On Episode 16, I asked you what your Life Vision is. On Episode 18, we discussed becoming the Future You and fulfilling your Vision.
Today, we add the third and last piece of the puzzle: the Action Plan!
Now you know the Vision. You know the version of yourself you need to be/become to reach that Vision. However, you still need to take action to make everything happen!
And this is why it is important to know what to do, because all you have to do is getting up and executing every day until you become that version of yourself and you achieve your Vision! Let me ask you a question: What is your Standard?
For your finances, for your life, relationships, career, business, personal character?
Everyone talks about habits. I talk about habits. But habits are not the most important thing.
HABITS ARE THE CHILDREN OF STANDARDS (and Identity).
This is why with the T1 Growth Academy we talk about Mindset, Strategy and Skills, exactly in this order!
Have you ever wondered why you cannot sustain a habit for longer than 2 weeks? It’s exactly for this reason, you have to think bigger, or deeper. You have to think about Standards and Identity.
Let me give you an example: if you are someone who wants to live in a clean space (standard), you will keep your bedroom clean (habit)! The habit of cleaning your bedroom only exists in function of a bigger standard of being someone who lives in a clean space.
We do not rise to the occasion, we fall to our standards. If you look at your habits, you can clearly understand what your standards are. Your habits reflect your standards. After living in shared flats with over 25 people, I could clearly see, from their habits, that they had very low standards of living.
If you do not have money in your bank account, it is an indicator of poor habits but even more low financial standards (and probably some self-limiting beliefs when it comes to money).
Waking up early is a habit, but it is the product of a high standard: having a morning routine, being a morning person!Why aren’t many people trying to live a better life?
Why should we raise our standards, build better habits? --> GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF GREAT. Most people do not have a bad life, they complain but the truth is, they have a pretty good life!
Some of us, and maybe you if you are listening to this Podcast, however feel there must be something better. Something better than the good enough.
Rock bottom is not the enemy of great. When you hit rock bottom, it is way easier to get out of it. We know we can do more. On the contrary, transforming the good to great is tough because good is very, very comfortable, isn’t it? When you are good, you get stuck in a comfort zone.
Ask yourself: "How long have I been stuck in my comfort zone?". I spent 1 year in the same comfort zone. I was comfortable, but I was not growing! And I was keeping myself in my comfort zone. You know when I got scared? When I realized that 90% of my thoughts were the same thoughts I had the day before. If you are still there, in your comfort zone, how long are you letting yourself stay there?
Are you actually going to make progress towards the life you want, or you will just talk about it? Stop talking about this change, BE this change. Let’s talk about HABITS. Did you know that 48% of what we do everyday is autopilot?
For instance, have you ever driven home and you arrived and you were like “How the hell did I get here?”.
The brain is the most energy consuming organ in the body! This is why when you study or work hard you feel tired, even if you did not leave your desk. Your brain consumed energies. Therefore, if it can create neuropathways and promote an easier way of doing things, it will go for it!
If you have a very bad habit, your brain will be like “Ok we already have all the neuropathways for this bad habit, why should we change it?”What we should focus on is keeping the good habits, build new habits, and delete bad habits.
How amazing would it be if 48% of the things you do were great things such as eating good food, positive thinking, exercising, and you did them in autopilot?
Of course you need to put in some action at the beginning. It takes around 100 days for the brain to create a new neurosynaptic connection. This is why my coaching program lasts 3 months! We could do an immersive weekend event, but if you want to implement some personalized changes, the program needs to last at least 3 months.
My advice is to not focus on 10 new habits. This is what many of us get wrong. What if we created 3 habits, the 3 most important habits that will ensure a massive shift in our life?
Focus on one habit at the time! In the next 100 days, focus on one single great habit. If you do it for 100 days, your body will start doing it automatically.
To my clients I always say “If you give me 1 year of your time, I will make you a totally different person in 365 days” because we will not change everything at once, we will focus on one key milestone at a time!
Let me introduce you to a brilliant concept, the KEYSTONE HABIT.
(La chiave di volta! The stone that holds the arch).
A keystone habit is one habit that affects many areas of your life. For instance: Waking up early is a keystone habit.
I do not even care if you have a morning routine! What I care about is that at 6am your feet hit the floor. Then you do whatever you want, exercise, etc. Everything else follows the keystone habit of waking up early! “Uhm I have time, maybe I should work out. Maybe I should read”. If you drop the keystone, all your other habits will fail.
Doesn’t it feel way less stressful when you have to do one thing only? The reason why most people fail is that they put too much on their plate.
Working out is another keystone habit! You do not need to workout every day, but you must have some form of movement. Every. Single. Day!
Fix the window, clean the floor! Your body will start to change. And also, you will start thinking “Uhm my body is getting better. Maybe I should stop drinking beer (breaking a bad habit). Maybe I should eat better (a good habit)”. Start with one and stick with it for 100 days.
Eating healthy is another Keystone habit. Maybe you decide you will go vegan! Or you will take carbs out of your diet.
Other habits will change as a consequence of the keystone habit. You will be like “Wow I am eating well, I have more energy, what about starting a side project? Or exercising?”When you want to change yourself, think: How can I make this easy on myself?
The myth of success is that you have to work really hard and it must be a struggle to be successful. This is a huge self-limiting belief of our parents’ generation. “If you do not work hard for it, you do not deserve to enjoy it”. That’s what my family used to tell me. But this is bullshit! You do not have to struggle; if you have a solid plan and you implement 4 Keystone Habits in one year, you will achieve your goal easily!
KISS: Keep it silly and simple.
1. Choose your Keystone habit
- Waking up early
- Meditating every day
- Working out every day
- Practicing gratitude everyday
- Eating healthy every day
- Drinking a gallon of water every day
- Visualizing every day
2. How can you make this easy on yourself?
Example: if you want to go for a morning run:
- You prepare all the clothes next to your bed the night before!
- You go to bed earlier.
- You cut out Netflix after 7pm.
- You cut out your phone after 7pm!
Simple, no? It not complicated, but it is difficult for many people. Success is not hard, slow and steady wins the race. Life is a marathon! And if you are young, you won’t have enough years for all the habits you can implement. Imagine: 4 new habits per year for 30 years is 120 habits, I challenge you to find 120 new habits to implement. It’s impossible, if you find them let me know!
Nothing happens right away, just keep working, you will get there at some point. Do not rely on massive to-do lists! To-do lists are never sustainable long-term.
3. Be consistent. Do it for the next 100 days. Find someone who keeps you accountable!
Do not go to bed until that thing is done! If you have to do 50 push-ups, do 50 push-ups.
Having an accountability partner will ensure your success!
Tell everyone, they will keep you accountable. When you see your friends, they will ask you “Hey have you finished the book? How was it?” If you want to run, join a group of runners! They do not have to be on the same page or same level, they just need to want to be better every single day. They will help you achieve your goals. They will be your accountability system!
Pay them if necessary! “John, I will run for the next 100 days. If I make it, I will give you 100 dollars!”. John will be super motivated to help you!
Transformation is not easy. Committing to transformation can make you thrilled but at the same time uncomfortable. But your future self is thanking you right now if you are trying to implement some sort of transformation and becoming the master of your life!
Make your life a masterpiece, see you next week, I appreciate you and I hope you have an amazing day.