As someone who studies productivity and actively tries to live the most productive, intentional life that I possibly can, I think a lot about time management. Typically we see time management through the lens of how we can strike a balance between our personal priorities, professional commitments, and overall well-being. And while that’s all spot on and an appropriate place to focus our attention, the label of time management is misleading

We can’t manage time - it’s an ongoing, unrelenting construct that connects the present moment with the next. So until we invent time travel we’re all stuck with the same 24 hours in a day.

When we talk about time management what we’re really doing is managing our energy and focus. It’s a matter of where we apply the resources, that we have control over, within the time that is passing. This is a major shift in perspective because it helps you realize what we really should be optimizing for.

This has been the biggest area of growth in my personal development in this last year. I’m just not making myself busier and using new hacks to ‘get more done’. I’m really intentional about exercising, resting, and fueling myself so that I have more energy to deliver quality in the moments that matter. And further, I’ve been really particular about what I’m working on to stay more focused on what’s important, and doing more planning so that I’m spending my time doing only the most high-leverage things that create the best results.

Time management really is an attempt to become more productive, which has two variables: Quantity of effort and quality of effort. I’ve been focusing more on the latter by being more strategic, resourceful, and intentional where now I’m doing less but getting more done and getting better results.

When you see time management with this new perspective it creates a shift that allows you to evolve the way you do things. A new paradigm asks something new from you. And if you want to maximize the impact of this perspective shift, and implement the exact same  self-improvement and productivity systems I use to be less busy and make faster progress on what’s most important to me, I’ve consolidated a decade of trial and error into a 21 day process to get you up to speed.

I’ve noticed something interesting about human nature, that I certainly relate with, and I wanted to share it with you! In general, we enjoy things more when we’re good at them. And it makes sense, being able to confirm that we’re proficient at something gives us confidence and makes us feel good about ourselves.

But here comes the paradox - In order to get good at something, you need to start by being bad at it and then do it enough times until you get good at it. That’s not to say trying new things and being a beginner isn’t fun and stimulating in itself, I just started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and very much have embraced being a beginner. But in order for us to reach a higher level of something we need to put in the work required to develop the skill, that we later use to bring us joy.

This becomes very obvious when we apply it to finances. Do you know the primary behavior that separates the wealthiest people from the rest? They know their numbers! They study their personal finances, know about every dollar coming in and going out, and pay attention to the way that money flows in their life. What about someone who isn’t wealthy? They’re more likely to avoid their finances and don’t want to look at it because they don’t like what they see. But looking at their finances is the very thing that will most help them solve their money problems.

The real problem to solve is simple: How can we consistently get ourselves to do the things we don’t want to do? So that when we feel resistance, or we’re low on motivation, or we’re trying to convince ourselves not to do it out of fear, we do it anyway?

The answer is to develop your “best-self reflex”. Just like our bodies unconsciously, reflexively respond to various things, we can cultivate a mindset that defaults to taking action even when we don’t feel like it.  It makes being self-disciplined the default state.

I use a step-by-step process to create unbelievable levels of self-discipline, no matter how inconsistent or unmotivated I feel, and this same process helps me accountable to doing the foundational super habits that make it easier than ever to be the healthiest, most productive version of myself. Preparation for 2024 starts now and if you want to make it the beginning of the best chapter of your life, click here to install the Super Habits System for yourself in just 21 days.

As someone who is dedicated to being the best version of yourself, pouring energy into their work, family, and health, it is vital that you persevere to reap the benefits of your effort. Oftentimes we are so close to the payoff and quit just before we get it, and the reality is we never know if we’re just one more day, one more experiment, one more idea, or one more attempt away from it all starting to click.

In order to have what it takes to keep on going, despite the setbacks, challenges, and obstacles trying to slow you down, you can start reciting this mantra: “I didn’t come this far just to come this far.”

What this mantra does is it gives meaning to your work. It reminds you of your larger goal so that you can get yourself to do the things you need to do right now.

For example, you’ve been eating healthy and exercising consistently for a few weeks but you still don’t see the weight on the scale change. I didn’t come this far just to come this far. Or if you’ve put your heart and soul into a new project that isn’t quite materializing yet, and you’re feeling discouraged about keeping on with it. I didn’t come this far just to come this far.

