How to make big things happen even if you’re an idiot
19th October 2021
Author EditorPosted on Categories Ask the Expert
“Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.”― E. James Rohn
There’s a moment in time when your heart starts to beat and there’s a moment in time when it stops. I wish I knew what happened on the other side of those moments but I guess that’s the exciting part. What happens in between, however, is humbling.
After that very first beat, that very first touch of life, your heart will continue to run consistently until you die. Consistency is life. I often take some time to think about the grandiose of that concept. It’s overwhelming to say the least. One moment you weren’t there and the next moment you are. And until that consistency stops being consistent, you continue to be.
Why is this important? Well, because if you can get the following right then you will have cracked one of the biggest secrets of progress and success.
And yup, I did just gag in my mouth when writing “one of the biggest secrets of progress and success”. Sounded like one of those all too common bro-marketing clickbaiters you see advertising on socials, where the self-proclaimed ‘guru’ explains how “you too could be your own boss and make £2,000 an hour in 9 easy steps”, whilst lolling their sleazy butts all the way to the bank…
The difference between what I am telling you and what they are selling you is that my ‘secret’ actually works. It’s just not sexy, quick, or easy…
Without a shadow of a doubt consistency is second to none when it comes to levelling up. And while paying 3 instalments of £99.99 for 12 ‘nutrition for dummy’s’ E-books, a behind the scenes interview with (insert name of newest fad diet ‘expert’), and a ‘certified 9-steps to visible abs’ downloadable video-course can potentially get you gassed up enough to get started, consistency is the big boss that will keep you going and get you the actual results.
I will say this once and once only, but I want you to read it around 20x (I could write it down 20x but then I’d be wasting time, and I hate wasting time. I never waste… Godamnit!)
If you work towards your goals daily with focus, resilience, an open mind, and a willingness to be completely wrong, you will be great within a few weeks, amazing within a few months, and limitless within a lifetime.
Fact: You are what you repeatedly do.
Fact: You can change what you repeatedly do.
Fact: I’m about to drop a Kanye West’s-ego-sized knowledge-bomb
If you currently have some negative traits that you want to get rid of, or some positive traits that you want to experience more of, then I have the answer: do stuff that makes you better! Every… single… day.
That’s it. It’s that simple. And spoken like a true prodigy, right?!
Well, the premise is simple. The blood, sweat, and tears not so much.
Wanna’ be fitter? Exercise every day.
Wanna’ get more sales? Hustle every day.
Wanna’ bulletproof your mindset? Develop every day.
Wanna’ learn more? Educate yourself every day.
Wanna’ gain confidence? Do all the above every day.
Wanna’ build a house? Lay bricks every day.
The really great news here though is that idiots like me can reap benefits just from leveraging consistency. Here’s an adequate analogy…
Think of all your goals as houses (your business, your health, your relationships, your charity etc). You need each house to be complete, and you need them to endure the test of time. To do that you must have strong foundations (your mindset), lay bricks (your consistency), and put on the roof when you’re done (your execution).
Now think of one of your goals, and the house that represents it. You can think of it as your dream house if you like, fully finished with the roof on and everything, and built by you. The complexity of the build resembles the size of the goal you want to achieve. You gas yourself up, draw up the plans, and are xmas-day-as-a-5-year-old-excited to get started laying those first few bricks.
You wake up on the first day of the build and jump out of bed. You drive to your new plot and start mixing cement and laying bricks. Wow! It doesn’t look like a house yet but it’s a start, and it feels good to make some progress, albeit a little.
Your job after the first day of brick laying is an extremely important one: to get up tomorrow and continue to lay more bricks. Your job the day after is even more important: to get up again and continue to lay bricks.
By the end of the first month your excitement for the project has dwindled and the reality of life being an unrelenting pain in the butt has started to deplete your morale.
The next few months of the build are even more important, but with more life crap (bills, other people, backache, the media, running out of money, car needs it’s MOT, washing machine breaks, dog/kid poops on carpet…) the build begins to feel unsustainable.
You give up.
You now have four sorta’-walls with no roof. You have lost time and money. You haven’t seen your friends and family much because you’ve been spending all your time on the build. And when you have seen them you’ve been cranky and tired and worn out aka no way to live.
You go back to your mediocre life having ‘tried your best’ and forget about your dream house. Sound worthwhile?! Me thinks not…
So how do you get all your houses finished? I suggest you keep going no matter what, even if that’s just a little bit more, every day. As long as your efforts are daily then you will continue to make progress and you will find ways to navigate the problems that inevitably arise.
Just. Keep. Going.
So what unfinished builds do you currently have? Do they have strong foundations or do you need to do some work on yourself? Is the build worth the time and effort? What can you do right now to strengthen your mindset and lay another brick?