Jul 01

Your 2019 Mid Year Check In

By Tommy Baker | Advice, Entrepreneurship

Reading Time: 8 minutes

NOTE: I also did an audio training podcast of this blog post, which you can access above.

Your 2019 Mid Year Check In

We were coming back on a 12 hour flight from Europe and I was doing some thinking, reflecting and planning —and that’s when it hit me:

We’re already 50% done with 2019.

I couldn’t believe it —and that’s precisely then I booked an appointment with myself for 3 hours titled 2019 Mid Year Check In.

(Creative, right? I need to work on that.)

And you can and should do the same: because with 50% of the year done, it’s time to re-evaluate.

Remember: if you don’t pause and take a moment to reflect on your biggest wins, challenges, the big audacious goals from the start of the year while taking inventory —you’re going to wake up in December wondering what happened to the year.

For most people, they don’t even remember their big targets from the start of the year: tripling their revenue, finally quitting their job, cultivating the relationship of their dreams, etc. Because of this, they’re unwilling to pause and reflect. Usually, because they feel guilt over not moving forward and don’t need the reminder.

In this blog post, I’ll help you through the process of creating your own 2019 Mid Year Check In —so you can finish the year with clarity, growth and endless momentum.

Are you ready?

Step 1: Identifying Your Biggest Win(s)

On the path of ambition and growth, we rarely spend time reflecting on what has gone right.

The first step for your 2019 Mid Year Check In is to identify your biggest win to date and own it with everything you’ve got.

This is not a time to play small or minimize the success you’ve chosen. Whatever this was for you and in any area of your life —I want you to deeply and authentically celebrate yourself.

Once you’ve identified the biggest win, challenge yourself to find at least 10 others during the first half of 2019. It’s not about the size or scope of them, it’s about what they mean to you. All change and growth requires courage —sometimes it’s the small moves that lead to the big ones.

For me personally, the biggest win was writing and formally launching The Leap Of Your Life. It was an intense project and I’m proud of the work. Instead of focusing on how I wanted more book sales, I’m going to own the art of creating and the courage to put my work out there.

I want you to do the same, no matter what your win(s) were.

Step 2: Identifying Your Biggest Challenge

Armed with the energy of your biggest win, it’s time to flip the script and identify the biggest challenge you’ve experienced to date. Often when we experience adversity, we tend to avoid it —instead of seeing it as an opportunity for learning and growth.

Whether you went through relationship issues, an unexpected career change or a launch that didn’t go well: this is the time to identify it and then extract a lesson from it.

For example:

My biggest challenge was I had committed to launching a podcast —and still haven’t released one episode.

The lesson I learned is not to get caught up in the logistics and overcomplicating the process. Instead, I need to commit to recording my first 10 episodes.

Another example:

My biggest challenge was falling off my morning routine after the first couple months. I started strong, but then faded —and then I started to feel guilty and beat myself up.

The lesson I learned is that with any habit change there is going to be slip-ups and times where things go haywire —but tomorrow is a new day. The following week is a new chance to get right back on track.

Hopefully, you see the power in taking your challenge out of your head and putting it onto paper while extracting a lesson.

Because when you do this, you supercharge your growth and learning while re-wiring your mind to see the positive in the challenge.

To finish, you’re going to ask yourself a simple question:

Knowing what you know now —what are you committed to changing for the rest of 2019 in regards to your biggest challenge?

Now that you’ve identified your biggest win and challenge, it’s time to take inventory.

Step 3: Taking Non-Emotional Inventory

We have over 50,000 thoughts every single day.

We check email over 88 times every work day.

We’re in an endless barrage of stimulus and noise.

The next step in your 2019 Mid Year Check In is to push the pause button on life and take non-emotional inventory. As it sounds —you’re going to separate your emotions with your current life circumstances.

Specifically, you’re going to sit down and see where you find yourself in the following areas of life:

Healthy & Vitality.

This includes your daily energy, vitality and progress with how you look, feel and perform.

Business & Income.

This includes your career growth, promotion(s), sales and revenue and creative endeavors.

Relationships & Social.

This includes your closest relationships, family, kids, social circle and virtual communities.

Spiritual & Purpose.

This includes your deeper connection with life’s meaning, your purpose and spiritual path.

The best way to do this is to simply list 3 or 4 bullet points for each —making them as specific as you can.

For example, in business and income:

• Revenue to date is $85,000

• Launched a brand new course.

• Invested in my first team member.

• Feeling lost in regards to marketing.

The bullet points are a way to achieve clarity and get a real pulse on where you are today. In the above, there are metrics, markers and also identifying a challenge. When I do this, I try to write the bullets in a way that a stranger could get a clear picture of where I’m at in every part of life.

Step 4: Crafting Your Targets For 2019

Now, you’re going to fast forward 6 months by asking a simple question:

What must happen by December 31, 2019 for you to feel this year was a massive success?

Again, this is when you create the space to formulate a vision for the rest of the year. Keep it specific, simple and tangible —with goal setting, too many people are trying to do too much. Limit yourself to 3 big targets or what I call in The 1% Rule big rocks.

For example:

• I’d need to launch and sell a new program.

• I’d need to take the vacation with my partner.

• I’d need to complete a morning routine 5 days a week.

Remember: you can accomplish an entire year’s worth of results in the next 6 months. In fact, if you do it right: you can create a few year’s worth of results if you’re clear, focused and disciplined towards your ambitions.

Step 5: Plan Your Quarterly Targets

Take a moment to reflect back on Step 4 and ensure the targets are exciting, motivating and bold enough for you. This is not about some unrealistic, impossible dream: it’s about choosing 3 big targets that would really make you look back proudly at 2019.

With these in hand, it’s time to reverse engineer them and break them down into targets for the next quarter. Q3 is July, August and September —so ask yourself:

Based on Step 4, where would I need to be by the end of September?

Then, fill in the blanks by being as specific as you can.

Here’s an example using the targets above:

• I’d need to launch and sell a new program.

Q3 Target: By September, I’d need to have all assets ready for launch and start marketing.

• I’d need to take the vacation with my partner.

Q3 Target: By September, the trip will be booked, paid for and blocked off the schedule.

• I’d need to complete a morning routine 5 days a week.

Q3 Target: By September, I’d be on track with 5 days a week using a habit tracking app on my smartphone.

If the above seems simple —that’s a great thing. With goal setting, most people overcomplicate the process, have zero clarity and then use it as an excuse to not move forward. These targets are now to be reviewed every single morning as your morning ritual.

Step 6: Schedule Your Learning & Fun

We’re almost done with your 2019 Mid Year Check In —and now it’s time to strategically schedule in your learning and fun. The reason we do this is because what doesn’t get scheduled in advance, won’t get done.

And two of the most important things to schedule in advance are your personal learning —including skill acquisition, growth, seminars, masterminds, events, etc and your fun time: time off, hobbies, fun events and more.

For learning —review your targets above and ask yourself:

• What is the one skill I can sharpen during the rest of 2019 that will amplify my value in the marketplace?

For example: copywriting, podcasting, speaking, video, digital marketing, email copywriting, management, training and coaching, etc.

• What is the one event or seminar that is aligned with my targets and ambitions that will put me in the right mindset and momentum?

For example: live events, masterminds, programs, training, networking opportunities, incubators, etc.

• What is the one course, program or book(s) I need to invest my time, energy, money and attention into to act as a catalyst towards my targets?

For example: digital courses, study material, online programs and learning, books, etc.

Don’t underestimate how crucial this is: leaders are learners —not dabblers. They are specific and don’t leave space for guesswork.

When I review the rest of my 2019, I see I’m going to two workshops, one big event —have 20 books I’m committed to reading and two core skills I’m working on. I want you to do the same, although keep it simple.

Then, you’re going do to the same for your fun time. This can include a vacation, weekend trips, adventure, hobbies and “you” time.

For example, here are some of mine for the rest of 2019:

• I’m going to get my mountain bike repaired and hit the trails at least once a week.

• I will plan to visit at least 2 places sights in Arizona with local road trips.

• I’m committed to 3 brand new hikes on mountains I’ve never been on.

Again: the more specific you can get here, the higher chance you’re going to execute and follow through.

Step 7: Review & Execute Your 2019 Mid Year Check In

Remember: if you complete your 2019 Mid Year Check In —you will be part of a tiny percentage of people who are committed to their goals and ambitions.

Because countless people say they want incredible results, but will never take the time to go through the 6 steps detailed above.

The above should take you anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple hours at most. What I do is rent a conference room out at my local co-working space, book an appointment with myself on the calendar and have at it.

2019 Is Still Yours. Own It.

There you have it: a step by step process to reflect on where you’ve come from in 2019 and where you’re headed.

Because even if this year has been challenging, hard and full of adversity —you still create one year’s worth of results in the next 6 months.

The question then, becomes:

Will you?

I’d love to see it happen —and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below and I’ll tackle them.

Jun 26

5 WAYS TO MAKE BOLD DECISIONS | VLOG #004 | Tommy Baker

By Tommy Baker | Advice, Entrepreneurship, VLOG | No Comments

Reading Time: 2 minutes

5 WAYS TO MAKE BOLD DECISIONS | VLOG #004 |

Let’s face it: our lives are a compounding of endless choices and decisions —that can lead to radically different places.

Often, when you’re looking to create transformation —it can feel daunting to make bold decisions towards your dreams.

During the last half decade of being in the trenches helping others collapse their vision and bring their ambitions to life, I’ve compiled some powerful tools to help you make bigger and bolder decisions.

This is the topic of the latest Resist Average VLOG, which you can watch here:

5 WAYS TO MAKE BOLD DECISIONS | VLOG #004 |

So, what are the ways you can step into your vision today?

1: Go To Your Future Self

Here, you seek wisdom from the version of yourself who has already accomplished your biggest dreams and desires.

What would they do in the same circumstances? Do that.