In my life, I’m practicing my keynote speech every single night and haven’t gotten the tangible, observable results to always feel motivated about doing it. But I didn’t come this far just to come this far, and I’ll keep going with faith that it’s all leading to something remarkable.

This mantra helps you tap into a gritty, tenacious, resourceful, determined state of mind and in doing so, keep digging to uncover the treasure that’s only another few feet under you.

However, let me call out something important that relates to this called "sunk cost bias". Hardwired into our minds is a bias that we overvalue the work we’ve already put into something, and since we’ve invested so much already we fail to see the task in front of us clearly. So be sure that you aren’t just taking action because it keeps you busy. Make sure that it connects to your goals and is a high-leverage way of making progress toward something you genuinely want.

With all of that in mind, bring to mind something that you’re currently persistently working on, and prepare yourself to use this mantra - I didn’t come this far just to come this far - the next time you feel stalled with it.

If you find this helpful, let’s work together for 21 days before this new year starts to permanently shift your lifestyle and the ceiling of what you’re capable of.

I heard this from Price Pritchett on Lewis Howes podcast, which I found to be an interesting framework about the 5 Cs of Negative Thinking. The 5 Cs are complaining, criticizing, concern, commiserating, and catastrophizing. With even a baseline understanding of these words, you can see how they can lead to cycles of misguided negative thinking. And what’s interesting is each has a slightly different version that is healthy and helpful. Let’s dive into each!

First is complaining. Complaining is more than just expressing dissatisfaction, it's getting stuck in a loop of focusing on problems without seeking solutions. It feels good to complain because it separates you from what’s happening, but it becomes a habit that hinders growth and progress. It’s like a relief valve that feels good the moment it opens up, but when it closes it just fills back up with the same problems.

Next is criticizing. At first, pointing out flaws might seem like a way to improve things, but truthfully criticism dulls the shine of achievements and stifles creativity. That’s because criticizing isn’t done with the intention to improve, but rather the intention to bring something down. Shifting from criticism to constructive feedback ignites growth and fosters a more collaborative environment.

Then we have concern. While having concerns are helpful to serve as warnings, and could be positive when coming from a place of caring, it can easily be overdone and turn into worry. We gravitate toward worry because we need a way to express the uncertainty, which evolves into overthinking about things out of our control and is draining.

Next we have commiserating. Gathering with friends to share experiences and woes can feel therapeutic initially. But when these discussions get repetitive and stuck in sharing grievances, it can make feeling bad for yourself more acceptable. Ultimately the version of this you’d like to incorporate comes from a place of sympathy for others and acceptance for yourself, so that you can reroute your behavior to something more constructive.

And the last C is for catastrophizing. This is when things are blown out of proportion and you picture the worst case scenario. It makes you feel powerless because you’ve made the obstacle out to be so much bigger than it is, and it paralyzes you from feeling like you can take any meaningful action against it. 

So if you want to delete negative thoughts when they come up, try to label them with one of these 5 terms and transition your way away from them. The most important conversation you’ll ever have is the one constantly happening in your head!

For Thanksgiving this year I wanted to highlight what exists at the heart of the holiday - To give thanks to the blessing we have in our life. It’s a time to be grateful for time with loved ones, an abundance of food and comfort, and personal growth as an annual timestamp.

It’s beautiful that we can practice giving thanks for a day so that we can taste what it’d be like if we chose to live with gratitude in every moment of every day. And the reason that’s important is best stated in this quote - "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.”

Ultimately we use gratitude to completely reframe and shift the way we see our lives. There is so much meaning in everything and layers of depth to visit should we want to. Gratitude pushes us to explore those layers so that we can see how rich, how great, how full our lives actually are. It’s a truth that is always hiding in plain sight until we intentionally bring our attention to it.

It’s almost the opposite of the expression “ignorance is bliss”. Sometimes, not knowing about something negative going is the best thing for us because then it doesn’t impact our perception. But often we’re hyper-focused on the negative and ignorant of the good and positive. 

