September is funny. Technically it’s fall (my favorite season), but it never actually feels like fall.
Frankly it feels like an insanely hot and long stretch to the best part of fall. And yet – I’m glad to be here. It’s time to leave August, the month of firsts, behind.
September and the coming months will be FULL. Thanks to my team and practicing patterns of process and planning, I think I’m ready. I hope you have a similar feeling.
Here are some things I’m thinking about right now as we head into Q4:
BOOK:
Arthur Brooks has been one of the most inspirational voices for me over the last few years. He has a way of holding happiness and suffering together that resonates and creates a reframe on life for me, especially in this season. Seeing him speak last spring on his latest book, The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness, offered a lot of aha’s for me:
>His book offers a simple three-part roadmap to a meaningful life:
- Coherence: my life makes sense to me
- Purpose: I know what I am moving toward
- Significance: my life matters beyond myself
I’m keeping these in mind as I think through my days and what I am saying yes to.
>The pace of technological, cultural, and economic change has rewired so much about how we live that the impact is everywhere. We’ve gotten incredibly good at pursuing enjoyment and satisfaction, but too often we’re missing meaning. Meaning asks us to slow down long enough to wrestle with questions that don’t have quick answers: What is worthy of my life? Who am I becoming? What am I building all of this for? NOT doing this, is causing significant anxiety, depression and disconnection. It’s an epidemic that led Brooks to write this book in the first place.
>We all grew up thinking we were either right brained or left brained. We are both! And our worlds (+AI) are baiting us to make everything a left brain task. It’s not. Spend some time stretching this right brain muscle and you’ll be smarter AND more fulfilled.
>As much as leaders love optimization, there is no optimizing the meaning of life. You can’t ask Google or ChatGPT to solve this problem for you. Only you can truly know if you are leading a meaningful life. And only you have the power to change that answer.
It’s worth every bit of your sanity and life and mental and physical health to ask these questions. I’m so curious where you find yourself in this story.
The struggle is real: A 2024 workplace study surveyed more than 3,000 people and found that 55% of CEOs reported experiencing a mental health issue in the past year. A higher rate than the employees they lead.
Often it’s the smartest, most ambitious people who find this thought practice the most difficult. We’ve spent years developing the muscles of speed, achievement, problem-solving and optimization. The slowing down and contemplating is a different muscle entirely.
PODCAST:
Everyone’s obsessed with fitness. In this case, it’s the cognitive kind and I definitely don’t want to lose traction here. In a recent Monday episode, best selling author and professor Cal Newport, laid out “How to Build a Cognitive Training Plan”.
Below are his 3 cognitive KPIs:
1. Reading endurance: How long can you read nonfiction – something with ideas, arguments, or theories, without switching contexts and without picking up your phone? His framework:
- Brain-rotted = 5 minutes or less
- Distractible = 15 minutes or less
- Pre-2012 average = 30 min
- Impressive = 75 min
I love this challenge because in a culture always baiting you to task switch, I need some major practice here. The deep work is where you want to be and you have to do the work to get there. The great news is that you can.
2. Cognitive contemplation: How often do you go for a walk with no device? This is about quiet and space to choose a professional or personal problem to think on. No doubt that your mind will wander – the skill is to be able to redirect back to the problem at hand and subsequently make progress.
- Brain-rotted = less than 1 min
- Distractible = 1-3 min
- Pre-2012 average = 10 min
- Impressive = 30 min
3. Written persuasiveness: I remember the first time my coach challenged me to write a POV years ago. It was hard. Taking a genuinely contested position you believe in and writing an argument for it takes brain power. You have to look at the sophistication of your thinking and analyze the kind of case you’re making. AI is great, but if you’re always outsourcing a task like this, you’re not allowing your brain to think through your version of it.
- Brain-rotted = disorganized and emotional
- Distractible = A reasonable list of arguments supporting your view
- Pre-2012 average = A coherent prose argument that fairly addresses the opposing position
- Impressive = Builds a powerful argument from first principles
Taking this assessment was a bit eye-opening for me. And super interesting – I am curious!
The most encouraging part of this is that none of this is fixed.
We can get better at paying attention. We can get better at staying with a problem instead of reaching for distraction. We can rebuild our ability to think deeply, wrestle with ideas, and form thoughts that are actually our own.
And in a world that is making it easier and easier to outsource our thinking, our ability to think may become one of our greatest competitive advantages.
QUOTE:
So before this season gets too crazy (because we all know it will), sit with the right brain Brooks calls the “path to meaning.” Think through “what” you want from this fall and then think a few moments longer on the “why.”
You’ll get smarter, more focused, more present, and clear. That last part is what every single leader coming in our circles wants to be. Here’s a first step.