Why Constant Learners All Embrace the 5-Hour Rule

Benjamin Franklin did this 1 hour a day, 5 hours a week. Why you should do it too.

This is a post from Michael Simmons, co-founder of Empact.

With Ian Chew

At the age of 10, Benjamin Franklin left formal schooling to become an apprentice to his father. As a teenager, he showed no particular talent or aptitude aside from his love of books.

When he died a little over half a century later, he was America's most respected statesman, its most famous inventor, a prolific author, and a successful entrepreneur.

What happened between these two points to cause such a meteoric rise?
Underlying the answer to this question is a success strategy for life that we can all use, and increasingly must use.personal-growth goals,

The five-hour rule

Throughout Ben Franklin's adult life, he consistently invested roughly an hour a day in deliberate learning. I call this Franklin's five-hour rule: one hour a day on every weekday.
Franklin's learning time consisted of:

• Waking up early to read and write
  
• Setting personal-growth goals (i.e., virtues list) and tracking the results
  
• Creating a club for "like-minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community"
  
• Turning his ideas into experiments
  
• Having morning and evening reflection questions
  

Every time that Franklin took time out of his busy day to follow his five-hour rule and spend at least an hour learning, he accomplished less on that day. However, in the long run, it was arguably the best investment of his time he could have made.

Franklin's five-hour rule reflects the very simple idea that, over time, the smartest and most successful people are the ones who are constant and deliberate learners. 

Warren Buffett spends five to six hours per day reading five newspapers and 500 pages of corporate reports. Bill Gates reads 50 books per year. Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks. Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day, according to his brother. Oprah Winfrey credits books with much of her success: "Books were my pass to personal freedom." Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, reads two hours day. Dan Gilbert, self-made billionaire and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, reads one to two hours a day.

So what would it look like to make the five-hour rule part of our lifestyle? 

The core concept of the five-hour rule: empty space
 

To find out, we need look no further than chess grandmaster and world-champion martial artist Josh Waitzkin. Instead of squeezing his days for the maximum productivity, he's actually done the opposite. Waitzkin, who also authored The Art of Learning, purposely creates slack in his day so he has "empty space" for learning, creativity, and doing things at a higher quality. Here's his explanation of this approach from a recent Tim Ferriss podcast episode:

"I have built a life around having empty space for the development of my ideas for the creative process. And for the cultivation of a physiological state which is receptive enough to tune in very, very deeply to people I work with ... In the creative process, it's so easy to drive for efficiency and take for granted the really subtle internal work that it takes to play on that razor's edge."

Adding slack to our day allows us to:

1. Plan out the learning. This allows us to think carefully about what we want to learn. We shouldn't just have goals for what we want to accomplish. We should also have goals for what we want to learn.

2. Deliberately practice. Rather than doing things automatically and not improving, we can apply the proven principles of deliberate practice so we keep improving. This means doing things like taking time to get honest feedback on our work and practicing specific skills we want to improve.
3. Ruminate. This helps us get more perspective on our lessons learned and assimilate new ideas. It can also help us develop slow hunches in order to have creative breakthroughs. Walking is a great way to process these insights, as shown by many greats who were or are walking fanatics, from Beethoven and Charles Darwin to Steve Jobs and Jack Dorsey. Another powerful way is through conversation partners.

4. Set aside time just for learning. This includes activities like reading, having conversations, participating in a mastermind, taking classes, observing others, etc.

5. Solve problems as they arise. When most people experience problems during the day, they sweep them under the rug so that they can continue their to-do list. Having slack creates the space to address small problems before they turn into big problems.

6. Do small experiments with big potential payoffs. Whether or not an experiment works, it's an opportunity to learn and test your ideas.

The difference the five-hour rule makes
 

For many people, their professional day is measured by how much they get done. As a result, they speed through the day and slow down their improvement rate.

The five-hour rule flips the equation by focusing on learning first.

To see the implication of this, let's look at a sales call (note: replace "sales call" with any activity you do repeatedly).

Most professionals do a little research before the call, have the call, and then save their notes and move on.

Somebody with a learning focus would think through which skill to practice on the call, practice it on the call, and then reflect on the lessons learned. If that person really wanted an extra level of learning, he or she would invite a colleague on the call and have the colleague provide honest feedback afterward.

Embracing a learning lifestyle means that every time we make a sales call, we get better at doing sales calls. Focusing on learning un-automates our behaviors so we can keep improving them rather than plateauing. Every event is an opportunity to improve.

By focusing on learning as a lifestyle, we get so much more done over the long term.

So, are you ready to embrace the five-hour rule?
 

How about reading a book a week to get started? Even though he's the richest man in the world and could afford to hire an army of teachers and consultants, Bill Gates still reads a book a week. In a 2016 New York Times interview, he said, "Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding."

Want to read the most-recommended books by top leaders like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and Elon Musk? Here's our report on the six highly recommended books you should read, along with 460-plus of their other book recommendations.

Thanks to Shizuka Ebata for being an integral part of putting this article together.

37 Secrets Only Successful People Know

Everything you need to know about business, collected into a single handy article.

