Strategy and the art of Execution

I remember as a young boy that I loved creating, I could get lost just playing with Legos.  I haven’t played with them in years, yet I see their impression in my life each and every day.  Legos gave me a way to connect to the world within myself and express my creativity, art,  form, and strategy.

I love the sense of wonder that I feel when I allow myself to be in a creative state where authenticity is the language I speak unto myself.  According to the MBTI, I am classified as a INTJ.  The first time I read the profile of an INTJ, it was a completely surreal experience.  It felt as if someone wrote that entire document for me.

INTJ’s are often called the “Architects”, they are known for their ability to strategize, think independently and being decisive and so much more.  I encourage others to take the free-personality-test, it takes about 10 minutes and is honestly fascinating to read about!

How are Legos and personality type relevant?

Both are representative of how I approach life and how I fashion it accordingly.  One of my all time favorite quotes about strategy is as follows:

The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. ~Michael Porter

That is exactly what doing a reverse budget did for me, it made me realize I wasn’t spending my money in alignment with my long-term goals.  For me, it wasn’t that I needed the structure of a budget to NOT spend money.  Rather it is that I needed to remind myself what are my priorities are in relation to wants and needs.

Needs:

• Mortgage
• Utilities
• Food
• Car Payment
• Car Insurance
• Food for me
• Food for my cats
• Cell Phone
• Gas
• Student loan payments
• Gym membership

Wants:

• Road trips
• Sushi
• Movies
• Books
• Anime
• Video Games
• Eating out
• Kombucha (I brew my own so it is cheaper!)
• Little gadgets and toys

By clarifying the differences between my wants and needs, I feel it takes a lot of pressure off deciding.  In the heat of the moment, I tend to decide fairly quickly and change slowly from that decision.  I like to automate some decisions… google decision fatigue, it’s a real problem for some people!

My goal for any strategy of course it to make it successful, through the execution of my plan.  You may not always know the path that you are going to take, but you just have to choose a path.  Having a long-term goal(s) can help you focus your strategy in the present to create that future reality.  I am choosing today to be different from who I was yesterday and seeing where the journey takes me.