1
SPEAKER_00
 Georgia in the woods, you could just go out there and there's no phone, no service, no nothing, just write.
1
SPEAKER_00
You don't have to do anything that drastic though.
1
SPEAKER_00
Just turn your phone off and maybe if you have the ability, set up an area in your home or at the office, if you have an office like this, that doesn't have access to a lot of stuff.
1
SPEAKER_00
 So I'll literally turn my internet off on my laptop if I need to write sometimes.
1
SPEAKER_00
You just focus.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, because I want to increase the resistance it would take to go to do something else.
1
SPEAKER_00
There's a principle called the 20-second rule.
1
SPEAKER_00
I think Sean Aker came up with this.
1
SPEAKER_00
And 20 seconds is not a scientific number here, but the principle is, what is the activation energy required to do anything?
1
SPEAKER_00
So if it's something you want to do less, increase the activation energy.
1
SPEAKER_00
I remember when I was a kid, my mom would take the power cord to our PlayStation.
1
SPEAKER_00
 and we have to ask her for it.
1
SPEAKER_00
Because my brother and I were getting a little bit too obsessed with video games.
1
SPEAKER_00
So, you know, that's a little bit of like, you have to ask her, but also it just makes it harder to go play the PlayStation.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then if you want to do something more, decrease the activation energy.
1
SPEAKER_00
So, I want to play guitar more.
1
SPEAKER_00
Guitar is not in the case, it's on the stand, somewhere where I walk by every day.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I can just pick it up and play.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, make it easier for you to play it than it being in the closet or something like that.
1
SPEAKER_01
 Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
What about managing our time?
1
SPEAKER_01
I know you've done a lot of studies with, I think, Elon and Benjamin Franklin about like how they manage their time and being more productive.
1
SPEAKER_01
What have you learned from, I guess, these great individuals who have created amazing things on time management?
1
SPEAKER_00
 So learn stuff from them, learn stuff from my own experimentation.
1
SPEAKER_00
There are some different ways of doing it.
1
SPEAKER_00
So like the Ben Franklin method is like time box your whole day.
1
SPEAKER_00
And that works for some people.
1
SPEAKER_00
It hasn't stuck for me.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I've presented it in a few videos.
1
SPEAKER_01
What did he do?
1
SPEAKER_00
 It basically just like actually create a schedule for yourself.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then Cal Newport has an actual, I think a better version of this, where he says, list out your schedule on the left side of a piece of paper, and you're trying to make estimations of how long things are gonna take, and then as the day goes on, kind of recreate your schedule, because it's always going to be different than you thought.
1
SPEAKER_00
So a huge reason for this is something called the segmentation effect, where when we predict how long something will take,
1
SPEAKER_00
 If I give you the whole, we think it'll take way less time than if I give you all the different parts.
1
SPEAKER_00
So how long will it take for me to do my Lewis Howes interview?
1
SPEAKER_00
I think three hours.
1
SPEAKER_00
How long will it take for me to get dressed, get showered, drive to LA, find the parking spot, get to the office, get the coffee, actually start recording.
1
SPEAKER_00
I think we did that maybe 15 minutes after we planned.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's gonna take a little bit longer.
1
SPEAKER_00
 That is also combined with the fact that we basically conflate best case with average case.
1
SPEAKER_00
So when I'm like, how long does it take to get to work?
1
SPEAKER_00
I think, what's the best time I've ever had to get to work?
1
SPEAKER_00
That's how long it just takes in my head.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I actually love this little feature.
1
SPEAKER_00
I use Fantastical.
1
SPEAKER_00
I don't know if you've ever used it.
1
SPEAKER_00
Fantastical.
1
SPEAKER_00
Fantastical.
1
SPEAKER_00
 I wish they would make a Windows app or a web app.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's only for Mac and iPhone.
1
SPEAKER_00
But they have a thing where you can say, when's my event?
1
SPEAKER_00
And then it will tell you when to leave based on the estimated drive time plus a window.
1
SPEAKER_00
I was surprised.
1
SPEAKER_00
It took me less time to get here this morning than it would have in the middle of the afternoon yesterday.
1
SPEAKER_00
But it was like, estimated 44-minute drive.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then I can say, all right, add 15 minutes to that.
1
SPEAKER_00
That's when it pings me.
1
SPEAKER_00
So that's nice.
1
SPEAKER_01
That's cool.
1
SPEAKER_01
Where are you staying?
1
SPEAKER_00
 I was like, wait, where are you staying?
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm staying in Malibu.
1
SPEAKER_01
A friend of mine just recently moved out there.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I was just like, hey, I've got a bedroom.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's a drive out there for sure.
1
SPEAKER_00
That PCH, though.
1
SPEAKER_01
I know, man.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's a beautiful view.
1
SPEAKER_00
I've never driven it before.
1
SPEAKER_01
And I've always wanted to.
1
SPEAKER_01
And I'm like, this is amazing.
1
SPEAKER_01
Oh, no, it's worth the drive if you're in the mountains, the ocean.
1
SPEAKER_01
Being in Idaho?
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm in Denver.
1
SPEAKER_01
Iowa and Denver, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's a different vibe, that's for sure.
1
SPEAKER_01
You've got the nice mountains out in Denver, though.
1
SPEAKER_01
We do, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Driving the 70 in the mountains is incredible.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
 So what did Elon do then to master his time management?
1
SPEAKER_00
From the article I read it was the same thing, just timeboxing.
1
SPEAKER_00
So it's just estimating your schedule and I don't want to harp too much on timeboxing because
1
SPEAKER_00
 A lot of people try it and it just doesn't stick.
1
SPEAKER_00
So what I think is more effective is just having a habit of planning your day out.
1
SPEAKER_00
I would often do it on a whiteboard.
1
SPEAKER_00
I do it in a little sticky note area of Notion now that I have.
1
SPEAKER_00
And it's just knowing, okay, what's on my schedule?
1
SPEAKER_00
What are the gaps of time I have between those scheduled items and what can I realistically get done?
1
SPEAKER_00
If I have an hour, I know I'm not writing an article.
1
SPEAKER_00
Because it's gonna take me way too long to get into the flow of writing.
1
SPEAKER_00
I need two hours, three hours.
1
SPEAKER_00
 and then planning out what you want to accomplish during the day that isn't a scheduled thing.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then trying to keep that limited.
1
SPEAKER_00
You know, I still struggle with this.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'll be like, I can get six or seven things done today.
1
SPEAKER_00
You can really get like one good thing done, or like maybe two, three max, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
It's like.
1
SPEAKER_00
 My friend Tiago recently tweeted, when I was 25, I would drink coffee and feel like I could do everything.
1
SPEAKER_00
At 30, I would drink coffee and I feel like I could do anything.
1
SPEAKER_00
Now I drink it and I feel like I could do something.
1
SPEAKER_01
Maybe I could do something today, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
What about the habits of the most highly organized people?
1
SPEAKER_01
What do they do differently than most people don't do?
1
SPEAKER_01
What are their habits?
1
SPEAKER_01
Well, we're talking about organization.
1
SPEAKER_01
Are we talking about morning routines?
1
SPEAKER_01
I'm thinking about the most productive people.
1
SPEAKER_01
What are the habits of the most productive people?
1
SPEAKER_00
 Well, I guess we need to know what the what the specific habit we're talking about is So like if you said most organized people, right they have a system And I think about my favorite example is library of congress 39 million books 865 miles of shelves Imagine if there was no organizational system for that you would take I did the math on this and it was like 17 months of
1
SPEAKER_00
 I estimated like you could look at two books a second.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's like 17 months to see every single one of those if you never took a bathroom break.
1
SPEAKER_00
And with the Library of Congress classification system, you can find a book in seconds.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's just a tree.
1
SPEAKER_00
I know how to get to it.
1
SPEAKER_00
So people who are organized have a system for the inputs that come into their lives.
1
SPEAKER_00
They know where they should go.
1
SPEAKER_00
And they realize that this might take a little bit longer in the moment, but it makes you easily able to find whatever you need.
1
SPEAKER_00
And that makes you a lot more effective.
1
SPEAKER_01
 What systems should we be implementing in our life to be more organized and optimized?
1
SPEAKER_00
So just a few, and I don't want to overwhelm people, but where are you putting your tasks?
1
SPEAKER_00
Where do you capture ideas?
1
SPEAKER_00
And how do you organize your living space?
1
SPEAKER_00
Can you easily find the things that you need to find?
1
SPEAKER_00
And does your space feel so cluttered that you can't focus?
1
SPEAKER_01
 How important is living space to becoming more productive and organized in your career and in your life?
1
SPEAKER_00
It depends.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's more important for people who are less obsessed.
1
SPEAKER_01
 It's more important for people who are less obsessed.
1
SPEAKER_00
So yeah, like if you're absolutely obsessed about something, you know, it doesn't matter if your workspace is messy.
1
SPEAKER_00
I've seen people, personally, I've been like absolutely obsessed.
1
SPEAKER_00
You're zoned in on things.
1
SPEAKER_00
You don't care, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
So, but we go through periods of fluctuation in our lives where we are more or less obsessed with something that we should still be putting effort into to build.
1
SPEAKER_00
And when we're in that, you know, more chill period of our lives, I think the organizational systems matter more.
1
SPEAKER_00
 Basically, is the brain hyper-obsessed about something?
1
SPEAKER_00
Are we super intense about it?
1
SPEAKER_00
Okay, cool, a lot of this productivity stuff goes out the window.
1
SPEAKER_00
You're just going to make it work.
