Stop thinking and start starting

We can get caught in the trap of waiting to get started because we have more research to do. After all, why not use Google and learn an immense amount about what you need to do to help guarantee success?

The reason is that research stops you from starting. You can still do your research after you have begun. In fact, your research will mean much more because you will understand the context much better and you will be able to apply and test the things you’re learning.

Otherwise, most of the things you learn will be forgotten by next week.

To be successful is like riding a bike, you’ve got to keep moving to be successful and get anywhere. The first step is pushing off and getting started.

Asking for advice

Don’t ask experts for their advice. Witty phrases and a clever quote are fun, but they aren’t always useful.

Ask experts about their story. How they got here and what their concerns are.

Then it’s up to you to extract the useful traits, habits, and practices that will make your life better.

Unrealistic goals and macro plans

Set unrealistic goals when you’re making long-term plans. The realistic and achievable goals are for the day-to-day tasks that drive toward these larger more “unrealistic” goals.

We don’t get excited about the boring, average, and mundane. We get excited about the unrealistic dream.

The point isn’t even to hit that goal, it’s to have a carrot dangling for you to chase and work as hard as you can to get there.

Wherever you end up as a result of this unrealistic goal, it will likely be much better than if you set a “realistic” goal.

You assumed it would be easy. You were wrong.

People are optimistic and we tend to overestimate how well things will go. We don’t understand how much energy and effort it will take to push through.

We like to assume things play out in a stable and linear fashion. It’s as simple as a straight line from here to there.

That’s never how it works and you need to work much harder than you think. It’s going to be far more difficult than either of us ever expected. If you’re not prepared for the effort required, you will fail.

How to achieve big things

Do you want to write a novel? Don’t just go and write. What does it mean to just start writing? Is it throwing words into a blender until you get 300 pages mashed together? Probably not.

With any big task, you must set goals that are achievable and specific. i.e. “I will work on this project with zero distractions for 12 hours a week.”

That is the input you can control. Focus on that. The idea of “just write a novel” is far too vague and you will never stick with it.

Working for 12 hours of intense focus each week is possible. Now, you must break down that big task into bite-sized pieces that you can sit down and start work on in those 12 hours you now have dedicated to writing a book.

Achievable goals paired with specific yet small tasks is the way to success. You can start right now.

Giving up when it’s hard

It’s tempting to give up and retreat when things get hard.

When business slows down we must not be swallowed up in sorrow that things aren’t as good right now as six months ago. This drains us of the optimism and energy needed to press on effectively.

The difficult part about encouraging another person to pick up and keep running forward, to keep making efforts to improve, to ignore the flaws of those around them and fix the flaws in themself, is that it must be believed by the person themself.

You can’t force it to happen. It’s a bit of a game of hope and usually, it is a failure.

So often it fails because we live in a very self-centered society. Some might even argue that the whole world suffers from this plague.

Those in the process of giving up will often spend immense energy defending why it’s the good and proper thing to do. There is typically no arguing with them. They have made up their mind that this is the best way to survive. It’s the safe route and therefore the best route.

But the truth is, they’ve given up already and the work left to do is the work of convincing themself that it’s actually the best thing to do.

It’s hard to watch, but at least you can observe and take lessons to apply in your own life, business, and relationships.

Complainers and excuse-makers

If you really, really don’t want to take responsibility there is always a reason not to take responsibility. Each one of us can find a convincing argument that assures us that it is absolutely unfair if we have to take responsibility. We "know" we're right in refusing responsibility.

But there is a big problem. People who don’t take responsibility as a default mode of action are not capable of success and they very rarely find great personal peace in life.

It’s not that they’re incapable of success or peace, they are. However, excuse-makers allow the world to happen to them, rather than taking the action required to happen to the world and make the success they wish to see. It is impossible to do something positive when you spend your time making excuses instead.

The excuse-maker finds very little peace because his life is typically plagued with three things. 1.) Bad things always happen to him. 2.) Bad things happen often. 3.) Bad things happen because of someone or something else. He is never to blame. Before he finishes bemoaning his first malady, alas! Here comes another!

The excuse-maker lives a life shackled by the actions of other people. He doesn’t take responsibility and therefore he does not take action.

If you find yourself complaining, blaming, or making excuses in order to “be right” know that your position is poisoned at its very root. It will not end well.

The truth hurts

The truth hurts and it’s hard to take. It’s difficult to listen to. So we make excuses. We suffer from cognitive dissonance and we hate to admit that we’re wrong.

What would happen if we looked at our own weak spots and flaws instead of excusing them because we see flaws and weaknesses in others?

Don’t underestimate your enemy

Always assume they’re the most competent and intelligent in doing what they do. I operate by this principle in business and other areas of life when and where enemies arise.

