Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

Tuesday Edition: November 26, 2024

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published every Tuesday & Friday, we discover something crucial to help us on the way to winning at work and in life.

Inspired by Tom Holland: Lessons on Ditching Work Crutches

I like Tom Holland.

Not just because he is the perfect blend of Peter Parker & Spider-man - no beef but Tobey Maguire was too Peter Parker to make a great Spider-man and Andrew Garfield was too Spider-man to be a total Peter Parker.

I like him for other reasons.

One of which was the decision he made on an aspect of his personal life.

It all started in 2022 when he found it difficult to keep Dry January.

For the uninitiated, Dry January is a month-long challenge where people abstain from alcohol to examine their relationship with alcohol, start the year on a healthier note, and reset after an overindulgent holiday season.

He realised “I couldn't quite wrap my head around how much I was struggling without booze in that first month — and it really scared me.” This led him to take a bigger leap, “I decided, as a sort of punishment to myself, that I would do February as well as January.”

By the way, he was not a drunk but he realised that drinking had become a crutch for him.

According to him “I would get really uncomfortable and not confident in social scenarios out in public. That's why I really latched onto drinking because it masked that insecurity with stupidity. I used to go to these parties, and be like, 'I can't speak to someone until I'm drunk."

By the time he hit 6 months without drinking alcohol, he decided to continue to live as a teetotaler. In his words, “I started sleeping better. I was handling stressful situations better. My relationship was better. My relationship with my family was better. My relationship with my work was better.”

He goes further “When I realised that alcohol wasn't masking my insecurity or bringing out my best self — it was actually doing the opposite — I started to feel this freedom of like, ‘ I can just be myself.”

He has gone and done something more. He has started a premium non-alcoholic brand “Bero”. That way, he and everyone else can have a drink without having to lean on alcohol.

So why the Tom Holland fanboy gist here?

You may be unaware of simple crutches that you are holding on to at work which may be reducing your overall productivity.

Let me share some of those simple crutches that you might be unaware of:

1 - Overcommitment:

You want to be known as the in-demand person in the office and so you keep saying “Yes” to those pesky invitations to be part of every meeting, new initiative and everything else in between. A penny for my thoughts on that one - overloaded schedules can lead to meeting fatigue, decreased productivity, and a decline in creativity. I say no more.

2 - Fear of Failure:

This one will keep you staring at the ocean but not willing to go in for a swim. Why? You watched a TV show yesterday and someone said “There could be sharks in there.” The only problem is that the TV show was recorded 20 years ago at an ocean that looks like the one you want to swim in but it is not. This fear can paralyze you, preventing you from taking risks and embracing new challenges at work. This is something that even Batman’s villain, the Scarecrow’s fear toxin might not even do.

3 - Perfectionism:

Let’s deal with this for what it really is. This is just the mask of procrastination and anxiety rolled up into one nice tidy disguise. Take it from a one-time Don of the House of P, “You will never get it perfect.” What is perfect to you might just be a mega-crap to the boss. Sometimes perfection is the nickname that people give, “I don’t want someone else to see my mistakes.” My point of view - you might be keeping the wrong scores.

Now you know the crutches, let’s talk about breaking the proverbial Deadpool’s fourth wall and speak directly to these productivity-crushing crutches:

1.  Watch Your Time and Commitments:

Take a week to track your time and identify where you’re saying “Yes” unnecessarily. Prioritize tasks and meetings that align with your goals and provide high value. Set boundaries to guard your focus. More than that. Use your superpower of saying “No”. Don’t be like the Ghostbusters. Who do they call? Not you all the time.

2.  Reframe Fear of Failure:

Fear thrives on ambiguity and inaction. Challenge negative assumptions by gathering facts. Instead of thinking, What if this goes wrong?, ask yourself, What can I learn even if it doesn’t go perfectly? Break down big challenges into manageable steps and celebrate progress, not just outcomes. The imaginary bad outcomes might not be flying at you. Remember the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Punch that fear in the teeth.

3.  Trade Perfectionism for Excellence:

Shift your mindset from “perfect” to “done well.” Use the 80/20 rule: focus on the critical 20% of tasks that yield 80% of results. As Steve Jobs said, “It works like magic.” Share drafts early to get feedback and improve as you go, rather than waiting for a “perfect” version that may never come. It’s like following a mirage on a hot afternoon in the desert - the oasis of water keeps vanishing into the horizon just when you think you can taste it. Don’t get me singing…Arabian nights, like Arabian Days, more often than not are hotter than hot... Yes, I still love watching Aladdin.

Now you are ready to beat the crutches. These crutches may feel like safety nets, but in reality, they’re limiting your growth and effectiveness.

Add to that, if you learn to take regular inventory of our work journey, you will find points where you have made mistakes or created blunders that you wish you didn’t. In some cases, you have found your own unique way of addressing them so you come out smelling like roses or less than something you would rather slam the door at on the other side.

Be like Tom Holland and find a way of sharing your lessons with those who come after you.

Along the way, you might even create your own “Premium Beer” that others can enjoy with you.

As always, keep winning at work and in life.

Tola Akinsulire

I am a Workplace Multiplier

Like this?

Please pay it forward by sharing it with someone who could benefit from it. They will thank you for it.

Want to get in on some of the lessons I have picked up in my career? Get my eBook "21 Lessons I Learned in My Career - A Primer to Help You Become Better at Work". Get it here

Was this forwarded to you? Sign up so you don't miss any edition. Click here to sign up.