Category: Building Habits

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “Win the morning; win the day.”

And I bet you’ve heard countless suggestions from countless sources on how exactly you can do that. You might’ve heard things like:

• Wake up at 6am; better yet, join the 5am club; and don’t ever snooze more than once.
• Read; then journal; then set intentions; oh, and review your to-do list; and meditate for sure.
• Go for walk; in nature; with family or dog; for at least a mile; while listening to a motivational podcast.
• Cold plunge; shower; skin care routine; foam roll; stretch all muscles in body.
• Exercise; eat protein; and superfoods; oh, and lots of water; and don’t forget to include every single supplement that’s ever been recommended to you.

Let me share with you a secret that you already know: complicated is the enemy of consistency.

Try and complete that above list of items every morning and my bet is that it won’t be long until you’re burned out and doing exactly none of them again.

Simplicity is consistency’s best friend.

Want to know what I do each morning?

Generally speaking, it’s exactly three things: Shower, exercise, protein.

If I can accomplish those three things, my morning is won.

…And the other things? Some I’ll do later in the day… some I’ll do occasionally on a weekly or monthly base… and some I don’t do at all.

And guess what? That’s okay.

Because I know what’s most important to me. And if you figure out what’s most important to you, you’ll have a MUCH easier time getting it done consistently and over a life-changing span of time.

One of my martial arts students tested for her first belt tonight.

At the end, I asked her what she wanted to improve in her life as an accompanying challenge with the new rank.

She said, “I need to improve my Work/Life Balance, I’d like to work on my strength, …” and before she could list anything else I stopped her.

“Just one thing.” I told her.

And so we talked about work/life balance.

We made a specific plan that had a singular focus to it.

And she’s going to work the plan for the next three months up until her next belt test.

Then—and only then—after she tests for her next belt, will we discuss the next “just one thing.” And only if, of course, this current challenge has been successfully completed.

Regardless of whether or not you’re a martial artist, you should try following a similar protocol.

As much as we want to improve everything at once, just one thing at a time is how anything is ever really changed.

Tilt your car’s rear view mirror up a bit higher than what’s comfortable… it’ll force you to straighten your posture whenever you go to look into it.

Put a sticky note in the center of one of your commonly used home mirrors that says a message you want to internalize… e.g. “You look great.” or “Be here.” or “Life is too short.”

Buy a chair that doesn’t have a back, where the seat is angled down slightly and there’s a pad for your knees… whenever you sit to work, slouching and hunching will no longer be options.

Add labels to the timers on your phone to remind you of the “real” reason behind it going off. e.g. Instead of a 6:00am alarm, add a label that says, “The Only ‘You’ Time Of The Day” or a 5:00pm alarm that says, “Family Time Starts Now.”

Get a dog. You will never have a better accountability system to go for walks. And walks make just about everything better almost every time you take them.

The best way to make long term changes is with enough short term feedback. Set yourself up for success by making your environment better by design.

There’s a young, up-and-coming DJ who has popped into my feed over the past few days who posts short clips of him DJing with a simple message overlay that says:

“Day 29 of posting sick transitions until I play at Boiler Room.”
“Day 30 of posting sick transitions until I play at Boiler Room.”
“Day 31 of posting sick transitions until I play at Boiler Room.”

…And so on.

I love this so much for a few reasons:

1. He’s making his goal known. To the world, yes—but, most of all, to himself.
2. He’s actively doing something that’ll lead him towards that goal—he’s not just puffing air.
3. He understands that it’s going to be a process and has committed to a daily practice that—at the very least—is going to make him into an incredible DJ… and at the very best—is going to result in him playing at Boiler Room… and more.

---

Inner Work Prompt: What’s one of your big goals? And what might you commit to doing daily that’ll get you there?

Got new year resolutions?

We all know most of them don’t last.

Here’s a test…

Instead of calling it a new year resolution, try calling whatever it is you’re trying to do (or not do) a new life commitment.

…Feel the difference?

For example: If exercising every day is your new year resolution… but, exercising every day as a new life commitment sounds too intimidating or hard… what are you really doing then?

Because the point of a resolution is to make a firm (and lasting) decision to do or not do something. And if you’re not prepared to carry your decision forward for life… then how long are you prepared to carry it forward for?

…Answer this question and you’ll see why most new year resolutions fail. Because most people are only prepared to carry their resolution forward for a short period of time.

Want to change this about yourself?

Easy. Try making your resolution easier and run it through the same test again.

Repeat until whatever it is you’re resolving to do (or not do) feels firm enough to last you a really long time. And then watch how your life slowly, but surely improves.

---

P.s. My habit building guide (30 meditations; 30 challenges; 30 illustrations) is on sale now ➜

Once you understand how to improve flexibility, you understand what it takes to grow in most any area of life.

First of all, there’s no faking it. Your starting flexibility is your starting flexibility. You can lie to yourself all you want about being able to do a full split… spreading your legs apart as far as you can will tell its own irrefutable story. This is where all growth must start… with an honest inventory of where you’re actually at.

Second, there’s no cheating it. Yes, there are certain strategies and protocols that are more effective at improving overall flexibility than others… but they all involve two fundamental and unavoidable ingredients: tension and time. And generally speaking, a person’s gains are directly proportional to the amount of time they’re able to spend in tension. And what’s crucial to understand is that we’re not talking about amount of time in one session—we’re talking about overall time spent over the course of weeks, months, and years. It’s the same with growth in any other dimension. Overall time spent in tension is the irrefutable, inexchangeable ingredient that determines growth rate.

Third, there’s no finishing it. Your flexibility today is exactly that—your flexibility just for today. Tomorrow, it won’t be the same. It’ll either improve or regress—just like every other growth area. Flexibility is as flexibility does. Every day. No way around it. So focus less on finishing and focus more on pacing. A little bit every day beats a lotta bit only sometimes—in more life areas than you might think.

---

P.s. Need help spending more time in tension? My “Anti-Hustle, Habit Building” Guide is on SALE now…!

Your meditations, mantras, principles, ideals, self-improvement practices, etc. are only as good as what they’re able to get you to actually do.

In other words:

• Your meditation is only as good as the amount of time it helps you to stay present.
• Your mantras are only as good as the mindsets they’re able to keep you in.
• Your principles are only as good as the actions they remind you to take and abstain from.
• Your ideals are only as good as the life destinations they’re able to actually keep in the forefront of your mind.
• Your self-improvement practices are only as good as the growth they’re able to yield over an extended period of time.

Said differently yet again, whatever works—in their ability to help you deal with life challenges—is what you should keep working.

…Not what the most popular influencer says you should do; not what the world’s best athlete recommends; not what your bff swears by… what works.

Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t try what you’re inspired to try.

It’s merely to say, trust what has a history of getting done—not just once or for a short sprint of time… but time and again over a longer period of time… a period of time that matches the amount of time you’ll be met with challenges from life…