Curiosity

Probe: give me an example…

Dig: who, what, where, when, why and how on every accomplishment or project

Differentiate: we vs. I, good vs. great, exposure vs. expertise, participant vs. owner/leader, 20 yard line vs. 80 yard line

Situation- What's the background of what you were working on?

Task- What tasks were you given?

Action- What actions did you take?

Results- What results did you measure?

• Regular Aerobic Exercise: Great for both your physical and mental health. Increases the production of dopamine and boosts creativity.
• Preparing Your Own Meals. It’ll take some getting used to, but it’s a habit that’ll boost your health, wealth and productivity. 

• Create a Household Budget: the best habit to help you save money. A household budget helps to encourage frugality and discourage impulse spending. You’ll feel more motivated to engage in other good financial habits once you’ve got this in place.
• Financial Audits. This involves frequent checks as to whether you’re spending your money as wisely as possible.

• Some of our daily to-dos should not require a constant daily effort and could be optimized further. Look for such habits and if the daily effort is straining you, look for other innovative solutions.

• Time and Energy are limited resources, and as we grow, our habits may become obsolete. We could use the same time and energy to explore new and better options.

• It is a good idea to pay attention to where we spend our time and see if there is something we do daily but have outgrown long ago.

Being consistent can also lead to burnout and lack of growth, and to be creative and innovative, we sometimes need a break from our daily activity. When we stop and do something new, we start to be part of a creative process, instead of simply repeating the same thing every day.

The key is to not rely on a rigid consistency but to be resilient enough to withstand any breaks. Our resilient habits are usually the old ones and have some psychological rewards while involving some external accountability. 

Exercising regularly is for many people a keystone habit because when they do it, they also make healthier eating and life choices and procrastinate less.

Other keystone habits include: meditation, reading, writing and socialising. They provide a nice foundation for a healthy life in all domains

Look for behaviors that have a ripple effect, and change your other behaviors without extra effort. 

Also, pay attention to how you see yourself when you do a particular habit: Does it change your self-image? Do you feel better when you think of yourself as a person?

Make achievable commitments to test new routines and approach it as a series of experiments.

Try your new routine for a while and tweak it or switch to a new one if it doesn’t suit you.

Once you have a clear breakdown of what's happening at each stage of your habit loop, brainstorm healthier routines that will produce the results you want.

Create a list of options of alternatives that might provide comparable reward to the one you are trying to eliminate. Focus on new routines that will help you decompress after a stressful day (the cue) and leave you in a positive frame of mind to get freelance work done (reward).

We never arrive. We work hard to succeed, and then we have to work twice as hard to maintain that success.

It’s a slow grind. And it starts with our mindset.

We all have some type of talent, something that sets us apart from the rest of the world. This can also be a potential trap.

Never just rely on your gift or talent alone. Work on your craft. Investigate your weaknesses and make an effort to minimize them.

Wake up early and you can spend some undisturbed time alone and do your most important tasks or get ready for what is coming during the day.

You may feel uneasy and uncomfortable at first, but you need to overcome it and turn it into a habit. Wake up 15 minutes earlier and gradually improve from there can be a good strategy.

You can do this either in the morning before you start your day or before you sleep at night. Read relevant books that will improve your knowledge or just read personal development books.

1. It creates a visual cue that can remind you to act.
2. It is motivating to see the progress you are making. You don't want to break your streak.
3. It feels satisfying to record your success in the moment.

1. Manual tracking should be limited to your most important habits. 
   
2. Record each measurement immediately after the habit occurs. 
   

Neurologically speaking, motivation is the desire to escape psychological discomfort or a life situation that is not giving us any kind of ‘pleasure’.

Most behaviors are prompted by discomfort. If we are hungry, we eat. If we are lonely, we call up a friend. If we are bored, we turn on the TV.

If we are procrastinating instead of doing a certain task, telling ourselves that we would it later, it is a sure sign that the task isn’t a habit which can be done on autopilot but is, in fact, a routine.

Anything that requires effort is easy to forget or postpone.