How actionable narratives are a reliable way to have a fulfilling & happy career?

Introspection. That’s what happens when you have time in your hands. But, unfortunately, it’s also a pretty dangerous emotional state to be in; because you never know where you will end up.

It was in one of those introspective side-trips of my mind that I came across this particular thought process hidden in the deep recess of my mind. The thought process was a pretty curious one. It told me that whatever be the situation, I tend to act. I always prefer action over sitting and needlessly pondering over plans to get out of the situation. I prefer to get an idea and act on it rather than think about it. This line of thinking moved me to the next question.

Where did this thought process come from? Why am I behaving the way I do? A Freudian revelation then lit up in my mind after a few nerve-racking minutes of introspection. It was from my dad. From my earliest days, I remember this constant advice of his, ” When in doubt, do everything.” It was pretty simple advice. Whenever you find yourself in a sticky situation, act on all possible pathways to get out of that doubt or situation you are in.

From this thought process, I moved on to thinking about the different kinds of advice my family, friends, and mentors have given me through almost thirty years of my life. When thinking about those devices and how they impacted my career and my personal life, I understood that not all advices were equal. Furthermore, some devices were more equal than others.

Then the next train of thought hit me if some pieces of advice were more equal than others. Then what did those advices have in common? What made those advices so useful that it had an outside influence on my life?

The answer was that these devices were actionable narratives. These devices were not just platitudes but rather actionable ideas with the pathway to action inbuilt within them by their given nature. To put it more simply, actionable narratives answer the question of how.

For example, when we were students, everyone told us to study hard. That’s just a narrative. Instead of telling a student to study hard, if someone can show them the pathway to studies provides actionable inputs on studying a particular algorithm or retain prose, that is an actionable narrative.

That being said, Can actionable narratives be applied to our professional life so that we could have happy and more fulfilling careers? If so, how do we start and where to begin.

What are Actionable Narratives wrt my Career?

Actionable Narratives can be defined as the pathway we plan to achieve the goals we have created for ourselves. Actionable Narratives are not the end goal. It is the pathway that helps you achieve the end goal. Most importantly, Actionable Narratives are not built in the air. Actionable narratives are built on the triple platform of talent, hard work, and consistency both in terms of planning and execution of the plan.

Now that we understand a little bit more on how actionable narratives can have an impact on our careers, let’s ask the next query:

What are the different types of Actionable Narratives we need concerning our careers?

Before we get into this question, let’s take a step back and understand our careers. In my opinion, every career will go through these four steps:

1. In the first part of our careers, we are in search of our talents. This phase starts from the time we are born, and for some people, it never stops. This is when we learn what we want to become and what we are are two different things. To become what we want to be, we search for and find the set of talents required. It’s here my dad’s advice, “When in doubt, do everything.” has been the most useful for me. Try everything to find the one thing you want to be and can be good at.
2. Develop skill/competency in our talent. In this phase, we focus on building skills to develop the talent we want. Here we also learn that the talent we want to excel in doesn’t just have a main skill but also many auxiliary skills that we must acquire. For example, if you want to be a content writer, It’s just not enough to learn the intricacies of story-writing, rules of grammar, etc. You also need to choose the two/three fields you want to write about and gain mastery there. Simply put, the combination of many skills is necessary to take advantage of your talent.
3. Search for Opportunities to showcase our talent. It’s not enough if we build skills for our chosen talent. We also must get opportunities to showcase them. We should have that ability to be where Opportunities are. We must focus on building networks and positioning ourselves in various places so that the “Right Place, Right time” luck factor hits us, and we are given a chance to showcase our talent.
4. Understand methods to monetize talent. This is one of the more exciting parts of our careers. Once we have opportunities to showcase our talent, we want to monetize our talent. This is not the 20th century when the best you could have is to get a good-paying job. Your job is just a stepping stone. In today’s world, monetization of your talent purely depends on you and your imagination.

You would notice that I spoke of talent as a concept that can be acquired. That’s because I sincerely believe all talent can be acquired if we commit enough hard work to it. If you look into the above four steps, you will notice that it’s only through planned activities that you can move from one step to another.

