Most people miss this simple truth: what you believe determines what you become. You see what you look for; you attract what you are.
If you keep saying, “I’m so tired. I’m so busy. I never have enough time!” then that will become true.
…Even when it’s not.
See, your body follows what your mind tells it. If you keep telling yourself “I can’t, I won’t, I’m not able to…” that limitation will become true.
The truth is, you can still operate at a high-level when you’re tired.
You can still put in work when you’re busy.
You can still learn new skills.
You can write a book, start a business, create an app, or lose 30lbs when you’re working a full-time job.
But most people don’t believe this.
So, they waste a lot of time and opportunities. They settle in mediocre routines — bingeing on TV, endlessly scrolling through social media, waking up late, staying up late, always telling others reasons why they can’t— that ultimately prevent them from doing the work they need to do to be successful.
Want to be 10x more productive?
Then set better routines.
You can set those routines even if you’re tired and busy.
“Those who only do what they feel like… don’t do much. To be successful at anything you must take action even when you don’t feel like it, knowing that the action itself will produce the motivation you need to follow through.” -Hal Elrod
How to Set (and Follow) High-Level Routines
The great British author Somerset Maugham once joked:
“I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”
The reason extraordinarily productive people maintain such high-level lifestyles isn’t because they were able to hire a $500/hour life coach.
No — extraordinarily productive people just follow high-level routines, no matter what. Over time, these routines create an extraordinary lifestyle.
Look — setting (and following) a high-level routine isn’t easy. A lot of people have tried and failed, many times.
But if you can do something every day, you’ll become enormously successful.
There are universal principles to success that, if followed, can’t help but attract success.
The first principle:
Action brings motivation.
Most people are waiting to “feel ready” before they start. They’re waiting to feel motivated.
But if you want to succeed more than just about anybody:
Start before you’re ready.
Why? Because that action will bring motivation, clarity, and energy. In their book The Power of Full Engagement, authors Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr wrote that by putting in the work, you actually experience renewed energy and focus. Putting in work actually gives you energy!
This is how anyone can set high-level routines.
Photo by Jonathan Francisca on Unsplash
The Most Effective Way to Become Consistent At Anything
I once asked my tens of thousands of followers what their #1 problem was with self-improvement.
The response?
Consistency. Most people don’t know how to follow through with their goals.
I was never consistent with my goals. I’d write here and there, never really gaining any traction. I’d “start going to the gym” once every 6 months, then totally stop going after week 3. I couldn’t read my Bible consistently. I couldn’t wake up early.
But in the past 2 years, everything changed.
I learned how to be consistent. As a result:
I gained tens of thousands of email subscribers
I’ve gained nearly 2 million views for my articles
I got a signed book deal
I started my own personal business where I work for myself
It took me a long time to learn how to be consistent. But the best way to start is simply this:
Take yourself out of the equation.
My friend David Kadavy once said:
“When you build a habit, you don’t have to waste mental energy deciding what to do.”
Most people waste a ton of energy and thoughts trying to “get themselves” to do what they need to do. But when you take yourself out of the equation — when you create an extraordinary system that attracts success — consistency becomes 10x easier.
Have you fully committed to what you’re doing? Do you have a specific plan/system you’ve created to succeed? What is your backup plan for those days when you’re tired, sick, or unmotivated?
The reason some people are consistent while most others aren’t isn’t some kind of inborn talent or above-average willpower.
Consistent people are simply the ones who fully committed while everyone else was merely “interested.”
“If you’re ‘interested’, you come up with stories, excuses, reasons, and circumstances about why you can’t or why you won’t. If you’re committed, those go out the window. You just do whatever it takes.”
-John Assaraf
Ordinary People Set Goals. Extraordinary People Create Systems.
A couple years back, I had a goal: make $200,000 dollars in 12 months.
I did everything you’re supposed to do with big goals: I told people about it. I actually wrote down the goal on a small index card, kept it in my wallet, and read it every morning when I woke up and every night before I’d go to sleep, so it was always on my mind.
To reach that goal, I needed to develop high-level routines — create and sell products, write a lot of great content, cultivate extreme discipline.
By the 2nd month, I had gave up because I was so far behind and extremely discouraged. I had only made like, $3,000 total (which actually wasn’t even that bad back then!)
This process is how most people go about achieving a goal. The goal is hard enough — creating routines to help reach that goal are even harder. Most people (like me) end up quitting early on.
Extraordinary people have an entirely different process. They don’t set goals — they create systems that automatically achieve those goals over time.
Very few people are focused on winning the only game worth winning: beating your former self.
Ernest Hemingway once wrote:
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.”
When you focus on the outcome, you prevent yourself from fully immersing in the process — studying your craft, honing your skills, perfecting your form. If all you want to do is beat the other guy, you allow yourself only a fraction of your abilities.
James Clear once wrote that the whole process of achieving goals basically sucks — winners and losers both set the same goals, goals are temporary by nature, and working towards a goal is tiring and discouraging.
The world’s most successful people sett up routines in a system that allows them to succeed. They identify what routines will most help them, fully commit to that system, and don’t worry about the outcome.
When you focus on the process, the outcome takes care of itself.
Photo by Alexander Redl on Unsplash
In Conclusion
Most people don’t realize their beliefs determine the success or failure of the rest of their life. Your beliefs today have an enormous effect on the results of tomorrow.
If you believe you can can, odds are you probably will. You reap what you sow.
But the opposite is also true — if you know you can’t, you’re probably right. If you sow disbelief in yourself, no amount of action or effort will change your end result.
Bruce Lee put it this way: “One will never get any more than he thinks he can get.” What you truly, deeply believe is true about yourself and your future is most likely what will happen.
What do you believe?
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