Ignoring excuses; The Promise of Growth

I've been getting a lot of flack lately. Despite my efforts. At night I'm on autopilot so I'm very distracted and very unproductive. One of the few things that gets my adrenaline up a bit is my airsmithing or my airsoft... to the very disgust of my wife.

Sadly thats how interests are, they are pretty much out of our control. No one chooses to like something, without spending a lot of resources to do so... and I don't have resources to like something I don't naturally like.

My mother has been complaining about my stomach, not wanting to take any "excuses".

I've been dreaming and remember my dreams. Basically i've been having bad sleep and waking up with cramps... all pointing to a lack of oxygen and respiration. In sleep, I've been taking anti-histamines/benedryl, keeping my head, painfully, above my chest in an almost sitting up position, and needing fluctousine now and then to keep my passages open.

My wife doesn't think so kindly on my excuses also. I've been distracted and hadn't had a notebook on hand.

I'm alone, pretty much. No one on my side in this one, and i have to keep quiet and take the complaints about me instead of people meeting me half way. Being alone again and empathizing others may be suffering the same problem is why people close to me think I'm nice, yet make no effort to understand my very same problem.

Ignoring excuses, ignoring the persons reasons or circumstance, is a one way relationship. Its when we stop listening when things become one way. I'm not in a good place right now, and I have a lot of responsibilities that are new and are required to be given the utmost attention.

Last night I was in a meeting, and we were relatively useless in it. We were dismissed relatively late.

I've been tired lately, I could sleep for 10-12 hours if left alone. Its not that i'm raring to wake up, its just things are so confusing when i wake up, I'm overwhelmed by so many things to do and what want to do, what feels good and right (like working out) is somehow wrong. Its too late in the day," why didn't you wake early". "why did you sleep so late." "Why so distracted and out of control".

Waking up at 10:30am, I got to work out at around 11:45-12:30. Thats after my morning ritual of 1 quart of milk and Cilium, and 1 quart of water, and enough time that I won't puke myself if I ran. Did i mention i have by Baraclude to take, before taking my Cilium with milk. I have to let it digest before I take the milk.

I had to write down my workout progress. I developed a Logsheet on Google docs for my team mates in airsoft. I gave the first link to my captain so that he can see my progress and I can feel conscious if I fail. If I fail to do regular work outs, i have to write the excuses down in the log sheet.

When the excuses pile up, we see a pattern and where priorities actually lie. How much time family and work really does take up. How it is to operate with crappy sleep and how often negative emotions prevail when we don't have enough good quality sleep.

sometimes I feel like taking the power drill and widening my sinuses when I go to bed and it clogs up.

I got to work around 2:15pm. Thats 6 hours after waking up. I have meetings and action reports to check up on. I don't know what really to do, there are a lot of things that require someone else to move...

Reminders vs Nagging. How identity is as much attention and what we think of ourselves. people need to be reminded of their better qualities to live up to certain responsibilities. People forget because life is a fast and complicated thing. Reminding is tricky, it has to be nice and pleasant. It has to sound like it understands your problems.

Self reminding is difficult, it requires some habit programing. Automation and Software can help there. People can be reminded, maybe conditioned or probably even programmed to be better people. Its funny how the brain has many simultaneous working and feeling parts, and that attention and programs working beneath it affect the overall success of a person.

The Promise of Growth. Understanding this much about people, I think it is possible to improve the lives of people in our company and my own greatly. I think there is a possibility to actually have market dominance for our company. We have to, if we really believe we are going to give every employee a career worth aspiring to.

We don't just hire people, we invest in people and they develop incredibly effective habits and skills that improve their quality of life. I or the Company will min/max their stats, and help them grow with the company. To do this, I have to make career paths that align with current management's own self interest and for the sustainability of the company.

Allow employees to affect or create something in the company. Projects are not just everyday things, but real stories that are worth recording and remembering. Build a narrative that in intertwined with the company's progress, and each element show how they've contributed.

Its pretty much what it means to be part of a Story, in GMing. The GM, makes sure everyone's potential is maximized and they have their moment of spotlight and the tale for them to tell.

That underlying perspective is to treat each task or project, as really a mission and a story. To reinforce the positive perceptions of each person, and to help these overcome their downside.

