Chunking: Grouping together information into ideally sized pieces so that they can be used effectively to produce the results you want without stress or overwhelm.
The most stressful moments are those in which we feel we simply have too many pieces to focus on. 727s1819h In fact, stress is often equated with the word overwhelm, which, according to Webster's College Dictionary, is defined as to overpower with superior force or numbers.
Our minds have the ability to take any experience in life and pull it apart into a million pieces - or to tie it all together into one piece. For example, if you take on a project and try to do the whole thing all at once - to eat the whole whale in one bite - you're going to be a bit overwhelmed! Similarly, if you take a task and make it into too many small steps, it's equally daunting, overwhelming and frustrating.
The number one skill that will allow you to succeed at anything and not be stressed in the process is the ability to take a variety of action items and group them together so that they help you achieve a common outcome/result - chunking.
Most people are only able to focus on a limited number of things at one time. For example, when most people are learning, they tend to remember things that are grouped into threes. In fact, how do most people count? One, two, three . many! Anything above three things becomes too much for us to remember. There are examples of this everywhere in our society:
Most people have three names: first, middle, last.
Most phone numbers are grouped in series of three numbers: 800-555-1212.
Most addresses are chunked into three lines - and the third line is even chunked into threes:
Most web addresses are in chunks of three: www.webaddress.com.
Most symphonies are chunked into three movements.
Traffic lights are set up with three chunks: green, yellow and red.
Even RPM is chunked into three questions for you:
(1) What is the Result I'm committed to achieving?
(2) What is my Purpose?
(3) What is my Massive Action Plan?
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