1
SPEAKER_00
I honestly believe that.
1
SPEAKER_00
And that's why a lot of people are like, all these productivity tips are stupid.
1
SPEAKER_00
That's because they're obsessed.
1
SPEAKER_00
They don't need it.
1
SPEAKER_00
And they're not watching productivity content.
1
SPEAKER_00
If you're watching my videos, it's probably because you're not that obsessed right now.
1
SPEAKER_00
And so if you're not that obsessed right now, there are things you can do to make yourself more effective or to sort of push your brain over that hump of resistance.
1
SPEAKER_00
 Why don't people just become obsessed?
1
SPEAKER_00
That's the question, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
Why are people not obsessed with the thing they're doing?
1
SPEAKER_00
I mean, that's a good question.
1
SPEAKER_00
I wish I knew.
1
SPEAKER_00
I wish I could make myself obsessed about things.
1
SPEAKER_00
I remember being 15 years old and not caring about anything in the world except for the Final Fantasy game I was playing.
1
SPEAKER_00
I remember being 19 and not caring about anything in the world except for, I want to make this tweak to my homepage on my blog.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm going to learn PHP until I can do it.
1
SPEAKER_00
I care about nothing else.
1
SPEAKER_00
 And then there are just times in your life where you don't have that.
1
SPEAKER_00
And it's like this elusive thing.
1
SPEAKER_00
So, I don't know, the biggest things that help me are if I'm feeling overwhelmed, try to take a break.
1
SPEAKER_00
Every time I try to take a break, it's like at the beginning, trying to convince myself, take the break, take the vacation, or just take a day off.
1
SPEAKER_00
No, I have to get things done.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then at the end of the break, I'm like, hang on a second, I'm getting ideas.
1
SPEAKER_00
 that I would never have considered or they wouldn't have come to me.
1
SPEAKER_00
Because you took a break.
1
SPEAKER_00
Because I took a break.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yes.
1
SPEAKER_00
So rest is probably a piece of that, you know, that cycle of work and rest is probably very pertinent to our discussion of how do we get obsessed with things.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's probably we need some time to rest.
1
SPEAKER_01
 And I feel like it kind of goes in with self-discipline a little bit as well.
1
SPEAKER_01
If you're obsessed, you're disciplined.
1
SPEAKER_01
If you're not obsessed, you're kind of like, what's the point of this?
1
SPEAKER_01
And you're kind of lazier.
1
SPEAKER_01
How do we get to a place of more self-discipline?
1
SPEAKER_01
Or is that not the right thing we should be thinking about?
1
SPEAKER_00
I think we should.
1
SPEAKER_00
And my favorite thing here is accountability.
1
SPEAKER_00
So how can we get accountability?
1
SPEAKER_00
I made a video recently called the five levels of self-discipline.
1
SPEAKER_00
And the model here is,
1
SPEAKER_00
 different types of accountability that can augment your own self-discipline.
1
SPEAKER_00
So as a baseline, I do believe we can become more disciplined individuals internally through practice.
1
SPEAKER_00
If you start, and this is a terrible example for me because I hate it, but if you start meditating, you can maybe do three minutes today, next week you can go for five minutes.
1
SPEAKER_00
That's an increase of self-discipline and an increase in your ability to hold your focus on one object.
1
SPEAKER_00
 But can you add accountability, or maybe a better word for this is duty, into the mix and augment your own internal self-discipline?
1
SPEAKER_00
I wanna go research this more, but I read once that prisoners who were given dogs became much better caretakers of themselves too.
1
SPEAKER_01
There's some accountability and duty there.
1
SPEAKER_01
I've been in a prison and done a talk in prisons, and I went to a prison here in Lancaster near L.A.
1
SPEAKER_01
 where there was a program where they were training dogs, rehabilitating and training dogs, and then they would go out into the outside of the prison for special care individuals who needed dogs.
1
SPEAKER_01
And they were so self-disciplined.
1
SPEAKER_01
They were loving, they were caretaking.
1
SPEAKER_01
These dogs got to sleep in the cell with them so they could train them overnight.
1
SPEAKER_01
 And so I watched this, I witnessed this one time, and it was cool to see that they were taking care of themselves as they were taking care of the animal as well, which is cool to see.
1
SPEAKER_00
So, I mean, that's really cool to see, and I'm glad to get a little bit of confirmation on that.
1
SPEAKER_00
I want to do more research on it.
1
SPEAKER_00
But it kind of goes back to something I've often thought, which is that duty is one of the most important things we have for our will to live, our will to do things, our motivation.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I almost worry that, like,
1
SPEAKER_00
 modern society sort of Gets rid of the duty-bound obligations we have to each other in our immediate relationships Because it's no longer like now I have to do something for my village It's I just got to work for this company and it's it's just much more abstracted
1
SPEAKER_00
 When I feel that I have a duty to somebody else, I don't have any trouble getting myself to do it.
