Forget About Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead. We all have things that we want to achieve in our lives — getting into the better shape, building a successful business, raising a wonderful family, writing a best-selling book, winning a championship, and so on. And for most of us, the path to those things starts by setting a specific and actionable goal. At least, this is how I approached my life until recently. I would set goals for classes I took, for weights that I wanted to lift in the gym, and for clients I wanted in my business. What I'm starting to realize, however, is that when it comes to actually getting things done and making progress in the areas that are important to you, there is a much better way to do things. It all comes down to the difference between goals and systems. Let me explain. The Difference Between Goals and Systems What's the difference between goals and systems? If you're a coach, your goal is to win a championship. Now for the really interesting question: I think you would. 1. 2. 3. You can’t predict the future.
Why Do We Fail to Break Bad Habits? We all want to improve our health, our wellness and our happiness. But in order to achieve our goals, we need to break bad habits and form good ones that actually stick. Yet despite our good intensions, we often fail to act on them and even if we do, it’s ephemeral. There’s no doubt about it: change is hard. And no matter how hard we try to change, the comforts of eating sugary snacks, shopping and online surfing are difficult to resist. We try everything, but despite our unremitting effort to change, we return to our vices and with greater voracity. Why do we fail to break bad habits? To answer thais question, we need to look at our ability to judge our impulsive behaviours, or rather, our perceived ability. How The Illusion of Self-Control Promotes Bad Behaviour In 2003, researchers at Northwestern University asked a group of smokers to take a self-control test. [1] Unknown to the participants, it was simply a word association test. Here’s where it gets interesting. How to Break Bad Habits
Time Assets vs. Time Debts: A Different Way of Thinking About Productivity | James Clear Late in his career, Steve Jobs famously drove his car without a license plate. There were all sorts of theories about why Jobs decided to drive without tags. Some people said he didn’t want to be tracked. Others believed he was trying to make a game of avoiding parking tickets. Jon Callas, a former computer security expert who worked for Apple, revealed a different reason. According to Callas, Steve Jobs discovered a loophole in the California vehicle registration laws. Once he realized this, Jobs arranged a special leasing agreement with his Mercedes dealer so that every six months he would drop off his current car and receive a new Mercedes SL55 AMG to replace it. After hearing the story, many people responded by saying something like, “I guess that’s what you do when you have a lot of money.” Time Assets vs. We often fail to realize, however, that there are certain strategic choices that impact our time on a larger scale. Software is a classic example of a time asset. Assets Speaking.
The Akrasia Effect: Why We Don’t Follow Through on Things By the summer of 1830, Victor Hugo was facing an impossible deadline. Twelve months earlier, the famous French author had made an agreement with his publisher that he would write a new book titled, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Instead of writing the book, Hugo spent the next year pursuing other projects, entertaining guests, and delaying his work on the text. The strategy worked. The Ancient Problem of Akrasia Human beings have been procrastinating for centuries. Akrasia is the state of acting against your better judgment. Why would Victor Hugo commit to writing a book and then put it off for over a year? Why We Make Plans, But Don't Take Action One explanation for why akrasia rules our lives and procrastination pulls us in has to do with a behavioral economics term called “time inconsistency.” When you make plans for yourself — like setting a goal to lose weight or write a book or learn a language — you are actually making plans for your future self. So why do we still procrastinate?
How to do time blocking As we gear up to launch our Kickstarter for the Perfect Notebook, we have been talking a lot about productivity. The goal of our notebook is capture all your great ideas, and to make you more successful at the same time. We believe the cornerstone of success is doing work that matters, which can only be achieved with thoughtful planning. And that brings us to the topic of this blog post – time blocking. This is probably my favorite productivity hack, since it really helps you pack as much good stuff as you can into one day. I first read about time blocking on Cal Newport’s blog where he discussed the importance of doing deep work (If you aren’t familiar with deep work, it is the opposite of work like email and things that make you feel productive but don’t actually accomplish much. You spend so much time working. (If you want to learn more about our notebook – sign up below so you don’t miss out when it launches!) Time blocking is really just a method for planning your day. Step 1.
