“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” –Paul J. Meyer
1.) Assess & Change Your Environment.
-Look at the people and things you surround yourself with at home and work. These are the largest determining factors of your growth and most people miss that because they are afraid of change or to take action on cutting things out that they’re so familiar with.
Multiple very successful men have told me, “Surround yourself with the top 5 people you want to be like.
That hold an unbelievable amount of value towards the success you achieve. Because of them telling me this, I changed so many things from relationships, where I lived, the people I hung out with, the people I trained with, and so much more. But because of the surroundings I now have, I have accomplished more than I ever could have in the place I previously was. It’s the place I work and the people I associate with that have allowed me to excel so far.
So the task for you is to first assess your surrounds from your home, work place, and people in both of those places. Then make the difficult decision to cut out any and everything that does not allow you to grow or progress towards your goals.
“Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.” –Earl Nightingale
2.) Create A Morning Ritual.
-I am a HUGE practitioner and encourager of this and I truly think I would go crazy without this. Having a morning ritual is something that can give your day balance, more purpose, more motivation and overall give you a happier state of mind.
This is something that you create for yourself; it should not be replicated at all.
What I do personally is go over my “IT” statement, drink 1 liter of water, turn on a podcast or audiobook (has to be positive or about being better), stretch for 5 minutes, drink a cup of coffee and eat my breakfast while I go over my goals and things to get done today.
This sets me in my zone and keeps me balanced, it also eliminates waking up to stressors because I do it all before checking any social media, texts, or emails. That is one of the biggest parts about it, not one thing to do before this that can alter my mood, induce stress or distract me from what NEEDS to get done today.
We must understand that great successes don’t happen from one single act… It is the smaller work, decisions and actions we make every day that determine our destiny.
“The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.” –Mike Murdock
3.) Create Goal Oriented “To-Do” Lists.
-Every night before you fall asleep you should create a list of things to accomplish the next day. This will hold you accountable of accomplishing the things you must get done the next day. You should also constantly have a list of long-term goals handy along with this daily task list and it is best to review both in your morning ritual each day.
This one can be difficult to remember, so I suggest setting an alarm. I have an alarm that goes off every single night about an hour before I go to sleep that says, “Create to-do list”. So I do just that, create a list of things I need to get done the next day in exact order from most important to least important and I tape it to my MacBook.
Without this I would never be as productive because I would be more relaxed with what I am doing and less focused on accomplishing the tasks at hand. Without a to-do list there is no order of operations, reminder or external motivator to get shit done!
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” –Tony Robbins
4.) Get Up Earlier.
-The early bird gets the worm… enough said!
No but really, this is a big one that I have heard numerous times from some of the most successful people I know and study. Robin Sharma is a big proponent of this and is probably the biggest reason for me setting my clock an hour earlier each day.
I don’t need to get up earlier because I work afternoons, so I could easily sleep in every single day. But because I set my alarm for 7AM every morning I get up and have time for my daily ritual, which sets me off to accomplish much more. That alone should be a big enough reason.
If you just got up one hour earlier each day you would get 7 extra hours per week, 28 hours per month, and 336 hours per year…. That’s almost an extra 15 full days per year you could be working towards your goals!
Just one single hour can be enough to improve yourself a little bit on anything you wish to improve on. Over time that hour adds up and your improvement will add up into tremendous success and achievements.
“While their competition is asleep, world-class leaders are up – and they’re not watching the news or reading the paper. They are thinking, planning and practicing.” – Robin S. Sharma