By Geoffrey James

IMAGE: Getty Images

The business of business isn't really all that complicated. While there is, of course, specific knowledge required for specific industries, this post encapsulates everything that you'll need to know to survive and thrive in the business world.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR EMOTIONS

1. How to Become More Optimistic

1. EXPECT something wonderful to happen every day.
2. TREAT people as you'd want to be treated.
3. DON'T waste breath fighting about things you can't change.
4. CONCENTRATE on the job at hand, not the results you seek.
5. ASSUME other people mean well.
6. AVOID depressing people and conversations.
7. EAT something delicious every day.
8. TURN OFF the background television.
9. ADOPT an attitude of gratitude.
10. REMEMBER that the best is yet to come.

2. How to Eliminate Stress

1. CULTIVATE the patience and perspective to let go of your results.
2. FOCUS on what you're doing now rather than the results.
3. IF you're overworked, negotiate a more reasonable workload.
4. CUT your hours to the "sweet spot," which is about 40 hours a week.
5. AVOID people who won't or can't control their own stress.
6. FIND a place where you can work quietly away from distractions.
7. TURN OFF news programming that's designed to rile you up.
8. TURN DOWN projects that you can't do well.
9. STOP arguing with fools and strangers online.
10. ARRANGE tasks consecutively rather than trying to multitask.

3. How to Overcome Fear

1. CONFRONT your fears head on to reduce their power.
2. IMAGINE dealing with the fear to make it less daunting.
3. REMEMBER that fear is just excitement in disguise.
4. USE fear to spawn the energy you need to perform well.

4. How to Cope With Rejection

1. REALIZE that rejection is just a difference of opinion.
2. UNDERSTAND that rejection only hurts because you let it.
3. REMEMBER that every rejection moves you closer to your goal.
4. KEEP other opportunities in reserve so you can quickly move on.

5. How to Rise Above Failure

1. CREATE goals that motivate you to achieve something possible.
2. ALWAYS write goals down; display them where you'll see them.
3. DECIDE by saying "I must..." or "I will..." rather than "I'll try...."
4. BREAK your big goals into smaller, measurable milestones.
5. CHECK whether you're moving toward or away from your goals.
6. WELCOME setbacks because they'll hone your plan.
7. REMEMBER that the only true failure is failing to take action.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR CAREER

6. How to Achieve Your Dream Job

1. KNOW what would constitute your dream job.
2. FIND role models and incorporate their way of thinking.
3. HAVE the courage to sacrifice your security.
4. LEARN to sell your ideas and yourself.
5. CREATE a plan and start executing it today.
6. ADJUST your goal as you learn more about yourself.

7. How to Attain Career Security

1. LIVE below your means until you've got six months of income saved.
2. DEVELOP expertise that makes it less likely you'll be fired.
3. CULTIVATE new opportunities and record them in an escape plan.

8. How to Get More Done Each Day

1. DON'T take calls from people you don't know, unless you're working in telesales or product support.
2. USE email instead of time-consuming voice mail
3. LIMIT your chitchat with co-workers.
4. TURN OFF "alerts" that interrupt your thinking.
5. KEEP TRACK of how you spend time; that's half the battle.
6. REMEMBER that 20 percent of your actions produce 80 percent of your results.
7. ONLY DO the 20 percent that produces the 80 percent of your results.
8. PRIORITIZE based on what accomplishes the most with the least effort.

9. How to Use LinkedIn Effectively

1. YOUR personal brand will define how people see you.
2. GET a professional portrait and expunge unprofessional ones.
3. CUSTOMIZE your résumé to match your career goals.
4. SOLICIT recommendations that are realistic and relevant.
5. AVOID blogging, unless you're being paid to do so.
6. KEEP your irrelevant opinions off the internet.

10. How to Land a Job Interview

1. CREATE and sell your own job description, if possible.
2. GET a current employee to recommend you, if possible.
3. CUSTOMIZE your résumé to match the job description.
4. EXPLAIN "who I am" in terms of the specific job.
5. DESCRIBE specifically how you helped former employers, not what you did.
6. INCLUDE benefits that echo phrases from the job description.

11. How to Ace a Job Interview

1. DON'T put all your eggs in this one basket.
2. FIND out all you can about the hiring firm.
3. DEVISE questions that show you've done your research.
4. REHEARSE answers to the standard questions.
5. WEAR what you'd wear if you worked there; don't be late.
6. GET the offer, then decide whether you really want the job.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR EMPLOYEES

12. What Great Bosses Believe About Their Jobs

1. BUSINESS is an ecosystem, so cooperate, don't fight.
2. COMPANIES are communities, so treat people as individuals.
3. MANAGEMENT is service, so make others successful first.
4. EMPLOYEES are your peers, so treat them like adults.
5. MOTIVATE with vision, because fear only paralyzes.
6. CHANGE is growth, so welcome rather than shun it.
7. TECHNOLOGY eliminates busywork and frees creativity.
8. WORK is fun, so don't turn it into a chore.

13. How to Create Loyal, Effective Employees

1. MANAGE individuals, not numbers.
2. ADAPT your style to each person.
3. MEASURE what's truly relevant.
4. ONLY one priority per person.
5. STAY even-tempered.
6. TAKE responsibility for your low performers.
7. SHARE your thoughts and ideas.
8. ASK questions rather than providing answers.
9. TREAT everyone as equally as possible.
10. DON'T expect more than you're willing to give.
11. EXPLAIN the reasoning behind your decisions.
12. DON'T prevaricate, decide now!

14. How to Hire a Top Performer

1. KNOW exactly whom you're looking for.
2. CONSTANTLY seek viable candidates.
3. LOOK for character, not experience.
4. RESILIENCE is the mark of potential greatness.
5. SEEK out the self-motivated.
6. ATTITUDE is all-important.
7. DON'T settle for canned references.

