How I produce better work by focusing on these 6 factors

1. Always seek feedback, no matter how painful:

A fast track to producing better quality work is always to seek feedback. People should be calling each other out when they do mediocre work because…

You need constructive criticism to learn and grow. Like most, I have a love-hate relationship with criticism. I used to take things personally all the time, my feelings didn't want to hear it at all.

But I love what it does to me because it angers me and then I have a massive desire to prove that person wrong.

From that comes a lot of energy to improve my craft and do it better. If I don't have that constant feedback. I can't do anything that good.

You want to have people around who are going to give as much honest feedback as possible.

You want to give them feedback too. That's a healthy relationship.

A quick way to do it now? Write an email to 8-10 people either professionally or personally.

Ask if they could take the time to email you back areas of improvement and 3 of your strengths. With some context to each. It was hard for me to hear when I did it but it's worth it.

2. Learn to love what you love with experience

“Fall in love with the game" - Michael Jordan's answer when asked what the secret to becoming the best is.

You don’t do what you love. Instead, you learn to love what you do by acquiring…

Mastery, Autonomy and Relatedness.

Finding a passion first and then creating a career around it isn’t the best route. How can you be happy with what you do? The answer lies in experience.

When you have mastered something, it is more likely that you will become passionate about it. There are 3 factors:

1. Autonomy: The feeling that you have control over your day.

2. Competence: The feeling that you are good at what you do.

3. Relatedness: The feeling of connection you have to other people.

To be autonomous and competent means to achieve mastery in your given field. To do that, you don’t need passion, only the willingness to work hard to acquire that mastery.

3. Get out of your comfort zone with the "craftsman mindset"

Adopt the craftsman mindset, practice hard and get out of your comfort zone. The "craftsman mindset" asks: What value can I bring to my job?

The craftsman mindset acknowledges that no matter what field you’re in, success is always about quality.

When you adopt the craftsman mindset, you will not hesitate to do what is necessary to improve the quality of your work.

And how can you improve quality?

Through deliberate practice, which is a practice that stretches one’s abilities and from which constructive feedback is sought.

A chess player, for example, must devote roughly 10,000 hours to practice and study to become a Master. Once Master-level has been achieved, the best chess players aren't the ones that practice more, but those who practice smarter.

What does that mean? It means they practice strategically and study seriously – that is, they engage in deliberate practice.

Deliberate practice might involve studying difficult theoretical chess problems instead of just playing more.

Why? Playing does not necessarily push the player outside of his comfort zone, because opponents are chosen randomly, and therefore may not have the skills to really challenge the player.

Theoretical chess problems on the other hand can always be tailored to the player's current level.

Although deliberate practice is often strenuous and uncomfortable, you should not avoid it because only by adopting it can you attain true mastery.

Adopt the craftsman mindset, practice hard and get out of your comfort zone.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you. This is a really important one.

4. The inputs are an essential contributor to your outputs

I watched a chef documentary recently as I was quite curious. It showed the difference between bad chefs and the best chefs.

I thought the best chefs are really good at preparation, they've got different methodologies or different tactics or different actions they take.

Instead, I figured out that the best chefs in the world were the best at sourcing the best ingredients (the inputs). Basically:

• Ingredients (Inputs)

• Chef

• Meal (Outputs)

What it means is that outputs derive from inputs.

Then the quality of the inputs here determines the quality of the output. In tech terms - "if you put garbage in you'll get garbage out”.

Focus on the inputs that produce the best quality work possible in your craft. This encourages you to think differently and how you achieve the best possible results.

For example, try to look at inputs like:

• Different projects or problems or challenges you've worked on where you've had different experiences have taught me a lot of lessons

• Books (the right ones) were great sources of information

• Courses, your output your results and your ability now and your skill level

• Network, the quality of the inputs that you have been in contact with over your life

Good results are driven by many factors, and input is certainly one of the most important.

Input refers to all of the resources and effort that you put into your work. They can help you to achieve your goals more effectively.

5. Instead of doing many things half-heartedly, do 1 or 2 things properly

Get more quality work done by focusing your energy on the consistent and focused pursuit of less but better.

It’s the difference between a millimetre of progress in a million directions and significant progress in what matters most.

It’s not about being more efficient or doing more with less.It requires stopping regularly to ask yourself whether you’re spending your time and resources on the right things:

1. You have numerous opportunities and options to choose from:

You can’t invest your time and energy in all of them. If you try to do many things at the same time, you're going in multiple directions.

If you do too many, you do none of them well. You end up feeling out of control, overwhelmed, and exhausted.

2. It’s doing the right things as opposed to doing more things:

Before eliminating, you decide your intent or purpose. The highest contribution you’re trying to achieve.

• Focus on a few important things, so you're headed in one clear direction.

• Make significant progress on them.

• Make tough trade-offs between what you do and don't do.

3. Once you find what's essential, remove obstacles:

Stop and ask yourself what matters most. You remove hurdles so projects develop their own momentum.

→ The outcome?

• You do outstanding work

• Get the right things done

• Feel in control and energised

6. Eliminate over-addition

Cool fact, Steve Jobs lived in an empty house. This makes you think about what you should really focus on.

Here's why you should think like this:

According to the biography of Steve Jobs, he pretty much lived a like spartan for most of his life. He was excessively strict about every aspect of his life, like his home, which he never fully furnished. It only contained:

• Chest of drawers

• Mattress

• Card table

• Folding chairs for guests

He was pretty much after extreme levels of focus and clarity - no distractions.

Saying no to many things, just so you can focus on the things that matter the most, requires a tremendous amount of discipline.

By stripping off all the things that don’t add value, you can achieve 'more with less.

You don't need to go as extreme as Steve Jobs. Instead...

Remove as many distractions as possible from your workstation. My Example:

• Minimal desk set-up - only relevant items

• No phone on the desk (big one)

• Desktop has all items organised into folders

• 4 chrome tabs max per browser window

• 5 icons max on MacBook dock

I remove anything that clogs or clutters my mind. Remove things from your environment that leads to “decision fatigue”

The more things in your environment = The more decisions = the fewer quality decisions.

This means you’re going to be less productive and less efficient. Focus and channel your energy into your work. Leading to higher-quality output which compounds over time.

To conclude

The path to personal and professional improvement lies in a unique blend of laser focus, continuous self-improvement, and adherence to essential processes. Departing from conventional marketing concepts, this approach has not only elevated my skills but has also positively impacted various facets of my life. The key takeaways from this insightful journey are:

• Seeking Feedback:

  • Embrace constructive criticism for improvement.

  • Request feedback on areas of improvement and strengths from peers.

• Learning to Love Your Craft:

  • Fall in love with the game through mastery, autonomy, and relatedness.

  • Passion comes after mastery, achieved through hard work.

• Craftsman Mindset and Comfort Zone:

  • Adopt a craftsman mindset for quality work.

  • Get out of your comfort zone through deliberate practice.

• Importance of Inputs:

  • Quality inputs (ingredients) contribute to quality outputs.

  • Focus on diverse experiences, books, courses, and networks as valuable inputs.

• Focused Pursuit:

  • Focus on 1 or 2 things properly for quality results.

  • Prioritise the right things over multitasking.

• Eliminate Over-Addition:

  • Learn from Steve Jobs; live with focus and clarity.

  • Remove distractions for better decision-making and productivity.