"There is never enough time to do everything and there is always enough time to do the most important things." ~Brian Tracy
The Law of Forced Efficiency tells us that we can NEVER use the excuse that we don't have enough time to achieve our goals.
Today's episode highlights a profound lesson and "law" shared by the great Brian Tracy in his Psychology of Achievement.
By separating and prioritizing your habit list versus your To-Do list you focus on the habits (recurring behaviors) that will help you achieve your goal.
Plan. Act. Record and Reassess. The P.A.R.R. methodology and The Habit Factor® are the perfect complement to The Law of Forced Efficiency.
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Resources
Brian Tracy The Psychology of Achievement.
Napoleon Hill The Science of Personal Achievement
Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich
Motivation is often fleeting and while it's important not to wait for motivation to strike there are a few mindsets that help getting and staying motivated easier.
In this episode, Martin reviews these strategies and shares his experience about what has helped when motivation was lacking.
A precept is understanding the critical importance of getting started. In order to give yourself a shot you must begin... sounds obvious but many never take that first step.
Next, making your vision as vivid and compelling as possible (prior episode) will help greatly!
Another key idea is self-efficacy which is the ability to create a desired result which creates momentum. This is best achieved when one follows The Habit Factor's PARR methodology; Planning, Acting, Recording and Reassessing.
It helps to regard achievement as a process rather than a single event. This facilitates the most essential ingredient and perhaps a surprise one to staying motivated, patience.
Check out this short FAF episode... and SUBSCRIBE now to get these episodes automatically on your device!
________________
**NEW Weekly Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book. Either email the review screenshot or add your Twitter handle and we'll find you that way!
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Resources
Willpower Math (blog post)
Three Habit Busting Tips - prior episode
Everything is created twice...
Where there is no vision the people perish. ~Proverbs
If success can be defined as "creating your ideal future" then it's essential to know what your ideal future looks like. Are you able to clearly articulate that vision. If you close your eyes now, can you envision what it might look like three or five years out?
"Your imagination is your preview to life's coming attractions." Albert Einstein
Unfortunately, out of one hundred people it's likely that less than ten will take the time to really think through and envision their ideal future. Fewer still will write it out!
Martin suggests that you identify all the major categories of your life: professional, health, family, relationships, mind, spiritual, adventure, recreation and where you will live and detail each as a vivid and descriptive paragraph.
A Chinese proverb says, "Vision without execution is a day dream and execution without vision is a nightmare."
Once a compelling vision is crafted you'll be "pulled" by it as Steve Jobs once explained and you can then identify what habit will help to make the vision a reality.
Check out this episode and be sure to share this Mind Bullet Wednesday!
***NEW Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book.
Either email the review screenshot or add your twitter handle and we'll find you that way!
BTW: It's easy to SUBSCRIBE and to have each episode sent to you automatically.
Subscribe
Resources
Napoleon Hill The Science of Personal Achievement
Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich
"I'm an overnight success, it just took twenty years."
We tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in the short term and under estimate what we can achieve in the long run.
Today's episode is about how long it takes to really make any entrepreneurial endeavor "stick". That is, whether it's a book, an app, a podcast or any business endeavor, if it's something you want to succeed you'd better be willing to invest years of time, effort and personal energy.
To kick off the episode Martin first shares a quote by the late, great Steve Jobs regarding just how hard it is to create a successful company and ultimately why so many people quit.
It's hard. It's very, very hard and you have to be persistent.
Martin shares how he fully underestimated the amount of time it would take and now, 20+ years later, it is still an active company and partnership.
When you think about it, the most successful companies have been around dozens and some even over a hundred years. It seems the most successful companies are even generational.
So, it's important to know that when you start something you are planting a seed that will need consistent care and feeding for years to come.
Subscribe and be sure to share this Mind Bullet Monday with a friend!
***NEW Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book.
Either email the review screenshot or add your twitter handle and we'll find you that way!
BTW: It's easy to SUBSCRIBE and to have each episode sent to you automatically.
Subscribe
Resources
Napoleon Hill The Science of Personal Achievement
Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich
Feeling stuck? The good news is everyone has felt this way before and it's not only common, it's a significant sign of pending growth.
In this episode, Martin tackles a few key mindsets around the idea of feeling "stuck" and how one can best grapple with the feeling.
A great starting point is releasing any resistance to the feeling and then enjoying and using the awareness to ask key questions like; "Where do I want to go? and, "What am I afraid of?"
Knowing that all behavior is primarily driven by the desire to avoid fear or gain pleasure that question is likely to provide light on what should be your next steps and WHY you may not be taking them.
Check out this short FAF episode now... and remember to SUBSCRIBE now to get these episodes automatically on your device!
________________
**NEW Weekly Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book. Either email the review screenshot or add your Twitter handle and we'll find you that way!
BTW: Be sure to SUBSCRIBE and you'll have each episode sent to you automatically!
Subscribe
Don't miss a single episode. Subscribe to the podcast to get each episode sent directly to you.
Resources
The Habit Factor's Unstuck promo: (9+Hrs)
Three Habit Busting Tips - prior episode
Who is to blame when things go wrong?
