avatarAndy Ang

Summarize

3-Minutes Action Series

5 Ways to Gain Leverage Immediately

Because we can only do so much alone.

Photo by Matheus Viana on Unsplash

One man can only do so much. But the greatest discovery of mankind is — the power of Leverage.

By tapping on the power of leverage, we create synergy and ensure alignment. There are plenty of opportunities waiting for us to discover them. Without which we are pretty doomed to only reaching the (human) limits.

Initiatives such as Project Protect can only work when a small handful of volunteers teaches the next handful of volunteers, who in turn keep teaching the next batches of volunteers. By leveraging, they managed to get 50,000 volunteers to make 5 million masks during the starting of the pandemic when there is a shortage of masks in the US, all in a short span of time.

Here are 5 Ways to Gain Leverage Immediately:

1. Train the trainers

As the story of Project Protect goes: When you teach ten persons, and those ten teaches another ten. You get the idea. Train the trainers, teach the teachers. Allow yourself to be replicated because then you can make exponential growth of your knowledge. Do not worry, you will still be regarded as the one who started it all.

2. Save small, immediately, consistently

Find a metal box, put a dollar inside. Do this every day. Put this in the bank every month, and leverage on the power of compounding effect. Get $10000 in two decades. Save on that cola every day means getting healthier and then a windfall later on.

3. Read 10 pages of a book every day

That usually take less than 30 minutes for me. The time for less than an episode of your soap drama. If my math is correct, that equates to around 15 books in a year. Congratulation, you are reading more than an average American! Now, books are one of the highest leverage items in the world. All the knowledge / opinions / views of the writer are curated and condensed in a single book. And you’ve finished it in 8 hours.

4. Delegate your work

Do not be a hoarder. Trust others to do your work. Believe that they can do it better. Well hack, isn’t that great that someone can do your work better than you? By freeing up your tasks, you can put time and effort into what matters more to you. As the Pareto Law says, 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. Save your energies for that 20% of your real work that makes an impact on 80% of your life!

5. Listen first, speak last

Be the last to speak in a conversation. Listen intently, digest what is said. Just like a game of poker, allow all to show their hands before you decide what to do next. Same, speak last so that you can decide what to say after all have made their point across. Be smart. Leverage on this advantage and win your engagements.

That’s 3 minutes. Put it to action. Let me know the results!

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3 Minutes
Leverage
Action
Self Help
Improvement
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