WEEK 29: ACTIVITY WITHOUT PURPOSE IS A DRAIN TO A LIFE OF FULFILLMENT

Just want to point out that DPA = Discover, Pursue, and Achieve, WT = Waiting Time, and DT = Development Time. 

PLANNING (task, scheduling, and WT = DT):  This week I plan to sign up for  the site Medium and write my first  post about my DPA (Discover, Pursue, and Achieve) process. In addition, I have uploaded Pat Flynn's website SPI onto my devices to turn WT = DT. Also, for those very short WT moments, I will try to identify three things that I am grateful for in that situation. For example, if I am waiting in a line in the grocery store, I will try to think of things that I am grateful for being in the grocery store, ie I am grateful for being able to buy food whenever I want. 

IMPLEMENTATION (strategies used):  Another week, and another task completed! The awesome things is that the weekly task have become a normal part to the week and I am planning my activities and time around their completion. No new strategies to share, but I have listed the core ones that I use on a week to week basis. Also, I have divided them up into I CAN'T themes to help you identify which ones you can use in certain situations. 

MOTIVATION: I CAN'T find the energy or reasons to...

1. Equal Odds Rule: This strategy I learned from James Clear and this strategy was actually coined by a Harvard-trained phycologist Kevin Simonton. He researched the impact of scientific publications and the effect on its readers. Keith found that any given scientist could write a game-changing publication or an average one that could be easy forgotten. James went further and made the connection that you could be an artist, teacher, lawyer, athlete, or the average Joe schmo like you and me, and we are all equally likely to produce a great piece of work or an average one. Essentially the only determining factor is frequency. What do I mean by this? The more you create, the more likely you will produce a great piece of work. Why? Well, if you think about it the more that you produce, in whatever area that you work in, the more chances you get to creating an excellent piece of work. The higher number of attempts allows you to produce more average pieces, that might be easily forgotten,but you are also able to learn more skills from this increased production. This in turn, increases the probability that you produce a great piece of work. In simple terms, the more you create, the more likely you will create an excellent piece of work. 

2. Seinfeld strategy:  I learned the Seinfeld strategy that from James Clear. It is called this because a young comedian once asked Jerry Seinfeld how to become a "better comedian." Jerry said take a huge calendar and place a big X for everyday that you write jokes, and if you can place an X for every day of the year, then you will become a better comedian. This strategy makes your progress visible and provides additional motivation to continue the streak of completing weekly tasks that move you towards your goals for the year. 

3. 3-Bucket System: I learned the 3-Bucket system from Jeff Goins who breaks up the process of writing into three easy steps. First, create a place (physical or digital) where you can collect ideas. Second, schedule a time to draft the first version without the pressure of making edits. Third, edit your draft after you have taken time away from it. This process makes writing much easier and I find myself producing better writing in a shorter amount of time. 

FEAR: I CAN'T because it is not perfect, that is not how I thought it might go, or I do not have the skill or resources to.....

4. CVFA: This strategy really helped me be aware and release judgement if things do not turn our a certain way. I learned this strategy from Tony Robbins and the initialism for the strategy is CVFA. In this strategy you stay Committed to your Vision, but are Flexible with the Approach. This comes in handy when you plan do complete a certain action earlier in the week, but have to complete something else to meet a pressing deadline. As long as the new task allows you to be Committed to your Vision, then you can be Flexible with your Approach. Don't beat yourself up, and try to control everything to the point that you get frustrated. Take a breath and think if the task still helps you be Committed to your Vision, if so, then be Flexible with the Approach. If not, then stay committed to your original plan.

LACK of CONFIDENCE: I CAN'T because I am not  a person that can...

5. Agreements: I was able to learn about this powerful strategy from Jack Canfield called agreements. In this strategy you keep and fulfill all of your agreements. By doing this, you boost self confidence and you slowly prove to yourself that you are a person that is able to complete whatever you agree to. This in turn, allows you to take on more challenging tasks, as you have trained the subconscious mind that you are able capable of such endeavors. My suggestion is to first start small, prove to yourself by consistently completing easy actions that you have agreed to. Second, only commit to things that you know that you will be able to complete. After you have proven to yourself that you can keep your agreements and your confidence grows, take the opportunity to agree to more challenging tasks on the process of discovering, pursuing, and achieving your dreams.

PROCRASTINATION: I CAN'T because I do not have enough time, do not feel like it...

6. The Enkrateia strategy: Enkrateia is the antonym of Akrasia and means "in control of oneself"  and I learned this from James Clear. This involves three strategies in one to combat Akrasia, or simply put procrastination. First, create a Commitment Device, which increases the consequences of a bad behavior and decreases the effort to carry out a good one. For example, to eat less sugar, you can clear out all candies in your house, which reduces the effort to not eat sugar at home. Second, incorporate the 2-minute rule to initiate tasks, as the hardest part of following through is getting started. Third, utilize implementation intentions, or identify a [date] at certain [time] at a specific [place] to complete a task. By incorporating this you will be 2X to 3X more likely to follow through on what you planned.  

