WEEK 115: 100% COMMITMENT

Desire is the key to motivation, but it is determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you attain the success you seek.    

Mario Andretti

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Happy Thanksgiving everyone. 

This week I want to discuss the idea of being 100% committed. This is a topic I have spoken about earlier in The Leap process, but events this week highlighted its power. 

I learned this from Dane Maxwell, who is the co-owner of The Foundation where they teach anyone how to create a software business from scratch. Oh, by the way he is a multi-millionaire as well.

It was early on in my Leap Process, but what he said was blaring through my mind this week.

"100% commitment is easy, while 99% is a B(^$%!"

Often times we feel the opposite of this statement. We think it will be much more challenging to be 100% committed all the time, rather than a majority of the time.

For example, you want to eat healthier, yet you feel you will be tempted and it will be super hard to stay 100% committed to a food plan which will actually works with your body.

Or 

You want to get that internship, promotion, or whatever else you desire, yet you think you will be distracted by missing out on social events. 

The point is, what Dane and quite a lot of other successful people have said about commitment is completely true.

Being 100% committed is so much easier than being anything else. 

Let me tell you why.

I have started a new lifestyle change with my eating habits and in the past six weeks have lost 8 kilos. That is right 8 kilos. I have not weighed this much since high school.

It was hard to adjust to the eating plan at first (as any big change does) and I had to let go of a lot of the myths I was taught about food since a young age. Now as apart of this plan you are able to have "load days" where you are able to consume some things you were not able to eat in the previous six weeks.

Now there are a few more stipulations, yet I ignored them and decided to go full tilt and eat all the things I had wanted to eat, but could not. 

The result? Being keeled over, stomach pains, and running to the bathroom all night.

Now why do I tell you this story? How does this connect to you on the path to closing the gap between where you are and achieving yoru dreams?

It goes back to being 100% committed. 

I had followed a program which had produced amazing results and yet I decided not to listen to it and try my own thing. 

Funny thing is we often do this. We reach a level of success following a set of successful guidelines, and then think we can do whatever we want and it will still work. (This is the 99% being committed)

The result is we fall off the wagon, as they would say, and we are frustrated as why things are not working.

But...

If you were to analyze your inputs or your lead indicators (daily decisions and actions) you would clearly be able to see you were not 100% committed. If you were, then you would not be where you are in the first place. 

To pull this all together. 

Be 100% committed to your LP through the tough times, and especially the good times. This will allow you to save the mental energy for your 20% actions which will accelerate your progress. 

Make the decision to close the gap between where you are and achieving your dreams and be 100% committed to making this your reality.

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. Listening to life podcast daily. Really honing on becoming a better mate.

2. Listening to and scribing with audible. So powerful!

3. Going back to eating following nutri-90 guidelines.

Biggest lessons and learnings?

Being 100% committed. Makes it all so much easier. 

What are you grateful for?

Being able to give my amazing wife a much needed weekend with friends! It gave me the opportunity to play with and connect with my children!

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST

WEEK 114: SEPARATING FACT FROM OPINION

Be aggressive to separate FACT from opinion!   Maxwell Maltz

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Welcome back fro another installment of The Leap Process, where you close the gap between where you are and achieving your dreams.

Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?

Just wanted to share we are less than a month away from the launch of the book and I have to pinch myself to believe it is finally here!

So grateful!

Now, I want to share something powerful I learned this week which can help you transform your perspective. 

I learned it from the book Psycho Cybernetics, again if you have not read it, you need to if you are embarking on this path to achieving your dreams!

Now instead of just telling you the punch line, I want to give you some scenarios to think about first.

1. You think you will die by eating a bug.

2. You think your life will be over if you do not get the promotion/internship/into the perfect institution.

3. A person losses $200,000 in a hour from the stock market. He feels he is a ruin.

4. A person is told they can not be a doctor as they come from a poor background.

Let's dive a little deeper into each situation to see the powerful strategy I was able to uncover this week.

First, eating a bug will not kill you (unless it is a poisonous one). That is a fact. The thought you will die is your ownn opinion, fear, about the experience.

Second, the fact is life will continue whether you get it or not. It is your opinion of not getting the promotion/internship/into the perfect institution, which makes you believe you will no longer live.

Third, the person who loses $200,000. It is a fact, they lost the money. There is no way around it. Now, the belief that their life is ruined or the idea they are a ruin just there opinions, fears, about the situation.

Fourth, the person who is told he can not be a doctor because he comes from a poor background. It is a fact he comes from a poor background, but it is someone eases opinion, fears, that he can not become a doctor. 

There is no real fact which will hold him back from becoming one if he chooses to be one.

All of these examples highlight this powerful idea of "Separating FACT from opinion." 

We often times hold ourselves back from taking action on the path to closing the gap between where we are and achieving our dreams, as we cannot separate the difference between the two. 

Yet, what I have learned is the most successful people on this planet are the ones who can "aggressively" separate FACT from opinion.

Instead of reacting to situations, they remain calm and use all of their capabilites to adapt and figure out any sitiation. 

They do not let their opinions, fears and anxieties, cloud the facts, so they can act appropriately to any situation. 

In my life this week there have been many instances where I was finally able to see and implement this.

First, I have lost EIGHT kilos on the new lifestyle program I have started with my wife. Although it is getting easier, there are still times when my addiction to unhealthy food is strong.

The new lifestyle change requires you to only eat at three set times during the day. Now in the past I would eat breakfast, then a snack at 10:00, and then lunch. Afterwards, maybe something to tie me over in the afternoon, and then finally dinner.

The perceived feeling I am famished at 10:00 am is really my opinion, fear I am not getting enough food. I have been able separate the FACT that most times we think we are hungry, our bodies are actually asking for water. Thus the FACT is my body is asking to be hydrated, versus my opinion of needing food.