1
SPEAKER_00
When I'm just like, I want to work out for me, then it's only if I'm obsessed.
1
SPEAKER_00
If I'm like, I really care about it because I just love this thing, I'll do it.
1
SPEAKER_00
But if it's like, I should do this.
1
SPEAKER_00
 because I should do this for me, there's no motivation there.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I think the self-discipline is, yes, so five levels.
1
SPEAKER_00
Duty to yourself, which is augmented by external commitment devices.
1
SPEAKER_00
So this could be as simple as a habit tracker.
1
SPEAKER_00
 I check it off every day, and I see it in a physical manifestation that I've done it.
1
SPEAKER_00
Level two, accountability partners.
1
SPEAKER_00
This one is where people get tripped up.
1
SPEAKER_00
I have seen a lot of people be like, well, let's be each other's accountability partners.
1
SPEAKER_00
And if you don't write your thing, you've got to pay me 50 bucks.
1
SPEAKER_00
And if I don't write my thing, I'll pay you 50 bucks.
1
SPEAKER_00
I did this once.
1
SPEAKER_00
We both didn't write our thing.
1
SPEAKER_00
And we both just said, let's keep the money.
1
SPEAKER_00
Pretend that we swapped.
1
SPEAKER_00
 So I did one that was much more successful where I told my best friend, hey, I'm gonna read, what was it, 25 minutes of nonfiction every day, and here's a spreadsheet where I will be logging my pages.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'll pay you 100 bucks if I don't do even one day.
1
SPEAKER_00
And so he kept me to it.
1
SPEAKER_00
Now, I had two friends who were like, in my- Did you miss a day or no?
1
SPEAKER_00
I did not miss a day.
1
SPEAKER_00
There were days where I was like, it was 11.55 and I'm in the basement like.
1
SPEAKER_00
 My two roommates, the one is just like, yep, I'll hold you accountable and I don't want your filthy money if you fail, so don't fail.
1
SPEAKER_00
And the other one is just like, why can't I be the person who gets the spreadsheet and I'm gonna try to sabotage you, I want the 100 bucks.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I think it matters, like number one, what's the system you have in place?
1
SPEAKER_00
And number two, is that person the type of person who wants the best for you?
1
SPEAKER_00
Will they actually hold your feet to the fire?
1
SPEAKER_00
Will they not try to sabotage you?
1
SPEAKER_00
Do they want you to succeed and do what you want?
1
SPEAKER_00
 Gotcha.
1
SPEAKER_01
So wait, did you go with the guy who didn't want to take your money?
1
SPEAKER_00
Yes.
1
SPEAKER_00
That's my friend Martin.
1
SPEAKER_00
He now works with me.
1
SPEAKER_00
He's like my COO at this point.
1
SPEAKER_01
So is it better to have that or someone who's like, I want you to do it, but if you don't, you still got to pay me.
1
SPEAKER_00
 I mean, he would have taken my money.
1
SPEAKER_00
He just didn't.
1
SPEAKER_00
My other friend was like, oh, I'm gonna sabotage this, get your money.
1
SPEAKER_00
So if you have those kinds of people around you, you want people who want the best for you, right?
1
SPEAKER_01
So he's gonna check in on you, hey, you haven't logged it in today.
1
SPEAKER_00
And he would text me, he's like, where's my pages?
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm gonna take your hundred bucks.
1
SPEAKER_00
So accountability is crucial for self-disclosure.
1
SPEAKER_00
I think so.
1
SPEAKER_00
I think if we have accountability, things are much better.
1
SPEAKER_00
 Three is the professionalized version of this.
1
SPEAKER_00
Coaches, teachers, people you hire, and they have the advantage of often, hopefully if they're qualified, often having knowledge of the skill itself.
1
SPEAKER_00
So they can provide guidance and sequencing and help you to steer clear from the wrong directions, give you feedback.
1
SPEAKER_00
 So yeah, I don't want my best friend to be my lifting coach because he is not certified for biomechanical and all that kind of stuff.
1
SPEAKER_00
My coach can be like, yeah, your squat form is going to lead to an injury if you don't fix this, this, and this.
1
SPEAKER_00
So he also is my accountability burner, but he's also my professional coach.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then four and five, accountability to a team.
1
SPEAKER_00
 So, you know, you've got accountability to your staff and vice versa.
1
SPEAKER_00
They know that if they don't do something, it's not just that you're going to say, I'm disappointed in you.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's that I have now lost something because you didn't do what you said you'd do.
1
SPEAKER_00
That's more important or that's more powerful.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then five is leadership.
1
SPEAKER_00
So that's just kind of like 4.5.
1
SPEAKER_00
 When you're the leader, you're at the top, and that I don't think is an accountability hack, because that's a lot of responsibility to take on, so you sort of need to earn that, but I think it's part of the model because it is the highest level of accountability.
