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Setback Bounce Back This week's trek is inspired Kellogg Professor Neal J. Roese's research on the best ways to recover from setbacks.   You know that moment you realize something has gone totally wrong? Maybe your team shipped the wrong product, you missed an important deadline, or a product launch went off the rails. Setbacks happen a lot in business and, while it's tempting to head straight to the bar to decompress, there are more productive ways to deal with the stress.  Introducing Your Setback Bounce Back Exercise What It Is A 20-minute exercise to help you recover from a setback in a productive way so you can identify key learnings for next time. Why We Love It  Setbacks force you to go into problem solving mode and fix whatever the issue at hand might be. Once the fires are put out another chain of events ensues - pointing fingers, ruminating over what went wrong, or beating yourself up. This exercise helps you channel your post-emergency energy into finding ways to avoid future mishaps. How It Works 1. After a setback occurs and the fires have been put out, set aside 20 minutes with your team to debrief. 2. When you come together as a group work through each of the following questions and capture your responses: -  Counterfactual Round 1: What path could I have taken in order to arrive at a better outcome? The key thing here is to focus on your individual actions (no finger pointing) and give each of your team members time to do the same. Then, take a few minutes and share out as a group. -  Counterfactual Round 2: What is another path I could have taken to arrive at a better outcome? Yes, we know this is repeating the same question from above, but there's an important reason. Roese argues that hindsight bias creates a tendency to "fixate on the first alternative scenario," which can lead to an oversimplification of why you failed. By forcing yourself to search for another set of solutions to a better outcome, you'll often arrive at something you otherwise wouldn't have considered. -  Semifactual Scenario: How could this different path we've identified resulted in the same outcome? In this stage it's often helpful to ask "Even if we had taken this different approach, would we really have arrived at a better outcome?"  -  Randomness Scenario: How could a better or worse outcome have resulted from the exact same process we followed? This step helps your team understand the randomness in outcomes. As much as we like to think we have control over things, it's always important to recognize that outside forces are often at play. -  Worse Outcome Scenario: What alternative path could we have taken that might have led to a worse outcome? This step helps you put things in perspective and understand that, even though you hit a setback, you did make some good choices along the way.  3. As a team, reflect on your responses to the above questions and consider how you might work differently next time to account for the learnings you've just identified. Have each person (yourself included!) take 2 minutes to identify one thing they will do differently next time to support a better outcome.  Source: HBR. Want to dig deeper into this topic? For the full article on Roese's approach to dealing with setbacks, read this from HBR. For a breakdown of the different types of obstacles we face, read this from FastCo. For a spirited TED talk about why organizations often fear failure, watch this video. Shout. It. Out. To Leslie Mulder for her exercise crafting skills!  Shout. It. Back. To treks@lifetrekkers.me and tell us which treks you've liked, what we can improve on, and what topics you'd like us to cover next. We're taking requests! Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks: "I didn't realize how much envy was sapping positive energy in my life. The Envy Advantage Trek offered a moment for powerful reflection that would have otherwise been unattended to." - Ian Manheimer, VP Strategy @ TCN Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@lifetrekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.