This correct information allows me to drink a glass of water, which afterwards, I feel fine. This has lead me to losing EIGHT kilos in about a months time. Something I was not able to do in the last 15 years of my life. 

Second, is my son. He is growing up so fast now and talking all the time. In my mind I can see him already writing essays and accomplishing so much...
YET...

I get super frustrated when he can not follow simple directions.
FACT is he is a little under three years old. It is normal for him to not follow directions to a T and comprehend abstract topics. My opinion, fear he should already be able to do this, clouds the fact, which in turn causes me to get frustrated.
Both of these situations have ended in disappointment and me going back to the drawing board to see if I could figure another way of succeeding or dealing with the situation, thinking success was such a mystery.
This ability to separate FACT from opinion is powerful, as it provides the correct information. This is vital in accelerating your progress towards closing the gap between where you are and achieving your dreams, as you are able to take the appropriate actions.
Furthermore, it connects to the idea of confidence. I have mentioned in past weeks that confidence is the ability to see when something is not working, and then using your flexibility and knowledge to ADAPT and FIGURE IT OUT.
This can only happen when you do not cloud the FACTS with opinions. Thus, allowing you to see the correct information, and take the appropriate actions.
So be aggressive to separate FACT from opinion, so you can accelerate your progress towards closing the gap between where you are and achieving your dreams!

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. Listening to life coach podcast...so many lessons on how to be a better mate!

2. Listening to and capturing notes in workflowy about Psycho Cybernetics. Powerful.

3. Disciplined to n90 program. Increased energy, clarity, and EIGHT kilos lost!

Biggest lessons and learnings? 

Be aggressive to separate FACT from opinion to take the appropriate actions and accelerate your progress!

What are you grateful for?

Being able to publish a book. It is an incredible feeling and words can not expres how grateful I am for being disciplined to this process!

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

WEEK 113: MOMENTUM

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): For the last month or so I have been really crystalizing the idea around confidence. 

Today I want to take a deep dive into an aspect of it which will allow you to leverage it to your advantage, so you can close the gap between where you are and achieving your dreams!

Now do you remember those days in high school science class where you learned about momentum? Probably not, but little did you know those very lesson would be a key to you unlocking levels of success never thought possible.

I have learned you either learn to manage momentum, or struggle to get it back. Understanding and working with it allows you to accelerate your progress.

Funny thing is if you asked most people what momemtum is, they woudl give you a pretty general answer about how it deals with movement.

Yet, defining it properly can help you achieve any goal, massive success, and achieve you dreams. 

I actually learned this from one of my mentors, Taylor, co-owner of the Traffic and Funnels. They are crushing it as a business and clearing 500k per month in revenue (one day)!

Like I mentioned above, the key part is to learn how to manage it, or you will constantly struggle to make true progress.

Some key vocabulary you will need to know. Lead and Lag indicators. 

When starting out there will be a period where nothing works (which is normal). You will take action but you will see little to no progress. However, being committed and learning from your actions will allow you to start producing results. 

In this process the actions you take correspond to your LEAD indicators and the results from those actions are your LAG indicators. 

Unfortunaley, most us focus on the LAG indicators and get super frustrated when they are not exactly what we expected. 

Yet...

What we really need to focus on are the LEAD indicators. 

Connection time. I have said in the past you must focus on your systems, or daily decision or actions, in order to make progress.

The frustration occurs when we solely focus on the end results...did not lose the weight, did not earn this much money, ecetera. 

But...

What we really need to focus on are the systems = inputs = LEAD indicators which caused those results. Furthermore, you need to track and analyze these LEAD indicators and use the Pareto principle to identify which set of actions help you make the biggest strides moving forward. 

Additionally, momemntum is cyclical. This means it does not last forever. 

In terms of mathematics, it is periodic not linear. 

Now, those of you who need a refresher, a linear relationship means as one value goes up so does another in a constant fashion. Where as, a periodic function has a cycle, where it starts in one location and then returns to the same point in a interval of time. 

Thus, you must understand there will be a time of no results (LAG) while taking action (LEAD). However, the tracking and analyzing of your actions (LEAD) will allow you to accelerate when you start seeing favorable results (LAG). This will continue for a period of time, but will start to wain.

This is where you need to understand a CHANGE must occur as momentum will not grow or stay constant from the same actions you are taking.

This is a huge insight, as people or businsess for that fact beleive they can ride the momemtum forever. Yet the bubble pops and then they are caught of guard. 

For example, the housing market crashes after a period of high selling prices. Or the stock market crash of 2008. All following the normal cycle of momentum.

The hardest part of thinking this way is you lose the momentum you worked so hard for, and it is two to three times as hard to get it back as you have to start from the beginning of the process.

Now how does this connect to confidence? 

I have written confidence is the ability to see when something is not working and then having the ability to adapt and figure it out.

Well, to do this you need to understand the cycle of momentum to see when you need to be "flexible and use your knowledge" to "adapt" ie focus on your LEAD indicators. This continuous process will allow you to "figure it out" and create the LAG indicators you desire.

Deep and powerful stuff!

So use this knowledge of momentum to help you on your path of closing the gap between where you are and achieving your dreams. 

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. Dropping all expectations and loving. Got this from a podcast my beautiful wife gave me. Frees up so much mental and physical energy!

2. Listening to audible daily. Even 5 minutes can make a huge difference. 

3. Following the n90 program. Sleep, health, energy...all have gone up trememdously.

Biggest lessons and learnings?

 The correlation between confidence and momentum. The Focus on LEAD indicators, not LAG indicators. 

What are you grateful for?

Clarity about food. I have not had this ability to understand nutrition for 37 years of my life and it eye opening to finally have this power to control my weight! Incredible. 

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST