One of the most common questions i get asked these days is how I’m so productive with a job, family, kids, all my hobbies and whatnot. The truth is that the all my hobbies really don’t occupy much of my time. While I have a wide variety of passionate interests in sci-fi, baseball, gaming, science & technology, I spend most of my time working or hanging with the kids and only give cursory looks at the fun things these days. But I’ve got some tricks that keep me going even when I don’t feel like it. I’ll try to share some of those with you.
It’s All About Mindset
Making that change starts with mindset, and though I’m not super big on self-help books, one that did get me motivated mid-last year to push myself harder is Gorilla Mindset by Mike Cernovich. When I wake up I do use his chapter on mental exercises to get me fresh so I can knock out a couple blog posts to hit over the course of the day. No matter when these are scheduled, most of my writing you see is my first morning thoughts. I do employ some of the tips in that book in my daily routine, which starts with mental exercises, stretching, drinking coffee and now my ginger/lemon shot (which I’m certain gives me energy).
Don’t Start Your Day With Nihilistic Brain Poison
I’ve also stopped reading my facebook feed first thing in the morning. This last step I think is very big. Most people you and I know on facebook just post negative things on repeat based on whatever fear mongering news is out there on the day. There’s very little value to it, it’s echo chamber type of posts and it’s poison for your brain to get yourself hyped up like that negatively first thing. I didn’t realize that for awhile, I’d stopped reading my feed completely for lent, and while I’ve read a little lately, I’m not doing nearly as much of it. It means I’m both happier and thinking positive things, and that I can write more. Win/win.
And that’s what leads you back to winning. The one thing I see very successful people do is they vocalize to themselves that they’re going to win, regardless of how silly it sounds. Eventually it has the effect of convincing you you’re going to win, which is great for mindset of getting things done — it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in ways. Moreover, it convinces others around you you’re going to win. Why do you think so many agree with all the fake news on facebook? It’s because it’s posted on repeat. If what you hear is win on repeat, it’ll become just as true to you. Doesn’t that sound way better than getting outraged over posted headlines designed to mess with you psychologically? Stop reading that, start thinking in terms of winning and you’ll get there.
Replace Bad Habits With Something Positive
I once heard someone say there are two things in life: commitments and addictions. The first thing toward making a bad habit go away for good is replacing with a commitment that takes its time, and getting in the habit of that. I’m working on starting a new habit, which is to read a chapter of the Bible every morning instead. Today I started with Romans 1. If you want to see brilliant writing, follow me into Romans. There is literally nothing more intelligent ever written in philosophy, and it’s also uplifting.
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