Four ways to act before you feel ready
Description: Number two is the one I'd defend hardest, and there's a reason it works that has nothing to do with willpower.
Teresa Amabile at Harvard collected nearly 12,000 daily diary entries from 238 professionals across 26 project teams, then went looking for what separated the good workdays from the bad ones. It wasn't recognition, or pressure, or incentives. The single biggest driver of a good day was progress — often small, sometimes almost trivial. One useful paragraph. One problem cleared. She called it the progress principle.
And it runs in a loop. Progress improves how you feel, and how you feel drives more progress. So the smallest version of the task isn't a consolation prize for people short on discipline. It's the entry point. Waiting to feel ready means waiting on a feeling that gets manufactured by the thing you keep postponing.
So shrink it until it's almost embarrassing. One paragraph. One shelf. One awkward take. Then do it today, while the day still has room in it.
Amabile, T. M., & Kramer, S. J. (2011). The power of small wins. *Harvard Business Review, 89*(5), 70–80.
Follow @danielpink for behavioral science you can put to work the same day you read it.
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To find out more about Daniel Pink, his books, and view his resources, visit https://danpink.com Close description
Teresa Amabile at Harvard collected nearly 12,000 daily diary entries from 238 professionals across 26 project teams, then went looking for what separated the good workdays from the bad ones. It wasn't recognition, or pressure, or incentives. The single biggest driver of a good day was progress — often small, sometimes almost trivial. One useful paragraph. One problem cleared. She called it the progress principle.
And it runs in a loop. Progress improves how you feel, and how you feel drives more progress. So the smallest version of the task isn't a consolation prize for people short on discipline. It's the entry point. Waiting to feel ready means waiting on a feeling that gets manufactured by the thing you keep postponing.
So shrink it until it's almost embarrassing. One paragraph. One shelf. One awkward take. Then do it today, while the day still has room in it.
Amabile, T. M., & Kramer, S. J. (2011). The power of small wins. *Harvard Business Review, 89*(5), 70–80.
Follow @danielpink for behavioral science you can put to work the same day you read it.
--
To find out more about Daniel Pink, his books, and view his resources, visit https://danpink.com Close description