The Scientific Argument for Mastering One Thing at a Time Many people, myself included, have multiple areas of life they would like to improve. For example, I would like to reach more people with my writing, to lift heavier weights at the gym, and to start practicing mindfulness more consistently. Those are just a few of the goals I find desirable and you probably have a long list yourself. The problem is, even if we are committed to working hard on our goals, our natural tendency is to revert back to our old habits at some point. Recently, I’ve come across a few research studies that (just maybe) will make these difficult lifestyle changes a little bit easier. Too Many Good Intentions If you want to master multiple habits and stick to them for good, then you need to figure out how to be consistent. Well, here is one of the most robust findings from psychology research on how to actually follow through on your goals: This finding is well proven and has been repeated in hundreds studies across a broad range of areas. Read Next
How to Overcome Obstacles Using Toyota’s Five Whys Technique — Better Humans When learning how to break bad habits and form good ones that stick, it’s not uncommon to experience a dip in your motivation and quit – and often right on the edge of a breakthrough. These losses can be chalked up as failures on our part and affect our self-esteem, or worse: discourage us from trying again in the future. The reality is, our problems are seldom behavioural, but situational. The obstacles in question may seem obvious – “I didn’t go to bed before midnight because I was watching a movie” – but there’s often an underlying root cause and classifying it is paramount to building the right solution. The Five Whys The Five Whys is a technique adapted from the Toyota Production System. The basis of Toyota’s scientific approach [and] by repeating ‘why?’ Often, at the root cause of all our obstacles are habits, that either aren’t working well or simply don’t exist. The Five Whys would look like this: The Problem: “I ate a pizza for dinner”. Why #1: Why did you eat a pizza for dinner? 1.
Intention, No Unrealistics Goals I came to meditation after years of trying to improve my life. I’d been stuck in depression for a long time, and meditation was the latest in a long line of wheezes meant to relieve the gloom. However, something curious happened when I followed the instructions given—I discovered it was impossible to meditate and struggle at the same time. Struggle still happened, for sure, but this was when I was “trying to meditate,” adding my own expectations or goals to the practice, or “not bothering to meditate,” just letting my habits of mind take over. When I actually meditated (staying present, opening to experience, coming back when the mind wandered), the sense of trying, hoping, wanting things to be different, or of giving in to despondency, hopelessness and fear—all this began to fall away. I often see the same thing now in beginning practitioners. Goals vs. I’ve found it helpful to distinguish here between intentions and goals. Making mindfulness an intention is different.
Stanley Kubrick's Boxes Stanley Kubrick’s films were landmark events—majestic, memorable and richly researched. But, as the years went by, the time between films grew longer and longer, and less and less was seen of the director. What on earth was he doing? Two years after his death, Jon Ronson was invited to the Kubrick estate and let loose among the fabled archive. In 1996 I received what was—and probably remains—the most exciting telephone call I have ever had. I hand him a letter written by a fan and addressed to Arthur C Clarke. Why You’re Unhealthy, Stuck, and Miserable I hear from people all the time who feel stuck in bad jobs, bad habits, and bad relationships. And when it comes down to it, I have one single piece of advice. Courtesy of IStock/Pinkypills It’s pretty simple, actually. Ready? The Power of Shifting Your Focus I lived many of my early professional years under stress, out of shape, and behind on my to-do list. Here’s what we know. Nobody finds a better job by complaining about the bad one. What we need—and what researchers say actually works—is a replacement strategy. Out with the Bad, in with the Good One of the best ways to use this these strategies is with implementation intentions. When we feel like overeating, for instance, it makes more sense to go for a walk than stand by the fridge hoping your will power holds. So how can we craft replacement strategies for ourselves? Four Essential Questions Here are four essential questions you can answer to start changing your circumstances: What don’t you like about your current situation?
20 Things Successful People 'Refuse' to Do | Mo Seetubtim This post originally appeared on BrandMentalist.com 1. They don't define success in a monetary term. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. When facing a problem, instead of focusing on the problem, you should focus on your action and what you do to make the situation better. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Successful people know that it is important to get enough sleep as well as to take time to relax and play in order to be able to perform at their best. 13. 14. When you are clear with what you want in life, coming up with plans and a roadmap to achieving that is easy. In short, by having a goal and a dream, you're half way there. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Successful people simply feel blessed and thankful for being alive and waking up to the people they love to do the things they love -- and that's the secret to starting their days with positive energy and a peace of mind. Mo is the owner of the famous inspirational blog - BrandMentalist.com.
What Makes The Difference Between Professionals and Amateurs? I've started to notice (partially because of my own failures), that there is one skill that is so valuable that it will make you a standout in any area of life, no matter what kind of competition you face. What is this skill and how can you develop it? Let's talk about that now. Before we talk about how to get started, though, I wanted to let you know I researched and compiled science-backed ways to stick to good habits and stop procrastinating. Every Day at 8am Last summer, I was speaking with Todd Henry. I, on the other hand, do a remarkable job of putting out questionable work on an inconsistent basis. “Todd, what do you think about writing only when you feel motivated? “That's cool,” Todd replied. The Difference Between Professionals and Amateurs It doesn't matter what you are trying to become better at, if you only do the work when you’re motivated, then you’ll never be consistent enough to become a professional. I've seen this in my own experiences… It's simple and powerful. 1. 2. 3.