SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best

Chapter 1. What's It All About, Alfie?

SUPERCOMPETENT Hero Thinking:	I know exactly why I work hard and what I'm trying to achieve.
SIMPLY COMPETENT Zero Thinking:	I'm working hard trying to accomplish "it," but I don't know what "it" is.

Michael Cane starred in the classic 1966 film Alfie, where he played a handsome, British womanizer who lives a very hedonistic lifestyle. The line, "What's it all about, Alfie?" is a highly poignant moment in the film, when Alfie pauses on a bridge overlooking the River Thames in London and reflects on his life. He realizes that despite all of his activities in life, he has achieved very little. He asks himself, "What have I got, really? Some money in my pocket? Some decent clothes? A fancy car at my disposal. And I'm single. Unattached. Free as a bird. My life is my own." Then, he pauses and says, "But I don't have peace of mind. And if you don't have that, you've got nothing. So, what's the answer, that's what I keep asking myself. What's it all about?"

Like Alfie, you occasionally need to stop and reflect upon your life and whether you are making the most out of it. Perhaps, like Alfie, your days are just spent passing time or drifting along. Do you know what you're aiming for in life? You may work so hard and are so busy that you have lost track of your dreams.

You can't be productive if you don't know what you're working toward, which is why the word empowerment is a popular buzzword in business circles. People who know what they're working for ...