This is Part 20 of a weekly series on my growth and development at a software startup in Austin Texas. Click here to view the full series or start at Level 1.

Perfecting.

Level Twenty Stats

Weapons gained:

  • Connections +10: I had three decision-maker meetings this week – more than I’ve ever had before. One of these meetings included meeting with the largest group in the nation for the kind of customers we’re going after. I can’t be too specific on who they were, but the deal if it ends up going through could end up being huge for our company.
  • Ability +6: I’m learning how to talk to decision-makers and lead conversations in the direction I want them to go. I’ve become very used to talking to the users of our product but now talking with the owners and CEO’s I’ve had to switch some of my style of talking and listening to better suit the people I’m meeting. 
  • Knowledge +2: There wasn’t a ton of new knowledge gained this week, but continuing to learn about our customers and what makes them tick is something I’m continuing to learn in and grow in. As usual, a lot of the knowledge I’m gaining ties directly into the ability I mentioned above. That’s the way it should work. What good is knowledge if it doesn’t translate into ability?
  • Discipline -4: Honestly didn’t improve at all from last week. I’ve become too lenient in my morning routine. Since I can plan when I want to get into work, really anywhere from 7-9 am, I always start by planning for the earlier time but then when the next day rolls around I convince myself to wait until later. Next week I’ll be off of work and then working remotely the next two after that, but I know I need to get back on this soon. My work productivity hasn’t suffered too much, but I know it’s gone down since not having as good of a routine in the morning.
  • Organization +4: I’m getting better at balancing my project work and my meetings. Now that I’m almost fully shifted from my old focus of reaching out to users and onto reaching out to decision-makers, I finally see a light at the end of the tunnel to get caught up.
  • Strength -2: Ties directly into the problem I mentioned with disciple. Only reason I don’t give it a negative 4 as well is because I’ve introduced some new activities into my strength training that have helped me a lot, but I need to get more diligent in this too.

Kills: Meeting with three decision-makers was huge this week. I’ve got several projects cooking because of them.

Deaths: Previously mentioned discipline problem. Even though it seems this only is affecting my morning, I know it’s influencing other aspects of my work. I’ve got to tame it back down.

Outside the Game

A fantastic week all around. I finally feel like I’m getting back to my normal self. I’m a genuinely happy person almost all of the time but am also very real. Recently, I hadn’t felt that joy. I got my mind off of the things that mattered and started caring too much about temporary things in this world. I’ve gotten my mind fixed back on things above and life is good. I may have bead days still, but they don’t affect my mode or outlook on life because I’ve got something so much better that I can look to for contentment and fulfillment.

Final Takeaways

I’ve got vacation most of next week. I’m looking forward to a time to recharge though it’s going to be a busy week helping my friend prepare for his wedding. I’ll have a few meetings that I really needed to keep this next week, but I’m just hoping and praying that I don’t come back Monday to an inbox of 3,000 emails I need to get to.

Fingers crossed.