TFF #8: How Expand Your Responsibilities
Hi friend,
Taking your growth seriously means that you have to always be…well….growing.
That means that you should always be expanding the scope of your responsibilities.
You could take on more responsibility at work, maybe campaigning for a promotion.
You could take on a side hustle to add to your income.
You could start a family to expand your personal life.
You could invest more in your friendships and other relationships.
You could start volunteering for a cause you care deeply about.
But one thing is certain: if you don’t expand your scope of responsibility, you’re going to stagnate and, eventually, decline.
So in this edition of The Fearless Five, we’re going to talk about how to take on more responsibility effectively.
1. One thing at a time.
We all have this idea of what a “well-rounded person” looks like.
It’s the person who has a stellar career, devotes time to family, is in great physical shape, serves their community, probably has a hustle or two on the side, is always reading and learning…
Damn. I got exhausted reading all that.
Yes, there are people who fit that description above.
But I can promise you: they didn’t get there overnight.
Taking on more responsibility is like weight-lifting.
You can’t start out lifting 100 pounds. If you try, you’ll injure yourself.
Instead, start by lifting a little more than you were before. Then, you can gradually increase over time.
So instead of trying to become a well-rounded person overnight, start with just one thing.
Maybe you need to start that side hustle. Or you want to invest a little more in your kids. Or you want to take that volunteer position you’ve been waffling on for months.
Just do one thing. Then, once you’ve mastered that, move on to the next one.
2. How to become a risk-taker.
It’s a simple truth: if you want to take on more responsibility, you have to get comfortable with risk.
Sometimes, things are going to work out. Other times they aren’t.
But I can promise you: if you do nothing, it definitely won’t work out.
Yet risk is hardly comforting to most people. I’ve found that as I get older, my risk tolerance keeps going down.
Turns out, that’s a completely normal phenomenon.
Decision-making areas of the brain are roughly made up of 80% excitatory cells, and 20% inhibitory cells.
In younger brains, excitatory cells, or the cells that prompt riskier behavior, are primarily active.
But older brains have, as you probably guessed, much more active inhibitory cells.
The primary reason that these cells are dormant for younger years is to allow the brain to engage in riskier behavior and, as a result, learn from those behaviors.
So if you’re well past adolescence (as I assume you probably are), does this mean that the die is cast, and you can’t become more of a risk-taker?
Not at all!
Remember our favorite neurological friend, dopamine?
Every time we take a risk, our brains release more dopamine. This, in turn, shapes the connections between the brain’s neural systems.
Although adolescents are more sensitive to this dopamine reward, it’s still a big part of adult behavior change.
So if you can visualize the reward at the end of the line (say, a new promotion or making a bigger difference in your work), then you can become more likely to actually take that risk.
Of course, these neural patterns form and solidify over time.
So start with smaller risks, and train your brain to anticipate new, bigger rewards over time.
Then, before you know it, you’ll become an expert risk-taker.
3. Remember Parkinson’s Law.
In 1955, Cyril Northcote Parkinson wrote a humorous essay in The Economist.
In it, he tells the story of a woman whose only task in a day is to send a postcard.
This seemingly quick and simple task takes the woman an hour to find the card, another half hour looking for her glasses, 90 minutes writing the card, 20 minutes deciding whether to take an umbrella to the mailbox, and on and on until her day is completely filled.
So the three-minute task has turned into an all-day project, simply because the woman was given the whole day to get it done.
This essay has spawned what’s known as “Parkinson’s Law,” or the idea that a task will expand to fill the time you give it.
Parkinson’s Law is a powerful tool if you’re starting to expand your responsibilities.
You may think that you “don’t have time” to do X, Y, or Z.
You may feel stretched too thin by your current responsibilities.
But the truth is: a good majority of the tasks we do take much longer than they need to, simply because we allow them to.
So the best way to take on more responsibility is to just do it.
Your schedule and capacity will adapt around it.
4. Have fun.
Taking on more responsibility can sound boring and dull to some people.
After all, the “responsible ones” in our lives are fairly boring and dull people, right?
Well, then here’s your reminder that as you grow and your scope of responsibility expands: remember to have fun!
Seriously.
If you’re truly moving closer and closer to your goals, then you should find the new responsibilities energizing, not draining.
Now, that doesn’t mean you won’t have bad days.
And there are always those tasks that no one has to do.
But if you’re pursuing a lifelong goal or dream, then it’s much easier to put up with the s**t and plunge ahead.
So have fun. Enjoy the process. And don’t stop growing.
5. Weekly resource: Project management software.
One of the things that has helped me as I’ve expanded the scope of my responsibility is to have one central location for all my tasks.
That way, I keep tabs on everything going on, manage deadlines, and keep things from slipping through the cracks.
Personally, I find Asana to be the most user-friendly, intuitive software out there.
But there are a variety of options available, depending on how your brain works.
Take a look at them and see which one might work best for you.
Final thought: Don’t be daunted.
Taking on more responsibility in work and life may seem daunting.
But I promise you: the feeling of stagnation is worse.
So buckle up and go for it. You won’t regret trying, but you will almost certainly regret not trying.
In the meantime, why don’t you subscribe to The Fearless Five?
And if you feel like this edition has been helpful to you, why not give us a share on social media?
Until next time,
Timothy