As soon as you read this first capacity is – Production Capacity– I bet you said to yourself: “I am already great at this one, I multitask and am a busy bee all the time.” If this is you, then you miss the point. Do you know when this term of “Multitasking” was first used and by whom? It was 1966 and the company was IBM and they were talking about the computations their new super computer could do. We are human beings not human doings [computers] – although I have seen and heard people who look more like computer robots than human beings.
Everything that is worth doing is actually “uphill” and when we cease to keep going uphill and increasing our capacity, we inevitably begin the slide downhill. Multi-tasking is a downhill sliding habit. You may not know this or you may not have been taught this but: “The right thing to do and the hard thing to do are usually the same thing.” What is the difference? It is the growth we achieve in expanding our capacity.
Have you ever watched or worked alongside or been on a team with a highly productive person? What makes them accomplish more than you? It can be maddening. Let’s look at some of the things the highly productive person does:
- They visualize the outcome.
- They begin before they see all the steps
- They aren’t afraid to fail and fail often
- They have an ability to stay focused for long periods of time without getting a headache
- They know their skills and where to find resources
- They stop doing what they are not great at. They stay in their strength zone.
- They check in with their team everyday
- They continuously make decisions that move themselves and their team forward
- They are constantly looking at ways to improve how work could work better
If you are working on these nine then you are working to increasing your production capacity.
Next let’s look at increasing our Responsibility Capacity. This one hits a strong cord in me because of an incident I recently had in a huge discount chain store. Two of us were waiting for a sales clerk to show up at their designated station and we were there for 10 minutes. The closest sales associate had been summoned as had a store manager and another 10 minutes and no one showed. Then at 25 minutes and counting the store manager came up with two other sales clerks in tow. Just then the employee who was actually responsible for this station came up to the store manager in a huff and stated she was on her lunch break and had another 15 minutes and was doing personal shopping and had no intention of returning early to her store position. She did this in front of not only the two of us waiting, but the manager and the other two employees. This is not the way to increase your responsibility capacity.
We are each in charge of taking charge of our own lives. Why? It seems obvious to me, but indulge me here for a moment. When we take charge of our own selves we are creating the foundation for our success, today and all our tomorrows. When we do this we are in control of our lives. Responsibility increases our self-esteem. This makes us ready for action and decision making. Taking responsibility earns you and I respect and authority in our lives. When we work on these things daily we increase our capacity. One more thing here on this, each of us must remember there are others always watching what we say and what we do, we are either being a great role model of taking responsibility into our own hands or we are not.
Our Risk Capacity is probably either exhilarating for many of us or something we dread much like leaving the cave as the hermit would do. Do you remember the day your training wheels came off your first two wheeler bike? Were you afraid or exhilarated at the prospect of losing those two extra wheels? Yes, you were definitely out of your little comfort zone, but only for a moment. The moment you felt the freedom and wind on your face or blowing through your hair you were flying like a bird – right?!
Did someone in your life teach you about risk; the risk of renting your first apartment without roommates, or investing your first bonus in a stock, or buying your first car all by yourself, that type of thing? If you had a person who walked along side you, you are indeed blessed. In order to increase our capacity to take risks there are some elements you must be aware of.
During times of high-risk, reality can be your best friend. Do not get caught up in the hype, the drama, the news cycle or wishing and hoping, these are not your friends. There are many questions you can ask before you jump into a high-risk decision. Take baby steps here; learn how to become comfortable being outside your comfort zone. My friend John Maxwell says: “Don’t count losses, count lessons.” When you are in the presence of great leadership you have a greater chance of success. It may not seem obvious here, but the greater the risk the more help you will need from others and we aren’t talking about polling your Facebook peeps. This helps comes from those who like a challenge, play big [but not reckless], and these people are honest with themselves.
How are you doing with increasing your capacity in these three areas?
Next Month we will talk about “Spiritual & Thinking Capacity“
If you are interested in being coached or mentored by Janice in 2018, she does have availability beginning in January 2018.
Send an email to begin the process: janice@janicebastanicoaching.com.
Visit my website at:
www.janicebastanicoaching.com or www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/janicebastani