15. How to Hold a Productive Meeting

1. HAVE an agenda before you meet.
2. PROVIDE background information.
3. DON'T let the meeting meander.
4. DOCUMENT what decisions were made.

16. How to Offer Constructive Criticism

1. ADDRESS undesirable behaviors when they happen.
2. OFFER praise, then identify the behavior you want changed.
3. ASK questions to understand the "why" behind the behavior.
4. AGREE upon a plan to change the behavior.
5. MONITOR and reinforce the changed behavior.

17. How to Redirect a Complainer

1. SCHEDULE a conversation when they try to start one.
2. SET the agenda for the conversation as a "problem-solving" session.
3. LISTEN respectfully to the entire complaint.
4. ASK what the complainer plans to do.
5. CONFIRM that your advice is truly wanted.
6. PROVIDE your best advice (if it's wanted).
7. END the conversation at the first "Yeah, but...."

18. How to Fire Somebody

1. TELL it like it is without the biz-blab.
2. SHOW empathy for your co-workers.
3. EXPLAIN why it's happening, as far as you legally can.
4. CUT quickly, heal, and move on.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR CO-WORKERS

19. The Ten Types of Annoying Co-Workers

1. WAFFLERS can't decide, so force the issue.
2. CONQUERORS must win, so make them team leaders.
3. DRAMATISTS crave attention, so ignore them.
4. ICONOCLASTS break rules needlessly, so avoid them.
5. DRONERS are boring, so find something else to do.
6. FRENEMIES sabotage, so keep them at arm's length.
7. TOADIES are irrelevant; be polite but ignore them.
8. VAMPIRES leach energy, unless you stay upbeat.
9. PARASITES steal credit, so track who's contributed.
10. GENIUSES are all talk, so pester them until they deliver.

20. How to Earn the Respect of Your Peers

1. BE yourself rather than your role.
2. SHOW interest in other people.
3. SHARE the limelight.
4. DRESS and groom to match your ambitions.
5. PAUSE before speaking to mentally frame your thoughts.
6. SPEAK from your chest without verbal tics or an end of sentence rise in pitch.

21. How to Play Clean Office Politics

1. FIND OUT what other people need and want.
2. BUILD mutually useful alliances with those you can trust.
3. KEEP TRACK of the favors you owe and the ones owed you.
4. USE your alliances at key points to help achieve your goals.

22. How to Recruit a Mentor

1. MENTORS crave to teach people what they've learned.
2. SEEK OUT mentors who have experience and skills you lack.
3. ASK for advice and let the relationship develop.
4. BE KIND when you outgrow the relationship.

23. How to Shine in a Meeting

1. TREAT meetings as a possible way to advance your agenda.
2. AVOID meetings that don't serve your own agenda.
3. DECIDE whether each meeting will be useful or useless.
4. EITHER decline to attend or prepare well; no in between.
5. TAKE notes, so you can speak coherently when it's your turn.
6. SPEAK confidently, and, if appropriate, segue into your agenda.
7. PUBLISH your own "minutes" of the meeting.

24. How to Cope with an Office Bully

1. DON'T try to calm the bully down or apologize.
2. INSIST on respectful, professional behavior.
3. IF the unprofessional behavior continues, leave the immediate area.
4. COPE with your own emotions privately.
5. REVISIT the issue at a later date.
6. DECIDE whether the relationship is worth it.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR COMMUNICATIONS

25. The Five Rules of Business Communications

1. KNOW your reason for communicating.
2. PICK a medium that's appropriate for the other person.
3. SIMPLIFY your message for easy mental consumption.
4. EDIT out all buzzwords and corporate-speak.
5. AVOID jargon, unless dealing with fellow experts.

26. How to Have a Productive Conversation

1. KNOW the reason you're having a conversation.
2. IGNORE your internal dialog.
3. LISTEN carefully to the other person.
4. CONSIDER what was said and echo it back.
5. RESPOND with something that adds to the conversation.

27. How to Write a Compelling Email

1. KNOW what decision you want made.
2. EXPRESS that decision as a conclusion at the beginning.
3. SUPPORT that conclusion with simple arguments.
4. PROVIDE evidence to bolster each argument.
5. REPEAT your conclusion as an action item.
6. WRITE the subject last and include a benefit.

28. How to Create a Great Presentation

1. PLAN OUT an emotional journey for the audience.
2. FLAG the places where the audience will feel emotions.
3. BUILD a story that creates the emotions in that order.
4. ARRANGE everything into a simple structure.
5. MAKE slides relevant, short, simple, and readable.
6. CUSTOMIZE your presentation and rehearse it.

29. How to Deliver a Great Presentation

1. STAND UP rather than remain seated when you speak.
2. CHECK your equipment in advance.
3. HAVE somebody else introduce you.
4. SET AND RESPECT a time limit.
5. AVOID "warm-up" jokes, unless you're a comedian.
6. ADJUST your presentation to the "feel" of the room.
7. LESSEN stage fright by speaking to individuals, not the entire audience
8. SPEAK directly to audience members.
9. DON'T meander and skip.
10. MAKE eye contact with multiple people.

