to switch to the default mode thinking when we are bored, like pulling out a phone and scrolling through it, when we have nothing to do!
He suggests a few tricks, such as avoiding devices when you go to the gym or sleep, commuting without a music system or radio on, and setting aside specific times for email check-ins, among others. And he promises life will change as you start to enjoy ordinary things in life - you will come to appreciate relationships more deeply, be more present in moments with real people, etc.. You will see yourself asking more profound questions about life’s purpose, meaning, etc.
It can trigger a whole set of new thoughts that you never imagined.
You can click on the above video and watch it.
Learn To Enjoy The Process.
We are all configured, or let’s call it over-engineered, to focus on the results of what we do. We wait with anxiety to learn the results from the exams we have given or the yearly appraisal process that we are a part of. Therefore, we are subject to the ‘classical conditioning’ theory of Pavlov in every aspect of our lives.
Results define our sense of achievement and the definition of success. And when we don’t get the result we expect, we feel demotivated and let down. But, how often do we spend time enjoying the process rather than the one discrete event, which is the result of the entire journey? The result is a short-lived, discrete, and momentary event that can go either way, however, the process to achieve it takes a considerable amount of time and requires more extended periods of focus and intensity. Therefore, when you start enjoying the process, the results are merely a blip in the entire journey.
Focusing on the process helps you refocus on your energy and not think about the final goal or the results all the time. It also enables you to pay attention to every step, and that will make a big difference in understanding what it takes for you to get better at every step when you work on them. Scientific research also supports this argument. In areas such as skill development, learning, and sustained performance, a process-focused approach consistently demonstrates superiority. In a company context, process-supportive environments foster intrinsic motivation, resulting in superior performance, creativity, and overall well-being.
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s flow state research demonstrates that peak performance occurs when individuals focus entirely on the process rather than the outcomes. Even sports psychology research findings show that process goals enhance the consistency of athletes' performance. It is also observed that mastery goals (process-focused) are associated with intrinsic motivation, deeper cognitive strategies, and sustained interest. In contrast, performance goals tend to yield higher short-term results but decreased long-term motivation.
It is really clear that if you are somebody looking to be the best in what you want to do, setting up process-focused goals will be vital, as you will ‘find or discover the joy’ in doing it. That has a higher probability of you achieving your performance goal. The fulfilment you get out of the process will far outweigh disappointment, in case you fail to achieve your final result.
However, the question really to ask is, then, in organisations, how do you measure performance? What weightage do you give an individual, a team, or a leader to process-goals and to performance-goals? There needs to be a fair balance of both when you measure performance. For beginners, the skew may be more towards process goals and relatively less weightage on performance goals, as the need is to build mastery and expertise in the work that individuals do. However, as we move up the organisation hierarchy, there must be equal importance for process goals and performance goals rather than just performance goals alone. The relative weightages can differ across levels, but attention to process-goals may, in fact, lead to better performance at every level.
When you enjoy the process, the result becomes a by-product.
Some of the lessons we learnt from this week’s mission:
Change only happens when you are willing, ready and able.
Select goals where the process of going for it gives you enjoyment and growth.
Boredom opens up time to think and answer some uncomfortable questions that you wouldn't have time for otherwise.