Author: cbarney.45

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryun

We often look to external sources for motivation, and while that’s ok, it’s not enough. As Jim Ryun states in the quote above, motivation gets us started. But it doesn’t last. It needs to be continually renewed, and if it doesn’t get renewed before your habits are in place? You lose interest and fall back to your old ways.

That’s why the gym is always packed for the first month after New Years. Everybody has made their resolution to “lose 10 pounds this year” or to “get in better shape.” They get motivated, but they don’t set up the right habits to get to their incorrectly defined goals. Then, once the motivation wears off, they stop going to the gym.

Incorrect goal-setting is the other part of the problem here…the first example listed (to lose 10 pounds) is a results-based goal and the second example (to get in better shape) is too vague. Your goals should be S.M.A.R.T. and should really focus on taking the right actions, which will eventually lead you to the result/outcome that you desire. Your body may hit several plateaus on the way to losing a certain amount of weight or gaining a certain amount of muscle, but the important thing to keep in mind is, are you taking the right steps to get to your goal? Are you developing the right habits? That’s what is in your control. Focus on actions, not on results.

“Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.” – Epictetus

Think big and aim high. Dream big, then reverse engineer how you will accomplish that dream. Write down your goals and look at them everyday. Keep them front of mind and share your goals with others. But remember, talk is cheap. In order to reach your goals, you have to DO. Do something about it. Work on yourself daily. Take actions that will get you to where you want to go and you will eventually achieve your dream.

From Tim Ferris’s recent blog post:

The psychological difference between zero acts of creation and one act of creation, no matter how small, is impossible to overstate. If you’re lucky, sometimes that one idea, one sentence, or one shitty first draft will turn into something bigger. But the point is to be able to say to yourself, even for five minutes, “Hark! I am a creator, not just a janitor of bullshit! Here is proof that I can — and will! — do more than just manage minutiae… ”

In a recent blog post from Tim Ferriss, he talked about how we sometimes get caught up “managing minutiae” and reacting as problems pop up in our day-to-day lives.

It’s so easy to let the happenings of the day to dictate what you do, but if you do that, you’re not going to be able to work on big picture goals. If you’re always acting reactively (putting out fires) instead of proactively (taking steps toward your next goal) sometimes it feels like you’re stuck in the mud.

So what is the solution? Getting up earlier than usual…do this so you can work on something that will move you forward. Get up before the rest of the world comes calling and tries to make you conform to its agenda. The rest of the world doesn’t care about your goals, your hopes, or your dreams. If you want to make your dreams become reality, you have to carve out time to make it happen – and the best time to do that is when nobody else is vying for your attention.

So set your alarm 15-minutes earlier for tomorrow and try it out. If you’re able to create just one thing of your choosing per day, you will be much happier for it.

“A good husband makes a good wife.” – John Florio

The above statement can be true in any context and any relationship. You could turn the sentence around and say that a good wife makes a good husband. The sentence structure doesn’t matter here; it’s the thought process that counts.

When reading the above sentence from a husband’s perspective, I view it as saying what actions I make for my wife (how I help around the house, provide love to her, and care for her) is repaid in like kindness. The more gracious I am, the more gracious she becomes.

You can say this about your relationship with friends, family, co-workers, or random strangers. It starts with your actions towards them. If you are good to them, they will be more inclined to be good to you.

What is the most important next step? Always look ahead. What is the one thing that you need to do to keep moving the project forward/to get to your goal? Then focus 100% on that next step and ask the question again. High achievers repeat this cycle over and over again, with minimal time wasted between determining what the most important next step is and getting it completed. Figure out a way to shorten the cycle of figuring out/taking the most important next step and you’ll be amazed at how far you can go.