Yes... this is a Mind Bullet on a Wednesday. (you are not crazy). Martin starts this episode with a bit of a chuckle as the guest for this episode had to reschedule at the last minute leaving him with a Wednesday Mind Bullet (regular listeners know that Wednesdays are reserved for interviews). So this last minute shift in plans creates a learning moment.
In life people will often drop the ball - not follow through, etc. It's very easy to fall into the blame-game trap. To point fingers and absolve oneself of responsibility.
Martin shares a quick story about a Facebook post from an entrepreneur who was ranting about "people not doing the job right in the first place" and "wasting half my day fixing their mistakes."
The question is; Who is really responsible? Who is really to blame?
It turns out taking responsibility ends up providing a host of benefits including freedom and ultimately saves us from needlessly wasting energy.
Check out this episode and be sure to share this Mind Bullet Monday!
***NEW Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book.
Either email the review screenshot or add your twitter handle and we'll find you that way!
BTW: It's easy to SUBSCRIBE and to have each episode sent to you automatically.
Subscribe
Resources
Napoleon Hill The Science of Personal Achievement
Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich
What is the value of emotion?
How well do you listen to your emotions when it comes to all of your decisions— particularly when "logic" is saying one thing and your gut is saying another.
In today's episode Martin asks the listener to reflect upon some of their most positive growth experiences and ask if they were "logic-based" decisions or if they followed their gut.
Much of our decision making is done via habit and we'll even disguise our fear many times as "logic".
While logic is a powerful gift we should leverage, refine and be grateful for, it can keep us bound, unsure and even afraid at times from taking action.
"If I thought logically about that hike or the Catalina paddle there is no way either of them would've happened yet they were both priceless experiences!"
Martin speculates that great leaps of personal growth are often tied to these emotive decisions where logic was doing its best to steer us in a different direction.
From this episode Martin wants to know...
1) Have you shared the same experience when you've gone against "Logic"?
2) What happens if you follow your gut and it's based upon EGO instead?
3) Where does that heart-mind, intuitive thought and gut feeling come from?
4) What do you do to strengthen the the heart-mind and gut feeling for larger decisions
5) Can you take a life "inventory" of gut decisions (absent the ego) and see how it's steered you on a positive path of personal growth?
Check out this episode and be sure to share this Mind Bullet Monday!
***NEW Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book.
Either email the review screenshot or add your twitter handle and we'll find you that way!
BTW: It's easy to SUBSCRIBE and to have each episode sent to you automatically.
Subscribe
Resources
Napoleon Hill The Science of Personal Achievement
Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich
"The word is out... gratitude has incredible benefits." ~Glenn Fox
In this entertaining interview, Glenn covers his journey toward graduate school and beyond. Citing stories of getting his top-level mechanics degree and his love of cars and, how being a mechanic served much of his mindfulness development.
His eclectic background combined with an element of chance ultimately leads Glenn to find a great mentor who recommendeds that he study an emerging field, "affective neuroscience".
Glenn shares wonderful insights and studies related to neuroscience and gratitude and how for him he must "win the home field" — a great metaphor to help him remember it's really about having healthy, quality relationships —that foster success.
Glenn R. Fox earned his PhD from USC’s Neuroscience Graduate Program and his extensive research regarding gratitude is widely published.
Just some of what Martin and Glenn cover:
-How across nearly all religions and philosophies Glenn has noticed that gratitude is a fundamental theme
-How mindfulness and gratitude are practices
-How emotion can help us to narrow the range of options
-How the brain process emotion
-How emotion influences our decisions and behaviors
-How we might better understand the value of emotions to make better decisions
-His influences like Antonio Damasio and Pema Chodron
even,
-Why Glenn sees envy as a positive emotion
And much more...
The point is emotion narrows the decisions we can make so we're not just frozen... it's useful and helps us make decisions — it probably exists for a reason.
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Resources
Glenn's Book list:
-When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (Shambhala Classics)
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
Glenn's Blog: http://glennrfox.com/TheEmpiricistBlog/ .
What does that French proverb mean to you?
What is life that when it's half spent it becomes clear? Or, is it really just an observation that it takes us half our life to realize what is most important to us?
Martin kicks off this episode sharing an observation about this great proverb via the lens of The Habit Factor but later observes it could be a number of things including the ephemerality of it all!
WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEANS?
Martin wraps up this quick mind bullet with that very question and asks you to chime in and share your thoughts on facebook.com/thehabitfactor or twitter @thehabitfactor.com
If you had to guess what would you say?
***NEW Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book.
Either email the review screenshot or add your twitter handle and we'll find you that way!
BTW: It's easy to SUBSCRIBE and to have each episode sent to you automatically.
Subscribe
Resources
Napoleon Hill The Science of Personal Achievement
Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich
This question comes via Quora.com and Martin has a link at the bottom to the entire post/response (partially posted here).
In this episode Martin reads his response and adds a little color along the way shares his experience teaching "Success Skills" for C.L.A.S.S. Corporate Leaders Advocating Success Skills (volunteer instructor for Junior Achievement) at some of San Diego's more impoverished neighborhoods.
