Today we’re all poorer because Eliot Spitzer sabotaged himself, his family and the rest of us … by choices he made to visit prostitutes on the side.
Some have extended the olive branch of compassion in response to his fall. Others shout for Spitzer to resign and run. I think Spitzer gives us all cause to reflect.
Have you ever thought about daily choices that sabotage you or your organization? Sometimes your brain makes choices that sabotage you
… simply by default … or because of good choices you fail to make. How so?
1. Procrastinate on doing what is right and your brain tends to follow and easier path to accept what will sabotage your career. People get poorer, fatter, and unhappier daily … based on choices to avoid work … eat too much … or take family for granted.
2. Run from risks that improve your career and you’ll likely end up … settling for tired routines … acting on jealousy as others pass you by … and finding yourself bored and ignored at work.
3. Stop learning and watch your brain literally atrophy in areas of curiosity … laughter … new technologies … innovation … and problem solving capabilities.
4. Lose sleep and your brain moves you in the direction of dangerous effects from the critical loss. You've just set yourself up for workplace disasters … failed relationships … and failing health … because to sleep less is to invite less memory capability … slower reaction times … and cognitive loss.
5. Criticize renewal where you work … and that choice robs your enthusiasm for discovery … zaps your ability to invent and leaks out any passion for progress.
6. Choose perfectionism and your brain’s next step will be to judge others harshly … paralyze your own enthusiasm for growing from mistakes … and harboring unrealistically high standards for you and others where you work.
7. Dodge reflection and watch your competitors race ahead of where you stand on issues and lead the pack! To reflect on where we are at the moment … is also to rewire new neuron pathways for adventures forward.
8. Choose insincerity by the words you speak or left unsaid and your brain will create a pattern of meta messages that rarely show others who you are or what you really mean.
9. Eat for comfort and your brain will go after fast foods … without much regard for what they do daily to shut down the opportunities successful people learn to crave … through better dietary choices. Food choices can fuel the brain and generate energy.
10. Stress out and watch useful solutions fade away for even the slightest problems you encounter. That’s because stress shrinks the human brain … robs memory … and lowers the health you need to see opportunities rather than emphasize problems.
This months SHRM cover story … The Brain at Work … in HR Magazine shows why choices Spitzer made and you and I make daily … can sabotage your entire career. Each time you choose … you grow dendrite brain cells to choose more of that behavior. In Spitzer’s case he made the first few choices foolishly … and at some point … he no longer had the brainpower to turn prostitute visits around easily.
The brain’s basal ganglia … through simple choices we make … wires daily for toxic behavior or positive behavior.
What consequences will come from your choices today?
