Entrepreneurship Development: Self-Management (I)
Over the past weeks, we have, in a rather piecemeal style and from technical perspectives, taken up a few personal but very important issues that can help or hinder our chances of achieving successes in our careers and lives. Some of the topics covered included time management, relationship management, getting things done, prioritisation, etc. Today, […]
Over the past weeks, we have, in a rather piecemeal style and from technical perspectives, taken up a few personal but very important issues that can help or hinder our chances of achieving successes in our careers and lives. Some of the topics covered included time management, relationship management, getting things done, prioritisation, etc. Today, we will commence a self-management series that put all of those and some more critical success factors together.
Self-management refers to an individual’s ability to manage their feelings, thoughts and behaviours in a way that they are able to optimise their overall productivity. Self-management is the result of self-awareness that makes it possible for an individual to understand their personal responsibility in the various spheres and situations of their lives and be able to do what they need to do to discharge their obligations honourably and creditably. An individual with strong self-management skills can always do what they appropriately need to do in any situation or circumstance. Such an individual would, for instance, be capable of controlling their anger and know how best to respond when treated unfairly by their boss in the workplace. They can maintain focus and achieve required productivity while working from home by eliminating and avoiding likely home-setting distractions.
The benefits of great self-management skills are myriad. In research reported by the California Office to Reform Education, ‘CORE’, it was found out that self-control in children as young as age 5 can reasonably “…predict important life outcomes such as high school completion, physical health, income, single parenthood, substance dependence and criminal involvement.” Specifically, children with better self-management abilities at the age of 4 were 40% more likely to complete university education by age 25. Similarly, Walter Mischel’s (disputed by some) ‘Marshmallow Test’ showed that the ability to ‘delay gratification’ at age 4 predicts academic and social competence and the capacity to cope with stresses later in life.
In adulthood, self-management skills enhance our efficiency thereby improving our personal and workplace performances. Self-management improves our mental and physical health as well as overall wellbeing. Our self-management skills make us reliable and predictable with other people. These two qualities ease many things for us and those associated with us. But, I think, one of the best benefits of self-management skills is in improving our private and official relationships with family, friends, colleagues, business associates, etc.
The following are the four elements of self-management:
Self-awareness: The bedrock of self-management is self-awareness. Every day, our minds processes billions of inputs and we make decisions out of them consciously and subconsciously. To be adept at doing the right things in the various situations we find ourselves in daily, we must be alert to these multitude of inner activities that influence our feelings, thoughts, and desires. Understanding and monitoring the linkages of these three to the likely actions we may take is crucial to our successes. Being perceptive to what is happening within us and wisely choosing from our optional responses is key to success.
Self-regulation: We all experience varying emotions daily. This is all well and normal. However, certain people can experience volatile emotions, making them feel much higher highs and lower lows. These bizarre high ‘peaks’ and grotesque low ‘valleys’ can cause out of control swings and spins in the behaviours of the individuals. We sometimes see these people reacting violently to seemingly innocent errors by others that should have caused no more than an irritation.
But self-regulation is not about supressing our natural emotional states. Rather, it is about being alert to and managing them through deliberate, effective, and astute control. Self-regulation is also about developing coping strategies that make it possible to positively handle difficult emotions. The ability to self-regulate is the result of a person’s awareness of their internal rumblings as well as an external capacity to handle them.
Self-accountability: Understanding and accepting that we are responsible for what we do is a pillar on which our self-management skills are developed. Self-accountability is about taking ownership of both our thought processes as well as the actions we take externally. By accepting this responsibility, we empower ourselves to be able to do what needs to be done irrespective of what may be happening within and around us.
Self-motivation: This refers to the capability to do what is right no matter the inconveniences, difficulties, and challenges in a situation. A self-motivated individual can anticipate, plan and act on both ongoing and future-expected endeavours. The self-motivated individual is driven by internal desire to do the right things and to achieve success. Two integral components of self-motivation are initiative and diligence. Initiative is about an individual’s wherewithal and willingness to start what needs to be started. Initiative demonstrates a person’s ability to develop ideas on issues as well as take action to convert the ideas into tangible, desired results. Initiative involves creativity, innovation, and risk-management. On the other hand, diligence is neatly defined by etymology dictionary as ‘constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken’, and that it is the ‘conscientiousness in paying proper attention to a task; giving the degree of care required in a given situation’.
Today, we just introduced the concept of self-management, its benefits, and elements. Next week