30. How to Work a Room

1. BE CURIOUS about people and what they do.
2. WHEN ASKED, describe yourself in terms of the value you provide.
3. IF the other person seems uninterested, move on.
4. EXPLAIN how you're different from the competition.
5. IF the other person seems uninterested, move on.
6. OPEN a conversation to assess mutual needs.
7. IF interest continues, ask for a real meeting.

31. How to Negotiate a Deal

1. DEFINE what's on the table in the deal.
2. DECIDE what's important to you and what's not.
3. HAVE reasons why those things are important to you.
4. RESERVE a plan B, so your hand isn't forced.
5. LET the other person open the negotiation.
6. WORK together rather than digging your heels in.
7. CREATE a deal that reflects what you both value.
8. STOP negotiating when the bulk of the deal is defined.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR BOSS

32. The Twelve Types of Bosses

1. VISIONARIES are inspiring but can act like jerks.
2. CLIMBERS want to get ahead, so expect no loyalty.
3. BUREAUCRATS hate change, so document everything.
4. PROPELLERHEADS love gadgets, so become an expert.
5. FOGEYS want respect, so recruit them as mentors.
6. WHIPPERSNAPPERS are insecure, so don't make suggestions.
7. SOCIAL DIRECTORS love consensus but may suddenly explode.
8. DICTATORS make fast decisions but cause disasters.
9. SALES STARS would rather be selling, so let them do so.
10. HATCHET MEN execute layoffs, so get another job pronto.
11. LOST LAMBS need your help but may get dependent on you.
12. HEROES are rare, so enjoy them while it lasts.

33. How to Keep Any Boss Happy

1. DO what you say you'll do.
2. KEEP your boss in the loop.
3. CARE about your quality of work.
4. ACCEPT decisions when they're made.
5. SOLVE problems without whining.
6. BE concise and clear.
7. MAKE your boss successful.

34. How to Get the Best from Your Boss

1. COMMUNICATE what you need in order to do your best.
2. KEEP your manager informed of your progress.
3. MAKE a case for keeping you in your job.
4. ENSURE that everyone knows how much you contribute.
5. UNDERSTAND your boss's goals and desires.
6. CULTIVATE a common interest.

35. How to Ace Your Performance Review

1. FIND OUT what you must accomplish and document the conversation.
2. TRACK and report on your accomplishments against your metrics.
3. WRITE your performance review draft or provide "inputs" to same.
4. IF the boss attempts to renege, insist on some other reward.

36. How to Handle an Unreasonable Request

1. BE flexible about what's unreasonable.
2. IF you accept the task, negotiate something in return.
3. CULTIVATE the courage to say no.
4. REMEMBER that once you do it, it's part of your job.

37. How to Ask for a Raise

1. DON'T bother discussing what you need, want, or expect to be paid.
2. BASE your proposed raise on your financial contribution.
3. LET your boss know how much it would cost to replace you.
4. GATHER information to buttress your case.
5. ESTABLISH a discrepancy between your value and your pay.
6. FIELD objections, so they reinforce your case.
7. PUSH until you've gotten a commitment with a number.

Excerpted and adapted from the book Business Without the Bullsh*t, by Geoffrey James.  © 2014 by Geoffrey James.  Reprinted by permission of Business Plus.  All rights reserved.

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What the Most Successful People Do on the Weekend

A Short Guide to Making the Most of Your Days Off

Laura Vanderkam

Time management expert Laura Vanderkam’s follow-up book to What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, aptly titled What the Most Successful People Do on the Weekend, is crammed with advice from successful entrepreneurs and scientific studies to help you never waste another weekend again. As Vanderkam points out, all too often “our precious weekends are eaten up by unproductive work or leisure that fails to energize us, leaving us dragging Monday morning and asking where the weekend went.”

The key: making weekend plans in advance. “These days disappear into chores, errands, inefficient email checking, unconsciously chosen television marathons, or a death march of children’s activities that suck the energy out of chauffeuring adults,” Vanderkam says.
Her book includes lists of the weekend activities that make people happiest, why it’s important to unplug for at least a little while, and why Sunday nights may be the most important time of your entire weekend.

Below is an excerpt from her book on six ways to make your weekend successful.

Six secrets of successful weekends

Here are a few more tips to remember as you’re making your plans:

1. Dig deep. Maybe there are activities you haven’t done since childhood that could become a regular part of your weekends. One reader tells me that she and her husband decided to sign up for piano lessons on Saturday mornings. Now they and their teenage son all have lessons back to back. It’s easier to nudge a kid to practice when mom and dad are doing it, too. Sometimes we get so concerned about scheduling our kids’ lives that we forget to schedule our own.

2. Use your mornings. Weekend mornings tend to be wasted time, but they’re great for personal pursuits. If you’re training for a marathon, it’s less disruptive for your family if you get up early to do your four-hour run than if you try to do it in the middle of the day. To get up early, you’ll probably have to avoid staying up late the night before, but this is a good idea in general.

3. Create traditions. Happy families often have some special weekend activity that everyone loves but no one has to plan each time. Maybe it’s pancakes on Saturday mornings or a family walk to worship services, but whatever it is, make a ritual of it. These habits are what become memories—and comforting rituals boost happiness.

4. Schedule downtime. Jess Lahey, a New Hampshire-based teacher and writer, has official weekend naptime in her house that takes place each afternoon between one and three. Her kids—who are pre-teens, not toddlers who actually need to nap—know it’s coming, and they save up screen time for it. They play games together, watch a movie, or read. Everyone turns their phones off, and Lahey and her husband close the door to the upstairs, read for a bit, “then dive in for what always proves to be (amazing) sleep. That deep sleep that leaves you a little disoriented when you wake up,” she says. “Once I’ve figured out where I am and what day it is, I leap out of bed recharged and head out to weed the garden or get down to the business of making dinner.”

