Worth a multiple of the energy put into it

Leveraging means using something to our maximum advantage.

Increasing the rate of return of an investment. Exponentially improving our odds with minimal effort and friction.

If that sounds cold and clinical and corporate, you’re absolutely right. But that doesn’t mean we can’t use the phenomenon of leverage to dramatically improve our lives.

The secret most of us miss is, our highest leverage comes from anticipating rather than reacting. Otherwise, by the time we take action, it will be too late. You gotta get while the getting’s good.

The question we have to ask is:

If we could only do one thing on our list all day long, which item would add the most value to ourselves and others?

Because in that case, it’s kind of a no brainer. The results of that activity will be always worth a multiple of the energy put into it.

Of course, not everyone has the luxury of delegating, downsizing or deleting every underleveraged item their list. For most of us, most of our days contain boring and pointless tasks that simply need to be done. Which is perfectly fine.

But that’s where the anticipation comes into play. If we have a crystal clear understanding of our own worthiness, of our own time value of money, and of our own unique ability to contribute to ours and other people’s lives, then we will always ready to optimize on a moment’s notice.

And not in a stressful way, either. We can train ourselves to transition from low leverage to high leverage activities fluidly and seamlessly.

Reading and writing, for example, are two of my highest leverage activities. Any time spent doing those two things will almost always send ripples that lap onto the shore of my consciousness. The process is joyful, creative, relaxing, inspiring and engaging for me in the moment, and the product is useful for others in the long term.

That’s why standing in lines and waiting for trains doesn’t bother me much. It’s simply an invitation to use leverage to improve my life. Bemoaning the imperfections of public transportation isn’t useful for me or anyone standing near me.

But leveraging my unexpected commute time to dig into my new philosophy book or codify my thoughts and feelings, that puts me in a position of power and value.

Anticipation, not reaction.

That’s how use our time and energy to our maximum advantage.

By looking for the multiples.

What high leverage activity can you do to exploit your new reality?