use the fear of hypocrisy as a motivator
I’m a pretty laid back guy. I don’t get worked up or bothered by very much. You could say I try to “roll with the punches,” “go with the flow,” and other similar cliches. However, there are a few things that I take very, very seriously. Obviously, the core values I’ve written about many times before are not something I take lightly. I take my work, whether that is conducting a hockey practice or teaching a lesson to high school students, very seriously as well. Lastly, and this is the idea I wanted to expound upon a little bit more today, is the importance of actually doing what I promise to do. I would be a huge hypocrite if I spent all of this time to write articles about simplicity, living with values, and living an examined life, and didn’t actually do any of the things I write about.
This fear of hypocrisy is one of the motivators I use to create the best work that I possibly can. One of the accepted tips of habit building is to commit publicly. Why is this so effective? Once you have announced to the world that you intend to do something your word is now on the line. I’m under the impression that a person’s trustworthiness is always on trial and once they have proven to not be particularly trustworthy, it is hard for them to convince me otherwise.
This blog has been a really great experience in terms of a long term writing project. It forces me to sit down a couple times a week and put my thoughts down in writing– something I have never done consistently up to this point. However, given the subject I’m writing about, it would not be hard for me to slip into hypocrisy. I am constantly worried that it sounds like I’m preaching the benefits of simplicity and minimalism as some kind of minimal monk that has perfected every tenet of the philosophy. There is nothing further from the truth. I’m not particularly good at any of the things I write about. However, I try very, very hard not to write about anything that I have not either tried, am trying, or have some type of experience with. You will never see me write an article saying you should get rid of all your books or stop drinking coffee. If I did, chances are I would be a huge hypocrite because I love both of these things and can’t imagine living without them any time soon.
If you treat your word as something to be protected and nurtured then the fear of hypocrisy can be an incredibly powerful motivator. This fear is part of the reason I decided to switch the format of this blog from three articles a week to two. I was writing about doing the best work you possibly could and yet I was cranking out half-baked articles that really only scratched the surface of an idea. I wasn’t ok with creating mediocrity when I was writing about creating excellence. I still may not be writing the most in-depth articles that I can, but I at least have created the time for me to try to do so.
How can you use the fear of hypocrisy to hyper-charge your productivity?
1. Commit publicly: The first step to using the fear of hypocrisy in your life is to make a commitment to change or do something. Other people need to be aware of this commitment so find a forum to make it public. That might mean starting a blog, joining a message board, or just telling your family about your planned change.
2. Ask people you care about to check up on you: Making a public commitment is not going to have any effect if you don’t care about the people you have told. If you are using an internet tool to announce your commitment to something, consider also telling some people you interact with on a daily basis. For example, I make public commitments through this blog but I also tell my girlfriend. The last thing I want to do is disappoint my readers– but I really don’t want to disappoint my girlfriend.
3. Be honest with yourself: Don’t commit to everything all at once. You need to guard your word as closely as possible, so don’t barrage yourself with commitments. Take one or two things and focus on them until you have fulfilled your obligation. Over time your trustworthiness (to yourself and those you have committed to) will grow and will further fuel your fear of hypocrisy. If you have built up your word as you fulfill various commitments, the last thing you want to do is let it go to waste by becoming a hypocrite (especially in something trivial).
Fear does not have to be a negative emotion. It is healthy to fear some things. Without fear our ancestors would have been nothing more than mobile snacks for saber tooth tigers. The key is to make sure the fear does not paralyze you, but energizes you. Use your fear and use your own trustworthiness to do amazing work.
Photo by stuant63
Stumble Upon
Del.icio.us
Buzz
