Clearing Objections & Focusing Change
Simple Actions Daily
This is Part Four of my year-end series on personal planning. You’ll find the other parts here:
Today, we’re going to talk about next steps… getting past the “Resolution” stage.
It’s time for action.
Clearing Objections
We often think our barriers are outside us…
Can’t do it because of my obligations to family…
Not in the right location…
Don’t have enough time, money, skill, talent…
Well, you might be right. But shouldn’t we check those assumptions first? Write down everything that comes to mind when you write out what you want to achieve.
Start by writing down your best case scenario and reflect…
What scares me?
What’s the worst that can happen?
I touched my prior experiences in Part Two. In Part Three, I considered what endured from my fears, pain and successes.
Acknowledge the past… then look deeply into these feelings and see if fear of the future is warranted.
I discovered my worst case scenario was getting in great shape, helping people and having fun with friends & family.
Take time to write down the objections YOU notice to your forward plan. Here are mine…
Atrial Fibrillation (AFib)
Getting Run Over
Permanent Disability
Alienation From Love
My bet is you’ll either know exactly what I mean, or think that’s a pretty weird list.
My list doesn’t matter.
What’s important is knowing YOUR list.
Take time to make the subconscious, conscious.
Once you have your list, you can work your way through it. The “game” I play is combining an increase in personal knowledge with steps I will take to get the outcome I desire.
Self-Education
Action Plan
My fears feel big, mitigating those fears requires small, simple choices.
One of those steps is something I wrote in my first article of 2023.
I will never knowingly damage my health.
To that, we might add:
I will meet my obligations to my minor children.
I will put my marriage before my goals.
As for getting run over… it is a numbers game… meaning any of us can die in an accident, at any time, but… time exposure to risk is within our control => especially by reducing high-risk activities and risk-seeking peers. There’s a lot we can do to reduce our lifetime risk of ruin.
Knowledge - what are my riskiest activities / choices?
Beliefs - what beliefs pull me towards ruin?
Actions - knock one behavior out, at a time
Peers - choose wisely
Each of the above can pull us towards, or away from, our desired outcomes.
Relentless 80/20
Most of our actions are somewhat in the middle. However, some choices are:
Clearly Beneficial
Cleary Suboptimal
This observation applies to food, people, time…
What follows is a process I apply to… everything.
In Part One, I shared the observation that I was pouring time into my screens. I asked:
How, and when, do I receive the MOST benefit from my screens?
How, and when, do I receive the LEAST benefit?
We don’t need to change everything.
We need to continually improve at the margin.
For screens, I came to the conclusion that the greatest benefits are connection and new ideas. These can happen at any time. The least benefit is 30-60 minutes lost at the start/finish of each day => on the order of 500 annual hours, better spent on ANYTHING.
The framework:
Spot The Issue => Screen time
ID The Action For Greatest Return => AM/PM Time Reallocation
Change The Habit
My phone is how I capture my heart rate metrics. I gather data every morning and evening. My heart rate strap and my phone are the first things I touch each morning.
I thought I’d have to stop capturing my metrics. Indeed that was what I did during my cyber retreat. However, I realized that my metrics are useful and I’d like to keep gathering them.
The solution was to use a “dumb” phone. My daughter was buying a new phone, and I bought her old one. I moved all my training apps over to an alternative phone. I placed that phone within easy reach and also placed interesting books nearby.
Another solution might have been to wipe the social apps from my phone, or nest them into a new place. The muscle memory of swipe-and-click runs deep.
Set Up A New Phone
Moved A Few Apps
Made That Phone Easy To Access
Put Books Near My New Phone
For $200 and 1 hour of setup, I’ve pulled back 500 annual hours and get to my real-world day more quickly.
As for my work day, I put a quote from James Clear in my Inbox…
What is the one task that, if completed, will make today a success?
I have one message in my Inbox and that message is telling me to start each day with my most important action.
Once that’s done… I can go back to my old ways, if I want.
I promise you there is a similar adjustment waiting somewhere in your life. A few years back, my change was go to bed when the kids do.
Simple Change - Make It Stick - Be Open To Positive Cascades
Tim talks about the above in his 17 Questions article. His experience is different than mine. Hopefully, you’ll be able to take our experiences and make them your own.
Over my life, I have had similar feelings to questions Tim raises:
Dealing with a desire to escape my existing situation.
How much money do I really need?
Where is it easier to be successful?
What can I drop?
What can I spend money on to improve the quality of my life?
We will start 2024 by considering these questions.