Many people struggle with productivity not because they lack discipline or motivation, but because they misunderstand where meaningful change begins.
In the book Awareness by Anthony de Mello, there’s a story about his Jesuit friend who says: “Anytime I see a beggar or a poor person, I cannot not give this person alms. I got that from my mother.” (His Mother would offer a meal to any poor person who passed by.)
De Mello replied: “Joe, what you have is not a virtue; what you have is a compulsion, good one from the beggar’s point of view, but a compulsion nonetheless.”
Values, Abilities, and Skills
We are all creatures of habits and learned behaviours, a manifestation of our value system.
“Values are the deep-seated beliefs that motivate behaviors and determine people’s compatibilities with each other. People will fight for their values, and they are likely to fight with people who don’t share them.” – Ray Dalio, Principles
But we are not born with our values. We become them through practice and rewards. Values are shaped by what our brains repeatedly associate with meaning, safety, and significance.
Which brings us to abilities, our consistent patterns of thinking and behavior.
“Abilities are ways of thinking and behaving. Some people are great learners and fast processors; others possess the ability to see things at a higher level. Some focus more on the particulars; still others think creatively or logically or with supreme organization.” – Ray Dalio, Principles
But abilities take time to evolve. They are a result of a mix-and-match of experimentation, success, and failures.
The more we change and learn different ways of doing, the more expansive our tool-box of abilities becomes. This driving force of our long-term abilities is called “skills”.
Values drive you.
Abilities define you.
Skills develop you.
In a round about tao way, it’s the willingness to learn and apply new skills that unlocks new abilities. And hopefully these new abilities make us reexamine our values.
If you want better alignment in life or work, the smallest and most actionable unit of change is not your attitude or your principles, but your skillset.
Skills are the smallest unit of change.
Mastering the right ones leads to making better decisions.
That’s what Mindful Productivity offers: quick, trainable, repeatable skills.
Interested in exploring these skills? Follow me on LinkedIn and let’s connect to see how you can use them to design a more intentional way of working and living.
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Nikhil Kabadi 