In our pursuit to unlock the fullness of life, we don’t want to just fill it with nonsense so that it’s full. We want to be full with rich experiences, meaningful relationships, and stories of how we’ve grown and overcome obstacles. And when we choose to be grateful, we see how packed our lives are with incredible treasures. 

So as a Thanksgiving gratitude practice, I’d love for you to answer these 3 questions:

1) What are you deeply grateful for in your life that you don’t give enough credit to?

2) How has a specific major setback positively shaped you into who you’ve become?

3) Who has supported you in ways that have been transformative for you, and what can you do to acknowledge them?

I imagine you care about your future. A wish we all share is we want a life filled with meaning, good health, quality experiences, and strong relationships. And we’re willing to make sacrifices today in order to have it in the future.

But I want to present a perspective shift about our future. Often we think about what our lives will look like years down the road and see that as the future we’re preparing for and investing in. But what if I told you that next week, tomorrow, and an hour from now are equally that very future you’ve been thinking so much about?

With that in mind, I want to bring up one of Brendon Burchard’s philosophies called the 72 Hour Rule. He says that how we feel in the present moment is dictated by what we’ve chosen to do in the last 72 hours. These are the health choices we’ve made in our diet, exercise, and sleep. The strain and stress we’ve experienced from work and life. The pride we feel from how we’ve been showing up for ourselves and our loved ones.

How we feel is so important because it dictates what we have to offer the present moment. Good and energized days lead to higher quality encounters and more productive work. Low energy, lazy, lethargic days create resistance that makes it hard to pick up momentum.

But whether you’re thinking about the distant future a decade from now or the immediate future a day from today, the only thing we have control over is the present moment. So it’s important that we consider how our choices right now are setting us up for the future we want to have.

72 hours is 3 full days, and I’d think that all of us have something going on in the next 3 days that we’d like to be our very best for. What that means is that we can’t cut corners in the present because then it compromises our ability to have everything we need for the near future. 

That’s where having good habits, self-discipline, and a healthy lifestyle all come in. The more consistently we can make healthy choices, the better we can set ourselves up for success.

So I’d challenge you to think about this - What’s the one thing you know you should be doing that you’re struggling to do consistently? Because if you revamp that, you’ve found a high-leverage way to increase your energy and quality of life.

Should you feel inspired to implement this new ‘best you’ lifestyle in 21 days, click here!

‍

A few weeks ago I experienced an interesting situation with an ending I’m proud of. In preparation for Halloween, my fiance Irene put out a big bowl of candy. It sat on the kitchen counter for weeks before and after the holiday came and went. 

Having an extra focus on my health recently and making good nutritional choices, this big orange bowl caught my attention every time I walked into the kitchen. The allure of a piece of candy was always there, all ready to go and prepared in a bite-sized serving, but not even once did I feel even the slightest urge to have any candy and I’d like to share the reasons why.

First, when Irene put the candy out, I told her right away “I’m not going to have a single piece of it.” This served as a pre-commitment and decision that I had already made. So any time that voice came to mind convincing  me to have a  sugary snack, my answer was easy and it quieted quickly. Robert Cialdini, the author of “Influence” would say that I leveraged ‘commitment and consistency’ to unconsciously drive healthy behavior.

On top of that, I had undeniable accountability to my decision and intention. Every single evening I fill out my Self Improvement Scorecard and complete my high-performance tracking routine. With eating less sugar being one of the focuses of my personal development right now, this means that every day I reflect on my choices. Knowing that I’d have to answer to myself if I did choose to indulge and have a piece of candy, it created a real consequence that kept me from even considering it.

And last, also through my nightly Scorecard routine and otherwise, I’ve cultivated a mindset of being self-disciplined. This allows me to be above my impulses so that I can consistently make the decision that is in alignment with my best self. And since it’s identity driven, rejecting sweets doesn’t require will-power because my subconscious mind has been trained to prefer practicing self-discipline over giving into temptation.

I share all of this to give you a real example of how the concepts we talk about actually play out in real life, and how effective they can be when you implement them for yourself. If you want to create more self-discipline, and a reflex to make the right choices more consistently, I’d love to help you install the exact same accountability systems and structure I use to become the best version of myself.

If I can do it you can too, and instead of it taking you a decade like it did for me we can get things really working for you in just 21 days.