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Junk Thoughts This week's trek is inspired by clinical psychologist Dr. Ellen Hendriksen's work on anxiety and the role thought-action fusion plays in our mental health. Have you ever had a strange thought that made you think "I must be taking crazy pills"?  When I lived in SF I would sometimes drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and think "If I turn my steering wheel a tad to the right I'd roll off this bridge and into the ocean." Next, I'd think, "Wait, does this mean I want to drive off this bridge?" And then I'd hold my breath in an anxious fury for the entire mile across.  Hendriksen would argue that this is an example of thought-action fusion, where we "assume that thinking about something is equivalent to doing it." Just because the thought about the bridge popped into my head didn't mean I had to give it power. Instead, she would argue that thoughts like this - the ones that show up like a spammy infomercial in the middle of your fav show - are junk thoughts. They'll appear every now and then but you don't need them and you reserve the right to change the channel at any time.  Introducing Your Junk Thoughts Exercise What It Is A 5-minute way to clear your mind of junk thoughts so you can get on with your day and make room for what's important.  Why We Love It  We all have outlier thoughts that creep up on us -- ones that range from blurting out "this is stupid" in the middle of a work meeting to wondering what might happen if you drank from a fish tank. (For the record, I have not tried fish tank water.) Sometimes those thoughts clutter our brains just like the Gmail promotions tab bloats the inbox. This exercise gives you a way to identify your thought spam so you can trash it and get on with your day.  How It Works 1. Next time you find yourself having a strange thought that's not helpful, take 2-3 minutes to clear your mind. Start by saying to yourself, "This is a random thing to think. It's likely that I don't need to act on it." 2. Then, remind yourself that this particular thing you're thinking classifies as a junk thought. You don't need it and you definitely don't need to file it away in your memory for safe keeping. It needs as much consideration as the items in your email spam folder. 3. Finally, take 3-5 deep breaths and focus on the sounds of your inhalation and exhalation. As you breathe in and out, give yourself permission to delete your junk thoughts from the spam folder of your brain. Remind yourself of the following: "This is just a thought. It comes and goes with ease and only holds meaning if I decide to give it power. This one is random or not helpful to me right now. Time to clear it away and make room for the next." Source: Hendriksen. Want to dig deeper into this topic? To delve into CBT based approaches to retraining your thoughts, check out this article on thought records. For practical tips on how to declutter your mind, read this from Forbes. For a logical breakdown of the thought model and how it can lead to trigger behaviors (e.g., sheet-caking), listen to Dr. Ubell's podcast starting at 11:56. Shout. It. Out. To Dr. Shala Fardin for her pro tips on this trek. Shout. It. Back. To treks@lifetrekkers.me and tell us which  treks you've liked, what we can improve on, and what topics you'd like us to cover next. We're taking requests!  Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks: "The What's Your Tutu? exercise couldn't have come at a better time. I've always had a hard time showing emotion in romantic relationships, so it's helpful for me to to check in with these questions after a date."  – Beebe Xia, Copywriter and Single Lady Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@lifetrekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.

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Boundary Setting This week's trek is inspired by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abraham's research at HBS on work/life balance. Does your job habitually step over the line into your personal life? We all struggle to set clear boundaries between work and personal time. Groysberg and Abraham's research with executives has shown that even leaders have to make "deliberate choices" about what they will and won't take on in order to maintain the right work/life boundaries for success.   Introducing Your Boundary Setting Exercise What It Is A 15-minute exercise to identify your work and personal life deal-breakers so you can be sure to the set the boundaries needed to avoid line-stepping on each. Why We Love It  When you have a lot on your plate at work and at home it can be challenging to determine what, in particular, should take priority. This exercise helps you re-evaluate what matters most so you can make better choices both personally and professionally.  How It Works 1. Set aside 15 minutes in your calendar and grab your favorite notebook/journal/scratch-pad. 2. Write out your response to this question: Right now in your life, do you live to work or work to live? There is no right or wrong answer to this one; it's about being honest with yourself about which is your main focus. 3. Based on your answer in #2, when it comes to the work side of things what are you not willing to give up? Perhaps you want that promotion. Or you want to work on a specific project. Or maybe you want to work with certain people. Think through your professional non-negotiable items and write them down.  4. Based on your answer in #2, when it comes to the personal side of things what are you not willing to give up? Perhaps you don't want to miss more than two nights at home due to work travel or you never want to compromise time with family or friends. Maybe you want to always get your cycling class in. Or perhaps you gotta make sure your Sunday afternoons are reserved for Netflix binging. Think through your personal non-negotiable items and write them down. 5. Take a look at your lists in #3 and #4 and identify where your must-haves are currently not being met. Then, take a few minutes and think through how you can reprioritize your commitments to focus on what matters to you most. If you are currently spending time on something that doesn't make this list, find a way to deprioritize or delegate it.  Source: Thrive Global Want to dig deeper into this topic? To learn how a range of executives manage work/life balance, read this from HBR. To brush up on the evolving definition of work/life balance, read this from Forbes. For tips on how to manage being a working parent, check this out also from HBR. Have a favorite trek?  Hit us up at treks@lifetrekkers.me and tell us which one you liked and what you learned! Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks: "The mindful meals' trek was one of my favorites. It started with one meal, but I've found myself focusing more intently on almost everything I've eaten since." - Ev Boyle, Director @ LA-Tech.org Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@lifetrekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.