7. Early Scheduling = Implementation Intentions: This is a strategy that I was incorporating during my streak of completing my tasks on time, and it was a huge benefit this week. In this strategy, you first PLAN to complete a task and then SCHEDULE a time to complete the task as early in the week as you can. Two benefits are produced from doing this. First, you get a sense of accomplishment if you complete the task in the beginning of the week at the scheduled time. In addition, it allows you to devout more time to do additional tasks to reach your goals within the same week. Second, it provides more time to complete the task if life presents you with something that needs to be attended to during the original scheduled time. 

8. Got 2-minutes: I learned the 2-minute rule from James Clear and it helps you initiate a task, as usually this is the most difficult step. This strategy helps you focus on what you would do in the first 2 minutes of starting a task and then complete those actions. I often times do this and then look up at the clock and see that I have been working for well over 2 minutes. I have now merged this with the "Got a Minute" strategy, which is used to turn any amount of free time into productive time. It comes from Vierordt's Law, which states that when estimating a previous task, people overestimate short durations and underestimate long ones. Simply, we regularly overestimate how long it will take to accomplish meaningful tasks. task. Often times they can be accomplished in a short amount of time. So don't judge if you will start something by how time you think you have, just star! 

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions):Week 29 in the books. I wrote my first post in Medium, a place to share stories. It was a little nerve racking as it was my first actual post in a forum outside of my blog. I will be honest and tell you that it was a stressful. Up to this point I have only been collecting ideas and drafting them for my book. This week I actually had to edit some of my ideas into a coherent thought. During the week I asked my self "Does this make sense, will others relate, what happens if no one likes it?" It was frustrating, and then out of the blue it hit me like a sledge hammer....I have a purpose and I know what it feels like.

I started this journey over 29 weeks because of a deep sense of unfulfillment due to the "wash, rinse, repeat" cycle of everyday life. Out of shape, a low sense of appreciation, and out of contact with the ones that I loved. Why? I had no purpose or sense of direction of where my life was going. It took some time, but I finally knew that I needed to find a purpose that would help add focus to my activities. 

Tony Robbins says, "Activity without purpose is a drain to a life of fulfillment." I agree with him, but have also learned that you must also read the fine print with this statement. In the beginning of my DPA  process I thought if I had a purpose, life would be less stress and things would become easier in a sense, short answer is YES and No. Probably not the answer you were looking for. Although a purpose provides direction and helps you focus on what activities that move you towards achieving your goals, there are still aspects that will still cause stress and frustration. 

I was finally able to make this connection while helping a friend with her DPA process. She has been doing great completing her weekly tasks, but often times she would critique herself about things that she did not get done. Listening to her and then thinking about myself and how I critiqued and analyzed my post in Medium brought me to the realization that we usually only critique ourselves when we are trying to accomplish something, ie  have a purpose. Think about it, without a purpose you really do not care if you do one activity or another. Take for example the purpose of getting in shape. If you are not getting in shape then you eat and drink anything without a care in the world, but having the purpose of getting in shape, you plan what you can eat and critique yourself if you were to eat too many Krispy Kream donuts. Some of you might argue that some people will complain and critique things, that is who they are. I agree, but this idea also is true whenever you set on a path to accomplish something meaningful, and you usually do that when you have a purpose. 

Additionally, I made a connection to what I wrote in a post in an earlier week about Type-1 (in the moment fun) and Type-2 (fun after the accomplishment of a meaningful task) fun. This idea of having a purpose causing stress at times, reinforces this idea about these different types of fun. Having a purpose is definitely more of a Type-2 activity. I have definitely had Type-1 moments, like meeting an awesome mentor, but overall I have not felt a full sense of enjoyment as I have not completed writing the Leap Year book. AS I mentioned earlier, having a purpose will provide focus to your activities and accelerate your growth towards your goals, but it will come with some non Type-1 fun sometimes, ie judging, critiquing, doubting, and stress. Know that when you feel these elements in your DPA process that you FINALLY HAVE A PURPOSE, or otherwise you would not be feeling them in the first place. So take a step back and be grateful that you do have a purpose, appreciate what you have accomplished thus far, and know that it is a natural part of the process. 

Lastly, it was incredible to think about my journey thus far and what has been accomplished in the last 29 weeks. If you were to tell me 29 weeks ago that I would be posting on online forums about the DPA process I would have told you that I you were crazy! One, because writing was a difficult task for me, still is but getting better at it, and two, I had no idea where to start. The beauty is that by consistently showing up every week and completing the weekly task. I have a a deep sense of FULFILLMENT, as I have direction and purpose to what I am doing everyday. This has transformed my life and it can do the same for you! 

Thanks and see you in week 30