Busy Avoiding Productive Work

"Embracing new things often requires us to embrace our fears, however trivial they may seem. You deal with fear not by pretending it doesn’t exist, but by refusing to give it decision-making authority."

If the goal is meaningful, it will transform you. You’ll be more confident, mature, capable of seeing even bigger adventures, and empowered to pursue them.

A quest might end better than we imagine or disastrously. Either way, there’s always another adventure if we’re willing to pursue it.

1. Live the game you dream.
2. Make your own Playbook. Identify the “epic players”, the current “quests”, the “bosses” and the “countermoves” in beating them.
3. Experiment a reward system. Give points to every milestone and collect “loots” in the form of predetermined rewards.
4. Create your “dashboard” for detailed project planning. 
5. Keep your game simple. Do not load it with too many and complicated rules and quests.
6. Pause for a while to regain your energy. Sticking to the game is more valuable than heroic bursts followed by inaction.
7. Design it beautifully to be inspired to play it.
8. Revisit and refine your game, improve your Playbook.
9. Define boundaries. Don’t be a game addict.

Behavior modification teaches us that we repeat behaviors that make us feel good. What’s your payoff for not changing? 

Until the goal becomes larger than the payoff, you’re always going to choose feeling good over feeling uncomfortable.

Start with one behavior at a time.

Instead of concentrating on losing 20 pounds in 20 days, for example, make a goal to simply begin by eating five fruits and vegetables a day.  

• When a person is in a state of flow, all five potent neurochemicals massively amplify the immune system.
• While on flow, stress-causing hormones are flushed out of body, and the autoimmune and nervous systems go haywire.
• A Gallup poll found that most American workers are disengaged and spends less than 5% of their day in flow.

Flow is an optimal state of consciousness, when you feel and perform your best. It’s the moment of total absorption.

Time speeds up or slows down like a freeze-frame effect. Mental and physical ability go through the roof, and the brain takes in more information per second, processing it more deeply.

Replace the phrase “have time” with “make time.” 

Saying, “I don’t have time to [work towards your goal] ” isn’t doing you any favors.  Use " I am making time to [work for your goal]".

This way, start thinking of time as being a plentiful resource and declare it to be something within your control.

Instead of over-planning, come up with one tangible next step for each item on your dream bucket list, that will get you going in the right direction.

Being open to life's serendipity—instead of micromanaging—will make you much happier in the long run.

Why we set our goals matters. If it is out of fear or social expectations, then they are not going to last.

Authentic values are what helps achieve our goals, as there is a never-ending supply of willpower when we are doing what aligns with our innermost core.

Resolving that you won't have any alcohol keeps the focus on the alcohol. Instead of focusing on what you don't want to do, focus on the positive aspect, like drinking more water.

Use gratitude and other positive emotions to steer your mind out of any pitfalls.

“When your goals are clear, you will come up with exactly the right answer at exactly the right time”

A dream is the root of all success, for having a dream does not limit you on what you can do. Successful people allow themselves to lean back and imagine the kind of life that is possible for them.

• Your goals are like the rudder on a small rowboat. They set the direction and determine where you go. 
• If you commit to one goal, then the rudder stays put and you continue moving forward. 
• If you flip-flop between goals, then the rudder moves all around and it is easy to find yourself rowing in circles.
• If the rudder is your goal, then the oars are your process for achieving it. While the rudder determines your direction, it is the oars that determine your progress.

Example: If you’re a writer, your goal is to write a book. Your system is the writing schedule that you follow each week.

1. Ruthlessly Eliminate Your Goals. Consistently prune and trim down your goals. If you can muster the courage to prune away a few of your goals, then you create the space you need for the remaining goals to fully blossom.
2. Stack Your Goals. Make a specific plan for when, where and how you will perform this."Networking: After I return from my lunch break, I will send one email to someone I want to meet."
3. Set an Upper Bound. Don't focus on the minimum threshold. Instead of saying,  “I want to make at least 10 sales calls today.” rather say, “I want to make at least 10 sales calls today, but not more than 20.”