Habits & the P/PC Balance
With the Simply 75 challenge, it is a perfect time to get back to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This challenge is about creating the habits that build the kind of character you want to have.
Habits are patterns we do (consciously and subconsciously) throughout our day that express our character and make us effective or ineffective.
The habits we form are based on these three parts: knowledge, desire, and skill. Knowledge is what to do and the why to do it. Skill is the how to do it and desire is the motivation and the want to do it. In order to remove a habit or to create one, we have to utilize all three of these components to our advantage.
If you want to change a habit, here is a great place to start. Take a closer look at the following diagram and ask yourself these questions:
Knowledge – What do I need to learn? What resources do I have available to me? Why do I want this change – is it for me or for someone else?
Desire – Why do I want this change? What can I do to strengthen my motivation? Who can I enroll in my cause? Who can I ask to support me?
Skills – What is my plan to overcome/change? What skills do I need to gain? Who can teach me what I don’t already know?
Do you remember Aesop’s fable of the goose and the golden egg?
One morning a farmer finds a glittering, golden-colored egg sitting beneath his goose. At first he thinks it is a prank, but he decides to have the egg appraised just in case.
To the farmer’s amazement, the egg is pure gold!
And each morning his prize goose continues laying the valuable eggs.
The farmer becomes extremely wealthy. But he also becomes greedy and impatient.
One day in his frustration the farmer kills the goose, hoping to get all of the golden eggs at once from inside the goose.
As we all know, the farmer finds nothing. And now, he has neither a goose nor any more golden eggs.
The Moral of the Story
The moral of this story is normally about the danger of greed. The farmer grasped for too much wealth in too short of a time.
But, there is a broader lesson about balance. There is always a tension between results and the ability to produce those results (aka effectiveness).
The P/PC Balance
The P/PC Balance is about balancing between two extremes:
- Extreme #1: Focusing only on golden eggs or producing short-term results. In the long-run, you lose your ability to produce results at all because you never nurture your production capacity.
- Extreme #2: Focusing only on the goose or production capacity. Without short-term results, you will not survive (literally or figuratively) to see the long-term payoff.
Either extreme is a problem. So, you have to strive for a balance between the two. And that delicate balance is the essence of effectiveness.
You have to work at this balance if you want to be consistently effective in any area of your life. This includes your job, ability to earn money, investing, relationships, and health.
