Not about Product Management though, but perhaps helpful to overcome the myriad challenges a Product Manager inevitably comes across in a long career in Product Management.
- Life becomes simple when you know one thing, that is “Nobody owes you anything”
- I am not the centre of the universe.
- When things are going great, we cannot imagine how or why this streak would end. We expect it to go on forever. On the other hand, when things are going terrible, we cannot imagine how or why this would end. We expect it go on forever. The key thing to remind oneself are: 1) Nothing lasts forever, everything is transient. 2) When things are going good, stay grounded. Stay humble. Treat everyone with respect and kindness. Don’t let success get to your head. 3) When things are going bad, acknowledge it, don’t have false optimism, YET (and this next part is important), know that this too shall pass. This too is transient. Be aware that we as humans, just aren’t able to see how this will end, it doesn’t mean it wont end. Stay gritty.
- Somewhat contradictory to the previous point but applicable to many of our daily circumstances that bother us. — Our label becomes our experience. “Oh this is problem is difficult to solve” — This becomes our experience. Instead, how about “This is challenging and can be overcome”?
- Don’t shoot the second arrow. How many times we make a mistake and instantly call ourselves “I am so stupid”. This shooting of the second arrow causes us more pain. Be mindful to not shoot the second arrow.