The sudden strike is only sudden and surprising when you are diligent enough to operate wisely on your end. The motivation to do careful work comes from assuming the enemy is competent.

Keystone habits

Writing these blog posts isn’t taking me to the next level. They aren’t going to land me a deal with Penguin Books publishing company.

However, they are a keystone habit of mine. They are a small exercise I do to keep my mind fluid and thinking about specific things throughout the day. They also give me an extra reason to sit and spend time reading and learning new things. I want to gain new thoughts and ideas to write about.

This writing habit has been something that is far more important to me personally than it is about making any kind of impact on the world through my mindless banter on this blog.

It is this idea of my writing being a keystone habit that I am trying to strike as I adjust my writing from morning to evening. I’ve now missed a number of days in the past 7-10 days and I am reminding myself to keep busting away and setting aside the time in the evening to write a blog post.

I’m probably going to miss more days, but eventually it’ll be a new habit and I’ll be better for it.

It’s all up and down

You don’t become successful and then it’s all finished. Success is not a process of constantly making more money, and building straight upward.

Prosperity ebbs and flows, but success is getting to the top over and over again. It’s not a straight line. It’s up and down.

But when it’s heading down, can you remain composed? Can you begin pulling yourself back up?

What I learned about my morning routine

A good morning routine begins the night before.

I switched up my morning routine to make it as short and fast as possible. My thought process is, “get to work as quickly as possible.” Keep the balance that a good routine gives, but don’t let that routine go on for more than 90 minutes or so.

One of the things to get pushed to the evening was writing my blog post each day. Low and behold, I’ve missed two days in a row and two of the past four days. I’ve never done that since I started writing.

I’m learning that a morning routine is good, but all the focus I was placing on the morning routine was distracting me from looking at my evening routine. A good morning routine begins the night before. Preparation is vital and the preparation for a good morning begins the night before.

Avoiding the quick buck

The major payoff of the work you do and the investments you make is ten years away. Finding a motivation other than immediate success will ensure longterm success.

Otherwise, you’ll constant put the important tasks and jobs on the backburner in favor of chasing the quick buck and the job that puts a little cash in you hand today.

But then you wake up one day at age 65 and realize you could have invested in yourself, invested in the markets, and built a business with long term sustainability and opportunity.

With all your might, resist the quick buck and the pressing, yet unimportant tasks. Instead, make time for the important tasks that aren’t as pressing, but the tasks that push forward your life, business, and satisfaction.

Changing winds

I’m mixing things up and writing these blog posts the night before they go live. Tonight (this morning for you) is the first night and I almost went to bed and forgot. It’s 12:22am and I’m sitting here writing a paragraph about nothing.

That’s changing routines for you. It’s more of the same, but everything’s different.

Save today. Save tomorrow.

Setbacks happen. We get upset about things in moments of weakness. It happens. You’re not going to stop it, I’m not going to stop it. A good reminder is the old saying, “We consume our tomorrows fretting about our yesterdays.”

Instead of being focused on never getting upset, it’s probably better to focus on limiting the damage once we get upset.

Living up to our talents

If we can fathom expanding our idea of ethics beyond “don’t steal stuff from people and don’t hurt other people,” we can see how working hard and chasing success is a matter of ethics as well.

I think our definition of ethics and doing what is morally right should include the notion that we are required to live up to the potential with which each of us has been blessed.

The more talent you’re given, the more you should expect of yourself.

Writing makes me think

When I sit down to write something, particularly something that is meant to share information and teach others, I like to review source material and make sure that I have my thoughts in order.

It is absolutely fascinating how much clarity you get when you clear out the distracting thoughts and intently pour over books, papers, and presentations.

You begin to see the structure that the writer or speaker started with. You begin to see their brilliance in the arrangement of the book or speech–given it’s a good book/speech you have in hand.

This is just one of the things I’ve come to love about writing. It makes me dive deeper. In that deep dive it’s as if you’re seeing a world that very few others see.

I hope it’s not me turning into an elitist or a charlatan, but I stop and wonder how many people reading the book, or how few in the audience of that speech, are really grasping the multi-faceted points that the author is making.

If you skim over books and media, preferring the breadth of a matter rather than the depth, you might be missing out on some stuff that would blow your mind.

Remain firm

You can quickly turn a profitable job/project/shoot, etc… into a money pit by giving the client a “deal.” Value-added bonuses are one thing. They can elevate a normal business deal into one the client remembers for a lifetime–for all the right reasons.

But if you overcommit because you’re afraid to remain firmly respectful when declining the client’s request for additional free work or a deal that’s a little too good, you will make a profitable job one that you remember–for all the wrong reasons.

Remain firm, don’t worry about the client getting upset. The most they will be able to complain about is that you wouldn’t give them a deal that only an idiot would take.