5. Make time to explore. A run, walk, or bike ride can turn into an adventure—with plenty of opportunities for that spontaneity people seem to think planning quashes—if you choose the right neighborhood. Use weekends to stretch your routine a bit.

6. Plan something fun for Sunday nights. This idea may be the most important tip in this book. Even if you love your job, it’s easy to feel a bit of trepidation on Sundays about the stresses waiting for you on Monday morning. And if you don’t like your job, Sunday trepidation can become a full-on case of the Sunday-night blues as time slides, inexorably, into the next day. You wonder what you’re doing with your life. You wonder if any of it is worthwhile.

If you’re asking such existential questions, it may be time to shake things up. But in the meantime, or even if you just feel weary when you think of your commute, you can combat the Sunday-night blues by scheduling something fun for Sunday evening. This extends the weekend and keeps you focused on the fun to come, rather than on Monday morning.

Caitlin Andrews, a librarian, calls it a “necessity” to end Sunday night on a high note. Her extended family gets together for dinner almost every Sunday, alternating houses. “The host house cooks the main meal but the others bring something to add—an appetizer, a bottle of wine, a side dish, or dessert. It’s a little stressful when I have to cook and clean for people coming over,” she reports, “but I don’t spend too much time on it and my husband helps.

Plus, we always end up with leftovers for the rest of the week when we cook. It’s just a couple of hours—everyone comes over about five thirty and we’re home by eight or nine.” That’s plenty of time to plan and decompress before bed, and she looks forward to this tradition all weekend. “It takes my mind off any Sunday-night blues that might be coming on.”

Aliza Rosen, a reality TV producer who’s dreamed up series like Farm Kingsand Curvy Girls, does Vinyasa (“hot”) yoga at 6 p.m. on Sundays. “It’s a great way for me to sweat out the toxins of the week and center myself for Monday,” she says. “I reset myself.” She admits that for her, the yoga is not particularly spiritual. “I’m making a mental list,” she says. But it gives her something to anticipate as she’s sliding toward each Monday firefight. That may be the same thing that Ina Garten, the chef otherwise known as the Barefoot Contessa, was thinking when she created her 6 p.m. Sunday ritual of getting a massage.

According to the June 29, 2012 “My Sunday Routine” New York Times profile of Garten, this twenty-seven-year tradition stemmed from a 1985 realization that “I was working really hard, and one day I told myself, ‘I’m not having enough fun.’ So I did two things: I got myself a red Mustang convertible and started having massages. I don’t have the Mustang anymore, but I still have the same masseuse!”

One equally great way to end the weekend is to volunteer. Nothing will take your mind off any problems associated with your decent-paying and steady job like serving people who aren’t so fortunate. Savvy volunteer coordinators know that it’s easier for most people to make Sunday night volunteering a part of their lives than other times. Jacob Lee runs the Orange County (Calif.) chapter of the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians United to Serve (FOCUS). Every Sunday night, his volunteers serve a meal, restaurant style, to homeless families living in an area motel. Sunday is “generally kind of a dead night,” Lee says. “On Saturday night people have things to do. On Sunday…?” Miraculously, everyone is free. So you get a much more diverse group of volunteers than the retirees and homemakers who might volunteer during the week. After the volunteers serve the meal, as the evening starts to wind down, everyone sits together, telling their life stories and “learning about why people end up where they end up,” says Lee. It’s a way to connect with humanity before everyone goes their separate ways for the week.

How Successful People Stay Calm

The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people, and we’ve found that 90% of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control.

If you follow our newsletter, you’ve read some startling research summaries that explore the havoc stress can wreak on one’s physical and mental health (such as the Yale study, which found that prolonged stress causes degeneration in the area of the brain responsible for self-control). The tricky thing about stress (and the anxiety that comes with it) is that it’s an absolutely necessary emotion. Our brains are wired such that it’s difficult to take action until we feel at least some level of this emotional state. In fact, performance peaks under the heightened activation that comes with moderate levels of stress. As long as the stress isn’t prolonged, it’s harmless.

 

Research from the University of California, Berkeley, reveals an upside to experiencing moderate levels of stress. But it also reinforces how important it is to keep stress under control. The study, led by post-doctoral fellow Elizabeth Kirby, found that the onset of stress entices the brain into growing new cells responsible for improved memory. However, this effect is only seen when stress is intermittent. As soon as the stress continues beyond a few moments into a prolonged state, it suppresses the brain’s ability to develop new cells.

“I think intermittent stressful events are probably what keeps the brain more alert, and you perform better when you are alert,” Kirby says. For animals, intermittent stress is the bulk of what they experience, in the form of physical threats in their immediate environment. Long ago, this was also the case for humans. As the human brain evolved and increased in complexity, we’ve developed the ability to worry and perseverate on events, which creates frequent experiences of prolonged stress.

Besides increasing your risk of heart disease, depression, and obesity, stress decreases your cognitive performance. Fortunately, though, unless a lion is chasing you, the bulk of your stress is subjective and under your control. Top performers have well-honed coping strategies that they employ under stressful circumstances. This lowers their stress levels regardless of what’s happening in their environment, ensuring that the stress they experience is intermittent and not prolonged.

