My 2015 Strategy Part 2: The Logistics of Being Awesome

Time (or something else)

I've always felt like the main limitation in my success has been time, but I've recently realized thinking along those lines is not helpful. I spent so much effort on getting more time by sleeping less, multitasking, running around all day, and generally being frazzled. I ran 18-20 hour days for weeks. You'd think I was super-productive but in reality, these were the times I felt most stagnated.

I can't believe I'm quoting this cliche, but...insanity is doing the same thing again and again expecting different results. That was me with productivity, time, energy, and sleep. Perhaps you can relate.

The answer in those situations is to question your assumptions. Maybe it wasn't time that was lacking, but something else.

We can't create time. The best we can do is sleep less. I tried that, but while I got more hours in my day, I was too zombiefied to make use of those hours, even with coffee.

On days when I got plenty of sleep, even if I started late, I always seemed to get more done. I realized that a better way to "get more time in my day" was to simply be more present in the time I did have.

Other easy ways I've discovered to get more energy and thus more use of my time:

• Exercise...every...single...day. When I was lifting, there was an emphasis on on and off days, but off days always left me feeling like a zombie. If I just went for a jog in the morning, I felt much better. So, now I make an effort to jog every morning, and do more intense training in the afternoon or evening if I have time.
• Eat green veggies. This is subtle, but eating more raw, leafy greens has done wonders for my clarity of mind and fullness of energy. I take a chlorella supplement, down a green smoothie in the mornings, and eat salad. A lot.
• Drink water. It sounds so dumb, but it matters. Your brain is like 90 percent water (I don't know if that's accurate, but it's a lot). What happens when you don't get enough? Your brain shrivels and gets all gummed up like a mummy (also not sure if that's accurate...). Ignoring specifics, even minor dehydration can impact your energy, focus, and even sleep. (Interesting side note, I was still suffering dehydration drinking tons of water until I started eating more salt so I could retain the water).
• Sleep comes first. Even if I have stuff that "needs" to get done, I am deciding to save it for the morning. A clear to-do list feels good, but not as good as being well-rested. This also forces me to get stuff done promptly and plan, so I can have my cake and eat it too (clear to-do's, tidy apartment, and enough rest).

Money

It turns out that money is pretty much unnecessary for all of my goals, except for keeping a roof over my head and food in my belly, which is key. This is really complex subject for another day, but the best way I've found for me to bring more money into my life is to keep it in mind.

Some specific actions I've found that help:

• Create an automatic saving system. I have a set percentage of my income that goes into savings, no matter what, before I touch it. This has been the most helpful and critical habit in keeping me solvent. Just having less to spend keeps me from spending it, and when something comes up, I have a cushion. The biggest benefit: peace of mind, so I can direct my mental energy to productive work rather than worrying.
• Read about money. I am constantly reading books on generating wealth and abundant mindsets. A lot of what I read is unrelated to my situation (investing in real-estate is out of reach at the moment), but the principles are there and I tend to absorb them through osmosis.
• Talk about money. I was raised to avoid talking openly about finances. Money was relegated to the realm of sex and religion. This created a lot of confusion for me and I've found that talking openly with friends who are comfortable about it has been very helpful in learning ways to manage my money better.

Summary

We don't do the logistics for their own sake. We do them to support the stuff that really matters. But, and this is a big but, without the logistics, the rest falls apart.

Tony Robbins calls it looking after your state. You need to have a good state, a good story, and good strategy to succeed. Without taking care of your state, you will be too fatigued and miserable to believe in your empowering story or learn and implement strategies.

I talked about strategy first because the strategy determines what logistics are needed, and they also provide the motivation for making the effort, and logistics do take work.

However, the point I want to make is that there are actions that provide a great return on investment without requiring a whole new routine.

For example:

• Instead of staying up late to get more done, I can actually get EVEN MORE done if I go to bed early, and I feel better.
• Simply adding more salt to my diet made a huge difference in my health, and that takes no effort or time.
• Replacing my coffee with a green smoothie...WOW! Again, better long-term return on investment. (I still love coffee, but it's more of a superpower booster, not a crutch for grogginess).

It's like investing. Setting aside money today means you can't buy that fancy meal, but if it gets invested, or simply added to a bigger chunk, you can do even more with it, and your capabilities will start to balloon.

But if you never set it aside and just spend little bits spread out, you'll always be playing catch up, with money, time, energy, or whatever, and your abilities just stay on a level.

What are some of the logistical limitations you've run into in pursuing your goals? Are there any changes you can make to better support your dreams?

KC ***