Benjamin P. Hardy's Blog, page 16

Everything I’m consuming is chosen — I’m just talking about a method for consuming the content I…

Everything I’m consuming is chosen — I’m just talking about a method for consuming the content I will already consume.

For example — there may be 3 books I know I plan to read. Rather than reading them one at a time, I read them in an interleaving fashion.

I’m still proactively shielding myself from most of the info out there. Hence, the comments on being reactive and non-intentional when it comes to the way most people navigate the internet.

Absolutely!!! Very keen of you. Any strategy can become stale. Even this one.

Absolutely!!! Very keen of you. Any strategy can become stale. Even this one.

A New Way To Read/Listen To Books Based On Brain Science

Photo by Alice Moore on Unsplash

In 1986, Dr. Sinah Goode and Dr. Richard A. Magill published a study called, “Contextual interference effects in learning three badminton serves.”

Badminton

As a reminder, badminton is like a mix between tennis and ping-pong with a funny looking feathery rubber thingy you hit.

In the study, the goal was to test different learning approaches to see which ones created the best performance outcomes.

Group 1 practiced in a “block” manner with very little interference. Specifically, the people in group one practiced one serve over and over and over for an entire day. Then on day 2, they practiced a different serve over and over, etc. On day 3, they practiced a third serve all day. Hence, they “blocked” their practice to ensure repetition of the same swing each day. Then they were tested on all three serves.Group 2 practiced in a “serial” manner with mixed interferences. Specifically, the people in group two practiced each of the three swings daily, one at a time. So for a period of time, they would practice swing one, then swing two, then swing three. They repeated this serial practice style for three days and were then tested on all three serves.Group 3 practiced in a “random” manner with high interferences. Specifically, the people in group three were told to practice the three shots in whatever order they wanted for three days. After the three days, they were tested on all three serves.

Common wisdom suggests that Group 1 would perform the best, since they likely practiced each serve more than the other groups. Indeed, there were less interruptions and there was more repetition.

Over and over and over. This is how habits are formed and mastery developed, right?

Actually, not so much.

Repetition and a lack of interruptions is good for the short run. Indeed, the people in Group 1 had a huge surge of skill development in the beginning of the study, but actually tested the worst when game day came. They plateau’d quickly and bonked when it mattered.

The true definition of learning is your ability to TRANSFER your learning from one situation or environment to another. This is why so many people fall apart in the big moment. Their practice environment didn’t reflect the realities of a volatile world.

This is why the public education system often sets people up for failure in the real world. The children’s learning becomes overly systematized and sterile, lacking unanticipated interruptions or unexpected scenarios.

Education should never be boring and sterile. The brain doesn’t like boring. Flow and boring aren’t generally correlated. Interestingly, boredom is getting a lot of attention as a key to “creativity,” which is totally ridiculous. Boredom is not good for the brain — novelty, challenge, and excitement are fantastic for the brain.

The reason boredom is getting so much hype is because people are addicted to technology, and thus have become bad at focus. It’s not boredom you want, it’s excited focus.

The third group tested the best of the three.

Why?

Because throughout their practice, their brain learned to adjust itself to the different serves. The people in Group 3 would often practice serve one for a bit then serve three then serve one then two then one then three, etc. Constant adjusting and switching, which is so good for adaptability and transfer of learning.

When you learn in a highly routine and repetitious way, your brain isn’t forced to continually adjust itself. Instead, you quickly advance but then your brain stops making deep connections. You quickly get bored and the learning is less fun and less intense.

Almost the opposite of what we’ve been taught about learning is reflective of the science on how the brain learns.

The following are the key reasons the random practice group performed better in the “test.”

Continually shifting environments is key to being able to perform in all environmentsInterruptions are actually good for learning, because when you come back your brain has to work extra hard to remember what you were doingScrambling your focus disrupts the melancholy and monotony of routine — the brain thrives on novelty and challengeWhat About Deep Work?

This doesn’t mean that “deep work” and “deep focus” aren’t essential. Instead, this science challenges us to take a deeper look at what focus, practice, learning, and performance even mean.

For example, Cal Newport, the person who wrote the book Deep Work isn’t just focused on one thing. He is a university professor who does a lot of research. He is also a blogger and author, which although similar is a totally different skill. He’s also married and has three kids.

He doesn’t just have ONE THING.

He is constantly switching from one role to another. He interrupts one project and dives into another. And while working on one project, his subconscious mind is actually mulling over and working out the problems of his other projects. Often, stepping away and taking a break from one thing is the most productive thing you can do.

When you interrupt what you’re doing and work on something else, your brain becomes more adaptive and flexible.

When you come back to a project after an interruption, your brain is forced to go deeper into the memory well to retrieve what you were doing. This intensified memory retrieval actually deepens the memory, making it deeper learned and ingrained.

Hence, although the badminton players who were constantly adjusting took longer for their learning to develop, their long-term learning and high stakes performance were much higher.

They were not only more fluid in different environments, but they actually had deeper learning with each of the individual serves. Thus, not only was the expertise higher, but they were more adaptive.

Game over.

The Problem With “Habit Formation” As A Goal

“A good shock often helps the brain that has been atrophied by habit.”  — Napoleon Hill

Habits in and of themselves aren’t good for you. Yes, some habits are better than others. But all habits, even the best ones, can lead to atrophy and must eventually be disrupted.

What got you here won’t get you there.

The same workout routine, no matter how good, will eventually stop pushing your brain and body.

The best “habit” you can have is actually to continually be shattering your habits in an upward fashion. The real world isn’t an academic science lab with no interruptions. The real world is filled with uncertainty and changing at an exponential rate.

Hence, the words of Charles Darwin are actually truer now than ever: It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.

Applying These Science-Based Ideas To Reading & Listening To Books

The scientific term for randomized learning scenarios is “interleaving,” and means to proactively mix up how and what you learn.

You want to create interruptions in what you’re doing to not only become more fluid in your learning, but to deepen your memory every time you return.

I decided to apply these concepts to listening to audio books. I usually listen to 1–2 full audio books per week. But my approach has always been to listen to one audio book at a time.

Once one book was finished, I’d start the next one. Then the next.

Sometimes, if I really liked a book, I’d listen to it 2–3 times in a row. Often, I go back to books I listened to 1–5 years ago. Every time I go back, it’s a different book.

But lately I’ve been trying something different. I proactively interrupt each book and switch to a different book. Even mid chapter and even when I’m totally engaged and loving what I’m hearing.

Rather than listening to one book at a time, I’m now listening to 3 or 4. Every 30–60 minutes, I intentionally interrupt one book and switch to another. This has had an interesting and profound effect on my learning and creativity.

Here’s why:

When you switch books constantly, your brain doesn’t bet bored or even slow downEach new book gives the brain an intense dose of novelty — which keeps it engaged and excitedThe books begin to blend into each other — thus I have 4 micro concepts and then one over-arching meta concept that emerges (see Chess example down below)Creativity is all about making connections — and by listening to multiple books at once, the ideas from each book begin to cross-pollinate and blend into each other, thus becoming a web of unique connections (idea heaven!)Each time I shift back to a particular book, my brain is forced to remember what the book was about, and the specific concepts being convey ed— which deepens my memory and the impact of each individual bookI listen to these books in diverse environments and apply the ideas in different ways — from books I’m writing to conversations with my kids

If I particularly like a book, or didn’t full grasp it once finished, then it stays in the loop of continually shifting books. Thus repetition can still happen, but in a fluid and adaptive environment. And the mixture of ideas continues to change because the combination and diversity of books is always in flux.

Is this “shallow” or “deep” work?

This may seem shallow, but it’s not. It’s incredibly good for the brain, and can be done in a focused and intentional manner. You’re not interrupting yourself with Facebook out of addiction, you’re interrupting one thing with another — both of which are done intentionally. Social Media is rarely done intentionally, but in actuality, is set up to get you scrolling and landing on pages reactively.

Master chess players often play multiple boards at once — simultaneous exhibition —where they walk from one board to the next to the next. Josh Waitzkin, who was a former chess master describes the experience of playing multiple boards at once as all the boards blending together. Each game is interrupted by next and the memory is forced deeper and deeper down to remember the specifics of each individual board. Yet, holistically, the whole experience of all the boards takes on a form of it’s own. The individual parts become a new whole — and the whole evolves beyond the sum of the parts.

Interestingly, during the few moments the chess wizard is looking at a single board, their brain is firing potentially 100 or 1,000X more intensely than the single person sitting on the other side of the board. Thus, even though switching continuously, the focus in each individual moment is maximized.

Furthermore, each time they return to a particular board, they get a “fresh eyes” effect — being able to see things they potentially couldn’t see before. Conversely, when you stare at the same thing for a long enough period of time, you can miss obvious details. Mindfulness requires a continuous and intentional shift in and awareness of context.

The goal is to become the best thinker possible, and to become creative, imaginative, and innovative. If you’re not becoming more fluid and adaptive, then you’re becoming increasingly irrelevant. The challenges and changes in the world will cripple you.

I fear for the man whose life is so routinized that he can’t handle all of the shifts happening around him. I fear for the man who has become so specialized that he can’t adapt.

When you learn how to learn, you can specialize in multiple things at once while becoming increasingly adaptive to the world around you.

Your ability to transfer your skills from one environment to another is what will separate you in today’s global market-place.

Finally, it’s important to note that no strategy — no matter how scientifically-based — is ironclad. This strategy is no different. Use it, but don’t over-adapt to it. In a month or two (or 10), going back to one book straight through may feel electric and new.

Ready to Upgrade?

I’ve created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change quickly.

Get the cheat sheet here!

A New Way To Read/Listen To Books Based On Brain Science was originally published in Thrive Global on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How To Change Your Life Every 90 Days

Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash

Most people are going to be in the same place in 90 days as they are right now. In fact, most people will be in nearly the same place in 1, 3, and 5 years.

Most people are living day-to-day.

They aren’t actively sprinting toward new and exciting futures.

They aren’t looking back and being blown away by all that has recently happened.

They aren’t becoming more and more confident by the evidence all around them that they are powerfully designing their ideal life.

You can do this, though.

Every 90 days, you can watch as your life expands and transforms before your eyes.

You can watch as your health, income, relationships, time, and happiness all improve.

This is the best way to live. It’s why you are here and what will bring you joy.

Dan Sullivan, the founder of Strategic Coach, has a simple 4-question exercise that:

Gives you a sense of joy and pride for what you’ve accomplishedConfidence about what you’re currently focusing onExcitement about what your future holdsClarity about the few things that really matterHere are the 4 questions, and how you can use them:Last 90 Days

“Winning Achievements? Looking back over the past quarter, what are the things that make you the proudest about what you have achieved?” — Dan Sullivan

Take 2 minutes and write down all of the things that have happened in your life over the past 90 days.

What are the personal and professional goals you’ve accomplished?

It’s crazy, but if you take a few minutes to simply reflect on what has happened in your life, you’ll realize that far more has happened than you remember.

It’s easy to get caught-up in the day-to-day.

It’s easy to be focused on the here and now.

But taking just 2 minutes to reflect on the past 90 days will blow your mind by all that has happened.

Even more, when you get better at structuring your time and focusing on only those things which matter to you, you will get better at accomplishing HUGE goals every 90 days.

90 day goal cycles are perfect for making huge progress and then reflecting on what you did, and then making better plans for the following 90 days.

You can get to the point where every 90 days you’re achieving more than most people achieve in a year. Or 5 years.

Right Now

“What’s Hot? When you look at everything that’s going on today, which areas of focus and progress are making you the most confident?” — Dan Sullivan

Confidence is a byproduct of having a life you’re proud of and excited about.

Take 2 minutes and make a list of the things in your life that give you confidence about what you’re doing right now.

Don’t filter or edit yourself.

If you’re continuously moving forward in your life, then the things you’re focused on RIGHT NOW should be quite different from the things you were focused on 3–6 months ago.

You should have made some huge progress in the past 90 days, which opened up new doors.

Every 90 days, you could be focusing on bigger and more interesting projects.

Your life can continuously look different and better.

Your workouts could be different and more powerful.

Your health and fitness could be better — allowing you to feel better and have more energy.

You could be making more money.

You could have deeper and more profound connections and relationships.

These things give you a sense of confidence, because you can see by your current reality that you’ve made progress. Indeed, without progress, you can’t have confidence.

But if you’re continually stretching and creating bigger and better future, then you’ll be in a constant space of growth.

If you’re growing and stretching, then your life will continue to get better.

Your present reality will look quite different every 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.

The quality of your life and your time will be different.

The quality of your thoughts and habits will be better.

You’ll be able to look at your current life, work, projects, health, income, routines, relationships, emotions and feel a huge sense of accomplishment.

You can feel confident by the life you have.

This confidence, coupled with the increased sense of morale you’ll have gained by reflecting on the achievements of the prior 90 days will be a huge boost.

You’ll begin feeling amazing.

Next 90 Days

“Bigger and Better ? Now, looking ahead at the next quarter, what new things are giving you the greatest sense of excitement? — Dan Sullivan

Is the future you’re sprinting toward exciting for you?

It should and could be.

It’s exciting to pursue greater growth and possibilities than you’ve ever had before.

According to Dan Sullivan, “If you are constantly making your life busier, ten you are avoiding the future. If you are bored, then you’ve run out of future.”

How big is your current future?

How big are the next 90 days?

Do they excite you with all you’re going to experience and achieve?

Will you have to step way outside your current comfort zone to achieve all you want to?

Will you have to learn an enormous amount?

Take 2 minutes to write down all of the things you’re currently excited about. These should be both personal and professional.

What are the experiences you’re going to create?

What are you going to learn and master?

What are the achievements you’re going to have?

What are the doors that are going to open?

90-Day Jumps

“What are the five new ‘jumps’ you can now achieve that will make your next 90 days a great quarter regardless of what else happens?” — Dan Sullivan

Take 2- minutes to list 5 new jumps that if you achieved in the next 90 days, you’d be happy with your progress.

What five things would make the biggest impact on your future?

What five accomplishments would be the most thrilling and exciting to pursue?

Conclusion

You’ve just taken 10 minutes to reflect on the previous 90 days, right now, and the next 90 days.

What would happen in your life if you did this every 90 days?

What would happen for you if you set HUGE ambitions and built your life around making those things real?

How much could your life change every 90 days?

If you did this consistently, how wildly different could your life be in 12 months?

Or 24 months?

Or 5 years?

Success isn’t rocket-science. It’s about getting really clear on what you want, and pursuing only those things.

It’s about feeling a sense of accomplishment and confidence about what you’ve done, and using that confidence to create motivation to pursue bigger and better futures.

Ready to Upgrade?

I’ve created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change quickly.

Get the cheat sheet here!

How To Change Your Life Every 90 Days was originally published in Thrive Global on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

These 4 Simple Questions Will Give You Immediate Energy, Excitement, and Motivation

Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on UnsplashHow To Change Your Life Every 90 Days

Most people are going to be in the same place in 90 days as they are right now. In fact, most people will be in nearly the same place in 1, 3, and 5 years.

Most people are living day-to-day.

They aren’t actively sprinting toward new and exciting futures.

They aren’t looking back and being blown away by all that has recently happened.

They aren’t becoming more and more confident by the evidence all around them that they are powerfully designing their ideal life.

You can do this, though.

Every 90 days, you can watch as your life expands and transforms before your eyes.

You can watch as your health, income, relationships, time, and happiness all improve.

This is the best way to live. It’s why you are here and what will bring you joy.

Dan Sullivan, the founder of Strategic Coach, has a simple 4-question exercise that:

Gives you a sense of joy and pride for what you’ve accomplishedConfidence about what you’re currently focusing onExcitement about what your future holdsClarity about the few things that really matterHere are the 4 questions, and how you can use them:Last 90 Days

“Winning Achievements? Looking back over the past quarter, what are the things that make you the proudest about what you have achieved?” — Dan Sullivan

Take 2 minutes and write down all of the things that have happened in your life over the past 90 days.

What are the personal and professional goals you’ve accomplished?

It’s crazy, but if you take a few minutes to simply reflect on what has happened in your life, you’ll realize that far more has happened than you remember.

It’s easy to get caught-up in the day-to-day.

It’s easy to be focused on the here and now.

But taking just 2 minutes to reflect on the past 90 days will blow your mind by all that has happened.

Even more, when you get better at structuring your time and focusing on only those things which matter to you, you will get better at accomplishing HUGE goals every 90 days.

90 day goal cycles are perfect for making huge progress and then reflecting on what you did, and then making better plans for the following 90 days.

You can get to the point where every 90 days you’re achieving more than most people achieve in a year. Or 5 years.

Right Now

“What’s Hot? When you look at everything that’s going on today, which areas of focus and progress are making you the most confident?” — Dan Sullivan

Confidence is a byproduct of having a life you’re proud of and excited about.

Take 2 minutes and make a list of the things in your life that give you confidence about what you’re doing right now.

Don’t filter or edit yourself.

If you’re continuously moving forward in your life, then the things you’re focused on RIGHT NOW should be quite different from the things you were focused on 3–6 months ago.

You should have made some huge progress in the past 90 days, which opened up new doors.

Every 90 days, you could be focusing on bigger and more interesting projects.

Your life can continuously look different and better.

Your workouts could be different and more powerful.

Your health and fitness could be better — allowing you to feel better and have more energy.

You could be making more money.

You could have deeper and more profound connections and relationships.

These things give you a sense of confidence, because you can see by your current reality that you’ve made progress. Indeed, without progress, you can’t have confidence.

But if you’re continually stretching and creating bigger and better future, then you’ll be in a constant space of growth.

If you’re growing and stretching, then your life will continue to get better.

Your present reality will look quite different every 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.

The quality of your life and your time will be different.

The quality of your thoughts and habits will be better.

You’ll be able to look at your current life, work, projects, health, income, routines, relationships, emotions and feel a huge sense of accomplishment.

You can feel confident by the life you have.

This confidence, coupled with the increased sense of morale you’ll have gained by reflecting on the achievements of the prior 90 days will be a huge boost.

You’ll begin feeling amazing.

Next 90 Days

“Bigger and Better ? Now, looking ahead at the next quarter, what new things are giving you the greatest sense of excitement? — Dan Sullivan

Is the future you’re sprinting toward exciting for you?

It should and could be.

It’s exciting to pursue greater growth and possibilities than you’ve ever had before.

According to Dan Sullivan, “If you are constantly making your life busier, ten you are avoiding the future. If you are bored, then you’ve run out of future.”

How big is your current future?

How big are the next 90 days?

Do they excite you with all you’re going to experience and achieve?

Will you have to step way outside your current comfort zone to achieve all you want to?

Will you have to learn an enormous amount?

Take 2 minutes to write down all of the things you’re currently excited about. These should be both personal and professional.

What are the experiences you’re going to create?

What are you going to learn and master?

What are the achievements you’re going to have?

What are the doors that are going to open?

90-Day Jumps

“What are the five new ‘jumps’ you can now achieve that will make your next 90 days a great quarter regardless of what else happens?” — Dan Sullivan

Take 2- minutes to list 5 new jumps that if you achieved in the next 90 days, you’d be happy with your progress.

What five things would make the biggest impact on your future?

What five accomplishments would be the most thrilling and exciting to pursue?

Conclusion

You’ve just taken 10 minutes to reflect on the previous 90 days, right now, and the next 90 days.

What would happen in your life if you did this every 90 days?

What would happen for you if you set HUGE ambitions and built your life around making those things real?

How much could your life change every 90 days?

If you did this consistently, how wildly different could your life be in 12 months?

Or 24 months?

Or 5 years?

Success isn’t rocket-science. It’s about getting really clear on what you want, and pursuing only those things.

It’s about feeling a sense of accomplishment and confidence about what you’ve done, and using that confidence to create motivation to pursue bigger and better futures.

Ready to Upgrade?

I’ve created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change quickly.

Get the cheat sheet here!

These 4 Simple Questions Will Give You Immediate Energy, Excitement, and Motivation was originally published in Thrive Global on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Medium Clearly Has Changed Its Algorithms

Medium definitely is not the place it used to be.

I don’t believe it offers the same opportunity it did to help writers break-out.

Some will still succeed here.

But they clearly regulate and cap how well articles can do within Medium.

My own stats have changed dramatically over the past few months.

I still get around the same views (I average between 650,000 and a million monthly views on Medium, and at the writing of this have 745,000 views in the past 30 days)— but far more of my traffic comes from outside sources due to my own platform, due to people who follow my work, and sometimes dumb luck.

But within Medium itself, it’s clear they are controlling and capping things much more.

Just because people clap for your stuff doesn’t mean it’s actually going into more newsfeeds.

There is far less trickle effect of traffic. It just seems to stop immediately after a day or 2, despite a large number of claps.

Medium keeps working harder and harder to control the platform — which I believe is good for them but ultimately bad for the writer.

Well, bad for the writer who truly wants to grow.

Medium offered me an amazing opportunity. I started on Medium in 2015 and it opened a huge door for me — allowing me to build a nearly 400,000 email list. I’m now working on my second major book and have gotten paid really well for both books.

But if I was starting now, I don’t think all of this would have happened for me. In fact, I know it wouldn’t.

Which begs the question — at this point, what is the true value of publishing on Medium?

They keep pushing harder and harder to get people to publish in their own program — where they have even more control. This platform has gone from democracy where the voice of the people mattered to a dictatorship, where the people at the top control it. The “top” stories now aren’t really the top stories — and haven’t been for a long time.

Medium’s own agenda gets louder and louder with each weekly email they send and change they make.

Do some articles randomly break out? Yes, I’ve seen it. I’ve done it for myself and other people. But it’s rarer and rarer and rarer. And the articles Medium focuses on now are the ones within their own program.

The writer has progressively less control over their own fate on this platform.

The “ground” has been leveled, which means that there is hardly any benefit to attempting to grow on this platform. There is almost no benefit, for example, in my having over 200K followers here because it seems as though Medium has changed something, such that those followers are limited in what they see. Moreover, the efficacy of “claps” is highly suspect to me now — as I will send a lot of traffic to medium, get a bunch of claps, and then a SUDDEN stop.

It has never been like this for years. This is all new in the past 3–6 months.

I’m still succeeding as a writer, but now it feels like I am in spite of Medium, not because of Medium. In fact, I’m now wondering if Medium is holding me back.

I recently talked to Seth Godin on the phone. He told me platforms come and go. Medium still offers a great deal — and it’s FREE to publish here so why not do it? It’s a beautiful platform — but for the writer seeking to break-out and go pro, I’m not sure Medium will help you do that anymore.

I’ll keep publishing here for sure. It’s free and some stuff will succeed, although there is no telling why at this point. But as someone who is aggressive and intentional about my growth and success as a writer — my focus will progressively be on other platforms.

This Short “Farm Boy” Story Will Motivate The Heck Out Of You

Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” — T. S. Eliot

Ezra Taft Benson was a religious leader who simultaneously served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Benson grew up on a farm in Whitney, Idaho. One day in 1915 at the age of 16, he was hired by a neighboring farmer to thin a field of sugar beets. When he got to his field of labor, he squinted as he scanned the field. It was just dawn and still too dark to see the whole horizon.

But that’s what farmers did.

They woke up before sunrise and got to work.

They didn’t complain about the pain of waking up. They just did it. Because the law of the harvest is always in effect. And the fields need to be tended to.

Most people couldn’t be farmers in today’s society. We’ve grown far too soft. We don’t know what it really takes to do a full-days’ work.

As Ezra scanned the fields that lay before him, and with his his short-handled hoe in hand, a peculiar thought popped into his head.

This thought somewhat surprised him actually. But it fixed itself deep into his mind and shifted his attitude and behavior dramatically.

“If I work as hard as I can, I wonder how much I can do in a day?”

That was the thought.

He became insanely curious about that one thing — how much could I possibly do?

A variation of this thought could be — how far could I possibly go?

With that curious intention in his mind and heart, he began working. The sun was just starting to peer over the Idaho mountain peaks. The air was crisp, but soon to become blazing hot.

Mid-way through the day and with sweat dripping down his face, he kept thinning the beet field.

He only stopped to drink and eat for brief moments, and continued to work continuously until the sun set beyond the mountains on the opposite horizon.

He was so busy working that he hadn’t actually realized how much it did. Only after he stopped did he look back and realize, with a bit of alarm, that he had thinned a full acre of beets in a single day! This was an unheard of amount of work for a single person — let alone a 16 year old kid.

When the farmer who hired Ezra saw the boy’s work, he was shocked.

“How did you do this?” the man questioned.

Ezra’s eyes were piercing, despite the fact that he looked physically exhausted. There was a confidence and stature that wasn’t there earlier that morning.

“I just wanted to see how far I could go,” Ezra responded.

The farmer dropped two silver dollars and two five-dollar gold coins into Ezra’s hand. Ezra could hardly believe it. That was the most money he had ever held in his hand. This was a small fortune. His mind began to spin. He soul began to float heavenward with confidence and excitement.

As he walked the few miles back to his farm, his mind danced. His heartbeat was quick. He felt like the richest man in the world. And he was — because he now had a confidence and level of self-trust that you can’t actually buy with money.

He had just watched himself push his own boundaries. His worldview of himself was ripped wide open and he stepped out of the limiting confines of his previous self-definition.

His curiosity led him to greater confidence and greater rewards than his imagination initially conjured.

Most People Are Curious About How Little They Can Do

Most people are curious about the exact opposite of what Ezra was curious about.

Most people are interested in how little they can do.

Joe Polish, the founder of Genius Network, has a great saying. He says that, “Winners find ways to be winners and losers find ways to be losers.”

It actually takes a lot of ingenuity and creativity to be unsuccessful.

Polish describes his time as a drug-addict, and about how much effort and thought it took to keep up his life. He was incredibly resourceful to get his drugs and to hide his stories and deceptions from family, friends, and others.

It takes a lot of work and curiosity to be a failure.

It takes a lot of energy to continually convince yourself that you’re not worth a damn.

It takes a lot of hard work and energy to pretend you’re working at work when in reality, you’re doing anything but work.

What if you flipped the script on yourself?

What if, rather that seeing how small you could be, you saw how great you could be?

This has nothing to do with ego.

This has nothing to do with arrogance and pride.

Rather, this has everything to do with curiosity and truth.

Who are you to play small?

Who are you to not be insatiably curious about what is possible?

Who are you to not be an incredible example to those around you?

Who are you to not live every single day — especially today — to see how far you can go?

Who are you to not push the boundaries of not only your own life, but of the entire human race?

Why aren’t you showing us what’s freaking possible?

Why aren’t you shocking and surprising everyone with how much you’re accomplishing and how beautiful you’re living?

Where is your creativity and curiosity?

Where is your imagination?

What if you let your imagination for what could be drive you to see how far you could go?

What if you got so absorbed in the possibilities that you stopped keeping track of time?

What if you stopped paying attention to all of the noise and distractions around you, because your life was so full of beautiful people and meaningful work?

What if you were continuously humbled by the size of your dreams and ambitions?

Who Are You To Be Brilliant?

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

— Marianne Williamson

Who are you to be brilliant?

Who are you to think bigger for yourself?

Who are you to get wildly curious about the possibilities?

Like Ezra, my question for you is this: How far will you go?

How much could you possibly do?

In 3 months from now when 2019 comes rolling by, and when everyone is setting the New Years’ Resolutions — which will quickly evaporate as they adapt back into their addictions and environment — where will you be?

