Say you just got a new job. Toil immediately on how you’ll make this new role an absolute, unmitigated success. Prepare today like you’re starting tomorrow, even if you’re not officially starting for another 73 days.
Even better, begin your transition prep while you’re still interviewing. There’s nothing like preparing when you already feel you’ve got the job.
Success meets the well prepared mind.
Gather the details, assess the options and test ideas with those for and against. Really understand the position and possible outcomes before committing.
What incredible success would you have, if you really meant what you said about your goals or wanting to make changes?
If you set yourself up to win, changed your habits and environment, had specific goals and timelines and committed fully to discipline each day rather than motivation, your success would be almost inevitable.
So what’s stopping you from setting yourself up to win?
If you won’t sacrifice or put in the full effort required to get the results you want, then you have a wish, not a goal. You hope someone will come do it for you. You’re not intent on success. You want someone to give you what you want with no effort required on your part.
I can always tell who is fully committed to their desired results. They create a plan, put in the work, review their progress daily and get the results they were after.
Everyone else? They delude themselves with excuses, reasons and stories. Results don’t lie.
If you want your life to be different, you need to check off a few decisions. You know which ones. Everything starts with a decision so it’s time to get started.
What decisions have you been putting off? Let’s get into those topics and understand them better. You may even discover a few helpful things about yourself in the process.
Are you avoiding a decision? Have you said you would think about it and then promptly ignored it? What is it that is holding you back from making the decision and diving in?
Someone has to make a decision and if you don’t, someone else will. Don’t wait until the choice is no longer yours. Get determined. Become selfish, in a good way, by putting your needs ahead of all the other people and ideas rolling around in your head.
Stand up straight. Say what you want. Make the decision to go for it. Commit to it and move forward by taking the very next step right now. It will feel so good! It may be a little scary, uncomfortable or anxiety-inducing. However, remain calm and keep going.
Everything starts with a decision. Start making a few and get on with your new life today.
Do it now!
I believe many people have a to-do list that seems ever-growing. Of course, it could be just me. If you do to, blast through your to-do list every once in a while. See how much you can delete, delegate or get it done.
The more things you have or are involved with, the more there is to do. I do try to limit new items, events and commitments now, as there can be just too many to-do’s with them. One new commitment can bring 5-20 new to-do’s with it.
One way to deal with your to-do’s is to batch them all for a certain time or day. Wednesday’s from 9am-12pm is our time for to-do’s. Some things need to be dealt with when they appear. However, for those things that can wait, we let them simmer until Wednesday.
Occasionally though, too many items pile up and you need an extra session. We had a good one of those today. We didn’t get it all done. But we sure did get quite a few things into the rubbish and recycling. There were even quite a few items completed too.
Standing up and having two of you work through the list together can be a great and effective way to blast through your to-do list.
Good luck!
This moment in time will never happen again. This is your one and only chance. Take advantage of your once in a lifetime opportunity in this unique window in time, many might say.
For some things, this will be true. For most things, however, your once in a lifetime moment happens every second, minute or hour. This is not the only time to invest in stocks, stop smoking, lose weight, clean out the garage, take a course or call that special someone in your life.
To paraphrase my friend Paul, the deal of a lifetime comes along every minute. Your opportunity to start, or move forward on something, is there at every blink of an eye. Just decide you will and start building some commitment and structure around it.
Last year I decided to get my rugby referee qualification so I could referee matches for my son’s team. In addition, the training would improve my technical understanding and skills which would be beneficial as a coach of the team.
It would be a commitment of time and money, which I decided was worthwhile. I then had to ask the club how I would go about this. They pointed me to the list of courses I could take. I assessed the options and signed up. Then I followed through.
Discover your interest, decide what you want to do, ask some questions, do some research, commit and follow through to completion and success.
You can take advantage of your once in a lifetime opportunity at any time.
So take any anxious thoughts you may have, turn them into excitement and commit! Remind yourself that it will be exhilarating and fun. Go get ‘em!
I’ve done it a couple of times in the last 12 months so I know it works. Some might say this is backed by science and critics will criticise. Either way, this is how I built a habit in 1 moment and you can too.
To build a habit you must commit to it and make it a ‘must’ in your life. It is that simple.
Here are my proof points.
In James Clear‘s blog post, “How long does it actually take to form a new habit”, he notes two key things of extra interest to me. The first is when he references a study of 96 people which finds it takes exactly 66 days before a new behaviour becomes automatic. The second item of interest was the following quote.
“You have to embrace the process. You have to commit to the system.”
James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits
To me, his quote is more powerful than the small study and countless other studies like it.
I believe habits develop as quickly as you want them to. The more you make it a must, the more likely it will be automatic from day one. For example, how often did you turn up to your old job, or classroom, after the first day at the new one?
Tony Robbins sums it up quite nicely in his quote below.
“The difference between ‘must’ and ‘should’ is the life you want and the life you have.” When something is a must, you find a way.
Tony Robbins
I think people are amazing and can create new habits pretty quickly when determined to do so. Decide it is a must and commit.
This is how I built a habit in 1 moment and you can too.
[NB: This is dedicated to my Nana who was told in her 40’s to quit smoking or never see her grandchildren grow up. She never touched another one and, gratefully, I was almost 30 when she passed.]
Do we allow up to 264 million people to die worldwide while trying to maintain livelihoods globally or do we attempt to save those people, while corporate, government and personal finances, and therefore all livelihoods, are shredded beyond recognition?
Save lives or save livelihoods? That is the big picture, tough decision that Governments, and their citizens, need to consider, and fairly quickly.
I outlined some of the key considerations in my post the other day which you can access by clicking here.
Most people will have an automatic gut reaction to what is the ‘right’ answer. Try putting that reaction on pause, gather some info, and really think through the next year of unintended consequences. Think like a President or Prime Minister who has to consider millions of others in all their different circumstances.