While I’ve run across numerous effective strategies that successful people employ when faced with stress, what follows are ten of the best. Some of these strategies may seem obvious, but the real challenge lies in recognizing when you need to use them and having the wherewithal to actually do so in spite of your stress.

They Appreciate What They Have
Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the “right” thing to do. It also improves your mood, because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23%. Research conducted at the University of California, Davis found that people who worked daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experienced improved mood, energy, and physical well-being. It’s likely that lower levels of cortisol played a major role in this.

They Avoid Asking “What If?”
“What if?” statements throw fuel on the fire of stress and worry. Things can go in a million different directions, and the more time you spend worrying about the possibilities, the less time you’ll spend focusing on taking action that will calm you down and keep your stress under control. Calm people know that asking “what if? will only take them to a place they don’t want—or need—to go.

They Stay Positive
Positive thoughts help make stress intermittent by focusing your brain’s attention onto something that is completely stress-free. You have to give your wandering brain a little help by consciously selecting something positive to think about. Any positive thought will do to refocus your attention. When things are going well, and your mood is good, this is relatively easy. When things are going poorly, and your mind is flooded with negative thoughts, this can be a challenge. In these moments, think about your day and identify one positive thing that happened, no matter how small. If you can't think of something from the current day, reflect on the previous day or even the previous week. Or perhaps you’re looking forward to an exciting event that you can focus your attention on. The point here is that you must have something positive that you're ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative.

They Disconnect
Given the importance of keeping stress intermittent, it’s easy to see how taking regular time off the grid can help keep your stress under control. When you make yourself available to your work 24/7, you expose yourself to a constant barrage of stressors. Forcing yourself offline and even—gulp!—turning off your phone gives your body a break from a constant source of stress. Studies have shown that something as simple as an email break can lower stress levels.

Technology enables constant communication and the expectation that you should be available 24/7. It is extremely difficult to enjoy a stress-free moment outside of work when an email that will change your train of thought and get you thinking (read: stressing) about work can drop onto your phone at any moment. If detaching yourself from work-related communication on weekday evenings is too big a challenge, then how about the weekend? Choose blocks of time where you cut the cord and go offline. You’ll be amazed at how refreshing these breaks are and how they reduce stress by putting a mental recharge into your weekly schedule. If you’re worried about the negative repercussions of taking this step, first try doing it at times when you’re unlikely to be contacted—maybe Sunday morning. As you grow more comfortable with it, and as your coworkers begin to accept the time you spend offline, gradually expand the amount of time you spend away from technology.

They Limit Their Caffeine Intake
Drinking caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline. Adrenaline is the source of the “fight-or-flight” response, a survival mechanism that forces you to stand up and fight or run for the hills when faced with a threat. The fight-or-flight mechanism sidesteps rational thinking in favor of a faster response. This is great when a bear is chasing you, but not so great when you’re responding to a curt email. When caffeine puts your brain and body into this hyperaroused state of stress, your emotions overrun your behavior. The stress that caffeine creates is far from intermittent, as its long half-life ensures that it takes its sweet time working its way out of your body.

They Sleep
I’ve beaten this one to death over the years and can’t say enough about the importance of sleep to increasing your emotional intelligence and managing your stress levels. When you sleep, your brain literally recharges, shuffling through the day’s memories and storing or discarding them (which causes dreams), so that you wake up alert and clear-headed. Your self-control, attention, and memory are all reduced when you don’t get enough—or the right kind—of sleep. Sleep deprivation raises stress hormone levels on its own, even without a stressor present. Stressful projects often make you feel as if you have no time to sleep, but taking the time to get a decent night’s sleep is often the one thing keeping you from getting things under control.

They Squash Negative Self-Talk
A big step in managing stress involves stopping negative self-talk in its tracks. The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more power you give them. Most of our negative thoughts are just that—thoughts, not facts. When you find yourself believing the negative and pessimistic things, your inner voice says, “It's time to stop and write them down.” Literally stop what you're doing and write down what you're thinking. Once you've taken a moment to slow down the negative momentum of your thoughts, you will be more rational and clear-headed in evaluating their veracity.

You can bet that your statements aren’t true any time you use words like “never,” “worst,” “ever,” etc. If your statements still look like facts once they’re on paper, take them to a friend or colleague you trust and see if he or she agrees with you. Then the truth will surely come out. When it feels like something always or never happens, this is just your brain’s natural threat tendency inflating the perceived frequency or severity of an event. Identifying and labeling your thoughts as thoughts by separating them from the facts will help you escape the cycle of negativity and move toward a positive new outlook.

They Reframe Their Perspective
Stress and worry are fueled by our own skewed perception of events. It’s easy to think that unrealistic deadlines, unforgiving bosses, and out-of-control traffic are the reasons we’re so stressed all the time. You can’t control your circumstances, but you can control how you respond to them. So before you spend too much time dwelling on something, take a minute to put the situation in perspective. If you aren’t sure when you need to do this, try looking for clues that your anxiety may not be proportional to the stressor. If you’re thinking in broad, sweeping statements such as “Everything is going wrong” or “Nothing will work out,” then you need to reframe the situation. A great way to correct this unproductive thought pattern is to list the specific things that actually are going wrong or not working out. Most likely you will come up with just some things—not everything—and the scope of these stressors will look much more limited than it initially appeared.

