New Year. New You?

Wow, I can’t believe 2017 is over.

It’s so interesting how human psychology works.

When you have no intention for your time, it feels like forever.

Have you ever noticed how time seems to dwindle faster when you have an intention to do more?

But how when we all have the same 24 hours in a day… unless you have a iPhone 6 or later.

A few months ago, I was traveling with a friend when he said to me “I don’t like to make plans when I travel because nothing ever goes as planned.”

That’s equivalent to saying “I don’t go to the gym because I don’t like to be sore”. Although the logic is sound, that was the most ignorant solution I’ve ever heard.

He wasn’t wrong for his logic. What was wrong was his assumption that the purpose of planning is for it to be executed perfectly.

The purpose of planning isn’t the plan itself but rather the awareness you gain from the process.

If your plan feels like a chore and you feel obligated to follow the plan, then your plan sucks.

We all have unlimited desires and very limited time. Planning is a tool that can maximize the number of fulfilled desires in a fixed amount of time.

It’s the most efficient and effective method to get the most of what you want.

So why doesn’t everyone plan?

There are only a few reasons why someone wouldn’t plan, here they are:

• You don’t how to plan
• You don’t know what you want
• You’re afraid of failure
• You’re a discouraged perfectionist
• What your mind desires isn’t what your heart desires

If you know what you want, have no fear of pursuing it, and take congruent actions that supports the outcome, you’re guaranteed results. No law of attraction needed.

However, a good plan can optimize that process to allow you to accomplish MORE within the same amount of time.

Just like fitness & nutrition, there is no perfect formula that works for everyone. Two people can digest the same amount of food but will experience different energy levels. This is also true for tasks. Two people can digest the same task/schedule but both will experience different levels of productivity.

I have a friend who plan their life down to the minute of each day. That creates for him the highest level of certainty to maximize productivity. For others, that plan would breed the highest level of anxiety and restriction.

No matter what your “style” of planning is, the key is to pay attention to what works and doesn’t work to continually increase productivity and results.

I remember my freshman year of college felt like the NFL draft. All my friends were asking me and their neighbors anxiously “what are you going to major in?”. I thought it was to see what I was interested in, but I was wrong. Everyone in my class were comparing answers to see which major had the highest probability of higher paid jobs.

Fast forward 10 years later, I realized how dumb that was. The job market wasn’t a hunger games draw, it was based on hard fucking work. Since then, I’ve realized the best way to predict your future is to create it.

Here are 6 steps you can take today to start living life by design:

Step 1 – What is your purpose?

Yup, I’m talking about THE ultimate one.

You can create the best plan down to the millisecond, but without a direct connection to your personal purpose, it’s just a list of tasks that will keep you busy until you burn out.  

Here are a few questions designed to draw out your true purpose:

• If you had $50 million dollars to create a charity, what would your cause be?
• If had a 100% chance to achieve a goal, but would only see it accomplished on the day you die. What goal would it be?
• If a statue was built to honor your impact on the world, what would the plaque say?

When you have a goal, you take necessary actions to achieve the outcome.

When you have a purpose, the actions you take is the outcome.

With a goal, the feeling of fulfillment is realized at the end. But when on purpose, the feeling of fulfillment is realized in the process.

Step 2 – What is the non-negotiable?

If you achieved ONE thing that would make 2018 the best year of your life, what would that be?

Limiting your answer here to an outcome you have 100% control of will allow you to maintain greater accountability throughout the year.

If my outcome was to earn a million dollars through Bitcoin, I could make every right move and still fail if the currency loses its value.

If my outcome is to earn a million dollars, investing into bitcoin is a TACTIC for me to achieve the outcome.

If bitcoin loses value mid year, I’ll adapt and find a new tactic to achieve my outcome.

Your non-negotiable is exactly what it sounds like. It’s NON-NEGOTIABLE.

This means you’re not allowed to have an opinion or excuse about it once determined. Nothing has a higher priority.

Be cautious on what you choose to be your non-negotiable. Just make sure it’s worth it.

Step 3 – What are the goals for all areas of life

Whatever your non-negotiable is, it would be unrealistic to ignore all the other areas of your life. 

Success is when you’ve mastered at least one area of life. Life mastery is having success in all areas of life.

Here is an example of high quality questions to ask to identify what your spiritual goals are:

• What does being fully spiritually empowered look like to me?
• What outcome would I have to create this year to be satisfied with my growth?
• What do I need to do on a daily / weekly / monthly basis to make progress towards that outcome?

