I posted on Instagram recently that I felt the universe put us on a “time out,” “a forced reset,” or however you want to describe it. In the midst of the 2008 financial meltdown, despite being 41 years old, I hadn’t experienced a lot of crisis in my life. Looking back, I feel so grateful that I made it that long without having to deal with a huge challenge, but there is downside to not having to deal with a lot of adversity. I can look back on that period of time, connect the dots and now know that it was an ass kicking that I needed. I wouldn’t be here today, in this position, if I hadn’t had those years. So, with that experience and perspective, I can look at what is happening today and know that something fantastic is going to come of it. As tough as it was at the time, I’m grateful that I went through that period of my life. It prepared me for what we are dealing with today and allows me to lead others through it.
For many of us, we are going into week 4 of this quarantine. Let’s be real, it has taken most of us those 3+ weeks to “settle in.” The transition was tough. I know this because it hasn’t been easy for me and I’ve talked personally with many of you. It’s been no joke. But…
We can all say with some certainty that we will be sheltering in place at least through this month, so the question we should have for ourselves is what are we going to do with this time.
Today, we all have a choice. When we come out of this, will we be the same person, will we regress or will we be a better version of our self.
Yes, you need to make that decision consciously or it will be made for you.
If you want to be better version of yourself, it takes effort. You need to put action into the equation. Remember, the last six letters of attraction spell action.
So, today I am going to challenge you.
My challenge for you is to identify, implement, or improve 7 areas of your life.
- A time management process, skill or hack
- A new life skill
- Improve or enhance a current life skill that you use daily
- A business process that will improve your productivity
- A health and wellness change to your lifestyle
- Read or reread that one book that you know could be a game changer for you
- Take an online course on a topic that you know will have the highest impact on your life and business
I’m going to let you into my world a little bit today and let you what I’m working on personally as it relates to some of these categories.
So, these are the 7 Life Hacks that I’m trying to implement during this time. I’m not suggesting that you take on the same projects. I would like you to create and execute on your own.
- I’m reviewing my calendar for wasted time. I added very specific recurring appointments for my morning ritual and what is within it down to when I wake up, my meditation schedule, and when I plan my day. When you schedule a meeting with yourself, you subconsciously commit to it.
- So, for my life skill, my goal is to add 2-3 “go to meals” to our rotation of meals. My family is a tad finicky and each of us likes different things. So, I’m taking this time to get creative, try some different recipes and see if I can add to some of our family traditions.
- Communicate better and more frequently via video. Yes, that is a life skill for me. (Get your continuing education done.)
- To enhance a business skill, like you, I am doing all I can to get more comfortable with using virtual platforms that we are using today to communicate. They will be used post-crisis now that they’ve been widely introduced. They are here to stay so we need to get comfortable with these platforms.
- I found myself wide awake at 2:30 to 3:00 a.m. in the morning, which was a sign of being anxious. I added 15 minutes of meditation at night and I’ve been sleeping soundly since I added that routine. I’ve used that evening trigger to remind myself also to take my supplements. (Journal)
- I’ve committed to sitting down to read “Principles” by Ray Dalio.
- I purchased Tony Robbins’ “Rapid Planning Method.” It’s a life- and vision-planning method he released over the last couple of months. I’ve got 10 years left before I can retire (if that is what I want to do).
Now, one might say, “Jim, that’s a lot.” But if you break it down, it’s a couple of hours a day of effort to complete all these projects. I’ve taught myself over the years not to look at the projects as a whole. If you do that, you won’t start. So now I start by chunking down what needs to be done on a daily basis and I schedule it. Because of the quarantine, we’ve picked up so much time that we would have normally spent in the car and doing other things that can’t be done now, so to pick up two hours a day is a no-brainer.
I realize that if I teach myself these new skills, learn from several masters of their craft, get creative, and complete a few additional small projects, I know that I will be a better version of myself in 30 to 45 days. This is the strategy that I started implementing during the 2008 financial meltdown.
I know that I will develop and improve my skills if I just commit to getting better each day.
I evaluate myself by saying “Am I better than I was yesterday?” My mantra ends with me saying to myself “Every day in every way, I’m getting better and better.”
