Accelerating Growth in Your No Days Off Journey

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Let's get into today's topic. Today, I'd like to discuss accelerating the No Days Off curve, accelerating the curve. And what am I really talking about? See, with all that we're doing every single day, spending a little bit of time to get better at something, what we're aiming to do is stack all of those days, all those little improvements, and ultimately become, frankly, better at life. When we're doing that though, what I think we're aiming for is what I would call geometric growth versus linear growth. As great as it is to grow, say, linearly every single day, getting better and maybe doing it at the same pace and chipping away, I mean, that linear growth matters. What I'd like to see instead is this geometric growth where it's a hockey stick, where we form all of these foundational changes or create these foundational changes and stacked one after the other, this leads to geometric growth, this accelerated curve. Success builds on success, and as this happens over and over and over again, you move towards what my friend Jay Papasan would say is the highest success possible. So we're aiming for geometric growth. So getting back on topic, we need to accelerate the curve. We need to maximize, we need to get the most out of these no days off activities. So that we can have that geometric growth, but maybe do it a bit sooner than it would go if we were just taking it one step at a time. Now, this is not a multitasking— well, I guess it is multitasking, but let me explain, okay? We're talking about doing what I'm calling a combo approach to No Days Off, a combo approach. Here's a good example. Today, you want to work on your fitness, you want to work on your health. And you may go for a walk or a run or a hike, or you may go lift weights or whatever it is that you do. We motivated, we're motivated this morning, we're gonna go do that. What I'd like to encourage you to do in addition to taking action around your health and getting a little bit better with your health today, what I wanna encourage you to do is when you go do that, instead of listening to music today, what if we listen to a book? While we're working out? What if we listen to a podcast? See, here's the combo. I'm working on my health, but I'm also working on my learning when I'm listening to a book or a podcast. Now, working out, you're somewhat on autopilot, and listening doesn't take any additional physical activity out of you besides using your ears, obviously. So I would, I would call this multitasking, yes, but you're not at risk of losing value out of either the health or the learning. These are two things that can be combined. Another combo idea: you've decided that you're gonna listen to something or read something today for a few minutes to get better at something that you've picked out. Well, rather than, let's say, reading that book or article all by yourself, what if you formed some sort of short-term or long-term book club or reading club? With people that are important to you. Maybe it's family, maybe it's coworkers, whatever it may be, it's friends, whatever it may be. And so now you're reading this book or this article or whatever it might be, and you're getting better at that specific thing, but you also have others around you. And in inviting them in, you have an opportunity to deepen relationships. You have an opportunity to do different things with these individuals that may move you closer to them. And again, in the spirit of No Days Off, we're getting better at relationships when we're doing that. Maybe another idea for you. If you're preparing a sales presentation, rather than going into your office and doing it all by yourself, what if you invited somebody else to come in with you and work on it with you? Not only is it gonna increase or improve your sales presentation, 'cause you're gonna have a second set of eyes, it's also gonna move you closer to that individual. And maybe for extra credit, In terms of comboing the no days off activities, maybe the extra credit is you let that person come along with you on the appointment. They shadow you. Now, that's a great thing for them. It's also a great thing for you because you're modeling the behavior that you expect, which is what I believe to be a core tenet of leadership. Mind you, we all perform better when someone else is watching us. So there's multiple wins here when we start combining these things. Here's a random example, something that recently happened with me. I had a— I knew I had a difficult conversation coming up, a difficult phone call coming up with somebody that, well, that frankly had bailed on me last second for an event of mine that they were going to contribute to. And I wasn't too happy about it, but I knew we'd have to work through it, we'd have to talk through it, but this conversation was going to be a difficult one. It was going to be emotional. It was going to be a little bit back and forth. So, I had to prepare for that conversation. I wanted to make sure that what I was saying was how I truly felt. I wanted to make sure that I ran through different scenarios in my head. I wanted to make sure that I curved my emotion so that I could have a transparent and objective conversation with this individual. So, I prepped, which made me better that day around difficult conversations. But where am I going with this? Here's the combo. When I had that conversation, I did put it on speakerphone, and I did have my 12-year-old sitting next to me while I had it, while I had that conversation. Now, not all of you would agree with that sort of thing, and that's okay, but I had her there. Why? Well, I wanted her to observe what was going on in that conversation. I wanted her to hear me, but I also wanted her to hear the other side. And I wanted to then hang up the phone and have a really good conversation with her around what transpired, why I said what I said, why that person reacted the way that they did, and ultimately how we drove to a conclusion that we could both live with, the other party and myself. See, I use that as a learning opportunity, a teaching opportunity for me, a learning opportunity for my daughter, helps our relationship helps her get better, helps me get better. And by the way, when I was preparing for that conversation, well, I prepared a little differently knowing that I was going to have an audience in my 12-year-old. So in conclusion, the focusing question for you today is, with respect to what you're doing on this No Days Off journey, the steps that you're taking each and every day to get better at some aspect of your life, how could you squeeze more out of those activities? How could you combo them possibly by bringing in a new activity that doesn't require more, more mental energy or physical energy, like working out while listening to a podcast? What could you do to just get a little bit more out of it to deepen relationships? What else can you do? That's the focusing question. I think we could all get a little bit more out of what it is we're doing, and I challenge you to do so. On that note, I love, love, love if you're enjoying this podcast or you're enjoying this episode or previous episodes. I would love if you would share it with your peers, your friends, your coworkers, your family, whoever it may be, and help us spread this No Days Off movement. It would mean a lot to me. That's all I have for you today. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it. Thank you. [MUSIC] [MUSIC]