Ask yourself those 3 three questions for all areas of your life. Your answers are your 2018 goals for each area.

Once that is set, prioritize each area based on which you feel is least empowered to most empowered.

This prioritized list will fall right behind the non-negotiable.

Step 4 – Create Milestones

The next step is to breakdown your non-negotiable and 7 goals into milestones.

Milestones are checkpoints designed to keep you focused on manageable tasks that ultimately lead to the outcome.

Here’s an example if my outcome was to publish a book:

• Q1 Milestone – Complete Book Manuscript
  • January – Create chapters and chapter outlines
  • February – Complete writing of all chapters
  • March – Personal editing and polishing of manuscript
• Q2 Milestone – Complete Editorial Process
• Q3 Milestone – Production & Marketing
• Q4 Milestone – Book Launch and Sales

The key to great milestones is adequate research. When I first wanted to publish a book, I thought 90% of the work was the writing. After much research, I realized the manuscript actually take the LEAST amount of time.

Whatever your outcome is, make sure you do enough research to set realistic expectations. This will make the BIGGEST difference between planning and guessing.

Step 5 – Create your weekly and daily MITs (most important tasks)

Every day and every week you will have your “non-negotiable” and your MITs.

“What actions could I take daily / weekly that will guarantee progress on my goals?”

Say my goal is to lose weight. It would be an emotional roller coaster if I checked the scale everyday to see how I’m doing.

If I ditch the scale and show up to the gym 4 times a week for a year consistently, am I guaranteed to make progress on my goals? Hell yeah!

The non-negotiable tasks are things you MUST do to make progress towards having the best year ever.

If you want to go to the gym but haven’t finished your non-negotiable, it has to wait.

If your mom calls to talk, sorry moms.

If you have to go to the grocery store, instacart.

The degree of seriousness you are about creating the life of your dreams will show up by the seriousness of your daily non-negotiable.

Your most important tasks are similar to your non-negotiable but fall second in priority.

Once you create you weekly and daily MITs, find a rhythm in your daily routine to incorporate a little bit of each goal.

Step 6 – Monitor & Measure

The last step is to check yo self!

Don’t wait until the end of the year to see if you achieved your goals or not.

There are so many productivity journals, habit tracker apps, and even a bracelet that zaps you with electricity if you miss a habit.

I’ve tried many of them, but the MOST effective technique I found is to KEEP IT STUPID SIMPLE.

I hardly think about my yearly goals on a daily basis. But it’s very apparent what my “quotas” are for the day / week.

For fitness, I have to show up to BJJ at least 3 sessions a week no matter what. If my schedule interferes, then I have to make up for it in advance or later on by attending extra sessions to meet my quota.

For mental, I have to read a book a week. If my schedule interferes, then I better read 2 books next week.

In 2017, my goal was to publish a new post at least every month. Clearly I messed that up in the last 3 months. So I’ll make up for it this year by posting weekly.

A well designed plan is simple, measurable, and congruent. The better designed the plan is, the harder it will be to fail.

Finished Never Is

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe” – Abraham Lincoln

This quote stuck with me since the day I heard it 5 years ago.

Planning can be tedious, time consuming, and frustrating. But it is the single highest leveraged action you can take to compound your results.

When I first got serious about my fitness a few years ago, I was so motivated to get in shape to make my ex-boyfriend feel like he fucked up. muahaha!

For an entire year, I cut out complex carbs, sugar, salt, all meat but chicken, fried food, and worked out 6 times a week at 7 am.

When my ex-boyfriend realized he fucked up, I was like “ya goddamn right… but now what?”

I realized that fitness isn’t just a goal, it’s a lifestyle. You don’t reach your destination and then go back to where you started.

Planning is the same way. Once you experience that sweet victory of manifesting your vision because of your actions, you don’t STOP planning.

As a matter of fact, you get addicted to planning because you don’t want to leave anything up to chance.

Conclusion

I don’t need to emphasize on why planning is good for you. We all “should” go to the gym and work out.

But there is a switch that flips in your head when you do enough bench presses and you meet your triceps for the first time.

That switch is when theory turns into practice. It’s a beautiful and very empowering experience.

My challenge to you this year is to turn as many theories you have into practice. Even if you fail, it’s impossible not to grow in the process.

My personal purpose is to create original work that serves humanity. My non-negotiable this year is to share as much of my work to as many people as possible through writing articles like this one and consulting with people who are equally serious about results as I am.

If any of my articles has been interesting at all, let me know! Or if you’re interested to learn more, email me and ask me anything!

Cheers to you and lets go dominate 2018!