There’s a baseline in everything you do. The minimum set of requirement for you to stay consistent at the work you are performing. It can be anything.
While riding motorbike, for example, even if you are angry or happy or sad or hurt or whatever, you still look ahead in the road. That’s the baseline. If you don’t look ahead, you’re going to crash.
No amount of sadness or depression can make you look sideways or do some weird behavior in the motorbike. You are still looking into the road while you feel all sorts of emotions.
You always keep up to the baseline, because if you don’t, you’ll get in an accident. You might even die.
So, since it’s very critical for you to look into the road, you always look. There’s a huge consequence if you don’t stay in the baseline.
What I’ve come to realize now is that it’s because of the lack of baseline in work ethics that I’m not moving forward. Not only in work, but every life situation or behavior.
Let’s say the baseline for working, as in riding motorcycle, was to get 50% of the work done before lunch. Or at the very least work on all stuff you said you would work on. That would make anyone super productive. But we don’t have a baseline for work or anything.
Of course, baseline comes naturally when we have huge consequences. The above example of motorbike fits the statement. There’s baseline because without it, you’d die in an accident.
However, if you don’t do your work, you won’t die. The consequence isn’t that big. Of course, the consequences are different among individuals because if you are a father and lose a job because you don’t work, then that’s a huge consequence your family will have to face.
What I’m trying to say is, if it’s possible to create a baseline for minutiae tasks that we perform everyday, it would be easier for us to stay productive and get lots of work done. And I’m beginning to think it’s discipline that helps us reach there.
So how about a baseline of writing a journal before 9 AM in the morning everyday? How about not eating junk foods during the weekdays? How about stretching at least for 10 minutes in the morning?
I’m far from conclusion. But what I want you to take from this is that it’s possible to create a baseline for everything you do.
The only hard part is staying loyal to that baseline. At least touching the baseline on everything you do. Maybe you need to create huge consequences for yourself if you don’t reach the baseline.
So, try creating baseline with consequences for everything you do, and see if it works for you. I’ll try myself and update the results in the upcoming blog posts.