I grew up on superheroes and professional wrestling.
Even as a kid, something in me was attracted to the larger-than-life.
I saw characters achieve big things…
Say whatever was on their mind…
Decide not to go into work because they felt like it.
They were completely themselves, with an aura about them that said, “Fuck that, pay me.”
And sure, I knew it was fake but…
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How much of your life do you need to sacrifice in order to reach your goals?
I’m crazy interested in the answer to that question.
Wisdom passed down from the wise have said that sacrifice is a necessary ingredient for any achievement.
So does that mean that I have to give up the happy hour cocktails and the Superbowl pizza parties and the long hours logged into Netflix to catch up on a few episodes of Breaking Bad?
We don’t spend enough time thinking about what it’s going to take in order to achieve the things we want in life.
Movies like The Secret spend so much time talking about “faith” and “visualization”–both incredibly important for achieving goals–but both words don’t touch on the mental preparation needed for what you’ll have to give in order to get what you want.
You’re going to have to go through some shit. And the bigger your goal is, the more shit you’ll have to trek through.
Recently, I’ve made the commitment to pursue my greatest idea. In my post about morning routines, I mentioned that I spend some time in ‘forethought’ during the last hour of my Package. Forethought is thinking about the process of achieving what you want, both the work involved and the challenges you’ll face along the way.
If you’re mentally prepared for the work and the challenges and the sacrifices you’ll need to make in order to get what you want, then you’re more likely to get it, rather than give up when the shit starts piling up to your neck.
“Talent and time are a [creator]’s only assets. Why give your life to an idea that’s not worth your life?” – Robert McKee (Click to Tweet)
I would encourage you to really spend time thinking about what you’re getting yourself into.
I’m as optimistic as anyone, but before you make that leap into achievement, ask yourself a few questions:
“Is this idea so fascinating, so rich in possibility, that I want to spend months, perhaps years, of my life in pursuit of its fulfillment? Is this concept so exciting that I will get up each morning with the hunger to [create]? Will this inspiration compel me to sacrifice all of life’s other pleasures in my quest to perfect its telling? If the answer is no, find another idea.” — Robert McKee
What’s your answer?
Will waking up at 4am make you rich, good-looking, and successful?
The Chinese thought so.*
And even I have long suspected that waking up early (CONSISTENTLY) and getting your most important work done (FIRST) is better for achieving goals than any other method.
So let’s find out whether this is actually the case.
“No one who can rise before dawn 360 days a year fails to make his family rich.” – Ancient Chinese Proverb * (Click to Tweet)
I’ve designed my current package (as of 12/18/2012) based on my values and my desire to build my business over the next year.
It looks something like this:
4am: Freshen up / Morning mantra & mission / Sexual Energy exercises / Visualize what I want my life to look like (30 min.)
5am: Exercise (20 min.) / Shower / Journal (morning pages)
6am: Create video (vlog)
7am: Write (blog/newsletter/other)
8am: Deliver (Marketing/PR/Outreach) / Forethought
This is a rough outline of how I go about my mornings right now. I like to start with the mission statement and repeating my goals out loud so I can condition my brain to OBSESS over achieving them. The visualizing is super clutch because it gets me feeling excited about living the life I’ve dreamed about.
I always gets ideas when I work out–I don’t know why either, they just come to me when jogging or doing pushups–so I journal after my workout session so I can write down any great ideas that came to me during the session.
For the two hours after that, I focus on creation. It’s been said that creating regularly opens you up for receiving bigger and better ideas.
Sounds good to me.
The last part of my package is the delivery of my work. Creativity should be shared with others so they can get inspired–it doesn’t belong to you. So I’ll spend this hour looking for channels to deliver the writing and video content creation. This is a big part of building a business online, which is what I’m very passionate about right now.
So if you look at the structure of the package, you can see how it serves my personal and professional goals. Now I move through the day with the confidence that I’m growing daily in all areas. I’m not upset because I didn’t get to the gym in the morning or because I haven’t worked on my business in days–everything is done right there in the morn.
So now I have a question for you:
What does your Package look like?
Tell me about it in the comments below.
In late 2007, I told the absolute truth for two weeks straight. I went out of my way to tell people how much I either appreciated or resented them. I brought up past situations that still really bugged me. I answered questions with the kind of overwhelming candor that would make Howard Stern blush. I was completely transparent.
Needless to say…those were the worst two weeks of my life.
Okay, I’m lying—they weren’t the worst two weeks, just the most confrontational. Every conversation was like playing hopscotch in a mine field. The conversation topics that we generally gloss over with convention turned into full-on confessionals.
At the bank: “Hello sir, how are you this morning?”
“I’m doing great—the woman in front of me was wearing a thong and I could totally see it through her skirt.”
. . .
“Obi, did you get my email?”
“Yea, I read it but couldn’t think of anything clever to respond with so I just deleted it, hoping you wouldn’t ask me about it.”
. . .
And those were the easy questions. [Click for more of this awesome post…]
HENRY MILLER
COMMANDMENTS
1. Work on one thing at a time until finished.
2. Start no more new books, add no more new material to “Black Spring.”
3. Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.
4. Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!
5. When you can’t create you can work.
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