They Breathe
The easiest way to make stress intermittent lies in something that you have to do everyday anyway: breathing. The practice of being in the moment with your breathing will begin to train your brain to focus solely on the task at hand and get the stress monkey off your back. When you’re feeling stressed, take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing. Close the door, put away all other distractions, and just sit in a chair and breathe. The goal is to spend the entire time focused only on your breathing, which will prevent your mind from wandering. Think about how it feels to breathe in and out. This sounds simple, but it’s hard to do for more than a minute or two. It’s all right if you get sidetracked by another thought; this is sure to happen at the beginning, and you just need to bring your focus back to your breathing. If staying focused on your breathing proves to be a real struggle, try counting each breath in and out until you get to 20, and then start again from 1. Don’t worry if you lose count; you can always just start over.

This task may seem too easy or even a little silly, but you’ll be surprised by how calm you feel afterward and how much easier it is to let go of distracting thoughts that otherwise seem to have lodged permanently inside your brain.

They Use Their Support System
It’s tempting, yet entirely ineffective, to attempt tackling everything by yourself. To be calm and productive, you need to recognize your weaknesses and ask for help when you need it. This means tapping into your support system when a situation is challenging enough for you to feel overwhelmed. Everyone has someone at work and/or outside work who is on their team, rooting for them, and ready to help them get the best from a difficult situation. Identify these individuals in your life and make an effort to seek their insight and assistance when you need it. Something as simple as talking about your worries will provide an outlet for your anxiety and stress and supply you with a new perspective on the situation. Most of the time, other people can see a solution that you can’t because they are not as emotionally invested in the situation. Asking for help will mitigate your stress and strengthen your relationships with those you rely upon. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Travis Bradberry, Ph.D.

Dr. Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the #1 bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the cofounder of TalentSmart, the world's leading provider of emotional intelligence tests, emotional intelligence training, and emotional intelligence certification, serving more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies. His bestselling books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. Dr. Bradberry has written for, or been covered by, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review. 

Posted by:Travis Bradberry

What Actually Leads To Success

How Successful People Stay Calm

Travis Bradberry, 

The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people, and we’ve found that 90% of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control. 

If you’ve followed my work, you’ve read some startling research summaries that explore the havoc stress can wreak on one’s physical and mental health (such as the Yale study, which found that prolonged stress causes degeneration in the area of the brain responsible for self-control). The tricky thing about stress (and the anxiety that comes with it) is that it’s an absolutely necessary emotion. Our brains are wired such that it’s difficult to take action until we feel at least some level of this emotional state. In fact, performance peaks under the heightened activation that comes with moderate levels of stress. As long as the stress isn’t prolonged, it’s harmless.

New research from the University of California, Berkeley, reveals an upside to experiencing moderate levels of stress. But it also reinforces how important it is to keep stress under control. The study, led by post-doctoral fellow Elizabeth Kirby, found that the onset of stress entices the brain into growing new cells responsible for improved memory. However, this effect is only seen when stress is intermittent. As soon as the stress continues beyond a few moments into a prolonged state, it suppresses the brain’s ability to develop new cells.


“I think intermittent stressful events are probably what keeps the brain more alert, and you perform better when you are alert,” Kirby says. For animals, intermittent stress is the bulk of what they experience, in the form of physical threats in their immediate environment. Long ago, this was also the case for humans. As the human brain evolved and increased in complexity, we’ve developed the ability to worry and perseverate on events, which creates frequent experiences of prolonged stress.

Besides increasing your risk of heart disease, depression, and obesity, stress decreases your cognitive performance. Fortunately, though, unless a lion is chasing you, the bulk of your stress is subjective and under your control. Top performers have well-honed coping strategies that they employ under stressful circumstances. This lowers their stress levels regardless of what’s happening in their environment, ensuring that the stress they experience is intermittent and not prolonged.

While I’ve run across numerous effective strategies that successful people employ when faced with stress, what follows are ten of the best. Some of these strategies may seem obvious, but the real challenge lies in recognizing when you need to use them and having the wherewithal to actually do so in spite of your stress.

They Appreciate What They Have
Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the “right” thing to do. It also improves your mood, because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23%. Research conducted at the University of California, Davis found that people who worked daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experienced improved mood, energy, and physical well-being. It’s likely that lower levels of cortisol played a major role in this.

They Avoid Asking “What If?”
“What if?” statements throw fuel on the fire of stress and worry. Things can go in a million different directions, and the more time you spend worrying about the possibilities, the less time you’ll spend focusing on taking action that will calm you down and keep your stress under control. Calm people know that asking “what if? will only take them to a place they don’t want—or need—to go.

They Stay Positive
Positive thoughts help make stress intermittent by focusing your brain’s attention onto something that is completely stress-free. You have to give your wandering brain a little help by consciously selecting something positive to think about. Any positive thought will do to refocus your attention. When things are going well, and your mood is good, this is relatively easy. When things are going poorly, and your mind is flooded with negative thoughts, this can be a challenge. In these moments, think about your day and identify one positive thing that happened, no matter how small. If you can’t think of something from the current day, reflect on the previous day or even the previous week. Or perhaps you’re looking forward to an exciting event that you can focus your attention on. The point here is that you must have something positive that you’re ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative.

They Disconnect
Given the importance of keeping stress intermittent, it’s easy to see how taking regular time off the grid can help keep your stress under control. When you make yourself available to your work 24/7, you expose yourself to a constant barrage of stressors. Forcing yourself offline and even—gulp!—turning off your phone gives your body a break from a constant source of stress. Studies have shown that something as simple as an email break can lower stress levels.