1
SPEAKER_01
And if you don't show up and be accountable to yourself and to the team or to the community, you're gonna not be in that position anymore.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yes.
1
SPEAKER_01
Right, so it's like you've gotta continue to be disciplined in order to stay in that position if you want to, and set the example of discipline.
1
SPEAKER_00
 And you realize that if you're a leader and you fail, the people who are looking to follow you, you hurt them.
1
SPEAKER_00
And if you're on a team, you hurt them, you can probably hurt somebody as well.
1
SPEAKER_00
But if you're a leader, you have the most potential to hurt people if you don't follow through.
1
SPEAKER_00
Absolutely.
1
SPEAKER_00
Which is a lot of pressure.
1
SPEAKER_01
They're relying on you, your skills, the money you might bring in to be paying them, whatever it is.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I'm sure it keeps you awake at night.
1
SPEAKER_00
It keeps me awake at night.
1
SPEAKER_00
My team relies on me more than anybody else in the team.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
 Where do you struggle with the most when it comes to self-discipline?
1
SPEAKER_01
Oh, that's a good question.
1
SPEAKER_01
Probably... What part of your life do you struggle with the most?
1
SPEAKER_00
 is probably sticking to things that don't have a tight deadline.
1
SPEAKER_00
So... It's like a made-up deadline.
1
SPEAKER_01
Like, I wanna do this by now, but my publisher doesn't need this, my team doesn't need this.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's like, I mean, I want this.
1
SPEAKER_00
That's what it is.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's like me been wanting to write my book for the last year and a half, but I wanted to self-publish it this time.
1
SPEAKER_01
And I'm like, well, there's no publisher forcing me, which is, those deadlines are so crucial, I feel like.
1
SPEAKER_00
 And I feel like there are things that used to really motivate me that don't anymore.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I used to use this website called Beeminder, where you could literally bet money that you would do things.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I still think it's pretty useful.
1
SPEAKER_00
You can hook it up to any like API.
1
SPEAKER_00
So it's like you can hook it up to RunKeeper to make sure you run enough or whatever.
1
SPEAKER_00
And there's like a graph.
1
SPEAKER_00
 Just make sure you go up enough.
1
SPEAKER_00
And when I was building my business, like five, six years ago, that was incredibly effective.
1
SPEAKER_00
I set a book goal, I set a blogging goal, and like without fail for three years, it was like blog posts every week, YouTube video every week, podcast every week.
1
SPEAKER_00
I set a goal to write 500 words a day for my book, and I got my book done in two months.
1
SPEAKER_00
 But now, I try it again and again and again, it doesn't seem to work as much anymore.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I feel like I'm at a... What was the site called?
1
SPEAKER_00
It's called Beeminder, like a bee with a stinger.
1
SPEAKER_00
I also used Habitica, which is a habit tracker that is video game based.
1
SPEAKER_00
So you get a character and you get experience points and gear and stuff.
1
SPEAKER_00
And that was also super motivating for me.
1
SPEAKER_00
But now it's not.
1
SPEAKER_00
At this point, it's become like, I need to hire a coach or somebody to actually yell at me
1
SPEAKER_01
 Yes, I hear you, man.
1
SPEAKER_01
I mean, it's like when you're, well, you weren't really starting out, but you were kind of in the, I guess the earlier part of your journey, right?
1
SPEAKER_01
At that phase.
1
SPEAKER_01
And I think when you're at that phase, it's easier to get motivated because you don't, you haven't created something yet.
1
SPEAKER_01
So you're like, let me get this out there.
1
SPEAKER_01
Let me start building it.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's like, if I want to have a bigger channel, I got to do this every week or every month and be consistent.
1
SPEAKER_01
Now that you've reached these kind of goals at a bigger stage, it's like, well,
1
SPEAKER_01
 Is getting another million followers really gonna impact something or creating more content gonna impact this?
1
SPEAKER_01
It's like you've already done these things that were hard to do.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's like I've already written a number of books.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's like, okay, I need a deeper level of discipline, of service to a community.
1
SPEAKER_01
Now I'm doing a disservice by not putting this out there.
1
SPEAKER_01
I'm hurting people by not doing this if I have a knowledge base or something I can share with people.
1
SPEAKER_01
So it's like making that my discipline.
1
SPEAKER_00
 And that's hard to do.
1
SPEAKER_00
There's a little voice in my head that's like, you shouldn't care if you don't care about the next million followers because this is important information.
1
SPEAKER_00
You should put it out there.
1
SPEAKER_00
But if it doesn't make the brain actually take it seriously, then it's not a good argument.
1
SPEAKER_00
There's got to be something else that's put in there.
1
SPEAKER_01
 It's gonna be something meaningful for you too, right?
1
SPEAKER_01
It's like, okay, what am I gonna gain from this?
