The Advanced Antifragile Skill

If you focus on getting the small stuff done but not the big stuff, or switch between tasks all the time, you’ll be less effective.

Pick one important thing to focus on at a time and learn to evaluate what tasks and projects are of higher value to you.

It's best done by focusing on the smallest first step and practicing just launching into that.

Pick the tiniest first step, and launch into it.

• The Mind is not an enemy, which needs to be killed, but something to befriend.
• Creating a calm space inside us can help calm the monkey down. Like a toddler throwing tantrums, you need to calm down the surroundings and minimize activity to keep the noise down.
• Reducing distractions can help calm our Mind. We normally have a thousand things to check or look after throughout the day, be it email, notifications, etc. all of which keep the Monkey Mind jumping.
• We are rushing too fast, most of the day. We need to slow down, pause and get quieter in between our never-ending daily routine.

1. Meditate in the morning, starting with just 2 minutes.
2. Provide yourself intentional space for your focused activities, blocking the time slots.
3. Turn off as many distractions from your entire day, while turning on your awareness towards them.
4. Do not judge or condemn your mind, and keep witnessing what it is doing.
5. Slow down, relax your muscles, and take some deep breaths to calm yourself.
6. Take frequent short breaks, putting space between two activities.

• Wanting to help others: If you get better at not procrastinating on your life’s work, for example, you can help more people with that meaningful work.
• Appreciating life: We have a short time on Earth, and the life we have is a gift. When we procrastinate and give in to endless distraction, and don’t make the most of our time, we are not fully appreciating the gift we have.

One of the most important things you can do to get better at self-discipline is to take small actions.

It can seem overwhelming to start big, intimidating projects. Instead, start with easy actions, things so small you can’t say no.

Put aside all the messages, social media, distractions, smaller tasks, organizing and tidying. 

Instead, have a small space (even just 10-15 minutes) for this important task, and nothing else.

For just a minute, mindfully drop into your body and feel your fear, resistance, frustration, overwhelm. Let yourself feel it fully.

Then let yourself feel the love you feel for those who you’ll be serving by doing this task.  

You really should focus on one goal at a time, but if you want to do 2 or 3, that’s OK too.

Any smaller tasks are essential if they help you accomplish those goals, and not essential if they’re not related.

You can't do it all. Only stick to those commitments in your life that really give you joy and value.

For the rest, you need to learn to say no, and value your time. 

To give your meticulous attention to a task, a person, an action, a moment means to give it everything you have right now: all of your concentration, time, love and devotion.

• Notice each activity that you’re doing as a separate event.
• For every event, ask yourself what you can do to give it your full attention. Turn off your phone? Turn your body fully toward the person asking for your attention?
• Give the moment your undivided attention. Let go of thoughts about the future and past and turn toward what you’re facing even more.

Some effects of not being committed:

• We lose trust in ourselves and create a negative self-image.
• We tend to shrink and hide in our comfort zones.
• We lose the trust of our friends and family.
• We see that people don't trust us and feel guilty.

Ignite your committed self:

• Observe and realize that your commitment levels need to be corrected.
• Check your true desire to commit, if it feels right, and if you have space and energy to uphold and sustain the commitment.
• See if you can bet something substantial to uphold this commitment.
• Take action and create a winning environment around you.
• Start with a relatively small commitment.
• Do whatever it takes to never break a promise to yourself again.

When you focus on developing systems and work every day, your work compounds over time, developing exponential growth. 

The more advantages you create, the more your next advantages pay off. A 1% gain every day compounds to almost 38x increase over a year.

Systems are the best way to progress since they reward effort and we control all the variables. However, we need to have a sense of direction in those efforts, to know what we are trying to accomplish. 

Writing daily with no objective is just practice. If you want to achieve something, you need to commit to a certain output, like publishing a post on your blog weekly. At the end of the day, a system is a way to control how to achieve an output.

• The Overscheduler: Their days are determined from the moment they wake up to their evening routine.
• The Minimalist: They’ve got one or two recurring events, but a whole lot of white space so they’re “free” (at least on paper) for long stretches of work.

The most successful people consistently get their most important work done first.

Build recurring time for your most important work in the morning, before you start anything else. Your energy levels are naturally higher in the morning, but completing a meaningful task first thing has also a domino effect that pushes you through the day.