I know reality is much harsher, more selfish, and short sighted. But the funny thing about what Placebo/Confirmation bias studies tell us that, when proper attention and understanding is attained physiology and the mind strangely follow through.

Going back to where it begins, reminding should have a positive feedback loop not a negative one (nagging). That we help each other overcome ambiguity and create a plan for others to succeed, we put before people the potential and manage their expectations. We help them overcome their own faults, by giving them the tools to program their own success.

Interestingly, because of how things like this work. each person can only manage a team they have enough time to read up on. Requiring a lot of reports and personally written notes and counter checking. one leader can only manage as many as they can study up on and track. The narrative not only provides insight on how they think, but real evidence and cues to see a problem before it comes up.

An interesting idea is to have each person report on each other, be forced to get to know how a person works and if you see a fault make sure you lay down plans/means for the person to overcome them.

Check this out: my new favorite Heuristic. In every project or mission: 1/4 (26.66%) is planning, 1/2 (53.33%) is executing, and 1/5 (20%) journalizing! as much time as you have, you need to account for the time it takes to write stuff down.

In a 10 hour work day (thats pushing productivity boundaries, it should be 6-8) 2.5mins planning, 5.5 hours working/executing, and 2hours writing the reports and collecting/assembling all documents.

Or in an Hour: 15mins planning, 35mins executing, and right after that 10 minutes writing about what has happened.

as to Planning: gathering info and assembling/organizing info thats pretty much which ever is best. But in an ambiguous situation, the intuitive thing to do is 50:50.

Fail or Succeed, we can try again.

Mercenaries and Soldiers (Dan ariely's social and market norms). Outsourcing to freelancers and your own employees parallel the problem of Mercenaries and Soldiers. What I mean by soldiers, I mean people who you pay for regardless of current productivity. Mercenaries or Outsourcing is what happens when a company cannot maximize their current asset of workers.

The problem I see arising is when we have is when we can't maximize our own soldiers/employees and think of it easier to employ mercenaries/freelancers/outsources. this seems to be the current trend in a lot of companies, In our own its the problem of how can we maximize our employees and the temptation is to depend more and more on mercenaries.

What I don't like about the trend is that people may be using mercs to solve a long-term problems. Outsourcing work which we will always be using in our business strategy creates competition that raises the cost of production and makes us obsolete. instead of improving our current asset, as to be able to tackle a greater range of problems, we are impatient and cut them loose, rather wanting them to have mercenary loyalties to us and making them an asset of our competitors.

What I see is that the problem solving tends to look to others than maximizing current assets. I know we try to avoid Sunk cost effect, but consider "the grass is greener" aka Focusing effect mindset. When it comes to people: Focusing effect makes us devalue others, it tends to be the first thing that comes to people's minds. If one wants loyalty, real loyalty: the kind that makes the employee have the same goals as the company, then there must be as much desire to want to be better so much so that it is visible to those who you want to influence.

Here is when the curmudgeon and the anti-social dick can't work. One has to be vulnerable as to give people a chance, but strong enough to deal with what feels like betrayal. This is when one has to work on oneself, to a point of changing before the eyes of everyone constantly. To constantly change, is something no one wants to do.

A real Culture of Professional Enlightened Altruism. I think in the end the product is a Professional and Enlightened Altruism. Really letting people have the intelligence and tools to see what is wrong, means allowing them to see what is wrong with One's self. Thats the last thing an employer wants, an employee pointing out something wrong in them.

I know I'm speaking as the son of the Owner more than an Employer. I have my own self interests to take care off, but to run a business paranoid and fear ridden is not sustainable and inflicts more damage than good. Particularly when we have very poor communications and incentive skills that we create situations of Ineffectual Punishment.

No one wants to share their trade skills, but in the Professional and Enlightened Altruism I propose, its not trade skills that are what makes the business succeed but the Coping Skills and Character Building Method that makes for good people. we don't just give Power to someone who won't know how to use it, or will use it against you, instead you let them earn that power and understand what it is. Thats what trade secrets are: they are key skills that take some work to attain, work that requires people to really meld and understand other people.

Things I would like to do IF i get some headway:

• UPPP - Not the whole shebang, enough to help me reach 99% oxygenation.
• Work out 90 minutes a day.
• Finally get that last tests for my hepa B (if its gone or still there).