This was a big week! Our son was born this week! Such a cute little guy :)
Three (short) Thoughts from Nate (because I’m still tired.)
New life is miraculous. It’s hard to look at all the tiny working parts of a new baby and not be amazed.
When you get thrown off schedule, from good or difficult things, the trick is just to get back on. You don’t have to judge yourself for getting off, just get back in the routine.
A customer who chose a centering goal this quarter sent me a note: “Lots of fever pitch stressors the last two weeks, between family and work. The planner is working!”
Incredible. I love it! It’s the good habits.
I underestimated how moving it would be to help others living out God’s call for their life.
A Long Quote From a Book
Tools of Titans- by Tim Ferris.
I’ve probably learned more from listening to Tim Ferris’s podcasts than I learned in business school. He routinely interviews high performers to understand their habits, routines and what sets them apart. His show has been downloaded over 700M times. This is an entry from his book, Tools of Titans. Pages 198-201, abbreviated for effect.
The Dangerous Myths of “Successful” People
We all like to appear “successful” (a nebulous term at best) and the media like to portray standouts as superheroes.
Sometimes, these dramatic stories of overcoming the odds are inspiring. More often they lead to an unhealthy knee-jerk conclusion:
“Well... maybe they [entrepreneur/artist/creator painted as a superhero] can do it, but I’m just a normal guy/girl...” This chapter is intended to give you a behind the scenes look at my own life.
Because I’m no superhero. I’m not even a consistent “normal”.
In 2013, I hit a rough patch of three months, during which I:
Cried while watching Rudy
Repeatedly hit snooze for 1 to 3 HOURS past my planned wake time, because I simply didn’t want to face the day.
Considered giving everything away and moving to Montreal, Seville, or Iceland. Location varies based on what I imagine escaping.
.....
Wore the same pair of jeans for a week straight just to have a much needed constant during weeks of chaos.
Seems pretty dysfunctional, right?
But, in the last 8 weeks of that same period, I also:
Increased my passive income 20%
Bought my dream house
....
Meditated twice a day for 20 minutes per session, without fail. That marked the first time I’d been able to meditate consistently.
Came to feel closer to all my immediate family members
The Point
Most “superheroes” are nothing of the sort. They’re weird, neurotic creatures who do big things DESPITE lots of self-defeating habits and self-talk. Personally, I suck at efficiency (doing things quickly). To compensate and cope, here’s my 8-step process for maximizing efficacy (doing the right things):
Wake up at least 1 hour before you have to be at a computer screen. Email is the mind killer.
Make a cup of tea (I like pu-erh) and sit down with a pen/pencil and paper.
Write down the 3-5 things – and no more – that are making you the most anxious or uncomfortable. They’re often the things that have been punted from one day’s to-do list to the next, to the next, to the next and so on. Most important usually equals most uncomfortable, with some chance of rejection or conflict.
For each item, ask yourself: “If this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day?” “Will moving this forward make all the other to-dos unimportant or easier to knock off later?” Put another way: “What, if done, will make all of the rest easier or irrelevant?”
Look only at the items you’ve answered “yes” to for at least one of these questions.
Block out 2-3 hours to focus on ONE of them for today. Let the rest of the urgent but less important stuff slide. It will still be there tomorrow.
TO BE CLEAR: Block out 2-3 HOURS to focus on ONE of them for today. This is ONE BLOCK OF TIME. Cobbling together 10 minutes here and there to add up to 120 minutes does not work. No phone calls or social media allowed.
If you get distracted or start procrastinating, don’t freak out and downward spiral; just gently come back to your ONE to-do.
Congratulations! That’s it.
This is the only way I can create big outcomes despite my never-ending-impulse to procrastinate, nap, or otherwise fritter away days with bullshit. If I have 10 important things to do in a day, it’s 100% certain nothing important will get done that day. ON the other hand, I can usually handle one must-do item and block out my lesser behaviors for 2 to 3 hours a day.
It doesn’t take much to seem superhuman and appear “successful” to nearly everyone around you. In fact, you just need one rule: What you do is more important that how you do everything else and doing something well does not make it important.
....
Don’t overestimate the world and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.
And you are not alone.
Keep on keeping on folks. And stay salty.
Until soon,
-Nate