Martin changes the definition of "success" as provided by the curriculum and teaches a slightly different definition. Then he shares some thoughts about just what the OPPOSITE of success might be if it isn't failure.
MG's answer on quora.com:
I really like this question. From my experience I've found "success" to be a very enigmatic concept/subject which I'm sure explains why so many of us struggle with it.
The SHORT ANSWER to your question:
It is going to be difficult if not impossible, (as evidenced by your question) to find success without a desireable destination, target or goal.
So, do you have any feel for What your ideal future looks like?
Simply reverse engineer any great "success" and you will notice they know at the very least or, knew what their target was/what they were going after.
That doesn't mean they hit it, it just means they had a direction to aim for (fostering positive action and habits).
Prolonged aimlessness can be very problematic.
Try this: Ask 10 people if they want to be a "success". My guess is all 10 will say "YES".
Then, ask those same 10 people to DEFINE what "success" means to them... <more? see link below and visit quora.com>
Direct link to the rest of Martin's answer on Quora:
________________
**NEW Weekly Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book. Either email the review screenshot or add your Twitter handle and we'll find you that way!
BTW: Be sure to SUBSCRIBE and you'll have each episode sent to you automatically!
Subscribe
Don't miss a single episode. Subscribe to the podcast to get each episode sent directly to you.
Resources
Revisit: The Law of Cosmic Habit Force
"At the end of the day, I'm in the business of helping as many entrepreneurs as I can. So, if I can reach more people outside of San Diego with the messaging that I have then it's a win/win all around." ~Henry Evans
As a VP of a software sales company, Henry Evans found himself,as he describes it, "caught up in the rat race". When excessive travel finally became too plus the day he realized he was going to miss his daughter's kindergarten recital it became too much.
Henry believed that if he could just dedicate an hour a day to his other passion pursuits / a new company a new career could evolve.
Since then Henry has gone on to build a successful career and helps (locally) hundreds of San Diego entrepreneurs who drive from near and far to attend his entrepreneur-marketing workshops.
Recently, Henry started to "live-feed" these meeting to share the lessons to entrepreneurs anywhere in the world eager to learn!
Martin and Henry
discuss:
-the birth of Hour a Day
Entrepreneur
-Henry's bestselling book on
Amazon, The Hour A Day Entrepreneur: Escape the Rat Race
and Achieve Entrepreneurial Freedom With Only One Focused Hour
ADay (90% 5 Star reviews!)
- the wise use of time to pave the
way to a new career and freedom.HINT: see the MBM prior episode
"The Great Eight that Separate"
-Review PARR
Methodology
-FREE copy of his Book - Visit:
http://www.houradayentrepreneur.com/
- His last meeting focused on Video
marketing - best steps to get most out of video for your
business
-recommends a couple great examples
videos: Poopourrie and dollar shave club
-A recent success story from Henry's
entrepreneur group.The importance of marketing to a
niche
-More marketing
insights!
-Definition of success
-Some of his best
habits
-importance of an accountability
partner
-THE POWER OF ONE
-the importance of failure and a
great story
"As long as you're on the journey
that to me means you are already a success even if the money and
stuff haven't caught up yet!"
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Resources
Henry's Book list:
The Trickto Money Is Having
Some
Think & Grow Rich
The Bible
App's recommended:
PC Users: Active
Words
Mac Users: TextExpander
REV - APP (for transcribing)
"I hope, therefore, that
some of my descendants may
follow the example and reap the benefit." ~Benjamin
Franklin
When it comes to personal
development very few know that the great grandfather or the great,
great grandfather of PD is
Benjamin Franklin.
It's hard to find a more
prolific American than Benjamin Franklin yet most people don't know
that at a young age Ben believed himself to be abrasive, brash and
argumentative and wrote about this in his
autobiography.
He outlined thirteen virtues he
hoped to assume as he matured. He was determined to start tracking
each virtue, one per week, and would move to the next virtue
rotating through all thirteen throughout the course of each
year.
1. Temperance.
2. Silence.
3. Order.
4. Resolution.
5. Frugality.
6. INDUSTRY.
7. Sincerity.
8. Justice.
9. Moderation.
10. Cleanliness.
11. Tranquillity.
12. Chastity.
13. Humility.
YES! The path to virtue is via HABIT and this story got Martin thinking a lot about the similarity of tracking habits to achieve goals and Ben's process of tracking habits to develop and refine his virtues.
Aristotle shared that Virtue is long-standing habit.
Martin shares this story to prove
to ANYONE (who is committed) that they have within them the
capacity AND a proven process to improve
themselves.
Martin ends the episode with some of his favorite Ben Franklin quotes:
"Your net worth to the world is what you get when you subtract your bad habits form your good ones"
"Early to bed and early to rise
makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise"
"A penny saved is a penny earned."
"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."
"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man."
***NEW Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book.
Either email the review screenshot or add your twitter handle and we'll find you that way!
BTW: It's easy to SUBSCRIBE and to have each episode sent to you automatically.
Subscribe
Resources
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (Paperback)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (FREE) Gutenberg.org
Napoleon Hill The Science of Personal Achievement
Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich