How do you install a major change in your life? This post gives primary source quotes from two people who have demonstrated mastery.
In future posts I will talk about application of these principles. And by that I mean I will talk about me applying these principles to my life in 2022.
I’m not going to tell you what to do. I’m a nobody, a nothing special, an Everyman. I’m going to tell you what I’m thinking and what I’m doing, and you can decide what to do for you. If the shoe fits . . . .
Seth Godin, in Linchpin:
Leo Babauta’s brilliant little book Zen Habits helps you think your way through this problem. His program is simple: Attempt to create only one significant work a year. Break that into smaller projects, and every day, find three tasks to accomplish that will help you complete a project. And do only that during your working hours. I’m talking about an hour a day to complete a mammoth work of art, whatever sort of art you have in mind. That hour a day might not be fun, but it’s probably a lot more productive than the ten hours you spend right now.
Linchpin, pp. 135-136.
Mike Cernovich has a long thread on Twitter about this topic. It is an immensely practical way to actually get it done.
Twitter thread here: https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1465390003983245312 — at least until Twitter terminates Mike’s account for WrongThink. Which is why I pasted everything here.
Each year I start a New Project (yes, caps, as it’s a priority).
It’s a form of New Year’s Resolutions.
By the end of the year, I want have finished something totally new.
Could be writing a book, making a movie, or learning a new skill.
The methodology is stretching but within your confines.
For example making a movie is harder than writing a book, but the core skills are similar.
Draft a story, make it move.
Stretching = visual storytelling vs. written word.
In 2021 I wanted to focus on my cardiovascular health.
That fits within framework, as
1. I hate cardio.
2. I’ve done athletic stuff my whole life.
Stretching within existing parameters is how you expand yourself.
Once the project is decided on, then how to do it?
What if you thought of yourself as a “home improvement project.”
That’s always been how I see this stuff.
If you’re building a home, you focus on different projects.
You can’t do it “all at once.”
Thus in 2021 I said, “I want to get my resting heart rate into the 50’s.”
Some might not consider this lofty, I don’t care at all what others think is “worthy” of a project, this is how I approach life, and why I get more done than the average bear.
Key to your own self-improvement projects is tuning people out.
Most people are a disaster. But they’ll tell you why you can’t do something, or why it doesn’t matter.
But when I look around, yeah, not really impressed.
You have to focus on yourself, ignore others.
Once I decide on the project, there’s two ways to go.
1. Hire a coach. This is the best way. This is what 99% should do.
2. Do your own research. I prefer doing it this way. It’s inefficient, but God blessed / cursed me with autistic like curiosity.
In my 20’s, when running (and also weighing 163 pounds very fit), my lowest resting heart rate was 52. There’s a genetic component to this stuff, of course, be realistic.
I said, “Can I get my resting HR into the high 50’s?”
I’m 44.
Ok let’s see how to do this.
If you’re doing home improvement, you need to buy tools.
If you’re doing self-improvement, same vibe.
I got a Whoop, there are other fitness trackers (some might even be better), but that’s the one I got.
Get the tools.
Then the knowledge.
So I got the whoop (tools) and did my homework (knowledge).
Loaded up audiobooks and podcasts.
My sole focus was learning this stuff. What is HRV? How can you lower RHR?
I learned that, for heart health, Zone 2 was the way to go.
For a lot of reasons. (I’ll post useful resources later in the thread.)
Got on a stationary biked and pedalled.
BORING AF
Once you begin self-improvement, you encounter challenges.
For me, I hated doing Zone 2 cardio.
(Zone 2 is a heart rate range, or a power range if on a bike. Again – sources posted later.)
Time to reframe.
Zone 2 cardio is boring because you’re not really going hard, and you need to put time in, you don’t feel like you’re actually doing anything. Especially if you’ve done sports, used to HIIT, etc.
Boring = great opportunity to focus on breath work and audiobooks.
I said to myself, “This is great. You now have 5-10 hours a week to catch up on podcasts and audiobooks. How fortunate you are.”
(Yes, literally, that’s my guided self-talk.)
Kept pedalling away like a little cardio queen.
I also told myself, “You are rebuilding yourself at a cellular level, this will take time.”
I’m not a patient person at all, so these little mindset tricks help me a lot.
Continual positive reinforcing self-talk.
Back to Zone 2.
As you get older, mitochondrial dysfunction is what kills you.
You lose mitochondria, they become less efficient at burning fat and glucose.
Good article here: https://www.howardluksmd.com/zone-2-hr-training-live-longer-less-injury/
I listened to this podcast on Zone 2, found it extremely persuasive, and then committed to the plan.
peterattiamd.com/inigosanmillan/
I do a lot of reading and listening on subjects related to my project as well.
