It had to happen.
I wish it didn’t come to this, but it did.
Maybe you can keep your shit together without daily accountability. You don’t have to make a daily list and play a run-on game with yourself to be productive. If that’s the case, I thought I could be more like you.
But here I am, feeling out of control.
The to-do list has turned into a to-put-off list.
I struggle with the same things everyday:
- I stay up too late
- So I frequently push my alarm back 30 minutes or more
- Causing me to get less work done in the mornings
- My nutrition has been off
- So I eat whatever sounds good
- Causing me to be tired and want to sit around (or even nap!)
- I’ve been drinking alcohol too frequently
- Which speeds up the flywheel of the above two problems
You might look at that and think the answer is simple - stop drinking.
And yes, that would help solve problem three, and about 30% of problems one and two.
For myself, struggle three is not the cause of struggle one and two, but a bedfellow. So cutting it out without any other changes would only treat the symptom, not the cause.
Here’s the fucked up part — Even though I know how to fix all three problems and get back on track, I haven't done it.
I know the answer is to get back on my personal accountability. The daily Power List. I even got a new notebook so I’m ready to start.
And that’s what I’ve been putting off.
Deep down I know that once I start, I’m on the hook for 100 days. With the goal of 100-0, there are no days off. No days that are unproductive. No days where you mail it in without any purpose.
What I fear is exactly what I need.
On Saturday night as I was getting ready for bed (at a later time than I should have been), I had enough. Monday was too far away, I needed to start immediately.
Realizing I would need to be reminded and encouraged to not put it off one more day, I got out my notebook and put it on the counter.
There, when I see that in the morning, I’ll definitely feel obligated to start.
But what if I don’t? So, I went one step further towards making it too easy to follow through. I opened the cover and formatted the first page.
Now all I have to do is fill in the blanks tomorrow.
Or the next day. I realized the final touch that would cement the next day as Day One.
I wrote tomorrow’s date on that first page.
Shit. Now I’m committed.
And honestly, I’m nervous. I know what I signed up for.
100 days of discipline.
100 days of moving forward.
100 days of DAILY accountability.
And honestly, I’m excited. Excited to feel good physically and mentally.
Your homework this week: What is your trick to getting back on track? What do you know you should be doing, but are hesitant to start? Take the first step, and set yourself up in a way that forces follow though - like writing the date on the first page.
After writing the date and mentally preparing, I thought back about how many weeks it had been since I finished my last power list.
Then it hit me. It was around the time I shaved my beard. Turns out, my unproductivity doesn’t have shit to do with my silly little list…but if you didn’t shave your beard, maybe give the list a shot.
Be great,
Danny Lehr
P.S. What are you afraid to do that you know will improve your life?