Don't just "work hard" (do this instead)
Do you know what you are working for?
Or what you want to reach?
Or more importantly: How you want your days to look like?
Sometimes, in the mission to reach our goals, develop our skills and design the life we want, we forget why we started in the first place (and where we are heading).
We start packing our calendar with more and more tasks and think that we are automatically making progress because "we feel busy".
We create patterns, and daily habits and we do more and more things on autopilot.
And streamlining tasks can be good, but only if it is intentional.
That intention is the important part here.
Because if we don't reflect over the end goal and how our daily actions are taking us in that direction in an efficient (but also sustainable) way, then we might eventually start to loose motivation, start taking shortcuts and end up "off track".
The way to prevent this from happening is to start with the end in mind and make it as specific as possible. Paint a picture or make a mood board if you want.
Then reverse-engineer your way back to what you need to do monthly, weekly, and daily in order to get to there and make that image your reality.
Then, when you have that list of daily tasks, design your days in a way that you enjoy and fits your preference and lifestyle. Don't just look at the "online gurus" and copy whatever they are doing without the context of their situation, personality, lifestyle, and goal.
It is YOUR life, YOUR path, YOUR preferred lifestyle.
To give some examples from my own life:
These are the goals 🥅 I strive for:
- Work 100% remote
- Have 100 000 YouTube subscribers
- $8000 in monthly income (where $3000 is completely passive)
- Have a house with a pool
- Have a well equipped YouTube studio at home
- Have a strong personal brand
...but these are the weekly activities 📆 I want to do:
- Read daily
- Go on walks
- Sleep 8h per day
- Eat good healthy food
- Travel and explore new places
- Spend 2 full days with my fiancée
- Meet/Network with other ambitious creators
- Work half my days on the couch with my laptop
So for me, the question becomes:
How can I form my schedule so that I can reach my goals while doing the weekly activities that I want?
Ask yourself how you can implement the activities you want to do without having to first reach your goal
A lot of times, you'll realize that you can implement a lot of activities from your preferred schedule right away. You don't need to wait until an imaginable point in the future.
Once you can form your days based on both those lists, you will start to feel more fulfilled and enjoy the process more, which will improve your odds of actually reaching your goals.
And with this approach, even IF you don't reach your goals, you moved closer to it AND enjoyed the process, right? :)
But also remember that things will change and that there will be different seasons throughout your life and your journey where you might temporarily feel stressed, lost or frustrated because you are trying to break new ground or expand your skills in some way.
But that feeling is just a confirmation that you are growing. Don't try to avoid things just because they feel uncomfortable.
The last few weeks I've been super busy, mainly because I was finishing off content for my course "Streamlined Creator". I had to put a lot of my daily activities "on hold".
But now that I'm passed the biggest part of the work, I realigned with my goals again and adjusted my schedule accordingly.
Becoming a content creator is like a rollercoaster.
Some months are super busy and unpredictable.
Some are quieter, more stable, and more monotone.
It's like a driving car. 🚙 Sometimes you are driving straight in 70 mph and sometimes you are standing still at an intersection, looking at your GPS.
And sometimes you take the wrong exit and have to turn around.
Constantly driving fast is not what will get you to your goal. Knowing WHEN to speed up, WHEN to slow down, and WHEN to turn is what will.
The second part of 2024 has just started.
There are 172 days left before 2025 starts.
You can decide to continue on autopilot or take 172 intentional steps closer to your goal.
Look at your schedule today and reflect over every task you have there.
Ask yourself these 2 questions:
Will this task take me closer to my goal?
Is this task contributing to the way I want to live?
Hope you found this helpful!
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ONLINE PROGRAM FOR CREATORS:
Systemize, Optimize, & Monetize
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(Next launch will be in a couple of months, so continue reading if it sounds interesting!)
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Depending on when you read this, enrollment might be open or closed. If it is closed, I will put you on the waitlist for the next launch and let you know once I open for the next cohort.
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