You really need to reinforce the message constantly.
Especially when you’re doing something new.
It’s both knowledge and positive reinforcement.
Once you start a new self project, as with home remodels, you’re going to run into stuff.
You don’t just completely change part of yourself with ease.
You have to learn how to troubleshoot, and moreover, lean into the challenges.
Accept them as a given, move forward,
For me the biggest challenges were boredom, feeling like what I was doing wasn’t working.
Which means reframe.
“What a great opportunity to learn patience.”
To live on a longer timeline.
What can I get done in 1 year, or 3-5 years?
What does that look like?
Most of what you want to do is a mind game. Tricks your head plays on you. “This won’t work, you’ll look stupid, you’re wasting your time.”
Or when you’re grinding, “Why bother doing this?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
So you learn tactics on how to trick the inner Trickster.
Every negative thought from the Trickster (in every major religion this is seen as spiritual entity) has an answer.
“Why do this?” / Why not? What else am I going to do – watch sports all day?
“This doesn’t matter.” / That’s for God to decide, here on Earth I’m staying busy.
I even decided to name the pattern of negative thoughts that lead to self-defeat.
The Trickster is at it again!
It’s like my foil now.
Oh what is the Trickster up to now?
Made it fun to wrestle with an entity.
Instead of being frustrated or demoralized by negative thoughts, it became fun.
Oh here comes the Trickster again!
It’s like your co-worker Bob. Oh here he goes again, and you roll your eyes.
That turned negativity into a game.
Back to the plan.
What happened?
Well I almost hit my metrics early.
Then I got sick, it was a bad upper respiratory infection. Choking on my own breath.
I got a “long haul,” (yes this happens) so then everything was messed up for months.
“Setbacks” are inevitable.
That’s why I focused more on a longer timeline.
I had to look at shitty metrics for several weeks, which yeah, was frustrating.
But you can’t just quit, and what’s a few bad weeks?
Get on a longer timeline.
When you take on a New Project, you learn a lot about yourself.
Yes the cliches are true.
You see how a thought pattern appearing now had sabotaged you so many times before.
Setbacks are a great time to ask, “Has this happened before? Did this hold me back?”
Push through.
Today’s setbacks let me see huge missed opportunities from my past.
“Oh man now I totally understand why _____ didn’t work like it should have.”
The problem, as always, is yourself.
It’s hard to uproot these behaviors, because you have to challenge yourself to find them.
Back to the first post.
I wanted a low resting heart rate. That was project for 2021.
This isn’t a typical reading, but I actually hit the high 40’s a bit before bed a couple nights a week.
Hire a coach if you want to hit a fitness metric. (I did martial arts, sports, gym bro stuff my whole life, so easier for me to find my way through.)
Key is your mental approach.
No plan will work if you don’t have the mind tricks.
After I finish a big project for the year, I keep the gains.
For 2022 I’ll have another New Project.
Focus is on maintaining whatever was achieved form prior year, and then going through process again.
Bill Gates isn’t the most popular guy in these parts, one thing he said that was right:
– You’ll overestimate what you can accomplish in one year, and grossly underestimate what’s possible in 5 years.
Thst’s been true of my approach.
In 5 years, you can be a different person.
A key here isn’t to have a 5 year plan. You can’t plan out even one year these days.
Skills has to be the focus.
You can learn one new skill each year, keep those gains as you learn a new skill.
Imagine yourself with 5 new skills in 5 years.
Wow.
Who would you even be?
Say you want to “start a business.”
Can you keep books, project cash flow, manage inventory, tell a story about your product, handle downturns, pivot, lean into winners, network, manage people?
A “goal” doesn’t really mean anything.
Skills pay the bills.
Say you want to “get fit” as a “goal.”
Can you manage your time, deal with pain, keep to the plan when you don’t feel like it, know how to say No to people who distract you?
Everything in life is skills based.
Goals don’t mean anything.
I know I said this post is theory, not practice. But here is what I have done: actions following intention. I own Linchpin (Seth Godwin’s book) and Mike Cernovich’s Gorilla Mindset. I own both books in paper and Kindle format. And I read and reread them. I am on reread number three for Linchpin (not counting the Audible copy I own and have listened to) and probably have read Gorilla Mindset four or five times.
Preconception: it’s BORING AF (as Mike’s thread states) to read the same thing again and again. There are two responses. (1) Yeah, it’s boring. So what. Do it. (2) No it’s not. There is something new I learn every time.
Strike while the iron is hot. But first—keep the iron hot.
Buy the books.