The Science Behind Personal Evolvement 2.0

A Sequel

Dear Tryber,

Kicking off the guest writing feature on this newsletter, today’s article was written by Olamide Omotayo, a Mass Communication student of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti. This is actually a sequel to the one she wrote for us last year. Catch up with the first article here.

\(ENJOY! \)

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"No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” – Warren Buffett

Please try to read the first part of this message if you haven't already so you can gain the impact I want you to gain from this letter. Being a storyteller, I will illustrate the analogy of personal evolution and productivity by utilizing the power of storytelling.

Personal evolution/development involves maturing, changing perspectives, and changing how you see yourself in the world and your place in it. This is finding ways to adapt to life and improve the way you handle relationships and situations.

Personal evolution and growth go beyond simple progress and the mantra we repeat to ourselves every day, "I'm becoming better." Personal evolution goes deeper than mere improvement.

When you are certain you want a personal evolution, you do things people don't do. Someone who wants to achieve will go above and beyond what others do. Will read books others won't read.

Meanwhile, the end goal of personal development and evolvement is success. You cannot be having sleepless nights just because you want to impress your friends.

Personal evolvement isn't my point of focus today. This is why you should read the previous newsletter. I explained personal evolution and how it gives rise to productivity.

However, in today's newsletter, I'll walk you through the process of keeping up your productivity. Being productive is one thing; keeping it up and maintaining it is something else entirely.

You reading this article must crave productivity and maintain it, just as marketers work hard to keep their customers. Once you reach that point, you must maintain it.

If I had heard that there is a significant difference between gaining productivity and maintaining productivity, my situation would have been very different. I believed that once I had it, I would always have it.

However, this perspective and story are completely incorrect. Recently, I've observed people battle with "productivity," especially writers (I may be dwelling more on writing because I'm a writer, but it applies to everyone who wants to maintain productivity).

Let's be real here. Productivity is truly hard and it's not a day job which is the rationale for the quotation I picked as the introduction of this newsletter. It's not something you could get by sitting in your comfort zone.

Productivity is a process. Just like marriage, if you rush into productivity, you will find yourself outside again.

This prompted Jonathan Snook, a website designer to describe productivity as "a train. You start slow and begin to pick up speed until you're just chugging along."

You move gradually. Don't get tired along the way. Don't go weary because you will get there.

However, the mistake we often make is that we tend to confuse efficiency with productivity and movement with progress. Although these indicators may be the metrics for measuring how far you have come, they never reflect the productivity you so desperately want.

What exactly is productivity?

As the storyteller that I am, I will use my experience to illustrate what productivity is and how to keep it up.

Few months ago, I wrote about my stride to growth which eventually led to productivity. I discussed how I studied to be vast at what I do. Eventually, I attained what I needed. I became the vast writer I always dreamed to be. I used the pen to impact lives, learned the language of writing, and learned how to breathe power into words.

This was not completed in one day. it took me months to get what I needed, 

However, there was something I stopped doing after I was satisfied with my growth. Prior to that, immediately after I was so confident about my prowess, I entered tons of writing contests, and trust this little girl, I won virtually every contest.

But thereafter, I stopped doing what I was doing, I stopped learning because I thought I had finally gotten what I wanted (productivity).

But it wasn't done on purpose. Certain things defied logic, but we can always change things to fit our desires. You have the power to alter any circumstance and find a method to go around it, so resist giving in to it.

But instead, I gave up on understanding the pen's basic principles out of pure academic necessity. I was so preoccupied with getting good grades in school that I began to gradually but steadily start avoiding everything that required writing. Whether it be contests, essays, or anything else.

Before deciding to put my writing on hold and concentrate on my studies, I made sure to write at least 1000 words of articles every day. It wasn't a problem. All I would do was think about a topic. There were times I wouldn't even have a topic nor know what to write about but I could always tap into people's creativity. I could get inspiration from other writers, from reading articles on blogs, and from scanning through contents.

I would therefore make sure to write every day, and before I knew it, I had mastered the art of writing and could do so from any location. Simply viewing a WhatsApp status could inspire you.

I regretfully ended. Additionally, there is a significant secret regarding productivity that might undermine your motivation and frustrate your efforts.

It occurs when you are moving too quickly while developing. There is nothing wrong with having a thirst for knowledge and a desire to be productive, but educate yourself intellectually. Move slowly and steadily with small steps.

"Being productive is about maintaining a steady, average speed on a few things, not maximum speed on everything."

You don't focus on everything when you want to be productive, but you should "obsessively focus your time and your energy on an important thing(s)." You will give up if you don't apply wisdom while growing.

No doubt, I was a professional writer before I hid back in my shells. A few months after my first-semester exam in school, I remembered I am a writer, then decided to create content. I scanned through websites, and read different books, but unfortunately, my content was only met with a cricket.

My worry paralyzed me, sending chills down my spine, and my mind was constantly thinking up the worst-case scenario. I had drifted into writer's block. That was the worse that could happen to a writer. It grabs your creativity and seeps into your soul.

I took a break from writing for a few months since I was unable to obtain the chance to get back on track. I then realized I had stopped being productive. I could no longer feel the confidence I used to feel about my writing prowess.

The thought of not having anything to write about makes the process of writing painful for me. I never had the inspiration to write anything profound when I sat down to write. The brief pause I took screwed up my ability to write. 

I then decided to start over. I resumed the procedure I used when I was just getting started. I intentionally joined different writing challenges. I purposefully created content for people to use for free just to get back on track. Meanwhile, I'm still striving to get back on track. 

My current argument is that once you gain productivity, it may be lost. If you don't keep it up, you'll have to start from scratch. Although it may be somewhat easy, it is not usually a pleasant experience.

Dear reader who aspires productivity and wants to keep it up. Never, ever stop doing what you're doing. It's impossible to overstate the importance of consistency. When you stop, productivity and growth stop and begin to decline.

Don't be like me. Continue what you are doing and make progress a priority.

My Comment: this is powerful and deserves every accolade it could get. Yours? Write it down below.