THE LIFESTYLE ENTREPRENEUR

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The 24 Hour Conundrum

What’s your track record when it comes to started and failed personal projects?

• Fitness programs

• Dietary changes

• Substance management

• Business ideas projects

• Lifestyle adjustments

I consider myself a pretty capable individual, but if I think about all the projects I’ve gotten excited about, started, and ultimately given up on, it has to be in the hundreds.

And I’m not alone:

• 95% of people gain lost weight back 1-5 years after a diet

• 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail within the second week of February

• Online courses have an average 5-15% completion rate

These numbers - and the general state of our population at large - tell us something we know intuitively - almost all challenging new personal projects fail

We know this - we’re reminded every year during the new year’s resolution mania.

Yet most of us, me included, start up a few each year without putting much thought into our likely failure, and repeat the cycle.

Every year, until we die.

Why willpower doesn’t work

Benjamin Hardy, one of the thought leaders in this space, lays out the main reason for failure in his excellent book “Willpower Doesn’t Work”:

• Environmental limitations are more important than effort or willpower, and will derail your best laid plans

• Willpower is an exhaustible source that runs out over the course of a day and week

• Decision fatigue kills our ability to maintain willpower

• Lack of clear commitment and accountability allows willpower to fade

• Being around the wrong people dramatically influences your behavior

In his book he lays out superior ways to build structure around new commitments to make them stick.

2 other great books I recommend on the topic are:

Atomic Habits - James Clear

The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg

How to make new habits stick

All the reasons above come down to a simple principle - Living life by design versus by default:

• Life by Default - mostly living on autopilot allowing things to happen to you

• Life by Design - Thinking critically, and acting strategically, about all aspects of life

Life by default is reactive, life by design is proactive.

Because most people life by default - sticking with new projects is almost impossible because without mindset shift, right tools, and permanent change, we will always revert back to our average.

Telling people to start living a life by design is meaningless, however, and I’m in the business of practical application that works.

So here’s how I recommend approaching new projects from a design vs default standpoint:

• Mindset adjustment for favorable conditions

• Physical & mental preparation to allow for growth

• Use tools to allow allow permanent change

Mindset

Establishing the right mindset, in life and in new projects.

The mindset approach most relevant in this case, is a commitment to doing hard things in life.

Intuitively we know - the more consistently we force ourselves into challenging mental and physical situations, the more adapted our mind and body become to increasingly challenging situations.

Neuroplasticity is the scientific term defining our brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections.

This is not a new concept, but it has been popularized by the amazing Andrew Huberman of late.

This our our mind’s ability to adapt to challenge and learn. And we know our body’s ability to adapt to stress by getting stronger.

In order to grow, we need to to continually expose ourselves to appropriate levels of stress and challenge to force adaptation.

Most people do the opposite of this - they seek comfort in all areas of life, relegating them to living life completely by default with almost no free will.

Physical and Mental Preparation

Positive environment for change is the most common theme in adopting new projects and habits - our physical self should be the first place we look.

Put simply - if we want new habits to form and change to last, we need to care for ourselves. I’ll highlight a few key areas to pay attention to:

• Sleep & Nutrition - Poor sleep and nutrition negatively affects our willpower and decisionmaking mechanisms - making it even harder to stick with new projects

• Mindfulness - A distracted mind doesn’t stand a chance against life by default. Meditating, having tech detoxes, spending time in nature, all aid in your ability to stick with projects.

From a physical and mental preparedness standpoint - if we’re not caring for ourselves our bodies are in survival mode - and are incapable of maintaining willpower enough to make lasting change.

Tools that allow for change

With knowledge that the above factors will make up 80% of our success, here are a few tools and frameworks to get us the final 20% of the way towards meeting our goals:

Define your commitment

Goal setting works because it focuses our minds on simple outcomes. Establish your goal in a SMART format - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely.

It also helps to conduct future-selfing exercises whenever starting new projects:

• Visualize in vivid detail the future person you’re aspiring to

• Feel the emotional connection and pride of becoming this person

• Identify the actions keeping you from becoming this person

Structure your environment

Environment is the common theme in the science of habit formation:

• Make it obvious or invisible - Surround yourself with simple cues that make your project easier. If you’re trying to start reading more - get multiple books and place them on the nightstand. Conversely - if you’re trying to improve your nutrition, conduct a fridge cleanout and get rid of junk food.

• Make it convenient or inconvenient - Reduce friction at every possible step. If you’re starting a new workout habit, lay out your clothes the night before. If you’re trying to reduce screen time, use an old school alarm clock in your room and charge your phone in another room at night.

• Make it satisfying or unsatisfying - Create immediate feedback related to your project - Mark off on a physical calendar every day you workout. Agree on a financial penalty with a friend for every time you miss a workout.

Audit and level up

Permanent change requires frequent adjustment. The best workout plan can’t stick forever because we change and require different stimulus to maintain results and efficacy. This applies in multiple areas:

• Activities - Periodically audit the actions you’re taking and whether they’re relevant and efficient.

• Goals - Regularly monitor your goals and adjust according to a set schedule

• Distractions - Regularly monitor for distractions that threaten your progress. They are everywhere and will pop up without you noticing.

• People - Who you spend your time with dramatically affects your performance

We’re collectively heading into the dark months of the American holiday tri-fecta of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.

This is the phase most people put off all new projects until they’re over.

There’s nothing wrong with this - but as a final thought, I’ll ask - if you have a project you want, and can apply some of the above tools, what’s really keeping you from starting now?

Those who apply the right mindset, preparation, and tools to projects, are the ones who get ahead in life. And they don’t do it with one project, they do it by having a higher success rate and frequency of projects than everyone else.

Audit your goals, select your project, establish the mindset and environment, and do it.

Talk to you next week,

Mike