Now that we understand the pathways in our career where Actionable Narratives can be used. Let’s move on to the next and perhaps the most important question:

What specific Actionable narratives should I have to have a happy and fulfilling career?

Given below are some actionable points which helped me build the actionable narratives in my career.

Point 1:Have a long-term vision broken down to the daily level

Doing daily tasks and going with the flow might work for some. But we must have a larger vision. Once we realize what we want in the long term, we need to break it down into 5-year, 1-year, 3-month, and daily goals.

This methodology of specific daily plans matching our end-state vision is beneficial for those who are averse to ambiguity. However, whilst this kind of minute planning will be useful to the world’s planners, I have noticed that the “I go with the flow” people struggle to manage this method. This group of enterprising individuals doesn’t think ahead too much, but they tend to excel in the day-to-day jobs as their core focus is always on how to do the current job well.

If you are one of those with that kind of mindset, I suggest that you understand your long-term vision. Whenever you do a task, ask yourself, ” Will this work help me achieve my long-term vision?”, If the answer is yes, then go for it. Otherwise, ask yourself why you are doing this task.

It pays to have a long-term thought process. If the term vision, plans, etc., sounds intimidating, then ask yourself, What’s that you want out of life and start from there.

Point 2: Have metrics for daily measurement

It’s straightforward to lose control of whom we want to be whilst being who we are. To put it simply, unless we measure our growth, we fall. If creating the plan by having a heavy introspection of who we are and what we want, etc., is one huge undertaking, pushing ourselves to follow the plan is quite another.

We only change when we are pushed to do something, But that’s not the case with this kind of change. Here it’s intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic motivation. You don’t have your boss setting your KPIs and KRAs. You set your very own KPIs and KRAs. In this scenario, make sure that you have metrics for daily/weekly measurement. Some of my daily metrics which I follow are:

• 30 minutes of reading books a day
• 30 minutes of reading current affairs
• 30 minutes effective Linkedin surfing – This means I do not mindlessly scroll, but rather take time to look into my favorite feeds and engage in conversations
• Exercise at least 20 minutes a day

While the above are positive metrics, there are some negative metrics which we should have as well. While the above is about pushing ourselves to be better, in this case, it is more about how you prevent yourself from falling. Some metrics I keep in mind for the above are:

• Limit yourself to one hour of TV every day
• Limit yourself to eating out one day a week – Limits based on food are very important esp. for those who struggle with their weight like me.
• Limit Tik-Tok and Instagram usage to 20 minutes a day

The best part for all of the above is that we have apps that can help automate the same. Tik-Tok has an inbuilt timer that tells you when you go above the prescribed limit. Remember, there are two kinds of metrics. Positive and negative. Whilst positive helps you move forward, negative metrics prevent you from slipping.

Point 3: Write down your thought process

Paper and pen are two of the most underrated tools on the face of this planet. Let’s get this straight. We are humans. We forget. Also, ideas don’t come out whenever we want them to. It comes in spurts, and we need to collect it and save it when the need arises. That’s one of the main reasons why you need to write down your thought process.

The second reason for writing down your thought process is the articulation of what we consider the greatest idea since Sliced bread can only be so if we could articulate it right. Even the greatest orators in the world like Winston Churchill, Jawaharlal Nehru & Abraham Lincoln wrote down their thought process, converted it into speeches, and then delivered it. Every time we get an idea. Please write it down and then read it out aloud. See if it makes sense to you again.

The third reason for writing down your ideas is validation. We need to make sure that our idea makes sense. We will catch inconsistencies that we wouldn’t otherwise have caught by writing them and reading them aloud.

So, in summary, given below are the three reasons why someone should write their thoughts down:

• Because we will forget
• Articulate the thought better
• Validate our thought process

Many templates in the market can help you generate these ideas. Two of my favorite tools are the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas.

Point 4: Have a time-limited thinking process

Don’t spend too much time on the planning. My experience has always been that plans tend to break when they hit the marketplace. That being said, the surest way to fail is by going in without a plan. So we need to find a middle ground between over-planning and winging it.

One of the ways I make sure that I don’t over-plan and go into planning paralysis is by having a time-limited thought process, i.e., depending on the magnitude of the task, I give myself only a limited time to plan before start acting on the plan.