1
SPEAKER_01
Otherwise, it's just like, okay, I'm creating to create.
1
SPEAKER_01
There's gotta be some reward, right?
1
SPEAKER_01
I think so, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
Well, it's internal, external, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
Yes.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head there.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's either some kind of internal reward or an external reward, some kind of thing.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
So you struggle with what specifically?
1
SPEAKER_00
 with the fake deadlines.
1
SPEAKER_01
What's the deadlines you're wanting to create?
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, so like with my YouTube channel, it's like the actual deadline is like the end of the month.
1
SPEAKER_01
To launch the channel?
1
SPEAKER_00
No, for like a YouTube video.
1
SPEAKER_00
Oh, a sponsor's like, we need this video to go live.
1
SPEAKER_00
Okay, the last day of the month.
1
SPEAKER_00
So it's like, okay.
1
SPEAKER_00
And often it's not like I'm goofing around until the last day of the month, but it's like,
1
SPEAKER_00
 I could probably make this video in a week, and I kinda wanna do this other thing over here, or it'll be like, okay, I've got two full weeks.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm gonna make the ultimate guide to focus.
1
SPEAKER_00
This is gonna be the greatest YouTube video ever.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then you wait for the last minute.
1
SPEAKER_00
Or I don't, or I'm just working on it, and I'm like, okay, well, N plus one rule, why don't I go find one more study just to make this that much more thorough, and then I get to four days before publishing, and I realize I have written a 30-minute video that's like 15 minutes of me just blabbing statistics, and no one cares about it.
1
SPEAKER_01
 What's the n plus one rule?
1
SPEAKER_00
Well, I think I just made that up right now.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's sort of like just that, well, I could go get one more study result and it would be that much more thorough.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I guess like this sort of is more generally known in like hobby communities, like the n plus one rule in mountain biking is, well, the number of bikes you should own is n plus one, where n is the number of bikes you own right now.
1
SPEAKER_00
 There's always another bike to buy.
1
SPEAKER_00
I have a downhill bike, but I don't have an enduro bike, or I don't have a fat bike, so I better buy that one too.
1
SPEAKER_00
There's always something to get.
1
SPEAKER_00
Same with camera lenses.
1
SPEAKER_00
N plus one rule is notorious in the camera community.
1
SPEAKER_00
Really?
1
SPEAKER_00
Getting more lenses as opposed to what actually just doing the shooting.
1
SPEAKER_00
Or just being okay with having your current collection.
1
SPEAKER_01
There's always another one.
1
SPEAKER_01
I'll just use this, right?
1
SPEAKER_01
Interesting.
1
SPEAKER_01
 So it's kind of like an author, it's like always looking for more research and more data to add to the book, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, and I think the extra bit with the N plus one rule with authors is we know that the really hard work is crafting the story and cutting things down and making it polished.
1
SPEAKER_00
 Going out and finding research is by comparison much easier much.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's so much easier I can go and take notes on research all day, but like figuring out how to make a compelling story around that that's difficult.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yes man, um, you talk about you do videos on the morning routine and the importance of them.
1
SPEAKER_01
You've also shot videos on how
1
SPEAKER_01
 You used to do it and now you do things differently now.
1
SPEAKER_01
How important has the morning routine been for you in staying disciplined and setting good habits and actually accomplishing your goals?
1
SPEAKER_01
How important has it been for you?
1
SPEAKER_00
I think it is important.
1
SPEAKER_00
I think the specific habits are important to your current goals at the time.
1
SPEAKER_00
 So, if I'm like, I really want to learn Japanese, I do believe that me getting up and learning Japanese in the morning was actually the most important thing for me to do.
1
SPEAKER_00
Because, again, going back to the accountability angle here, I have a limited amount of energy during the day.
1
SPEAKER_00
If I have something I need to do that requires me to pull on my own self-discipline, I should put that first.
1
SPEAKER_00
 so I can then use external self-discipline and accountability to power through the rest of the day.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's interesting you say that because the first eight months I was learning Spanish, I was doing it at the end of the day around like five, six o'clock, and I was literally falling asleep on the screen, because it was so hard on my brain, memorizing these simple, not simple, for me it was challenging, but I was like, I've already used a lot of my energy for the day to focus, and now I'm asking myself to be so focused on something that's extremely hard,
1
SPEAKER_01
 And I just be like falling asleep.
1
SPEAKER_01
I said, I need to do this first thing in the morning.
1
SPEAKER_01
So now I do 8 a.m.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's still hard.
1
SPEAKER_01
Is it working better?
1
SPEAKER_01
It's working way better.
1
SPEAKER_01
Nice.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's working better because now I'm waking myself up in the process, but it's way better because I have energy through the rest of the day.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yes.
1
SPEAKER_01
Which is easier for me as opposed to like, I don't have any energy to focus on this at the end of the day.
