Talking about bonuses yesterday, I thought it would be useful to explain a little about the structure, as "bonus" doesn't really tell the full story and maybe doesn't give the correct impression.
BONUS
something in addition to what is expected or strictly due: such asa: money or an equivalent given in addition to an employee's usual compensation
b: a premium (as of stock) given by a corporation to a purchaser of its securities, to a promoter, or to an employee
c: a government payment to war veterans
d: a sum in excess of salary given to an athlete for signing with a team
In my case, it is option A. However, it is a performance bonus, but it isn't tied to my core job. Essentially, we have a yearly Team plan in place that is attached to the direction of the Sales organization, which is of course tied to the direction of the company itself. This plan gives a grouping of generalized activities , each with an overarching theme. For example, this year I am focusing on developing, introducing and enabling for the prospecting stages of the sales process.
However, there are core job activities that I perform to get my salary, but each quarter as a team (for alignment) and then individually with the supervisor, we agree to additional work that is to be performed and makes up our bonus. These extras still have to align with the overarching direction and our individual plans, but they are chosen and designed in a way to move the needle, compounding our various activities to deliver additional value and generate a greater impact on the organization.
Each series of tasks (normally there are three or four topics) is prioritized based on how much impact it is likely to make and graduated through milestones, which as completed, will dictate the percentage of the bonus received. To get anything, they have to be 50% complete, but for full bonus, they have to be 80% complete, because many of these have long tails on them, so the follow-up work or some of the deliveries might go for a month after the end of the quarter and will be completed alongside doing the next quarter's tasks.
Our Team is incredibly good at delivering impact to the organization and a large part of this comes down to the way we organize our bonus tasks, as they are all adding to the predefined picture. This means that as a team, we are constantly delivering above and beyond what we would otherwise, which gives us performance capital in the organization which allows us more maneuverability and potential resources (new people) at times. It will also hopefully impact on our salaries too, which impacts on our bonuses, as they are calculated based on salary.
Boring?
Perhaps.
I bring this up though as something to think about in terms of our personal practices and how this could apply to our individual lives, as most of us live similarly to a business, without as much organization or accountability.
For example, most of us do have an overarching goal in our lives, whether it be some kind of financial position or a lifestyle position. Generally, we have some vision of the future of where we think we'd like to be. And, most of us likely have some kind of job which we see as a means to an end, a way to get to that future. However, we are also likely underperforming, meaning that while we might be doing the job, we aren't doing the work required for the bonus.
I am not talking only about employer bonuses here of course, I am taking about other activities that can support what we are doing to compound and have a greater impact on our results, increasing our speed of getting to where we want to be. These don't have to be financially incentivized activities, they can be social or health motivated too.
Made with intention.
And I think it is the intention that really brings the value to these activities, as it requires thinking through why and how the activities are going to be done. If enough thought is put into it, the overarching future plan is a guiding force that gives a range of activities that lead down that path and then, each activity gets chopped into smaller parts, things that are done actively every day.
Live the moment.
Don't waste the moment.
Some people seem to think that planning for the future means always thinking in the future, but that is not the case at all. Spending some time planning means that the moments we live can be not only more impactful on our future position, but also in the now, as we are doing things with a focus on the moment, even though it leads to something further down the road. Acting with intention is like the enjoyment of watching the next movie release in a loved series, compared to sitting in front of the TV, flicking from channel to channel, looking for something interesting.
The interest is already present.
Because there is already a plan in place, the interest is already there and even if momentary plans might change to interrupt the process so it is not complete, it doesn't destroy the overarching storyline of the general direction, that is still there too. It just means it gets put on hold for later, while the now takes focus.
I'd predict that the people who live intentionally would have a better perceived quality of life and life experience. Not only would they likely be hitting goals that bring its own human dopamine hits, they will get that sense that their life is moving with purpose and their daily experience matters toward something larger than the day itself. As such, they are likely more engaged with their moments, than someone constantly looking for something of interest to do, but not necessarily finding anything that has an impact on their lives. Random action is busy work, keeping the mind and body entertained, whilst that big picture fades further and further out of grasp.
Life should be calculated.
We are animals yes, but we have evolved naturally to have a prefrontal cortex, which is designed to do what I have described above. It is natural.
This brain region has been implicated in executive functions, such as planning, decision making, working memory, personality expression, moderating social behavior and controlling certain aspects of speech and language. Executive function relates to abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, determine good and bad, better and best, same and different, future consequences of current activities, working toward a defined goal, prediction of outcomes, expectation based on actions, and social "control" (the ability to suppress urges that, if not suppressed, could lead to socially unacceptable outcomes).
Executive function.
Funny term, eh?
Living completely in the moment might be completely freeing, but it isn't actually human to do so, as we are made to plan. And as you can see, we are also designed to control our impulses and maintain social control also. If we do not, what we are doing is acting like wild animals. There is a time and a place for that too.
It is called the bedroom.
I'd posit, that we all want to live an impactful life and if we live with intention, planning based on where we want to be, we'd likely have more positive impact on others too, as just like it is in the workplace, collaboration is likely required for many of the aspects. We want to live valuable lives, so we have to consider what that means to us and, what we need to do to get there. Even if we don't reach our goals, even if we only get 50% of the way - we are still moving the needle;
We are still getting a bonus.
A life multiplier.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
