Can you change the direction of your life in this manner?

One of the questions that I get a lot is …

Unfortunately, there is no easy or simple answer because I do not believe that anyone can change their life in a single moment in time. At least, I don't believe it is possible in a positive manner, as you can drive drunk and you'll surely change the rest of your life, what's left of it anyway.

Instead, change is more of a process. It is what you do every single day, day in and day out. It is not something that shows results from day 1 or day 7 or even day 154. Instead, it is something that builds on itself, brick by brick, until it is strong enough to give you real life results.

Look, sometimes I see life as a binary system. You have part A – opportunity and part B, who you are and what are your competences. The opportunity always exists but you can take advantage of it only if who you are suits the role. For example, selling to a mom & pop store a business package may take a skill level of 25 / 100 while selling to a Fortune 500 CEO it may take 90 / 100.

To make this less abstract, life is generally very, very fair. You get what you are. You don't get what you want or what you think you deserve. If you are good in something and an opportunity arises that requires your skill there, you reap the reward. It is as simple as that. You don't need to make it more complicated.

If you try and it doesn't work, it means that you are not ready yet for that thing / reward and you need to get back to the drawing board. When I go to the gym, I don't try to lift 50 kg if I can only do 25 kg. There is absolutely no benefit in doing so and I may even (or surely) harm myself in the process. However, there are people who can lift 50 or 100 or even 200.

They've developed their muscles and they can lift that weight. The same in practical reality. You develop your muscles, no matter if it is communication, persuasion, charisma, soft and hard skills, etc and when you need to lift the weight you either can do it or you can not.

There is no point in getting upset or mad if you can't. It simply means that you are not still there. You can be if you train, it will take some time but you can't do what you are not. It is a basic law of existence.

Getting back to the question posted earlier … “What can I do to change my life right now?”

Since this question enters the category of “how long is a rope”, a funny way of saying a question is useless without a proper context, I'm going to give you what I DO in order to advance towards my goals. And that is:
1) I set daily priorities.
2) I stay consistent in them.
3) I reap the rewards.

Right now, I've revised my priority system to ten rituals. These are:
1) Invest two hours (2 x 50 minutes) into work.
2) Invest two hours (2 x 50 minutes) into work.
3) Invest two hours (2 x 50 minutes) into work.
4) Study copywriting for one hour (2 x 30 minutes)
5) Study body-language for one hour (2 x 30 minutes)
6) Study self-improvement for one hour (2 x 30 minutes)
7) Do the designated gym routine for the day.
8) Meditate (breathe / mindfulness) for 20 minutes)
9) Take gym supplements (three times)
10) Wake up between 07:00 – 08:30.

And now let me tell you a little story that I've heard in one of Darren Hardy's videos. This company wanted to hire Richard Branson to come and speak at one of their seminars. They called Hardy's office to intermediate this.

They said that they'll offer $100.000 for a single hour speech. The office called Branson's office and they refused. They next made an offer for $250.000. They called, they rejected the offer. Finally, $500.000, a private jet, everything paid, just for one hour of Richard Branson's time. They called.

As you may have guessed – again, they rejected the offer.

Tired and annoyed, they simply said “Give us a number. Just tell us whatever is required to get Mr. Branson to talk at our event”. The answer from Branson's office was “Mr. Branson right now focuses on only three strategic priorities and we are allowed to allocate his time only if the task falls within these priorities. Public speaking, for any sum of money is NOT within these priorities”.

That's brilliance. Because in life it is not doing 5000 things right. It is about doing a handful, that matter the most. When I've did Karate as a kid, it wasn't about learning many complicated moves. All we did was to repeat the same basic moves again and again and again and maybe change their order. But the entire system could have been summarized by 12 – 15 ways to kick with your hand or feet.

The same applies in life.

It is about doing those things that matter, that can get you the highest ROI in a consistent manner. To dig a few holes as far as possible into the ground than to dig many small holes. The difference between a mid level manager and a CEO may be the difference between $250.000/year and $25.000.000/year. The reason is that the CEO focused on becoming more valuable to the company in only one key area while the manager is more of a jack of all trades.

I don't have an exact statistic but a doctor specialized in brain surgery earns about 50% more than a generalist doctor. An engineer specialized in aerospace earns about double compared to a general one. A public speaker that is specialized let's say in finance can command a lot more than a public speakers that talks about anything and everyone.

And setting your daily priorities through daily rituals is the fastest way to get from A to B. Yes, it can become boring and yes, it will annoy you sometimes. But just like the athlete who goes into the gym, trains every single day for hours in a row and then wins the gold medal, this is the only way I see that results can be achieved in life.

It won't work overnight. But it will change your direction almost overnight.

My habits are not what you need. These are designed for my goals, my strengths and weaknesses. Maybe you need to focus more on money and less on learning. Or maybe you need to focus on building self-esteem and expressing yourself instead of going to the gym. I don't know. Do whatever works for you.

But pick a set of habits. Get the application “WAY OF LIFE” from the AppStore and use it. It is in the shortcuts bar on my phone. And then do them, stay consistent and build a new path in your life.

If you want to get good in public speaking then dedicate one hour practicing this. If you want to become a lawyer, invest one hour a day studying past cases plus your required law literature. If you want to lose weight, create a habit of walking 10.000 steps a day and another of doing cardio at the gym.

Ideally, you should up less than 10 rituals. I basically have three – work, study, gym, each with the actions I need to take plus meditation and waking up early. However, I could have more but I won't since if you have too many priorities, you have none.

That's about it. Determine what you want. Determine what you need to do on a daily basis for at least 90 days (this is the major test, will I need to do this for at least 90 days to get a result? If the answer is no, then it is the wrong area of your life as you should focus on things that will impact you for the rest of your life) and then do it.

Then one day … you'll wake up in a different world. A different person. The sun will shine a lot brighter. The coffee will taste better. You'll have more money into your bank account. You'll even find yourself smiling without reason. And you'll realize that you've arrived.

Where? Only to the next step of your journey, since it is never actually over, but in a place far better than where you've been before.

Best regards,
Razvan Rogoz

PS: If you own an authority blog in the self-improvement niche with at least 5000 unique visitors per month and you would like to guest post blog for you for free (with everything proofed, of course), please send me a PM.