1
SPEAKER_01
 So that's interesting that you were doing it in the morning as well.
1
SPEAKER_01
I'm trying to move my workouts in the morning too.
1
SPEAKER_01
Because then it's done and you feel like I accomplished this.
1
SPEAKER_01
And I don't have to wait at 6 o'clock and I had this meeting and this thing came up and this article took longer.
1
SPEAKER_01
I want to keep going and then it's 9 o'clock and you work out.
1
SPEAKER_00
 Plus the big thing for me is so I do not have any trouble getting my workouts done for the most part Because I have my coach what I have trouble is getting the workout done in a reasonable amount of time, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
Cuz I left a lot of big weights man, so I could take five minutes Get on my phone like and the morning I feel like I need to get to work
1
SPEAKER_00
 So I've noticed going in in the morning, my coach will tell me this, he's like, dude, when I go to workout, my warmup sets, I do them immediately.
1
SPEAKER_00
There's no rest between warmups, and I do three minute rest between my sets.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I'm like, I think I rest about three minutes.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I time it, and I'm like, this workout had five exercises, three of which were little accessories in a loop, and yet it took me two hours.
1
SPEAKER_00
How is that possible?
1
SPEAKER_00
Okay, I was on my phone way more than three minutes between sets.
1
SPEAKER_00
So in the morning, there's that pressure, and I'm like, cool, I will wait three minutes and no more between squat sets.
1
SPEAKER_00
 I don't care if I fail a rep.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then he tells me that he's like, yeah, well, I don't care if you fail a rep, because if you're waiting like a day between sets, you're not really getting the right tension you need.
1
SPEAKER_00
So, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Why not just leave your phone at home?
1
SPEAKER_01
 I should do that.
1
SPEAKER_00
I mean, part's a part of it.
1
SPEAKER_00
I absolutely should do that.
1
SPEAKER_00
The one thing I don't like about weightlifting is even three minutes between sets, it's like, just, okay, what am I doing?
1
SPEAKER_00
Sitting around waiting.
1
SPEAKER_00
You should breathe, meditate, focus on the reps.
1
SPEAKER_01
I'm gonna go harder this next one, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
I definitely get the mind-muscle connection in the set, but then in the rest periods, I'm like, I need something to do.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I hear you, man.
1
SPEAKER_00
For me, I have to fill my sets, too.
1
SPEAKER_00
 Turn the Wi-Fi off, you know, I could actually turn the Wi-Fi off airplane mode or just get a camera, you know But I think you know the morning actually solves it Yeah, like even if I do check Twitter between sets like I'm I know okay.
1
SPEAKER_00
I really want to be working in like the next hour So let's just get it done.
1
SPEAKER_01
So what else in the morning routine?
1
SPEAKER_01
Has you have you seen as crucial for people?
1
SPEAKER_00
 This is simple, but water sunlight movement.
1
SPEAKER_00
People feel so groggy when they wake up, and these three things help more than anything else to make you feel awake, and to hopefully not hit the snooze button.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I have an iPad downstairs with an alarm that goes off three minutes after my main one.
1
SPEAKER_00
This sucks every single morning.
1
SPEAKER_00
Gotta get up.
1
SPEAKER_00
Because I hear my regular alarm, I'm like, okay, I really want to hit snooze.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I'll start negotiating, like, well I could have snooze for two minutes.
1
SPEAKER_00
 That's enough.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then I realize, okay, no, that's not enough.
1
SPEAKER_00
I better just get up.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then my cat wants food too, so I get up, but then it's like, I'm groggy.
1
SPEAKER_00
If I at least look out the window, drink a glass of water, and get just a little bit of walking, that's great.
1
SPEAKER_00
I feel much better.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then I try to go for a walk, like 10 minutes, 20 minutes.
1
SPEAKER_00
 It's not that fun right now because I live in the suburbs Which is why I'm trying to move back into Denver downtown I will go for a walk every single day and be stoked about it down there, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, it's hard in the suburbs.
1
SPEAKER_00
Just look at it He just realized there's nothing else to look like it's just other houses.
1
SPEAKER_00
There's nowhere to go walking their dogs maybe or something Yeah, dude, this is a big thing and I realize everyone has their own opinion on this but purposeful movement
1
SPEAKER_00
 is something that we don't get a lot of.
1
SPEAKER_00
If we live out in the suburbs, it's like, you have to convince yourself to move your body.
1
SPEAKER_00
Otherwise, especially if we work at home, it's like, I have my house.
1
SPEAKER_00
I walk from the bedroom to my home office and I do my work.
1
SPEAKER_00
 If I want to work out, I have to convince myself to do it for the sake of working out.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's just so much better when you're like, okay, I'm going to go for a walk because I need to go to the store, but I'm going to get like a mile of walking.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's just so much, I don't know.