2: Use Reverse Visualization

Reverse visualization is one of my favorite tools, which I revealed in the Leap Of Your Life.

Similar to the first, you’re going to future pace and imagine a future where you didn’t make the decision you’re about to and examine the consequences.

3: Lead With the Heart

Often, our intuition knows exactly what to do, but we talk ourselves out of it. Emerson called this the blessed impulse, and it comes from one place: your heart.

4: Choose Abundance

Making decisions out of scarcity only attracts more scarcity. Instead, make bold decisions from a place of abundance and watch what happens to your growth and results.

5: Create Powerful Energy

Last, be careful to examine the emotional states and environments when you’re making big decisions.

If you’re exhausted, drained and scattered —it can seem impossible to make the decision you know you must make.

5 WAYS TO MAKE BOLD DECISIONS | VLOG #004 |

So, there you have it. If you liked this episode, please subscribe on YouTube and leave me some comments.

Furthermore, let me know what you want me to address and I’ll create an episode on that topic!

Apr 15

Making, Marketing and Managing: How To Own Your Day

By Tommy Baker | Entrepreneurship, Masterclass | No Comments

Reading Time: 9 minutes

Making, Marketing and Managing: How To Own Your Day

The alarm clock buzzes —you’re praying it’s not real. You wake up and the phone resembles a Christmas tree of notifications: pings, whistles, and pop-ups galore.

Hello, cortisol. You quickly check email to ensure there are no massive fires —and instantly feel overwhelmed. Another day, another challenge for you as an entrepreneur or high performer. Predictably, starting the day this way will lead to scattered results, exhaustion and a heavy dose of burnout.

But it doesn’t have to. In this post, Making, Marketing and Managing: How to Own Your Day —I’m going to share one of my favorite concepts in regards to setting your day up for fulfillment and powerful results. As a side note, I did not invent this, I originally heard this from James Altucher —but is a framework I’ve been using for years and have taught my clients.

Although this post will focus on entrepreneurs (or those aspiring to be) —it could apply to nearly everyone who wants to take control back of their time, maximize their productivity and move the needle forward in both life and business.

Before we dig in, let’s examine why this matters and the cost of not implementing it.

Cognitive Load and Early Mornings

The research is clear: willpower is highest in the morning —and so is our cognitive and physical energy. We’ve (hopefully) spent the evening recharging and recovering, as well as digesting the prior day’s experience and releasing any pressing anxiety.

Most people will feel and perform their best in the morning —which is why it’s crucial to know what to focus on. Daniel Pink’s book When is a fascinating read about the importance of aligning our most important work with our highest cognitive load. In fact, he detailed research in hospitals where one is most likely to have surgery complications in the afternoon, or the “trough” of our cognitive energy.

So, what does this mean for you and why should you care?

Too often in a world of morning routines and power hours, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend: people wasting their greatest mental and physical capacity on the least important tasks. In other words, if you’re getting fired up to check email and Instagram —you’re doing it wrong.

This is where the making, marketing, and managing system comes in. Before we dive into the specifics —let’s take a moment to define these:

Making

Making is whatever you do creatively —you could make content, brainstorm a strategic plan, a blog post, the vision for the next quarter or work on your craft. Typically, making requires the highest cognitive load of the three M’s and is done first to maximize quality output and set the tone for a fulfilled day.

For example: if you’re a writer, making may be to write 1,000 words when your energy is the highest —otherwise, it may not get done.

Marketing

Marketing, as a business owner and entrepreneur —is anything related to lead generation, traffic, attracting potential clients and guiding customers through the sales process. This is a vast world but think of activities designed to bring in current or future revenue to your business.

For example: if you’re an entrepreneur, you may spend the middle part of your day strategically planning and launching a marketing campaign.

Managing

Last, managing is the simple act of organization, processes, and systems to build the foundation for your business. It’s the busywork that isn’t urgent —but still has to be done. This includes things like email, calendar updates, invoicing, etc.

For example: as a business owner, you may spend the tail end of the day closing open loops and finishing off tasks such as email, scheduling and urgent but unimportant work.

Now —wouldn’t it make sense to start the day with the activity that not only requires the highest cognitive load but also differentiates you in the marketplace to produce quality output and results? I certainly think so.

But in coaching thousands of people, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend: they tend to scatter themselves too thin and leave the scraps for their most important work. Caught in a cycle of being busy, they have a lot to do —but don’t get the most important work done.

Predictably, this leads to a lack of results and fulfillment. It can lead to closing up shop or thinking you’re not capable. If you’re reading this…I don’t want this for you. The fact you’re here means you’re meant for something bold and powerful —and I want you to stand out in the marketplace.

Let’s dive into each of these and the best practices for how to set them up to own your day. Along the way, I’ll be sharing my personal routine(s) to give you ideas on what to do with yours.

Early Morning: Making, Making, Making

Neil Gaiman delivered one of the best commencement speeches of all time in 2012 to the University of the Arts. Summed up three words, his core theme was simple —yet powerful:

Make good art.

From the speech itself, he expands:

“And remember that whatever discipline you are in, whether you are a musician or a photographer, a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a dancer, a designer, whatever you do you have one thing that’s unique. You have the ability to make art. Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art.”

It’s a powerful reminder of the work we do. Now, you may be saying: “Tommy…I’m not creative, nor do I make art” —both of which are untrue. If you’re an entrepreneur, you are making art every day. Maybe your art looks different than mine, or Neil’s: it doesn’t matter.

The early mornings are for making your art. Again —this is the work which is important and fulfilling, and usually not urgent. Your art could be mapping out your digital course, or create the copywriting for a sales page —or brainstorm the vision of the company for the next quarter.

For me, my making time is all about writing. Because I’ve identified it’s a skill I want to improve it, it makes my business better —and it makes me feel fulfilled and on purpose, it has to happen. Every single day.

How To Maximize Your Making Time

Making is less about the quantity of the time spent and more about the quality: your level of focus, boundaries and discipline in doing your work. This is when preparation and choosing the right environment are crucial to your success.

Here are a few ways to maximize your making time:

Prepare in advance. Set the stage for when and where you’re going to do your making work —otherwise, it won’t happen. Make it as easy as possible.

Choose the right environment. The best makers have specific environments where they do their best work. Don’t take this lightly: environment plays a huge factor in your success here.

Set a tangible metric or target. I prefer the minimum threshold target —for example, as a writer I choose 1,000 words as my target when I’m writing a book or longer form blogs and essays such as this.

Create ruthless boundaries. Last, set yourself up for success with boundaries: disconnect from the world, tell your assistant and clients you’re unavailable and don’t let any outside noise derail you.

Using this process, you’ll feel fulfilled knowing you did the most important and creatively fulfilling first and set the tone for your day.

Middle Of the Day: Marketing, Sales and Cash

With your creative work done, now you’ll shift your focus towards the marketing of your business. Ideally, this is done when your cognitive load and willpower are still high —because this will require your creativity.

Marketing is a vast field, but these are the revenue-generating, traffic-creating, trib-building actions that really move the needle to grow your business. This could be anything from mapping out your next funnel, reviewing metrics and pivoting on a campaign —or moving the sales process along.

Again, the key here is to ensure these activities are connected to either growing your exposure to people that don’t know who you are or moving those who know you into the next stage of your pipeline.

What this looks like for your business is different, but during the marketing portion of my day I may be editing a sales letter, sending out an email newsletter, reviewing paid traffic, brainstorming and implementing new campaigns or even doing a live video on Facebook to galvanize my audience.

Often, small business owners don’t focus on this until they realize they need revenue —and it’s too late. By spending chunks of focused time on marketing every day, you’ll be cultivating a crucial skill for getting your message out into the world.

As Academy guest Dean Graziosi has said: marketing is oxygen —when you don’t have it, it’s too late.

How To Maximize Your Marketing Time

You’re fired up to market, you’re ready to go —now what? It’s easy to fall into a trap of “random” marketing…which leads to random results. Here’s how to maximize your marketing time:

Review the bigger picture. Look at your targets, where you’re going this year and quarter —and ensure you’re in alignment. What are the non-negotiable marketing projects that must be done?

Break down each part of the project. Launching a new lead generation funnel can seem daunting, right? There’s the up-front work: creating ads and assets, then there’s the fulfillment piece of landing pages and copywriting and finally, the systems and infrastructure. Break each part down and attack these step by step during your marketing time.

Fastest path to cash. As an entrepreneur, you’re going to experience ebbs and flows of cash flow…on the regular. Especially when you’re starting out. One of the keys I always focus on in marketing is what I call FPC: the fastest path to cash. What can you insert during your marketing that collapses the time to getting paid, while still working on your bigger picture projects?

You know you’re doing marketing right when you’re growing your audience, your email list, the platform you’re using —and converting more people to create more revenue and sales. Simple, I know…but many people have no system and don’t dedicate portions of their day to real marketing efforts.

Now that you’ve completed your marketing phase, it’s time to finish with managing your life and business to close out a successful, productive day.

End Of the Day: Managing and Closing Open Loops

You’ve done the creative work that drives you and makes your brand, product or service unmistakable. You’ve done the marketing work to get your work out into the world and produce cash flow.

Now what? You’ll finish your day closing open loops with small to medium tasks that are urgent, yet not crucially important (unless too much time passes.) These are email, communication, meetings, social media, etc.

If you have team members, they’ve likely been doing some of this work along the way —but if not, now is your chance to close as many loops as you can and make all the decisions that tend to come with managing.

How To Maximize Your Managing Time

Even though managing comes last, there are ways to ensure you’re maximizing your time, making clear decisions —and setting yourself up for success the next day to repeat the cycle we’ve detailed above.

Chunk out your email responses. The average worker checks their email 88 times a day —leading to scattered focus and terrible results. Instead, batch this time out and commit to checking 5 times or less in your day.

Use an auto-responder during the day. No one ever built an enduring business by getting great at email. Communicate with people to set expectations —when I’m writing a book, I set up an auto-responder to let people know I won’t be responding back anytime soon.

Make quick decisions to ensure clarity. Indecision is a dreamkiller and stops momentum, even with the little things. In your managing time, make fast decisions and move on.

Set a cut-off time when done is done. Because managing can become a habit hole, set strict boundaries so you don’t bring your work home with you.

Own Your Day, Own Your Life

Here’s the truth: your ability to prioritize, create and manage your time as an entrepreneur, freelancer, small business owner or even an employee will dictate your ability to create momentum, results and financial opportunities.

Don’t take this lightly: we all have 168 hours in a week —and by using this system, you’ll get more done in less time.

Isn’t that why we’re here? When I coach and train entrepreneurs, I see this is often not the case and they’re always overwhelmed.

Personally, I often do a day’s worth of creative work, marketing efforts and managing before 2PM every day. It’s not always easy, but if you’re committed —you’ll get it done. Because the alternative is you lose momentum, you make zero progress and your dreams don’t come to life.

What did you get out of this and what are you committed to doing? Post to comments and tag me on social media!

Resources, Notes & More

Below you can find several resources mentioned or quoted directly in the post above to help deepen your understanding of the making, marketing and managing method.

James Altucher Online. Note: I couldn’t find a specific post where he mentions this, but I’m convinced I heard it from him first. https://jamesaltucher.com/

Willpower is a finite resource.
https://www.mcmaster.ca/opr/html/opr/media/main/NewsReleases/Exercisestudy.htm

Larks, owls and third birds.

When: Larks, Owls, and ‘Third Birds’

When: Hospital of Doom

When: Hospital of Doom

Neil Gaiman: Keynote Address 2012
https://www.uarts.edu/neil-gaiman-keynote-address-2012

Cal Newport, Deep Work on the Academy posdcast. Ep. 94 | Master Your Craft and Embrace Deep Work with Cal Newport

Mar 29

The Leap Of Your Life: Decoding The Pillars with Tommy Baker

By Tommy Baker | Advice, Books, Masterclass | No Comments

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Leap Of Your Life: Decoding The Pillars with Tommy Baker

There’s a leap in your life you must take, but you’ve been waiting. Every day you put it off —fear starts to win a little more and talk you out of it. Until one day, it’s gone. There is no more enthusiasm. There is no more spark. Another desire, another dream has faded.

The Leap of Your Life: How to Redefine Risk, Quit Waiting For ‘Someday,’ and Live Boldly is my brand new book about making bold decisions and never looking back.

Because launch day is right around the corner, I wanted to create a special training video to help answer a few questions and deep dive into the material. These questions include:

Who is this book for and why should I care?

What makes the Leap of Your Life different?

What can I expect inside the pages of the Leap?

And here’s the deal: I get it. No one needs another book. But this book was created after an obsessive 7.5 year quest to discover the truth about how to create transformation in your life —and stop waiting.

The Leap Of Your Life: Training Video

During this 20 minute training video —I go deep into who this book is for, why it matters and distill some of the key principles and tactics to bring your leap to life.

This book was written for one reason and one reason only: to wake you up.

Because we all need reminders, or else we slide into a life of mediocrity, stagnation and ultimately —a life we can’t wait to escape from, instead of a life we can’t wait to wake up for.

Make no mistake: you deserve to live a bold, inspiring and thriving life full of purpose, meaning, and adventure.

The Leap Of Your Life: Order Your Copy Now!

The Leap Of Your Life is officially out and available at all major retailers —and now is the best time to order so you can start living the life you truly want…not the one others want for you.

You can order the book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound or Books-A-Million now.

leap of your life Tommy baker

Mar 26

Are You Surviving, Comfortable or Thriving?

By Tommy Baker | Advice, Entrepreneurship | No Comments

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Are You Surviving, Comfortable or Thriving?

After being in the trenches coaching thousands of people to get clear, focused and build momentum in their lives —I’ve noticed there are three possible stages you can find yourself in at any given moment: survival, comfort or thriving.

And in each of these stages, you’re going to have completely different mindsets, obstacles and ways of operating in your life. The problem, however —is each stage requires a specific prescription to breakthrough (or, if you’re thriving…to not lose your momentum.)

In this post, you’re going to discover which stage you’re currently in, what the key markers of being in it are from an internal and external view —and what you can do to make sure you break free.

Because you’re not meant to simply survive life, or be in a stage of comfort. You’re here to thrive and make sure you get to the end of this experience with a smile on your face —knowing you truly lived. Because when you’re thriving, life opens up for you and will provide a level of meaning and fulfillment that can’t be matched.

And you and I are designed to be in that place.

The Survival Stage

The markers of being in a survival stage are glaring: endless alarms, putting out fires and always in a frantic state of overwhelm. The feeling of burnout has become your new normal — and there never seems to be enough.

There’s never enough time, certainly not enough money or resources —and some of the dialogue happening here is short-sighted: “trying” to make it through the day, or at best, the current week so you can finally take a moment to exhale.

In survival, finances come and go and never last: there is always a drama designed to pull you back down. For example, you may have had tons of urgency to bring in money to make your monthly bills, when somehow you come across a larger sum of cash you didn’t previously have.

In survival, you’re attracting chaos: this is when an unexpected medical bill comes, or something seemingly “out of nowhere.”

Survival is exhausting, debilitating and makes you question yourself all the time. It leaves you scattered, some times broken and wondering if you’re ever going to make it out.

In survival, thinking about a big vision or setting targets and goals can actually do more harm than good: because you’re not in a state of being able to truly expand your mind. In one of my books, I call this the Homeless Paradox: you and I can pull up to our nearest street corner and tell someone in need the best wisdom on the planet —and it won’t strike a chord. Why? Because they’re thinking about their next sandwich and how they’re going to make it through the evening storm.

But it’s not all bad news: survival creates tremendous urgency (which comfort doesn’t) and can be a catalyst to get out once and for all.

How to Get Out of Survival

So, how do you get out? In survival mode, you must take a moment to examine the tremendous cost and pain being in this stage is causing you. Because often, it has become people’s identity —they don’t even feel comfortable in any other place, even if they say they want to get out of survival.

Step 1: Examine the cost of your life of being in survival: the exhaustion, stress and never feeling like it’s enough.

Step 2: Use Reverse Visualization (a technique I shared in the Leap Of Your Life) to amplify the future pain of regret to do something now.

Step 3: Set extremely short term goals (30 days or less) —and make incremental wins. Make them so small, yet important. This is how you’re going to build momentum.

Step 4: Train yourself away from scarcity thinking at least once a day. Practice habits of abundance, create a short morning routine —any space and time for “you” is helping you shift from scarcity to abundance. Stop saying you don’t have enough and remember: your circumstances are not who you are.

Because if you persist long enough with these steps, you’ll rise above the insanity of survival and come face to face with your next stage: the comfortable life.

Let’s examine what that looks and feels like.

The Comfortable Stage

“Things are…uh, good.”
“I’m fine. Everything is OK.”
“We should be grateful for what we have.”

Facepalm. This is often the language of a comfortable life: you’re no longer in a state of endless survival, and the 24/7 drama has been replaced by a feeling of comfort. Make no mistake, this is where around 75% of people are —and often wind up spending their entire lives in this place.

Now, if this is what you desire and what you authentically want: more power to you. Own it, and don’t waste your energy aspiring for more. But often, comfortable is not too comfortable. When we examine this stage a little closer —we see a ton of discomfort.

Specifically, in this stage —there’s something missing. The enthusiasm and life force for life has waned. Things seem dull, lacking color. There is nothing pulling you on the horizon, and if it does —it only lasts a little while. You’re finding yourself “stuck” but not knowing what to do. In this stage, lacking clarity, momentum and enthusiasm for something bigger and bolder is the status quo. You’re lacking a meaningful and purposeful challenge for your life.

The comfortable stage is by far the hardest to leave. Because you don’t have the buzzing alarms of survival —it’s hard to create urgency and focus for the next level. You’ve achieved a little bit —and because of this, you now have something to lose. Making bold decisions and taking on risks here seems irresponsible because of this. Especially because you’ve experienced survival —and never want to go back.

As I showed above with the language, “good”, “fine” and “OK” are markers of a comfortable life. Often, the technique of fake gratitude is used here: you talk yourself into saying you should be grateful, but deep down it doesn’t feel right. Something’s off and missing. In your quiet moments, you’re desperate for something new.

How to Get Out of Comfort

In my work with clients, this is often the stage they find themselves in. Long ago, I stopped working with clients in survival: I do deep and transformative work, and those in survival usually can’t grasp the concepts and mindsets required because of the endless urgency and lack of space.

If you’re in the comfortable stage, here’s how you can get out:

Step 1: Get radically honest and transparent about your life. Take inventory and allow the real feelings to come out.

Step 2: Examine the cost of not moving forward —and staying down this path. Again, the tool of Reverse Visualization is a great way to leverage future regret to make a decision right here, right now.

Step 3: Take on a mighty mission or challenge. In comfort, you’re able to think in bigger time horizons than survival: this is where setting aggressive, meaningful targets is crucial to leave your comfort zone. Find something that drives you…and scares you at the same time.

Step 4: Seek guidance and help from a mentor or coach. Again, leaving comfort is difficult —and going it alone may work for a little while…until it doesn’t. I’ve seen this play out many, may times: find a mentor, coach or program that won’t let you slide back into mediocrity and playing small.

Remember: comfort isn’t quite so comfortable.

Do you really want to spend your life in this stage —with no deeper purpose and meaning? Because the pain of untapped potential leads to destructive habits in your life.

The comfortable life loves to watch others play out their dreams on the television sets, the sports arenas and the Hollywood films. Because deep down, those in comfort know they’re meant for something bigger —but they’re stuck.

The next best thing is to watch someone else do it, but it never lasts. After the thrill of the football game is over —you’re left with yourself.

The Thriving Stage

The holy grail. The thriving stage is where you and I are designed to be: living this experience of life full tilt, full of incredible moments of meaning, purpose, inspiration and stepping into our highest selves.

Make no mistake: this is the life everyone deeply desires. It’s when you’re off the sidelines chasing impossible dreams…and making them real. It’s when you’re seeking the challenge — instead of it coming to find you. It’s when you push yourself every single day: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Thriving doesn’t mean things are easy —you don’t want things to be easy. You want to be challenged, to brush up against your emotional edges and create transformation. In this stage, you think bold and big: setting 10-year visions is easy, and you tap deep into the rituals of morning routines, creating space, working on your skills and finding new ways to maximize every moment.

Does being in thriving mean you let loose and do nothing? Not at all. Because in a thriving stage, your desire to grow is much bigger than your desire to stay comfortable. In a state of thriving, you’ve achieved a baseline of results but also know there’s plenty more in the tank.

What Does Thriving Look and Feel Like?

When you’re thriving physically, no challenge is too big. You seek to push your body to new limits, in different ways —maybe it’s tackling a big race, the adventure of a mountain or even a deep yoga and spiritual practice.

When you’re thrving in your purpose and business, you’ve moved from selfish desires to selfless endeavors. Now, it’s not only about you: it’s about impact, service and touching lives. You’re pulled by what Tony Robbins calls a ‘magnificent obsession’ —a vivid picture of the future you can touch and feel.

When you’re thriving in your relationships, you’re constantly pouring into them. Your intimate relationship is connected and on fire, and people are always asking you for advice. You have a powerful social circle of inspired people who hold you to your greatest self. Most importantly, you have an incredible and inspired relationship with the person in the mirror.

Once you’ve experienced a state of thriving, you never want to retreat back to comfort —or worse, survival. But no matter where you find yourself today: we’ve all experienced thriving, which means you can get it back. When I surveyed my audience in a live webinar about what it feels like to thrive, they said:

Freedom, flow, presence, growth, fun, play, relax, abundance, energy, enthusiasm, intention and power.

You deserve to be in a state of thriving, but it’s not going to magically happen. It’s going to be a state of life of your choosing and creating. Every single day, you must start again. When you’re thriving, you love this challenge —it’s become who you are.

One Shift To Get To The Next Level

During this post, we went through the three common stages of life. This has been the best way for me to teach and help people identify where they currently find themselves…and what to do about it.

Make sure you identify which stage you’re in and at least one action step you can complete in the next 24 hours to create momentum towards the next stage. Or, if you’re thriving —to ensure you stay there and never retreat.

The Leap Of Your Life is Nearly Out!

If this post connected with you, then my brand new book, The Leap of Your Life: How to Redefine Risk, Quit Waiting For ‘Someday,’ and Live Boldly is definitely for you. This book is designed to get you clear on your next bold decision, stop putting your dreams off —and live in a state of thriving.

You can grab it now on Amazon or Barnes & Noble today and make sure you never, ever wake up with a sinking feeling of regret.

Mar 19

7 Excuses Getting in the Way of Taking the Leap of Your Life

By Tommy Baker | Advice | No Comments

Reading Time: 7 minutes

7 Excuses Getting in the Way of Taking the Leap of Your Life

You had the insight, the breakthrough —the moment of undeniable clarity. In the precise moment of this emotional state, you have 100% certainty you must do it. There is no wavering. There is no space left for doubt, fear and uncertainty: it feels right to you, and you’re all in.

Whether your insight was around a career move, a tough conversation you must have, a bold adventure, finally hiring a mentor or coach —or another radical shift of your life:

You knew exactly what you had to do.

This is the moment of undeniable clarity way too many people hope, pray and wish for —and it often comes during the random, quiet moments of life.

You feel inspired, enthusiastic and capable of bringing it to life.

But then, something else happens: time starts to pass, your enthusiasm starts to fade —and you lose the original emotional state you were in. With time passing, so does your belief, clarity, and possibility in making it real.

Until one day, it’s gone.

In this post, I’m going to reveal 7 common excuses that get in the way of taking the leap of your life —the bold decision in front of you. Because if you don’t heed the call: you may never get it back.

And to me, the great tragedy of this is knowing we’re all one radical decision away from a life we can’t wait to wake up, feeling deeply on purpose, fulfilled and achieving the results we’ve only dreamed of.

Leap Of Your Life Excuse #1: It’s not the right time.

“It’s not the right time, Tommy.”

I hear this all the time —from people who understand they’re going down the wrong path and are destined to wake up in a painful crisis if they stay on it. Or, people will come to me for coaching and use this as a convenient excuse to not invest in their dreams.

But guess what? Believing this means fear is winning: using time as a convenient way to let you off the hook and rob you of your dreams. Because it will never be the right time and you will never feel ready.

You’re not supposed to feel ready, that’s the entire point of making a bold decision into the unknown.

Remember: this is a radical decision, it’s not what you’re choosing to have for breakfast tomorrow morning. When you recognize fear is using the “right” time as an excuse —you can acknowledge her and take the next step anyway.

The right time is the moment you make a committed decision and go all in on the leap of your life.

Leap Of Your Life Excuse #2: I don’t know the “how.”

You had a bold moment of clarity, a vision deep within your mind, body and spirit —and for a moment, you were all in. As time passed, you started to notice the distance in what we call “the gap”: your current reality versus your leap’s vision.

And then you focused on the “how” —and ceased all momentum. As I wrote in a previous book: the how is where dreams go to die. When people and clients tell me they don’t know the “how” —I simply say: you’re not supposed to.

Here’s the truth: if you knew every step of the how, it would tell me one of two things: one, you’re either playing small —or you’re on someone else’s path.

Instead, focus on the what (the leap of your life), the why (your emotional reason for making it real) and then taking the first step. As you go on, the how starts to reveal itself in magical ways.

Leap Of Your Life Excuse #3: What if I fail?

The fear of failure will hold countless people back from taking the leap of their lives —and yet is a broken mindset rooted in scarcity. Because here’s the raw truth: the greatest failure is staying exactly where you are right now.

Please read that as many times as needed to strike the emotional chord inside of you that knows it’s time to make the change you’ve been putting off.

Because if you’re having a desire to change —you don’t want things to stay the same. This is what the leap of your life is all about: radical transformation. By using the fear of failure as an excuse —you automatically fail. You’ve already lost.

This is not a cliche, this is real life: the greatest risk is not taking one. The greatest failure is waking up 8 years down the line knowing you missed your shot. The biggest pain you’ll ever feel is the one of deep-rooted regret:

You had an opportunity to radically shift your life, to step into the boldest version of yourself —but you let a little fear win. You let your doubts win. This fear will keep you stuck time and time again and there’s only one way to overcome it: go all in and never look back.

Burn the boats, get rid of Plan B, C & D…and do it now.

Leap Of Your Life Excuse #4: What will they think?

The below is an actual excerpt from the book, The Leap Of Your life around the topic of caring what others think in regards to your bold dreams:

Do you want the secret? No matter what you do in life, you’re going to be judged. You can stay stuck the rest of your life, and you’ll be judged. You can take the bold leap, and you’ll be judged.

If you speak up, you’ll be judged. If you stay quiet, you’ll be judged. It’s part of life, and it’s never going to go away. Once you recognize this, the stranglehold judgment has on you will begin to loosen.

However, there is one judgment that matters: it’s the judgment from the person looking back at you in the mirror every single day. That does carry weight because we have to live with ourselves every single day. We take ourselves everywhere. For the rest of our lives.

Here, if we avoid the leap — we must live with the fact that we’re going to judge ourselves the rest of our lives for not making the decision we knew was right. Yes, we can rationalize and compartmentalize it as much as we want. But it won’t go away.

So the question is: will you stay stuck in fear of other’s judging you —and ultimately judge and resent yourself?

Once you recognize this, you experience an inner freedom like never before.

Leap Of Your Life Excuse #5: Things are good where I am

“But Tommy, I should be grateful I have a steady job and career —and I don’t want to lose it..things are good.”

This is what I call ‘fake’ gratitude: something in life is causing you pain, stress, and anxiety —and you know it must change. But we use a plastic, manufactured form of gratitude to keep us from getting radically honest.

When I work with clients, we delete “good”, “fine” and “okay” from their vocabulary. Because most times, good is not good. Fine isn’t really fine: it’s one step away from mediocre —and is proof of complacency at best and hopelessness for a better future at worst.

If you find yourself saying things are good, take a moment to get honest: are they really that good? Allow yourself to go deep into the real feelings you’re experiencing without judgment, blame or any excuses.

Because the way I see it: you’re not here for good. You’re here for riveting, on fire and powerful. You’re here to be amazed at all the possibility life has to offer.

Leap Of Your Life Excuse #6: Sure, you did it. But how can I?

“Yeah, of course they did it —they don’t have kids, they’re not struggling, they have all the skills they need to make their dreams come true.”

Here’s the truth: you and I will always find creative ways of propping other people up and making them extraordinary with talents, skills, and circumstances we tell ourselves we don’t have.

One of my mentors (and someone who was featured in the Leap of Your Life) —is Lisa Nichols, and she has a brilliant line about this:

“You want to make me extraordinary because it lets you off the hook.”

Because here’s what I know to be true: there are people who have done it with worse circumstances than you right now.

They’ve done it with less money, more stress —and a more troubled past. They’ve done it with zero skill, a crippling environment and a host of reasons not to do it.

But they did it anyway. Will you?

Leap Of Your Life Excuse #7: I don’t know what I want.

The last common excuse for not taking the leap of your life is when you tell yourself:

“I don’t know what I want.”

“I have no idea what my purpose is.”

“I need to discover what I really want to do next.”

And I’m here to tell you, based on the last 7 years of being in-the-trenches with people from all over the world and helping them create clarity and breakthroughs:

It’s not true.

Because if you were right here, in front of me —I could get you to a level of clarity where you know your next step and what you desire.

However, declaring this takes tremendous courage and vulnerability: something most of us are trained to run away from and do anything to avoid.

Am I convinced you know every step of your vision? No, not at all: as I mentioned earlier —you don’t need that level of clarity.

All you need to know is your next step, and a general sense of your North Star vision…and to give yourself permission to be honest.

It’s Your Time…Order the Leap Now!

Tommy baker the leap of your life I share these excuses with you for one reason: I used to believe all of these, too. And because I did: I woke up scattered, stuck and losing belief in myself. I found myself going down the wrong path, with the wrong people.

Until I woke up on a New Year’s Eve night and experienced a moment of knowing this was it.

If any of these connected with you —my brand new book, The Leap of Your Life: How to Redefine Risk, Quit Waiting For ‘Someday,’ and Live Boldly is for you.

Order now at Barnes & Noble, your local bookstore, or here on Amazon and ensure you step into the boldest version of yourself and stop waiting to make the move calling you.

Post any questions or feedback to comments!

Mar 14

When Radical Change Requires Radical Change

By Tommy Baker | Advice | No Comments

Reading Time: 8 minutes

NOTE: I also did an audio version of this post, which you can listen to on the Resist Average Academy podcast about when radical change…requires radical change.

When Radical Change Requires Radical Change

There are moments in our lives where we have a clear fork in the road: we let go of who we’ve been, stepping into the unknown —or we sink back into the familiar, even if it’s painful.

Make no mistake: these are inflection points in our lives where everything can change. If we’re open, ready and willing. These are the moments where your head and heart are in a winner take all tug-of-war. You know what to do, and yet like a conniving snake —fear starts to take a stranglehold on every part of your body.

Every moment that passes from here on out is a missed opportunity of a radically different life. Deep down, you know this —and the pain of untapped potential starts to rot you from inside. You carry on the conventional path, the one someone else wanted for you, at the expense of the Man or Woman in the mirror.

Time passes, and you’ve become a cynic to your own dreams. You see the world as a dangerous, lackluster place. You have lost your life force. The dreams you experienced in 4K HD color are now black and white. There is no color, and apathy is the drug of choice.

You are the walking dead, the masses quietly living in desperation. You can’t stand the face in the mirror, let alone spend quiet time alone. Distraction is your method of numbness: watching others live their dreams on movie screens and fields of play connects to the spark you used to have. Until the dopamine runs out, and you’re left with yourself once again.

You wake up years down the line and feel the burden of an unlived life: bags under your eyes representing the shackles of regret, shoulders slumped after years of being pummelled by the inner critic inside of you. This is pain, this is your reality.

Or is it?

I’m here to tell you: it doesn’t have to be this way. There is another world out there for you, too. There is always a choice. There is always an option. And sometimes radical change in our lives requires…well, radical change.

It requires a blowtorch, not a candle.
It requires a chainsaw, not a scissor.
It requires going all in, not merely dabbling.

In this post, I’m going to deep dive into the moments where radical change is required….for radical results. I’m going to share four tools that have completely shifted my ability to make bold decisions, and do it now.

This is not for the faint of heart, and if you’re easily triggered or offended —not for you.

But I’m here for the truth, and I hope you are, too.

This Isn’t Working…What Now?

This isn’t working. You hear these voices during your morning commute, in the midst of a warm shower, or on the airplane as you level off at 37,000 feet —when you finally have some time to think.

Something has to change, you think to yourself. In the moment, it feels right. You’re not lacking clarity in this place. But then you stop yourself, asking:

But how am I going to do it?
It doesn’t feel like the right time.
I should be grateful for what I have.

And slowly, you begin to convince yourself. You talk yourself out of making a change, fear slowly takes over until you get back to your logical brian and distract yourself out of it.

These are whispers of wisdom, and not heeding their call is a dangerous game.

Because as time passes, the whispers grow in force —becoming louder as they raise the stakes, begging for your attention to do something. Anything. Time will pass, and what started as a whisper becomes a loud voice, a yell, a top-of-the-lungs moment:

This is crisis, this is the universe putting a stick in the middle of your life’s wheel.

But again, it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s dig into a toolkit you can rely on during these moments to ensure you don’t miss them. And most importantly: to ensure you don’t wake up with regret and thinking what could have been.

Radical Change Tool #1: Reverse Visualization

If you’re here, you’ve likely heard of the practice of visualization: creating mental movies of the blissful future you’d like to experience. Whether landing a big business deal or finding the love of your life, visualization can be a powerful practice to shift your awareness towards what you desire.

But I’ve also been obsessed with a powerful tool I’ve taught to countless clients and in my seminars, programs and on the podcast: reverse visualization.

Here’s how it works: take your current circumstance, problem or situation in life that is causing you stress, anxiety and pain.

Hold it in tight, and then use your mental energy to visualize the following:

You wake up 5 or 10 years down the line and you didn’t do it. Whatever you know you need to change now, never happened. You’re in the same place but much, much worse. You’ve had to live with yourself during all these years knowing what to do —but not bringing it to life.

What does this look and feel like?

Don’t take this lightly: use visualization and the power of your mind to walk through every painstaking moment of your day, the hollow feeling of not doing it.

Because the truth is: if you don’t act, this is how you’re going to feel. If you amplify the painful future enough, today’s bold decision pales in comparison and you give yourself permission to go all in. What seemed “risky” now seems like a no brainer, because your future self is begging you to make it happen.

Radical Change Tool #2: Quantum Decision Making

95% of people make decisions today based on who they’ve been —which means their re-affirming the past. This leads to predictable results and feeling stuck. Because our past isn’t who we are anymore, there is no option but to stay in a place of paralysis analysis and in a rut.

But what if there was a way to make decisions based on the future versions of ourselves —the person who has already created all of your visions and dreams?

Enter the second tool for radical change: quantum decision making. I’ve been teaching this one for a while now, too —and it has completely shifted my game.

The next time you’re faced with a decision, ask yourself a simple question:

What would the version of yourself who has accomplished your vision do in this exact circumstance?

Personally, I take myself ten years down the line and meet with my future self. Because to that version of myself, it’s a no-brainer. He almost laughs at my indecision. Because he’s stepped up to the plate so many times and put himself on the line, he tells me exactly what to do.

To make this powerful, you’re going to need to have clarity around where you’re headed. Don’t complicate it: you only need some clarity. When you use this tool, you’ll act courageously. Most importantly: you’ll begin to collapse the time for that future self to become who you are…today.

Radical Change Tool #3: Collapse Time for Urgency

There’s a story about entrepreneur Peter Thiel asking people about their 10 year goals. Once the person answers what they’re grand vision and goal is, he comes back to them with a simple question:

How can you make it happen in 6 months? Often —people react by saying it’s too impossible, they need the time, it’s going to take a lot of work, etc.

But here’s why I love this: it follows a universal principle called Parkinson’s Law. This law, in the context of what we’re talking about —is simple:

If you believe it’s going to take yourself ten years, it’s going to take ten years.

Groundbreaking, huh? But we recognize this in our daily lives: we give ourselves a deadline to accomplish a task a week from Monday, and on Sunday night we’re cranking everything out to finish just in time. In my coaching and programs, we set one year visions and then set 90 day targets to accomplish one year’s worth of results in the timeframe.

Think back to the last time you had a real, tangible deadline with negative consequences to not doing it. You made it happen, even when you thought it may be impossible.

Same goes for when you need to create radical change. Time is an illusion, and by forcing yourself to collapse time: you have no time for fear, procrastination, guessing or waiting. You’ve created high levels of urgency and accountability, and it has to be done.

Examples of Radical Change

The moment I went all in on radical change is the moment my entire life shifted. I don’t share the above out of guessing —I’ve used it on myself and countless clients. I’ve spoken about these concepts with billionaires and some of the world’s most successful creators.

But I wanted to share some of the moments I created radical change in life, to give you some context. Here are some examples during the last few years:

1. Cutting out every single person in my social circle and choosing to spend nearly all my time in solitude for one year.

RESULT: I read 100+ books in one year and went down a powerful path of self discovery, getting to know who I am —and feeling fulfilled.

2. Investing $25,000 in myself and my dreams when I had $900 in the account and hadn’t paid rent yet.

RESULT: I completely shifted what I felt possible for me, stepped into my power as a Man and business owner —and created my biggest one day revenue result in business ($50,000) six weeks after.

3. Throwing away my TV and listening to the same audio training 476 nights in a row.

RESULT: Similar to number one, I knew something needed to change. I was consuming powerful material, but nothing was happening. I went deep into a tape by my mentor, Dr. John Demartini —and never looked back.

4. Moving cross country with no plan, no blueprint, no guarantees —but knowing my old environment was eating me alive.

RESULT: The thrill of feeling alive, carving my own path and living in a place I absolutely love. The ability to access nature every day…and meeting my soul mate along the way.

5. Having a 15 second window to meet my soul mate and going all in.

RESULT: I had 15 seconds and every reason not to do it. But at the time, I’d been disappointed by relationships for so long —I chose to create radical change.

What’s Your Radical Change?

Make no mistake: radical change is powerful —and required.

As I said earlier, too often I talk to people who know they must make radical change…but make small, inconsequential decisions.

At the end of the day, the trajectory of our lives is based on hundreds of thousands of decisions we make —some massive, some medium and some that don’t seem like anything. Using the tools above, you’ll now be able to make bold decisions in line with the most powerful version of yourself.

Order The Leap Of Your Life Today!

No more waiting. No more hoping. No more wishing.

Sometimes, there’s a bold leap you and I must take —a decision that radically changed our lives.

This is exactly what you’ll find in my brand new book, The Leap of Your Life: How to Redefine Risk, Quit Waiting For ‘Someday,’ and Live Boldly.

Available now here, on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore. This is your guidebook to use fear as a compass, eradicate regret…and do it now.

Feb 22

Journaling Strategies For Self Mastery

By Tommy Baker | Advice, Masterclass | No Comments

Reading Time: 9 minutes

NOTE: This is an audio version of similar content where I dive into the journaling strategies for self-mastery.

Journaling Strategies For Self Mastery

If you’re here, there is no doubt you’ve heard of the power of journaling for clarity and personal growth. It’s been a pillar of our world and is one of the most talked about practices and routines for those looking to grow and create exponential results —in all areas of life.

During my decade inside the trenches inside personal growth, self-mastery, entrepreneurship and living my best life —I’ve used this practice time and time again. And yet, I realized only during the last 18 months did I really harness the true power of journaling which I wanted to share with you today.

Because like anything else —you’ll get out of journaling the same energy you choose to pour into it. For years, I’d engage in random journaling: no system, no routine, and predictably…little results I could touch and feel.

But 18 months ago I decided to give journaling everything I’ve got —and it has transformed my life. What I’m going to share in today’s post is some things you’ve likely heard…but also some I haven’t seen anywhere else.

These journaling strategies for self-mastery are designed to help you create clarity, release obstacles, paint the vision of your future —and navigate the daily ebb and flow of life and business.

I’ve also added an audio version of this post in the form of an Academy Podcast Quick Hit —which you can access above.

Let’s dive in.

Journal Strategy #1: Celebrating Wins

Where did you kick ass, take names and step into your courage this week?

I was in the middle of a virtual training call for one of my programs —the 3P experience. I’d already asked this before but challenged the individual to truly “own” their win. We repeated this 7 times until I felt the right level of inflection and truth in their voice.

The first strategy for journaling success is simple: celebrate your wins. On the surface, it may not seem like much (and rather obvious) and yet this is extremely rare. Instead of celebrating wins, you and I focus on what’s missing in the bank account, how we don’t have enough followers and how our results aren’t happening at the speed which we want.

This is the simplest practice of all: every day, identify at least 3-10 wins you experienced in those 24 hours. It’s not about the magnitude of the win —it’s about authentically celebrating what you created, accomplished or how you tackled resistance and did it anyway.

Here’s why this is powerful: it primes your attention to focus on what is working, and how you are making progress. As you know, seeing our own progress in real time is next to impossible —and often takes feedback from others or deep reflection for ourselves to recognize how far we’ve come.

Even during the most arduous of days, there are wins you can find. You could have had the most challenging day of your year, and if you look closely enough: there are wins waiting to be owned.

Journaling For Self Mastery Action Step: Identify at least 3-10 wins every single day and take a moment of gratitude and ownership for creating them.

Journal Strategy #2: Paint Your Vision

The second strategy for journaling success is all about painting a vivid vision for your life: the feelings you want to feel, the experiences you want to be a part of —and the people, places, and opportunities designed to make you feel fulfilled and excited about life.

If you’ve followed any of my work, including the podcast or have done The Integration Experience audio training or grabbed The Best Year Guide, you know I’m relentless about doing this exercise often.

Because again, in my world —too many people set their vision once a year and then forget about it. This is where journaling to paint your vision comes in: taking time to explore the infinite possibilities of your desires and noticing the common themes and patterns that come up.

Often, I’ll engage in this practice through the use of various prompts, including:

This year was my best year ever. Here’s why…

I wake up one year from today. I’m amazed at what has happened in my life —and the opportunities I’ve experienced. They are…

The key to this journaling exercise is to play around with space and time. Meaning, you’re going to journal about your one year vision one day….and then step back and take a 10-year view.

Personally, I pour a ton of my focus and energy on the one year vision as it’s close enough to create urgency —but far enough to give me time to produce significant results. My quarterly targets sit at the front of my journal and my life mission and purpose statement at the back.

This makes it convenient and easy to remind myself where I’m going: what I call the North Star vision. You’ll be doing the same, and creating the space to journal about where you’re headed and why.

Journaling For Self Mastery Action Step: Paint a vivid, specific and detailed account of your vision…one year, three years and even twenty years down the line. Think big and bold —let yourself get lost in possibility.

Journal Strategy #3: Emotional Release

All transformation is emotional. I’ve said this countless times as a reminder: when you want to create something you’re not currently experiencing, you’re going to brush up against your emotions.

Often, this is the biggest obstacle in the way. For most people, it’s not a lack of strategy, tactics or mechanics. Those are easy, simple and they work…for the most part.

What gets in the way as we stretch our comfort zones is being pushed to our emotional edges —and feeling uncomfortable in this process. Because our egos want to re-affirm what we believe to be true and our current reality (as a safety mechanism), it’s going to do anything it can to keep you where we are.

Enter the third strategy for journaling success: emotional release. If you pick up any of my journals, you’ll find some intense entries where I’m questioning everything, circled by darkness. Sometimes, I’ll look back at these and wonder what the hell was going through my head.

Writing down our emotions has been proven to make us feel better and act as a healing mechanism —shortening the time for recovery. Furthermore, as we get the emotions out of our heads and onto paper, they start to lose their power over us.

We can examine them with clarity and contrast and they lose the grip they had on us. This practice is crucial for practicing our emotional intelligence, and ultimately, emotional resilience.

But don’t wait until you have one of “those” days to use this practice. Often, I’ll ask myself a simple question —even if I’m in a great state of mind:

What can I let go of right now that’s no longer serving me?

Then, I make a list of all the possible emotions, thoughts and beliefs that I can and choose to let them go.

Journaling For Self Mastery Action Step: Release your darker or negative emotions when you’re going through a challenge in your journal. Don’t judge anything you write…this is about the release.

Journal Strategy #4: Life Deconstruction

Take a moment and go back to a time in your life where you were incredibly present, connected and felt fulfilled on a deep level. Go into the specific moment right now and focus on the intensity of what you felt.

What was happening around you?
Who were you with and what was your environment?
What were the core ingredients to bring this experience to life?

The fourth strategy for journaling success is all about deconstruction. I first learned about this from Robin Sharma, and even though I’d already done it —he defined it as deconstruction and added perspective to why it matters.

When we deconstruct peak experiences or great moments in our lives, we’re more likely to experience them again. Not only do we re-engage with the peak emotional state (and thus, change our state now) —we start to notice the patterns leading up to the experience.

Armed with this knowledge, we’re more likely to make similar decisions and choices to repeat these feelings —leading to a powerful cycle of expansion. If you’re new to this practice, start with some of your big life moments: the day you met your significant other, a career breakthrough, the best meal you’ve ever had, a time you overcame fear and stepped into your courage, etc.

Once you’ve done this for some of your bigger life events, practice doing it on the smaller things: a great conversation you had, an amazing hike, watching the sunrise or sunset, a yoga class that left you inspired and more.

This has become a near daily practice for me and the benefits have been enermous. What I’ve noticed is I re-create the peak emotional states more often —and I become much more likely to step into action instead of overthinking.

For example, if I’m feeling sluggish and drained after a long day, I’ll get a desire to hike a mountain. Resistance comes in and says I don’t have the time or energy and I start to believe it. But then I remember the times from my de-construction where I shifted my environment and felt incredible after. Then, I’m much more likley to repeat this cycle and you can do the same.

Journaling For Self Mastery Action Step: De-construct the most powerful moments of your life, then do the same for smaller peak experiences. Paint a vivid picture of how it came to life, who was there and how you felt.

Journal Strategy #5: Affirmation Overload

If you follow me on social media at all, there’s no doubt you’ve seen an example of affirmation overload: picking a statement of belief and writing it down hundreds of times.

This one is one of my favorites to re-wire the subconscious mind, embed a belief deep within my spirit and re-affirm who and what I am. The research is clear on this one: putting pen to paper is extremely effective for behavioral change and belief —which is why I double down and fill out an entire page, or pages.

I’ve taught this method to tons of people, and most won’t do it. I get it: it’s not easy, and after your first 25…you’re ready to move on. Your mind is attempting to talk you out of finishing. However, overcoming this resistance is powerful and the feeling of accomplishment when you’re done is incredible.

Journaling For Self Mastery Action Step: This one’s simple. Pick an empowering statement of belief and write it down to fill your entire journal page. Stay focused and present during the process.

Journal Strategy #6: Transcribe Greatness

There was a time in my life where I knew radical change required radical change…obvious, right? This is when I chose to throw away my TV and go deep into the study of the great minds and thinkers of our times. I’d listen to the same exact audio recording every night as I slept, effectively re-wiring my subconscious mind when it was most malleable. In the morning, I’d wake up and put on the audio version of a classic text, and start to transcribe it.

I’d fill up journal pages with the words from these texts, and the same ones would come up time and time again: Emerson’s Self-Reliance, Thoraeus Walden, Seneca’s On The Shortness of Life, Marcus Aurelius and his Meditations.

Mind you, I wouldn’t transcribe the entire text: I’d pick empowering sections and write for 30-90 minutes as much as I could.

The last practice for journaling success is transcribing the great texts, and the one I do least often. Typically, I’ll engage in this one a few times a month. However, it’s also incredibly powerful for immersing yourself in great wisdom while opening up your own.

Journaling For Self Mastery Action Step: Pick a text that resonates deeply with you. Grab your journal and transcribe it…I pair the audio while looking at a digital version for maximum effect.

Journaling Strategies For Self Mastery

So, there you have it: my favorite ways to use the undeniable practice of journaling to create clarity, momentum, release obstacles in the way and live a purposeful life. As I mentioned earlier: you’re going to get what you put into it. Often people will get excited about journaling, order a bunch of new tools…and then do it for a couple days.

When I started to hang around those on a powerful life trajectory, I noticed something else: they’d bring a journal with them everywhere they went. My friend Seth Mattison has done this every time we’ve hung out, and I started doing the same: because we never know when inspiration is going to strike, and we may miss it.

Pick one of these and get started now, and watch what happens.

Journaling Strategies and The Leap Of Your Life!

tommy baker leap of your life

Lastly, I wanted to remind you that my upcoming book, The Leap Of Your Life is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, your local bookseller and on this page for massive bonuses. This book was written for you: to help you identify the bold move in front of you and not just dream big…but live big.

What did you get from this? Post to comments!

Feb 13

How 60 Minutes on Sunday Can Change Your Life

By Tommy Baker | Advice, Masterclass, Writing | No Comments

Reading Time: 10 minutes

NOTE: I did a Quick Hit episode on this topic, which I’ve linked above. The audio is a simpler version of the in-depth process I’m sharing below, but can be a great companion to listen to.

How 60 Minutes on Sunday Can Change Your Life

Monday morning comes around —and there are typically two types of people out there:

95% of people wake up in a fog, scattered, and putting out fires. They have no clarity on where they’re going —they simply want to make it through the day as fast as they can, so they can come back, “relax” and/or lay on the couch, binge-watching Netflix.

(Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with Netflix…but distraction is usually a feedback mechanism for a lack of clarity and purpose.)

Then, there’s the 5% of people who wake up with intention —they’ve designed their day based on a broader desire or vision. Their actions, rituals, habits, and environments support where they’re headed. There’s a peace and calm, balanced with a deliberate focus to start their week.

Now, there’s no question who is more likely to create meaningful progress in their life and business between these two. But if you’re an entrepreneur, freelancer or work for yourself in some capacity —this becomes even more important.

One of my most prized rituals which I teach all of my clients and constantly share on the podcast, here on the blog or social media is simple: If you do it right, taking 45-60 minutes on a Sunday to reflect, course correct, commit and prepare can and will change your life.

In this post, I’ll share the exact process I use and teach —as well as tools and resources to help you do the same. Because if you do, you’ll create the clarity and momentum most people wish for.

And as you know, wishing is never a strategy for success. But first, let’s get clear on why this matters in the first place.

Where Will You Be One Year From Today?

Barring some type of physical catastrophe in your life —you’ll be waking up in one year. And you’re either going to be in a radically different place than where you find yourself today…

Or most likely —you’re going to be exactly where you are now, but worse. If you’re in a career that isn’t working, you’ll be worse off. If you’re finding yourself lacking momentum, you’ll be even more stuck. If you’re not making the money you want in your entrepreneurial or freelancing gigs…your bank account is bound to look the same.

The truth is: success is quite predictable, and sometimes even boringly predictable —look at someone’s mindset, behaviors, and habits and you’ll get a clear picture of where they’re likely to end up. Sure, there are outliers. But I’m not going to bank my life on unicorns, even if they’re kinda cute.

But there’s also another possibility: you wake up, and you’ve seen tremendous progress over the last year. The little decisions you made to adopt a morning routine, get clear around your goals and invest in some accountability are now paying off.

Remember: this Sunday routine, like anything else —can seem insignificant in the moment. Because this Sunday, if you do it or you don’t, you likely won’t see monumental change. But if you take this practice and compound it over a full year, you can be living a radically different life. You could have finally achieved the momentum you wanted, made the extra $20,000 you dreamed of —launched the platform or written your first book.

Like I said earlier, during the thousands of hours I’ve spent in the trenches obsessing over peak performance, human behavior change and results —the Sunday ritual came up time and time again.

Now let’s explore exactly what you’ll be doing on Sundays to maximize your success and never look back.

Step 1: Reflection

When was the last time you pushed the pause button on the freight train of your life and asked some deep questions, such as:

Am I on the right path, and do I know where I’m going?

What is my level of excitement and enthusiasm for life?

Why am I doing this all for anyway —what’s my bigger why?

Now, here’s what I’ve known to be true: we all ask these questions, but rarely create the necessary container to answer them. Meaning: we may contemplate these riding high above the clouds at 37,000 feet, but then we check our phones or fall asleep.

We may have a moment after a workout where we tap into something deeper —and then start our workday. Put simply: because we live in a shallow, caffeinated, non-stop stimulus world —true reflection is rare.

So the first step of your Sunday Reflection protocol is all about reflection —and taking the time to check in with yourself by asking yourself the following questions:

What was your biggest win(s) of the last week and how did you make them happen?

The first part of the reflection process of Sunday Reflection is about one thing: celebrating your wins. Because too often, we either conveniently forget the places we won, or choose to focus on what isn’t working. I don’t care how challenging, hard and scattered the last week was: there are wins in there, and plenty of them. It’s not about the magnitude of the wins, this is about celebrating yourself.

Once you’ve identified at least three wins, take a moment to de-construct how you made that happen. Think of how’d you teach someone else the principles and tools you used to bring it to life.

For example:

My biggest win this week was making a decision on my next project —and completing the research phase.

Deconstruction:

How I made this win happen was by setting boundaries and taking focused action —even with a busy week, I created the time by planning and saying “no” to other opportunities.

Or, let’s use another example:

My biggest win this week was connecting with my significant other and kids with an amazing date night experience where we laughed and were all fully present.

Deconstruction:

How I made this happen and the lesson I’d teach others is: if you don’t schedule something in, it probably won’t happen. I’d noticed we hadn’t done a proper date night in months, because we were “busy.” By planning it out in advance, I made it happen and it was incredible.

By doing this, you’re not only putting your focus on what’s working (which as we stated earlier, is rare), but you’re teaching yourself how you made it happen. This re-wires your neural circuitry in real time and will help you replicate these results in the future. This is the path to self-mastery where you build on your successes time and time again.

Now, it’s time to move on to the second key question:

What was your biggest challenge(es) of the last week and what did you learn through them?

Once we’ve celebrated your wins and de-constructed how you brought them to life —it’s time to identify your biggest challenge. I usually keep this to the one big stressor or adversity experienced during the week.

Often, we don’t face our challenges and take the proper time to reflect on them —missing out on valuable lessons and growth. Often, the act of releasing our challenges on paper (or digitally, if you prefer) means they lose their emotional charge on us. In fact, research has proven

The same process applies to the celebration phase, but now you will identify the challenge and de-construct the lesson and perspective it provided.

For example:

My biggest challenge this past week was not securing new revenue or clients in my business and feeling financial scarcity and stress.

Lesson:

Don’t focus on what’s not working. Most of the week I kept checking client proposals, and there was nothing there. I felt depleted and lost my confidence by placing my attention in the wrong places. Because of this, I didn’t make any new proposals or finish the marketing plan.

Or, another example:

My biggest challenge this past week was only doing my morning ritual two out of the seven days. I felt stressed and the kids were sick —and I reverted back to old habits.

Lesson:

Simplify the routine when there’s less time, and/or wake up 20 minutes earlier. I was able to see the contrast of when I do the routine, and when I don’t. I need this “me” time.

Can you recognize the power of reflection after reading the above? This is how you supercharge your learning and use your wins and challenges as catalysts to faster growth.

Lastly, the key here is to completely own your win(s) regardless of their size and scope —and do the same for your challenges. But instead of judging yourself for the challenges, seek the lesson they taught you.

Because now you’re wiser for them and have the ability to make a new choice.

Step 2: Course Correction

The second step of how 60 minutes on a Sunday can change your life is about course correction. Because often what I’ve noticed is after we set our targets and goals —we rarely take time to ask some crucial questions:

Given where I am today, am I still on the right trajectory?

Am I behind, on or ahead of schedule with my targets?

What is something that is working that I can double down on, or something I must delete?

There are two parts to course correction. One, you must know where you’re going —personally, I break this up into my North Star vision (you can learn more about that here) and current quarterly targets based on the vision.

For example, if my goal was to bring in $100K of revenue in my business this quarter and I’m 45 days in and sitting at $25K —I may need to course correct to ensure I get where I’m going.

Step 3: New Commitments

Once we’ve done the first two steps, it’s time to look forward to the upcoming week —and create our new commitments. Notice the word choice here: this is not a hope, a wish or something you’re merely interested in:

This is a commitment, and there needs to be a powerful intention to bring this to life. The system I teach is based on doing this same process with countless mentors of mine —as well as leading my own programs.

Diving our lives into 4 areas, we ask a simple question:

What am I committed to this week in regards to my business and career?
What am I committed to this week in regards to my relationships and connection?
What am I committed to this week in regards to my physical vitality and health?
What am I committed to this week in regards to my spiritual practice and growth?

The key with these, as you’ve likely heard with most goal setting is to ensure it’s specific, and connected to your quarterly (and yearly) targets.

Here are some examples:

What am I committed to this week in regards to my business and career?

I am committed to reviewing our marketing and crafting the new plan.

I am committed to making 50 sales calls and follow-ups to potential clients.

I am committed to recording 3 podcast episodes and releasing one blog post.

Business is easy, so let’s show an example of the spiritual side of things (however you may define this):

I am committed to 10 minutes of daily meditation and reading 10 pages a day.

I am committed to one floating tank session (sensory deprivation).

I am committed to journaling every single evening about my wins of the day.

Once you’ve identified your commitments for each bucket of life, you should have a clear vision for the week. You know what you’re going to be creating, and this should fill up a decent chunk of your week. Because now, you’re part of the 5% who have clarity around their priorities, have identified specific behaviors in line with those —and have put pen to paper (and paper to the calendar, as we’ll do here in a moment).

Now it’s time for the next step: daily integration.

Step 4: Integration

The last step of this process is simple: integration. What I mean by integration is ensuring all the work you’ve done is going to turn into the real world, tangible behaviors.

The version of integration I teach and my clients use is ensuring all of the above goes into their weekly calendar. I know this is where most people stop reading, but what doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done. At least not long term: and if you’ve never used a calendar, this will be painful.

But it’s also going to be worth it. Because when you prioritize every part of your life, you don’t have space for the clutter. You don’t have space, time or energy left for gossip, mindless information, useless meetings or idle time where you’re left anxious, scattered and stressed.

Here’s an example of mine:

Don’t get stressed: because within this calendar, I have plenty of time to recharge. The yellow block above in the afternoon is called afternoon white space: no one can schedule me in here, and I get to do what I please (benefit #111 of being an entrepreneur.)

What I do after I’ve done all of this is add the little things that aren’t priorities, but still have to be done: email stuff, social media, checking in with my team and other efforts.

How 60 Minutes on Sunday Can Change Your Life

Every single mentor I’ve ever learned from directly or from afar has created the space for reflection. They all create a ‘bookmark’ to their week —and it happens on Sundays.

Whether it was Robin Sharma, Brendon Burchard, Dr. John Demartini or countless others —this is a life-changing practice. While we covered a ton of ground here, what I’ve found to work best is spend the next 66 days (the time it takes to build your habit) with your Sunday Reflection using a specific system and then start to make it your own.

Below, I’ve listed some tools and resources that help me with my reflection, as well as some research I used to bring this post to life.

I’d love to hear how it goes in the comments or if you have any questions about how to maximize your time and harness the power of this Sunday practice.

Pre-Order The Leap Of Your Life!

tommy baker leap of your life It’s time, it’s time…it’s time. There’s a bold decision you’ve been waiting to make —one that will change your life. Maybe it’s quitting the job that’s eating you up inside, asking him or her out, launching your own platform or taking the risk calling you.

But you’re waiting, and every day that passes is a missed opportunity.

My latest book, The Leap Of Your Life is designed to help you identify the bold decision, execute now and ensure you don’t wake up years down the line wondering what could have been.

Learn more here, or order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or support your local independent bookstore.

60 Minutes Can Change Your Life Research and Notes

Journaling about stressful events: effects of cognitive processing and emotional expression. “This study indicates that journaling about a personally experienced stressful or traumatic event may facilitate positive growth from the event.”
Study focuses on strategies for achieving goals and resolutions, including the power of sharing your goals with others for a 70 percent increase in results.
Cal Newport Blog: Deep Habits: Plan Your Week in Advance.
Brendon Burchard, High-Performance Planner. One of my favorite tools that has a simplified version of the above and I always do both.
The 1% Rule. In this book, I also write about the Sunday Reflection process, why it matters and how to connect all the dots to reserve engineer your success.

Feb 07

Don’t Start (The Power Of Playing The Long Game)

By Tommy Baker | Advice, Entrepreneurship | No Comments

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Don’t Start (The Power Of Playing The Long Game)

Don’t start a podcast.

(There are 630,000 of them already.)

Don’t write a book.

(There are 1,052,803 published…every year.)

Don’t launch a business.

(There are 550,000 new entrepreneurs…monthly.)

Here’s the deal:

Don’t do any of these, unless of course —you’re doing it for the right reasons.

Because I’m here to tell you:

The odds are not stocked in your favor unless your idea of success is putting your entire net worth on Red 27 at the roulette table. In today’s post, I’m going to reveal a crucial concept (and centering question) to ensure you don’t wind up being another statistic.

Because if you’re doing what you’re doing for the right reasons, the worst thing you can do is start with a half-hearted approach. But if you do it right and play the long game, not only can you experience the deep fulfillment that comes with sharing your work with the world…

You can experience world class results and be part of the 5% who seek their goals to completion and never, ever look back wondering where they fell short.

Anyone Can Get Started, Few Can Endure

I remember standing in a crowd of people in Killington, VT at 4:30AM as thousands of athletes got prepared to attack the Spartan Ultra Beast.

As it sounds, this is the most intense race the Spartan brand puts on:

Around 30 miles of hiking the steepest double black mountains in Vermont for two days and one bone-chilling night. And yet, at the start of the race —the energy was palpable. It was also crowded, the music was blaring, and everyone felt amazing.

This is normal for what happens at the start of any endeavor:

Lots of enthusiasm and excitement, but the truth is:

When you look to your left, and you look to your right —two out of the three (including possibly you) won’t be there at the end of the race. This is true for the Spartan Beast (the pass rate at the time of my race was 15%) and mostly anything else in business and life. As Angela Duckworth, author of Grit says:

“Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.”

So, what does this mean to you?

Don’t waste all of your energy on starting —and don’t celebrate too much. Sure, there is power in making a decision and having the courage to get in the game…

But it’s only the start of what’s going to be a long, hilly and unpredictable path.

Because after you start, you quickly hit the place where 99% of people give up: the messy middle.

Rookies waste all of their energy on starting, while the professional plays the long game.

The Messy Middle Of The Long Game

It hit me at Mile 7 as I wiped another bead of sweat off my face and thought to myself:

This is going to be a grind.

Of course, I already knew this —you can’t have a 15% pass rate on any race and think it’s going to be a walk in the park. Especially knowing how curated the signups are: this isn’t your local 5K.

At Mile 7, the enthusiasm of the early morning fist-bumping EDM music was now a distant and forgotten memory:

I was officially in the messy middle.

Of course I’m using the race as a metaphor, but all of your endeavors will have the point in time you hit the messy middle.

This is where 99% of dreams go to die, and the realization is all the same:

This is going to be hard. Like really hard —like I-don’t-know-if-it’s-worth-it hard.

So, what’s the messy middle look like in different projects, businesses and endeavors?

It’s episode 29 of your podcast when you’re having the worst time trying to make another edit.

It’s 9,200 words in of your book when you’re finding yourself off course with no clarity in sight.

It’s 13 months into your business when you’ve had to fire your first employee —and cash flow is tight.

This is the messy middle, and what you choose next will decide your fate. Because here is where the dabblers and quitters move on to the next idea, project and endeavor.

Only to have the cycle repeat itself.

This is the messy middle, and what you choose next will decide your fate.

Most Success Stories Skip The Messy Middle

I love going to events, and hearing people’s stories of starting, encountering the messy middle —and then experiencing breakthrough. It’s one of the common themes on the podcast: leaning into the guests challenges, doubts and moments of deep questioning.

Except too often at the events I attend, people skip over most of what really matters: the messy middle. Of course, there’s great reason for this: in an 18 minute talk, you can’t possibly explain to the audience what’s really going to happen during the messy middle.

You do your best, of course —but the truth is much more complex than a polished talk could ever create.

And what this narrative does is simplify the messy middle and create an expectation in people’s hearts and minds that it won’t last too long.

But it’s not true, because most of your time in any endeavor will be spent in the thick of your own personal messy middle.

Starting is 5%, the messy middle is 90% and your breakthrough (or achievement) will be around 5%.

Let’s go back to how your fate will be decided.

The Messy Middle Is Hard, And Beautiful

So you may be thinking to yourself: why would I ever want to endure through the messy middle?

In a nutshell: this is where all the magic happens. Specifically, this is where you gain the confidence, skillset and belief that will transcend any “making it” moment on top of the mountaintop.

Most importantly: this is when you discover who you really are.

And trust me: there’s no amount of cold hard cash or shiny toys that will hold a candle to this feeling.

(And you don’t have to trust me, because the research is clear and obvious on what this does for your level of purpose and fulfillment.)

You’re also going to experience all types of breakthroughs during your messy middle: small wins, life-changing ones and everything in between.

So, how do you navigate this crucial aspect of your path? Let’s dig into the four tools designed to help you navigate this part of the path —and make sure you don’t get lost along the way.

Tool #1: Focus On Today’s Step

During the Spartan Beast, there were exhausted bodies everywhere. Men and Women sprawled out and ready to give up. For me, it was very easy to focus on them, and want to rest or slow down.

The first tool is to focus on what you can control today. Often, that’s the most important work in front of you —this step, and the next one.

Personally, as a writer —when I’m in the messy middle of a book, distraction is at its most tempting. It’s easy to focus on anything except the words. But these are the moments that make or break the work, and I focus on my 1,000 words for the day.

In your life, project or goal, what is the one thing you can focus on?

Tool #2: Keep Your North Star In Mind

The second tool is to remember where you’re headed —and why. This is the power of clarity: having a North Star you’re going after. I wrote about this in The 1% Rule: we all must have a North Star to guide us during the tough moments.

All we need are small reminders along the way of the what and the why. If you’ve done the work to know what these are, you’ll be in a great spot during your messy middle.

Every single day, remind yourself of your North Star for at least a few minutes. If you have time to scroll through Instagram, you have time do this.

Tool #3: Smile Through The Process

The third tool to help you navigate your goals and stay committed to the long game is to fall in love with the pursuit. I know this sounds like an Instagram quote, but it’s true:

Playing the long game means you’re going to have to love the process as much as the outcomes, checkpoints and breakthroughs.

Personally and with my clients, I work very hard to shift into a state of gratitude when things get really hard. I remind them that this is when most people quit, and every step they’re taking is cementing their belief, confidence and power.

Remember: there are people who would write you a blank check today to experience the challenges you’re going through. Never, ever forget the power of perspective and gratitude along as you play the long game.

Tool #4: Recharge and Refuel Along The Way

Lastly, it becomes impossible to endure during the long game if you’re not taking care of yourself. What I teach in my programs and coaching is to live at both ends of the spectrum: intense, focused work and plenty of open white space.

If you don’t recover, recharge and re-fuel along the way —you won’t last. We all need a radical self care routine: time for ourselves, being outside, walks, massages, reading a great book, meditating, floating and anything that re-centers us.

Often, this is the last stuff we do until it’s too late. Instead, ensure you are scheduling this work and making it a priority in your calendar.

It’s Time To Get Honest

Before you get started with anything, it’s time to get honest by asking:

Are you committed to this, or are you merely interested? Make no mistake: there is a vast chasm between these two, and 90% of people who start anything are not committed.

Because the average podcast lasts 6 episodes before they fold up shop.

(Don’t let this be you.)

The average book sells less than 300 copies during its entire lifetime.

(Don’t let this be you.)

Most businesses fail to ever get off the ground, and 90% fold up shop.

(Don’t let this be you.)

Are you committed to the long game? I’d love to hear it.

The Leap Of Your Life Available For Pre-Order!

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The book is available at all major retailers and you can pre-order to claim some amazing bonuses at the link above or go to Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

You’ll never be the same, and that’s a great thing.