Planks: Day 1One…
This is one of a series of ‘How To’ Leadership Weekly Notes.
The How To Notes are practical tools and tips to practice Influential Leadership wherever you are—and PRACTICE means to do… and do, and do again – to get better each time.
Let’s call them Influential Leadership Tools n Tips.
Here is our Tools n Tips #1.
Start your day with PLANKS!
Module 12 of the Alpha Programme is titled: Day 1One.
What we do on the first day after completing the formalities of the Alpha Influential Leadership Activation Programme is critical to what we do on days two, three…99 and forever.
We must immediately remind ourselves and others that we have chosen to be equipped as Influential Leaders, and we are implementing a new way of living and doing things.
If we do not start on Day 1One, and keep it going, we easily fall into legacy ways and habits.
Relapsing is one of the primary reasons learning interventions flounder or fail. Recognising this, we must do whatever is required to prevail with our newly learned Influential Leadership Way.
We must force ourselves to make the shift right away.
In this way we break old habits and set new ones – not only for ourselves, but also publicly.
So, first thing in the morning. Before you do anything else.
Do PLANKS for 11 minutes
Planks are physically and mentally demanding, but it could be anything else as long as it is arduous, is something you do not normally do, and it must take up at least 11 minutes.
Get out of bed 15 minutes earlier.
Go to the quiet spot you have identified and do them or it there.
No music, no videos, no phone calls – nothing but you and your wrestling match with planks. But, invite your partner, parent, child or neighbour… get them hooked too!
If you are new to planks, start with thirty seconds at a time, and rest for a minute in between, until over time you can get to the Influential Leadership Target:
Three minutes planking – one minute rest – three minutes planking – one minute rest – three minutes planking – one minute rest – two minutes planking – start the rest of your day.
Why?
Why on earth would doing planks (or your other chosen challenging activity) equip us for Influential Leadership?
Some of the rationale is already set out above. Below are another ten sound reasons:
- Planks act as a reset between our old habits and the new.
- They (or their equivalent) are something we do solo and without escape from gravity and our weight. They are personal, direct and tangible.
- They are an internal challenge between our default setting of seeking the easy way or doing the tough necessary things.
- Planks (or an alternative) require much effort for what seems like an easy activity. Discipline is needed to get up earlier and tough out the exercise session.
- The activity is a reminder that Influential Leadership is what we do – it is a capability, an action. Leadership goes beyond intent and process.
- The new thing we do (even if not planks) is visible. People around us, and those we tell, will ask questions why we are doing planks! This offers us and opportunity be leadership activists – we share Influential Leadership with them.
- Planks (or their alternative) prove to us that no matter how small we start, if we keep plugging away at them/it, we get better and better.
- This thing we do also affirms our self-efficacy (the belief we have in ourselves, in our competence), which is the foundation of our social agency, which is the core of the Influential Leadership System!
- Planks (or an alternative) are an investment in our daily life, but also for our future.
- Planks are beneficial to our physical and psychological wellbeing.
An Aside.
I have two side comments:
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- On occasion, people ask whether I do planks every day.
The short answer is no.
But every day I do something that forces me to think about and practice the Influential Leadership Way that day.
The advisory is to do planks on Day 1One, and when they become normalised by Day 99, find new “planks”.
Think about the principle of their purpose – a daily reset until we are influential leaders by default.
I am not there yet, so I must do my planks.
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- For some people, planks might not be suitable.
Maybe sitting silently and in silence could be your planks, or watering the garden, or taking a walk, or maybe doing push-ups.
Sitting still seems to be almost impossible for many people. And, I do not mean sitting on a couch watching TV or playing an eGame…
Sit next to your bed, on the floor, in the garden, on the ground, or anywhere else… just sit or squat – no music, no video, no conversation – just sit in silence.
If you have completed the Alpha Programme, do not allow legacy and unproductive behaviours to seep back into your leadership choice.
If you are currently on the Journey, you can add planks to your day right away – make tomorrow your Day 1One.
If you are yet to start Alpha, now is the time to get cracking, and add planks right away too.
Here is a metaphor from mountain biking…
Momentum is your friend, it keeps you upright and going along nicely!
Once you get started, keep your momentum by doing ‘planks’ consistently, daily.
One fine day it becomes your natural way of doing things.
Wherever you go, influence and shape lives for the better.
Regards,
Colin @ Karoo
We Close the Leadership Gap!
Leadership Weekly Note: 4323. 231023
e: colind@karoo.world
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