1
SPEAKER_00
I love it and I want to live my life that way.
1
SPEAKER_01
 I love it, man.
1
SPEAKER_01
I want to talk about habits again.
1
SPEAKER_01
If someone is trying to, I guess, build a new habit, what do you think are a few important things they can do to make that habit stick?
1
SPEAKER_00
Stay with them.
1
SPEAKER_00
There's definitely a few things we can do.
1
SPEAKER_00
I love that level one of accountability in the beginning.
1
SPEAKER_00
Can you get an external system?
1
SPEAKER_00
 And this not only adds a little bit of augmentation to your self-discipline, but it also allows you to create a record of that habit.
1
SPEAKER_00
So in the beginning, the habit isn't a habit, it's a self-discipline-driven behavior that is new to your life.
1
SPEAKER_00
And you may have some novelty driving it in the beginning, but eventually, great book by Seth Godin, you get this dip thing.
1
SPEAKER_00
You probably talked about the dip.
1
SPEAKER_00
One of my all-time recommendations for people to read, especially if you're starting a business.
1
SPEAKER_00
 You hit that part where the novelty's worn off, now it's hard, and you just need to slog through.
1
SPEAKER_00
And it's not a habit yet, so if you have something that is sort of giving you a bit of accountability, and if you have something that is helping you track it so you see a record of your streak, that's incredibly powerful.
1
SPEAKER_00
 20 second rule is also very good as well.
1
SPEAKER_00
How can you decrease the activation energy to make it easy to do?
1
SPEAKER_00
So.
1
SPEAKER_00
What does that mean?
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm gonna do this for 20 seconds?
1
SPEAKER_00
So no, 20 second rule again is a, it's not, it's, I didn't explain the 20 seconds part of the 20 second rule.
1
SPEAKER_00
So in the book, The Happiness Advantage, he talks about how if you want to do something more often, make it take less than 20 seconds to start doing it.
1
SPEAKER_00
If you want to do it less often, make it take more than 20 seconds.
1
SPEAKER_00
So take the power cord out of your Xbox and throw it in the drawer or put the guitar on the stand.
1
SPEAKER_00
So if it's a new habit,
1
SPEAKER_00
 What can you do to make it easier for yourself to get into it?
1
SPEAKER_00
If it's like working out, can I build a home gym?
1
SPEAKER_00
Like my gym is out in my garage now.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's super easy to go on to.
1
SPEAKER_00
I skip workouts less.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm moving to a house where I won't be able to have that.
1
SPEAKER_00
But I've got a friend who's like, I will meet you at this gym every day.
1
SPEAKER_00
So there's the accountability part.
1
SPEAKER_00
 So, you know make it easier to do or make it More, uh, I guess make somebody have you accountable.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, what would you say are some?
1
SPEAKER_01
Weird habits that you've seen successful people do differently That I guess normal people don't do that's attributed to their success.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's like oh, I don't get up Early and walk and drink water, but I do this other thing
3
SPEAKER_00
 a stand for, you're 30 years old, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
30 years old.
3
SPEAKER_00
I feel like a lot of 30 year olds aren't as committed to you, to personal growth, to skill acquisition, to just showing up to try and be better every single day.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I really acknowledge you for doing that in your personal life, but also creating content, showing people how you're doing it, and teaching what you're learning along the way for people a few steps behind, like you said.
3
SPEAKER_00
 So I think it's inspiring, man, and I'm really grateful to connect with you, and I'm gonna come to Denver one day, hopefully, when you have this massive creative space separate from your back garage, and hopefully we can create some content out there one day if you do that.
3
SPEAKER_00
And if you don't, then it's all good, too.
3
SPEAKER_00
But congrats, man, keep it going.
3
SPEAKER_00
Thank you, and let's do it.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, yeah, it'll be fun.
3
SPEAKER_00
Final question for you, what's your definition of greatness?
3
SPEAKER_01
 What is my definition of greatness?
3
SPEAKER_01
Well, that's a very tough question.
3
SPEAKER_01
I didn't prepare anything.
3
SPEAKER_01
You know, being able to do the things you want to do, making an impact for the people who are in your life, keeping those personal relationships going.
3
SPEAKER_01
 And yeah, I mean, defining a mission and at least accomplishing it or getting close to it.
3
SPEAKER_00
Thank you so much for listening.
3
SPEAKER_00
I hope you enjoyed today's episode and inspired you on your journey towards greatness.
3
SPEAKER_00
Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's show with all the important links.
3
SPEAKER_00
And also make sure to share this with a friend and subscribe over on Apple Podcasts as well.
3
SPEAKER_00
 I really love hearing feedback from you guys, so share a review over on Apple and let me know what part of this episode resonated with you the most.
3
SPEAKER_00
And if no one's told you lately, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter.
3
SPEAKER_00
And now it's time to go out there and do something great.