“If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” – Bruce Lee
I remember sitting on the bus a few years ago when this man the size of hippopotamus waddles on board. His size, to say the least, was impressive.
The scary part was that he had two bags full of Mcdonald’s goodies. In the 15 minutes that ensued until I got off at my stop, he managed to devour two big Macs, a large fries, a large coke, ten nuggets and two pies (which I believe were both apples).
Walking home after getting off, I remember asking myself:
“How can he rationalize eating so much? He takes up two seats, can barely walk and his XXXL clothes looked a tad too tight.”
The answer?
He can’t. Just like I can’t rationalize getting up extra early on Saturdays to play four hours of video games (not so much anymore, thankfully) when I should be working on my business.
Human nature sucks. We break commitments to ourselves, almost as much as we break bread.
Why?
Because logic fails.
Thankfully ten decades of psychology has taught us that we can make success automatic by reverse engineering what would make us stray in the first place.
Here are three bulletproof tips to ensure you achieve success in any are of your life!
1. Reverse betting
Introduced to me by my friend Mike Vacanti, the reverse bet is exactly what it seems. You set a goal and bet a consequence to losing if you don’t achieve said goal on time/to the caliber you originally outlined. Hence why it’s a reverse bet, instead of winning, you lose; well not really since you are achieving your goals – but you get the point.
Mike Vacanti reverse bets his entire net worth. Obviously, that’s slightly insane, so for us, normal folk here’s what you can do.
Take some money you would hate to part with. It should be an uncomfortable amount. Then set a goal, and the consequence is that you throw that amount of money out the window.
That should light a fire under your ass.
2. Photo Mounting and Journaling
This has more to do with daily reminders than anything else. A significant barrier to achieving goals is forgetfulness; more specifically that we forget about them soon after we set them.
The first few days, inspiration is sky high. But then something happens, results don’t happen as quickly as we thought, progress slows and motivation wavers. Our once attainable goal now seems like a far away mission. Most give up and end up right where they started.
The solution? Consistent reminders and check in’s
When I finally successfully transformed my body and kept it there, it was because I carried around a fat photo of myself in my pocket on a daily basis. Furthermore, I had one mounted in my room to remind me every morning and every night.
Whenever I would have the urge to cheat on my diet or skip the gym, there was the photo, reminding me of who I am and where I need to go. Transforming and staying fit, became effortless.
The other tactic I used was daily journaling. In the morning I would write out my goals, by hand. This served as a reminder and set up the rest of the day to be aligned with said goal.
At night was where the magic happened. I would simply do a daily check in regarding my goal. How was my diet that day? Did I go to the gym? What could I have done better? What did I do amazing today?
The mere thought of having to write down I cheated on my diet, or I skipped the gym was enough for me not to do those things.
3. Kaizen
Kaizen is a Japanese term and means small daily improvements.
You aren’t going to get huge and shredded overnight.
You aren’t going to make a million dollars overnight, and you certainly aren’t going to find the person of your dreams overnight. It happens, little by little over time.
1% better every single day is the goal. I promise if you commit to small daily improvements, you will achieve anything you set your mind too.
