This Morning Routine Will Increase Your Productivity 10x
I Made $1 Million By Making This Single Change to My Workday
This 5-Step System Will Change Your Life Forever
We are all inundated by self-help gurus and systems promising salvation through simple but infallible systems. But, all too often, the only one being helped is the guru.
There’s way too little focus on the “self” part of self-help.
The reality is this: ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL!
What you need are the Three Cs of Success. These are three things that you can do for yourself to ensure that your path to success is the perfect path for YOU.
Let’s take a closer look at each one…
Chances are, that morning routine did increase someone’s productivity. And it may increase yours – but only if it aligns with your strengths. After all, you’re not a morning person, you don’t really know how to do a morning routine, and you don’t naturally take to systems.
Notice how different those three excuses are, but how each one matters.
The first thing you need clarity on is that there are actually three parts of the mind, and they all impact your ability to succeed.
The first two are pretty well known and understood:
Yet these first two areas alone don’t predict success as much as the third part of the mind…
3. Conative: This focuses on how you naturally execute – also known as your instinctive strengths.
You may be able to overcome being a morning person (affective choice) and learn how to do a strong routine (cognitive), but if you don’t naturally take action by creating or following systems, no self-help guru’s morning routine is going to work out for you long-term. You’ll be working against your own instincts, at least until you understand what those instincts are. (Note: You can measure these conative instincts via the Kolbe A™ Index.)
If you want a change that will make a big difference in YOUR life, the first and most important step is to better understand YOURSELF.
The more you understand your own nature, the better you’ll be able to approach your goals in a way that will be productive for you specifically.
Let’s take a closer look at how you naturally get things done, for instance.
One big problem with one-size-fits-all systems is a lot of people don’t naturally utilize systems! — at least, not the ones constantly being presented to them as cure-alls.
If you naturally create systems, great! Create that perfect morning routine for yourself. If you naturally follow systems, then maybe a guru would be helpful…in that regard. But do you gather and share information the same way? Do you handle risk and uncertainty alike? How about your natural way of dealing with the tangible world?
You are a unique individual with unique strengths. Once you understand those strengths, only THEN can you fully commit to something that will likely work for you long-term.
This goes beyond being dedicated – it’s about making wise daily choices and focusing on what deserves your best effort. Mental energy is finite. So even taking action in ways that are natural to you can deplete this precious resource.
Chances are, you’re not going to wake up one day, buy into a system that made someone else buff or rich or allegedly transcendent, and have it work for you long-term. You might take to it at first, particularly if you’re excited about it, but over time you’ll find you’re working against your grain.
Find your strengths and commit to them. Say “No” to things that don’t align with those strengths. That will make everything so much easier.
Just because self-help gurus aren’t the end-all be-all doesn’t mean you don’t need help. Nothing truly great is accomplished alone.
Everyone has equal conative strengths, but your strengths are different than the strengths of others. So, while you’re focused on using your strengths and committed to saying no to things that don’t use those strengths, you’ll need to find others to complement those strengths.
Be strategic about who you collaborate with and when! After all, when you’re knowledgeable and intentional, you can combine strengths with others to maximize energy and output.
The greatest basketball player is not always the greatest coach. Just because something worked spectacularly for someone else does not mean it will work for you. You may not want it as much. You may be a little less skilled than Steph Curry. OR maybe the coach doesn’t approach practice in a way that gives you the freedom to be your best self.
The point is, the more you understand what your actual needs are and who can actually help serve those needs, the better equipped you’ll be to help yourself make dramatic long-term improvements.
Who knows, maybe the self-help guru speaking the loudest with the most confidence is the solution to your problems. But there’s a much better chance the real solution has been inside you this whole time. You just need to listen to your gut!
The first step to better understanding your MO and how you naturally take action is the Kolbe A™ Index.