Technology enables constant communication and the expectation that you should be available 24/7. It is extremely difficult to enjoy a stress-free moment outside of work when an email that will change your train of thought and get you thinking (read: stressing) about work can drop onto your phone at any moment. If detaching yourself from work-related communication on weekday evenings is too big a challenge, then how about the weekend? Choose blocks of time where you cut the cord and go offline. You’ll be amazed at how refreshing these breaks are and how they reduce stress by putting a mental recharge into your weekly schedule. If you’re worried about the negative repercussions of taking this step, first try doing it at times when you’re unlikely to be contacted—maybe Sunday morning. As you grow more comfortable with it, and as your coworkers begin to accept the time you spend offline, gradually expand the amount of time you spend away from technology.

They Limit Their Caffeine Intake
Drinking caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline. Adrenaline is the source of the “fight-or-flight” response, a survival mechanism that forces you to stand up and fight or run for the hills when faced with a threat. The fight-or-flight mechanism sidesteps rational thinking in favor of a faster response. This is great when a bear is chasing you, but not so great when you’re responding to a curt email. When caffeine puts your brain and body into this hyperaroused state of stress, your emotions overrun your behavior. The stress that caffeine creates is far from intermittent, as its long half-life ensures that it takes its sweet time working its way out of your body.

 They Sleep
I’ve beaten this one to death over the years and can’t say enough about the importance of sleep to increasing your emotional intelligence and managing your stress levels. When you sleep, your brain literally recharges, shuffling through the day’s memories and storing or discarding them (which causes dreams), so that you wake up alert and clear-headed. Your self-control, attention, and memory are all reduced when you don’t get enough—or the right kind—of sleep. Sleep deprivation raises stress hormone levels on its own, even without a stressor present. Stressful projects often make you feel as if you have no time to sleep, but taking the time to get a decent night’s sleep is often the one thing keeping you from getting things under control.

They Squash Negative Self-Talk
A big step in managing stress involves stopping negative self-talk in its tracks. The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more power you give them. Most of our negative thoughts are just that—thoughts, not facts. When you find yourself believing the negative and pessimistic things, your inner voice says, “It’s time to stop and write them down.”

 Literally stop what you’re doing and write down what you’re thinking. Once you’ve taken a moment to slow down the negative momentum of your thoughts, you will be more rational and clear-headed in evaluating their veracity.

You can bet that your statements aren’t true any time you use words like “never,” “worst,” “ever,” etc. If your statements still look like facts once they’re on paper, take them to a friend or colleague you trust and see if he or she agrees with you. Then the truth will surely come out. When it feels like something always or never happens, this is just your brain’s natural threat tendency inflating the perceived frequency or severity of an event. Identifying and labeling your thoughts as thoughts by separating them from the facts will help you escape the cycle of negativity and move toward a positive new outlook.

They Reframe Their Perspective
Stress and worry are fueled by our own skewed perception of events. It’s easy to think that unrealistic deadlines, unforgiving bosses, and out-of-control traffic are the reasons we’re so stressed all the time. You can’t control your circumstances, but you can control how you respond to them. So before you spend too much time dwelling on something, take a minute to put the situation in perspective. If you aren’t sure when you need to do this, try looking for clues that your anxiety may not be proportional to the stressor. If you’re thinking in broad, sweeping statements such as “Everything is going wrong” or “Nothing will work out,” then you need to reframe the situation. A great way to correct this unproductive thought pattern is to list the specific things that actually are going wrong or not working out. Most likely you will come up with just some things—not everything—and the scope of these stressors will look much more limited than it initially appeared.


They Breathe
The easiest way to make stress intermittent lies in something that you have to do everyday anyway: breathing. The practice of being in the moment with your breathing will begin to train your brain to focus solely on the task at hand and get the stress monkey off your back. When you’re feeling stressed, take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing. Close the door, put away all other distractions, and just sit in a chair and breathe. The goal is to spend the entire time focused only on your breathing, which will prevent your mind from wandering. Think about how it feels to breathe in and out. This sounds simple, but it’s hard to do for more than a minute or two. It’s all right if you get sidetracked by another thought; this is sure to happen at the beginning, and you just need to bring your focus back to your breathing. If staying focused on your breathing proves to be a real struggle, try counting each breath in and out until you get to 20, and then start again from 1. Don’t worry if you lose count; you can always just start over.

This task may seem too easy or even a little silly, but you’ll be surprised by how calm you feel afterward and how much easier it is to let go of distracting thoughts that otherwise seem to have lodged permanently inside your brain.

They Use Their Support System
It’s tempting, yet entirely ineffective, to attempt tackling everything by yourself. To be calm and productive, you need to recognize your weaknesses and ask for help when you need it. This means tapping into your support system when a situation is challenging enough for you to feel overwhelmed. Everyone has someone at work and/or outside work who is on their team, rooting for them, and ready to help them get the best from a difficult situation. Identify these individuals in your life and make an effort to seek their insight and assistance when you need it. Something as simple as talking about your worries will provide an outlet for your anxiety and stress and supply you with a new perspective on the situation. Most of the time, other people can see a solution that you can’t because they are not as emotionally invested in the situation. Asking for help will mitigate your stress and strengthen your relationships with those you rely upon.