Last week was about being haunted by ghosts.  This week is about vampires and will power.  Let’s imagine for a moment that we lived in a world where vampires were real.  Now, when I say vampires, I mean true vampires, not that sparkling when they step out into the sun Twilight garbage.  I’m talking about nocturnal creatures who lure unsuspecting victims into situations and then suck the life (blood) out of their victims. 

What do you think would happen if we lived in a world with actual vampires?  I think two things would happen.  First, we would begin setting up things to prevent run ins with vampires.  For example, we might cover houses with crosses and holy water, refuse to invite people into the house, only go out during the daytime, etc.  Second, we’d train so would be prepared if we did run into a vampire.  We would become proficient in weapons ranging from swords made from silver, mace made from garlic, UV lamps, and the classic stakes through the heart.  Essentially, we would become like Buffy or Blade.  In case you’re curious, Blade is essentially a half-human half-vampire superhero who hunts vampires, and it happened to be one of the movies my wife and I watched on our first date. (Explains a lot about our relationship).  The only reason why we don’t prepare for vampire battles is because vampires aren’t real.   

You might be wondering where this is heading.  What if I told you vampires are real?  In this instance, I’m not talking about blood sucking lords of the dead.  I’m talking about things that deplete your will power and motivation.  These vampires are all around us.  They take the form of people, crowded schedules, lost time, lack of priorities, and a fast moving world.  If we knew that blood sucking vampires were real, we would take actions to prevent and defend against their attacks.  It’s safe to say that vampires that deplete your will power and motivation are real, so are you taking the time to figure out how to prevent and defend against their attacks? 

Embry example.  I don’t necessarily have the healthiest of eating habits.  Vampires easily drain my willpower to make healthy choices.  Over time, I’ve learned that I need to fight those vampires.  I’ve found that one of the best things I can do is sign up to run races.  I don’t particularly love running.  I’m not good at running.  I don’t have a runner’s physique.  However, scheduling a race is a commitment and the training plan is a commitment, and for some reason I’m better honoring an external commitment than honoring an internal promise to eat better.  On the days that I train I eat better, not because I’m trying to make healthy choices, but because if I eat like crap I can’t train and if I don’t train I will feel like a failure.  I’d rather avoid feeling like a loser than gain the feeling of being healthy.  Basically, signing up for races for me is like wearing a necklace made of garlic while telling vampires to come get some. 

You can apply these same things at work as well.  Once you identify what sucks your willpower you can find ways to deal with these things ahead of time and in the moment.  You can control your schedule, when you do the work, who you spend time with, the systems and frameworks you will use to attack the work to make things simpler.  You can figure out the system that works best for you that keeps willpower sucking vampires at bay.  You just have to spend a little time to do this.

The challenge: How do you prevent and defend against willpower sucking vampires? 

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry