#7

Welcome to Weekly Whispers #7

Which whisper did you hear from Week #6?

Did any of the success traits resonate with you?

Which ones feel easier for you than others?

What are you doing today that will predict what happens tomorrow?

Are you building the well before you need the water?

Here's what’s struck me this week.

1. Are you giving yourself a Mulligan?

I’m a golfer and very familiar with the term ‘Mulligan’. For a brief history check this link out:

Where did "Mulligan" originate?

No one really knows, but it may have originated in golf hence my familiarity. What fascinated me was this article that connected the concept of a Mulligan to keeping your new years resolutions (or goals).

In one study participants were offered $1 for every day in a week that they remembered to go online and complete a set of 35 annoying tasks. The group was then split and randomly assigned different goals and given a $5 bonus on top of their cash haul if they achieved their weekly goal.

Some participants were randomly asked to be perfect and consistent – 7 out of 7 days – or nothing.

Others were randomly given a more relaxed goal – 5 out of 7 would do but encouraged to earn more by doing more.

Finally, a “Mulligan” group was given the goal of completing the exercise 7 times out of 7 BUT were given a little leeway "in case you need it, up to two days will be excused if you don’t complete the tasks". In other words, they were given a “Mulligan”.

Fascinatingly, even though the “Mulligan” group faced exactly the same incentives as the 5 out of 7 group, they were significantly more successful: 53% of them earned $5 compared to 26% of the participants with the (identical) 5/7 goal and 21% of participants with the 7/7 per week goal.

Want to achieve more? Set yourself a tough goal but allow yourself a Mulligan or two.

After all, you’re only 1 act away from being back on track.

Here's where I found the article

2. "We fight into form, not from form" Bruce Lee

You might need to read that again 😊

Obviously, this is about more than fighting. But given it was what Bruce was best known for, I thought I would share my interpretation.

When we begin something – a task, an activity, a skill – we don’t usually begin at our best. If our best happens, it’s usually sometime after we’ve begun. We need to sense or feel how we are going or other's responses. We need to understand any moving dynamics. As we adjust and play what’s in front of us we begin to move towards flow – this is where our best can show up.

It reminds me of the famous wax on wax off scene from The Karate Kid.

3. Question of the week - What assumptions are you making?

I’ve found some gaps and blind spots in my thinking when asking this question. It’s not that assumptions are necessarily a bad thing but being unaware of them can catch you out. Once you become aware of them you can further experiment and test them.

4. Freedom Fridays - My weekly experiment with time and focus

My intention is to openly share a change I’m making within my life. I’m hoping you can take the lessons learnt and apply it to any change you want to make.

This week was predominantly all about creating the space for grace and navigating several paradoxes that can be both a blessing and a curse.

Click below to listen to Episode 5.

 
That's all for this week and I hope you enjoyed Weekly Whisper #7 - let me know if you did.

Cheers

Pete