When 2020 comes rolling around, where will you be?

How steep is your growth curve?

How far is your trajectory?

Is it light-years beyond anything you’ve ever seen anyone do?

This is your time.

How far will you go?

How much could you do?

That’s the question you should be asking yourself.

Ready to Upgrade?

I’ve created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change quickly.

Get the cheat sheet here!

This Short “Farm Boy” Story Will Motivate The Heck Out Of You was originally published in Thrive Global on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This 2-Minute Idaho Farm Boy Story Will Completely Shatter Your Limiting Beliefs

Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” — T. S. Eliot

Ezra Taft Benson was a religious leader who simultaneously served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Benson grew up on a farm in Whitney, Idaho. One day in 1915 at the age of 16, he was hired by a neighboring farmer to thin a field of sugar beets. When he got to his field of labor, he squinted as he scanned the field. It was just dawn and still too dark to see the whole horizon.

But that’s what farmers did.

They woke up before sunrise and got to work.

They didn’t complain about the pain of waking up. They just did it. Because the law of the harvest is always in effect. And the fields need to be tended to.

Most people couldn’t be farmers in today’s society. We’ve grown far too soft. We don’t know what it really takes to do a full-days’ work.

As Ezra scanned the fields that lay before him, and with his his short-handled hoe in hand, a peculiar thought popped into his head.

This thought somewhat surprised him actually. But it fixed itself deep into his mind and shifted his attitude and behavior dramatically.

“If I work as hard as I can, I wonder how much I can do in a day?”

That was the thought.

He became insanely curious about that one thing — how much could I possibly do?

A variation of this thought could be — how far could I possibly go?

With that curious intention in his mind and heart, he began working. The sun was just starting to peer over the Idaho mountain peaks. The air was crisp, but soon to become blazing hot.

Mid-way through the day and with sweat dripping down his face, he kept thinning the beet field.

He only stopped to drink and eat for brief moments, and continued to work continuously until the sun set beyond the mountains on the opposite horizon.

He was so busy working that he hadn’t actually realized how much it did. Only after he stopped did he look back and realize, with a bit of alarm, that he had thinned a full acre of beets in a single day! This was an unheard of amount of work for a single person — let alone a 16 year old kid.

When the farmer who hired Ezra saw the boy’s work, he was shocked.

“How did you do this?” the man questioned.

Ezra’s eyes were piercing, despite the fact that he looked physically exhausted. There was a confidence and stature that wasn’t there earlier that morning.

“I just wanted to see how far I cold go,” Ezra responded.

The farmer dropped two silver dollars and two five-dollar gold coins into Ezra’s hand. Ezra could hardly believe it. That was the most money he had ever held in his hand. This was a small fortune. His mind began to spin. He soul began to float heavenward with confidence and excitement.

As he walked the few miles back to his farm, his mind danced. His heartbeat was quick. He felt like the richest man in the world. And he was — because he now had a confidence and level of self-trust that you can’t actually buy with money.

He had just watched himself push his own boundaries. His worldview of himself was ripped wide open and he stepped out of the limiting confines of his previous self-definition.

His curiosity led him to greater confidence and greater rewards than his imagination initially conjured.

Most People Are Curious About How Little They Can Do

Most people are curious about the exact opposite of what Ezra was curious about.

Most people are interested in how little they can do.

Joe Polish, the founder of Genius Network, has a great saying. He says that, “Winners find ways to be winners and losers find ways to be losers.”

It actually takes a lot of ingenuity and creativity to be unsuccessful.

Polish describes his time as a drug-addict, and about how much effort and thought it took to keep up his life. He was incredibly resourceful to get his drugs and to hide his stories and deceptions from family, friends, and others.

It takes a lot of work and curiosity to be a failure.

It takes a lot of energy to continually convince yourself that you’re not worth a damn.

It takes a lot of hard work and energy to pretend you’re working at work when in reality, you’re doing anything but work.

What if you flipped the script on yourself?

What if, rather that seeing how small you could be, you saw how great you could be?

This has nothing to do with ego.

This has nothing to do with arrogance and pride.

Rather, this has everything to do with curiosity and truth.

Who are you to play small?

Who are you to not be insatiably curious about what is possible?

Who are you to not be an incredible example to those around you?

Who are you to not live every single day — especially today — to see how far you can go?

Who are you to not push the boundaries of not only your own life, but of the entire human race?

Why aren’t you showing us what’s freaking possible?

Why aren’t you shocking and surprising everyone with how much you’re accomplishing and how beautiful you’re living?

Where is your creativity and curiosity?

Where is your imagination?

What if you let your imagination for what could be drive you to see how far you could go?

What if you got so absorbed in the possibilities that you stopped keeping track of time?

What if you stopped paying attention to all of the noise and distractions around you, because your life was so full of beautiful people and meaningful work?

What if you were continuously humbled by the size of your dreams and ambitions?

Who Are You To Be Brilliant?

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

— Marianne Williamson

Who are you to be brilliant?

Who are you to think bigger for yourself?

Who are you to get wildly curious about the possibilities?

Like Ezra, my question for you is this: How far will you go?

How much could you possibly do?

In 3 months from now when 2019 comes rolling by, and when everyone is setting the New Years’ Resolutions — which will quickly evaporate as they adapt back into their addictions and environment — where will you be?

When 2020 comes rolling around, where will you be?

How steep is your growth curve?

How far is your trajectory?

Is it light-years beyond anything you’ve ever seen anyone do?

This is your time.

How far will you go?

How much could you do?

That’s the question you should be asking yourself.