It’s easier to move faster, fail, and make changes to the plan and move on rather than spending an inordinate amount of time being in the planning stage.

The best historical analogy to this can be the Blitzkrieg or the lightning war methodology used by the German army to overrun France. This under-trained and under-equipped army could take over the mightiest army in Europe because of speed and agility. ( Just FYI, this doesn’t mean I support the German war machine in World War 2. I am just sharing the tactic they used to win their early victories in the first place)

Also, a point to note is, although Germany won in the initial stages of the war, as the war moved into a battle of attrition, Germany, because of its limited economic resources, lost the war to the superior human resources thrown at it from the east by USSR and the overwhelming manufacturing capability of the USA in the west. So this is an important word of caution for us, esp. when we plan and try to push ahead. Push ahead but never try to overstretch yourself. That leads to disaster.

Also, by overstretching ourselves, we get exposed to external changes. For example, during any market crash, highly leveraged firms bear the brunt of economic downfall. Reason? Not because they were bad firms per see, but they were leveraged. That’s the case with humans as well. If you stretch yourself too much, then you will have no control over what happens to your life when something unexpected happens.

Point 5: Be responsive to change

Whatever be the plans, remember they are created on the information available now. In Tamil, there is a saying, “Nan Pudicha Muyaluku menu Kal” which translates into, ” The rabbit I caught has three legs.” This proverb is usually used to describe obstinate in their thought process even though there is evidence to the contrary. Simply put, do not be that person.

Be responsive to change. That in itself is a powerful, actionable narrative. Understand how the external world behaves and tune yourself based on that. I have noticed more than the positive aspects of this actionable narrative; prevention of the negative aspects or, to be more particular, preventing our inbuilt biases from taking over us and preventing us from changing is more important.

Some of the ways I make sure I am responsive to change are as follows:

• Benchmark yourself against the outside world: Most of the time, once we enter into a firm such as fresher, we tend to benchmark ourselves against the firm. Never do it. That’s the fastest path to mediocrity. Instead, always focus on what the world is doing and benchmark yourself against that.
• Subscribe to all perspectives: This is very important in today’s world. Currently, we have social media algorithms that look into how we respond to our news feeds and provide content which we will engage more. This means that we will get articles/content only based on our interests over time. But we shouldn’t get boxed in. We should understand all perspectives. One way to do this is by proactively searching for all perspectives. For example, if your political view is left-leaning, then download right-leaning news apps and read their PoV. If you are a techie, keep yourself abreast of business news and vice versa. Only when you know what’s happening around you can you be responsive to change.
• Reach out to the outside world: If you have a set of ideas, share them with the outside world. It can be an article, video, or even a status update. Share your thought process and get feedback. That’s one way you can understand if your thought process is in line with the world’s thought process, By sharing.

Point 6: Focus on creation, not consumption

This is true, esp when we learn. All of us are right now in tune with the “always be learning” mentality. But then, what’s the use of learning if you are not able to apply it anywhere. Even continuous learning, such as reading one book after another and watching one motivation video after another, is a form of procrastination. To prevent me from spending too much time learning and create consistently, I focus on the below:

• Write down anything I learn and make sure I apply it within a week -> It’s not as difficult as it sounds. We have enough opportunities to apply anything we learn, esp in the hyper-connected world we live in.
• Focus on learning actionable items -> Gone are our school days where most of us wondered why we were learning Calculus. You are in charge of your learning. Learn skills that you can readily apply.

All the above being said, I believe the point below is the most important one:

Do not be hard on yourself.

Sometimes we falter, and that’s ok. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Move on. The best part about actionable narratives is since we are always biased towards action, failures by doing, and failures of procrastination.

Conclusion

This article might have a lot of action bias. I felt it as well. It puts too much onus on acting immediately and acting now. But then that is not so. I understand that each person has their flow. Some embrace the hustle mindset, whilst others embrace the go slow but sure whilst not missing anything in life mindset. I get it. Also, this narrative does not condone planning. It just makes sure that you do not suffer planning paralysis. But this concept of actionable narratives can be built for all kinds of mindsets. Simply put, Actionable Narratives will work for all those who want to move forward.