Ready to Upgrade?

I’ve created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change quickly.

Get the cheat sheet here!

This 2-Minute Idaho Farm Boy Story Will Completely Shatter Your Limiting Beliefs was originally published in Thrive Global on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Scientific Argument For Waking Up Early

Photo by Leon Biss on Unsplash

If you want to become elite at what you do, you need to consistently get better.

High performance is all about putting in more and “reps.”

Doing the same workout every day won’t make you stronger or faster. Just showing up to work every day and doing your job won’t make you better at your job.

It’s been shown that most doctors become worse at their job over their career. They are at their height when they come out of medical school and slowly get worse over time.

Why?

Because they stop learning.

Experience enough isn’t how you get better.

Continually improving your experience and process is how you get better — this is what psychologists call “deliberate practice.”

Another word for Deliberate Practice is what Cal Newport calls, “Deep Work,” which is rare in our distracted world. In order to engage in Deep Work, you need to design your life for Deep Recovery — which means you’re totally disconnected from work.

Deep work is rare because Deep Recovery is even rarer. Hence, high performance is rare and most people remain mediocre despite putting in LOTS of hours every day.

Most People’s Days Are Not “Deliberate” Or Designed For High Performance

Every single day could be looked at like a “rep.” Like another workout. Like another opportunity to get better.

But very few people look at their days like this.

Most people are simply doing the same thing over and over.

They are gaining more experience, but that experience isn’t actually making them better. In most cases, their experience is actually making them worse over time.

In this article, I’m going to make several scientific arguments about how to optimize your day and your life. I’m going to provide a simple framework for designing your life around DEEP WORK and DEEP RECOVERY. If you’re not regularly engaging in both — then you’re living in mediocrity.

Here is a brief overview of the core arguments and principles:People who wake up earlier are more confidentWaking up early is the first decision that dominoes into other better decisionsWaking up early creates positive and optimistic emotionsFrom an evolutionary perspective, waking up early gives you a competitive-edge (Darwin would be proud)Waking up early and focusing on “Important” rather than “Urgent” activities — such as learning, planning, fitness, and creative projects — allows you to make progress daily, which compounds over timeWaking up early, working in a flow-state, and then completing your work early gives you a longer recovery period in your afternoon and eveningThe quality and duration of your recovery determines your creative and productive potential the next dayThe quality and duration of your recovery determines your level of presence in the other areas of your life — most notably your family and other close relationshipsTime spent away from work and away from screens is your greatest super-powerHaving a life and focusing your energy on your highest priorities allows you to be 10X or 100X more productive with your time when you’re actually workingHere’s a breakdown of how it works:You wake up early, ideally between 4–6You have a morning routine that gets you into a peak-state (this generally involves visualization, meditation, journaling, fitness, and IMPORTANT work)You leave your cellphone in another room and on airplane mode for several hoursYou focus your work on results, rather than the amount of time spent doing itYou use your cellphone, social media, and internet sparingly and intentionally (ideally no more than 3–4 hours per day and during the early afternoon hours)You stop working earlier in your day than usual (ideally between noon-3PM)You put your phone back on airplane mode and you engage in your life and relationshipsWhy Does This Process Make Scientific Sense?

In order to become a high performer at anything, you need to optimize your life for RECOVERY.

Working long hours is not rare. Most people work long hours. And people are actually working more and more — despite the fact that technologies have been developed so we could be working less and living more.

Being present with loved ones is rare. Engaging in physical and relational activities without technology is rare. Being away from screen-time is rare. Getting a good night sleep at a reasonable hour is rare.

Designing your life is rare. As T.S. Eliot once wrote, “Where is the Life we have lost in living?”

Most people are too caught up living and have no clue how to actually design a life. A life is something you build and create, not something you do. I life is something you have.

There are Two Key Concepts Required For High Performance — Both Of Which Are Rare

The two key concepts for high performance and radical productivity are:

Deep Work , as described by author and scientist, Cal Newport Psychological Detachment From Work , a new and emerging line of research

In Deep Work, Cal Newport distinguishes “deep work” from “shallow work.” Here’s the difference:

Deep work is:rare;high value; andnon-replicable (i.e., not easy to copy/outsource)Shallow work is:common;low value; andreplicable (i.e., anyone can do it)

Deep work requires deep focus. Very few people can focus deeply for long periods of time anymore. Most people’s lives have been optimized for distraction. People’s bodies have become addicted to quick-hit neurochemicals — such as dopamine and even cortisol.

Deep work doesn’t just happen. It has to be designed for. According to Stanford Psychologist, Bj Fogg, willpower is not how you build good habits. Instead, you need to design your environment and life for them. You need to get small wins every single day, which stack on top of each other.

Thus, one reason to wake up early is that it is an immediate small win that ripples into other wins. Another reason is that your brain is far more creative and rested first thing in the morning, especially if you’ve adequately worked and recovered the day before.

You cannot be satisfied as a person if you’re not doing good, creative, and important work.

If you’re not doing deep work, you won’t become successful in today’s fast-paced, information, and technology driven world.

As Cal Newport said:

“The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.”

In order to regularly do DEEP WORK, you need to set your life up so that it can happen. This is where RECOVERY is key. The important concept here is just as rare as deep work, and is one of the primary reasons deep work doesn’t happen.

This concept is known as Psychological Detachment From Work — which can only occur when you completely refrain from work-related activities and thoughts during non-work time.

The non-stop and highly competitive world we live in makes very difficult to psychologically detach from work.

Our technologies have been designed to be habit-forming, which means that if we are not intentional — we will regularly and subconsciously check-email, respond to texts, and check social media.

Even if we are not working, we will regularly be thinking about work because we are not absorbed in the other areas of our life. Research shows that it’s very difficult for most people to psychologically detach from work.

Yet, research also shows that proper detachment/recovery from work is essential for physical and psychological health, in addition to engaged and productive work.

Research has further found that people who psychologically detach from work experience:

Less work-related fatigue and procrastinationFar greater engagement at work, which is defined as vigor, dedication, and absorption (i.e., “flow”)Greater work-life balance, which directly relates to quality of lifeGreater marital satisfactionGreater mental health

Put simply — if you want to be AMAZING at what you do, you need to do less of it. Well, not exactly less, but you need to be far more focused and deep while you’re doing your work. And when you’re not working, you need to be absorbed and engaged in the other areas of your life.

The Length And Quality Of Your Recovery Matters (Which Is Another Reason To Wake Up Early)

If you wake up early, let’s say between 4–6AM and immediately get to work, you will get a lot of work done. Especially if you leave your cellphone away from your body, and especially if proactively avoid things like social media and email during the first few hours of your day.

The earlier and better you work, the sooner you can and should finish for the day.

One of the primary reasons to finish fast is so you can RECOVER longer. If you stop working sometime around 1–3PM, and completely psychologically detach from work, you will experience the opposite of deep work — you will experience DEEP RECOVERY.

Deep recovery is essential for deep work.

In fitness, you can only push your body to the extent you’ve given it proper rest and nutrition. It’s actually during recovery that your muscles grow and strengthen. And if you push yourself to the max, then you need more rest.

It’s an incredible feedback loop. The better and harder you push yourself, the deeper you’ll need to recover — which will not only make you stronger, but will enable better and harder performance in your future work.

This is how you get better overtime.

It’s also how you build a life.

Most people are living day-by-day. They aren’t actually making their days progressively better.

The longer and deeper your recovery, the better rested you will be and the better you’ll sleep, because your mind will be at ease.

If, for example, you stop working around 1–3PM, and just live completely presently with loved ones and engage in other hobbies, your relationships will be deeper. Your life will be more meaningful. You’ll be able to make incredible progress on things like learning a language, or developing relationships, or reading books, or traveling, or doing community service.

You’ll be focused on the things which matter most, and you won’t need more time for work, because the time you spend at work will be well-spent, and the time away from work will also be well-spent.

You will be building a life.

You’ll be building memories.

You’ll have more to draw from and more meaning to forge into the work you do. You’ll have experience and perspective, which will make your work more mature and contextual.

As you get better at recovering, you will find that your creativity and clarity spike dramatically.

Research shows that time away from work is where clarity and creativity actually happen. Only 16% of creative insights happen while at the work environment. Tim Ferriss explains in The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, how regular “mini-retirements” can improve your life and productivity.

Every 30–60 days, you absolutely should take 2–5 days off, as Ferriss recommends. That recovery is essential.

However, you can and absolutely should be RECOVERING daily for 6–8 hours as well, and this isn’t sleep. The more continuous and intentional that recovery is on a daily basis, the better your life will be. The better your sleep will be. And the better and deeper you work will be when you do it.

FAQ: But What If I Work For Someone Else And Can’t Control My Schedule?

Whether you work for yourself or someone else — the goal is the same. Get the best results you can in the most effective manner.

Results are the name of the game — and if you’re effective, you can get those results faster than most people because most people are living in a distracted state. Very few people do deep work. Very few people have organized their life to recover.

Instead, most people are living in a subconscious-lull, rarely if ever truly present where they are. Very few people know what true productivity means. Very few people experience deep creativity and growth on a daily basis.

Again, most people’s days are a repeat of the day before. They aren’t being deliberate like an Olympic Athlete is with their workouts.

If you’re not deliberate with your days, then you’re not getting better, but instead, you’re probably getting worse.

In the book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, author Greg McKeown explains that, as an employee, you can usually negotiate your work hours and even work activities. All you need to do is be candid about what matters to both you and your boss. If you can prove that you can get better results doing things a certain way, you can often get what you want.

In this way, you can say “no” to non-essential tasks and non-essential work routines.

Put simply, with many if not most jobs, you can work when you want, where you want, and how you want. But only if you can actually execute and produce results. The best way to produce results is by doing deep work on only the most essential things — and by removing all of the non-essential stuff from your life and day.

Break-Down Of How To Become Elite, Day-By-Day

According to Stephen Covey, most people focus all of their energy on Urgent activities — such as email, deadlines, etc.

We all have urgent things going on in our lives. But how much have we designed our lives to focus on the Important and Non-Urgent things, such as planning, fitness, learning, long-term projects, and creating memories with loved ones?

The most successful people in the world learn how to focus their time and days on the most important things. They learn how to delete, delegate, outsource, or automate most of the urgent stuff.

How much of your time do you spend on Important Stuff ?

How much of your time do you spend on Urgent Stuff?

How much DEEP WORK have you done in the past 30 days?

How many incredible and fun memories have you had with your loved ones?

Are you merely living, or have you built a life?

When you wake up early and get right to work, you’ll have more time in your afternoon and evening to enjoy the other areas of your life.

The deeper your recovery, the deep will be your work AND your relationships. The more creative, clear, and successful you’ll be.

Happiness and success are not rocket science. They simply need to be designed for. They require that you live presently and intentionally, every single day.

Ready to Upgrade?

I’ve created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.

Get the cheat sheet here!

The Scientific Argument For Waking Up Early was originally published in Thrive Global on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I really like this comment.

I really like this comment.

Having some form of protection and trust provides the needed space to be able to venture outward to places of instability.