The Decision To Be Disciplined

I don’t have to decide if I will show up for my goals today – because it’s not even a question. My actions are automatic.

But they weren’t always – my bestie Georgia will tell you she had to physically push PUBLISH on my first blog post for me because I had been procrastinating so much she couldn’t handle it anymore!

And I was the WORST at getting up in the morning. I couldn’t get to work on time to save myself. 

But when I stopped viewing discipline as restrictive and started seeing it as the key to freedom, everything turned around.

You can be disciplined too.

Decide that you will always choose the effort now to get the reward later.

Then you never have to make a decision about whether or not you show up for your goals today.

Because you’ve already decided you always will.

Future-Self Care

Unpopular opinion: 

Self care isn’t just bubble baths and yoga.

Self care is also doing the thing you really DON’T feel like doing, so you can relax for the evening without it niggling at the back of your mind.

It’s staying up late to finish the project you’ve been meaning to do.

It’s posting again today even when no one liked your post yesterday.

It’s prioritizing the things you don’t enjoy so you can do the things you love later.

And zero hate on bubble baths. I love a bubble bath as much as the next person. But I also love hitting my goals. And self-care is important. But so is future-self care.

Self-care is anything that supports you AND your future self.

How to Stop Procrastinating

Procrastination can properly screw up your goals.

I’ve been there. Don’t let it.

Just do 5 minutes.

Set a timer.

After 5 minutes, you can decide if you want to continue or stop.

Starting is the hardest part.

But 5 minutes is enough to bridge the gap between starting and being in the zone.

If 5 minutes is up and you want to stop, that’s okay. Stop.

But come back again for another 5 minutes.

And if 5 minutes is up and you’re stuck into it, great. 

Either way, you get at least 5 minutes closer to your goal.

And you’ve broken your procrastination habit.

Do it. 

Do it now.

Actually though.

Pick up the pen. Put on your running shoes. Open the book.

Just 5 minutes.

It’s legit magic, I promise.

Are You Showing Up For Your Future Self?

What I’m working on right now: Showing up for my future self like she is my number one priority.

I am so grateful to my past self for putting me first. But now it’s time to step it up and consider my future self before I think about what I want right now.

The current ways I’m going above and beyond for my future self:

• Getting up at 2am (and going to sleep at 6pm) every day for a whole week ahead of my mastermind so I’m fresh and awake (over the time zone “jet lag”) by the time it begins

• Putting my savings away FIRST (rather than hoping what is left over is enough)

• Brainstorming ways to make her life easier, including scheduling in time off and reducing the number of hours she works (I heard someone say “Schedule your calendar like you were scheduling it for your best friend.”).

• Putting in systems and software in my business that are tedious to set up, so it will make her life easier

• Writing two weeks worth of content in advance so my future self can focus on other things soon, even though my brain wants to give up at every step

• Be willing to slow down my business growth goals in order to build a strong business, not just a big one (this one has been a hard pill to swallow!).

• Doing my physiotherapy exercises every day, even when I’ve already gone to bed – and then suddenly remember. I’ve been getting back out of bed to do them because I want my future self to have a body that is pain-free.

What are you doing today to look after your future self?

A Habit Isn’t a Habit if You Take Days Off

I was doing my physiotherapy exercises for my shoulder every single day in November, and I would feel guilty if I missed a day. 

When I shared this with my physiotherapist, she said “Oh don’t worry, having rest days is okay.” 

Bam. Just like that, I stopped doing my physiotherapy exercises entirely.

Because what harm can a rest day do?

And another?

And another.

As soon as my brain was given permission to have days off sometimes, it decided it was okay to slack off all the time. 

I’ve discovered that moderation is really, really challenging for me. I do much better when I discipline myself to do something always – or never. 

It’s easier to keep a habit going if I never have to think about it, rather than trying to decide each day, “Does today count? Is today one of the days?”. 

Don’t let yourself off the hook. It’s a trap.

Reminder to self: If it matters, do it daily.

Advice to My Past Self

If I could tell my past self something it would be this:

1. Find out the 3 most important things you need to be doing each day that will move you closer to your goal.

2. Uncover what is ACTUALLY stopping you.

3. Do whatever it takes to overcome that (buy the tools, take a course, hire a coach, get therapy, journal on it etc).

4. Do those 3 most important things every single day, no matter what.

What are your three most important things?

P.S. This image is for reference to the past self I’m dedicating this advice to. This was my first ever “business photoshoot”.

How to Get Yourself to Take Action When You Don’t Want To

How to get yourself to take action when you don’t want to 🙈

I coach people on their goals.

It’s what I do literally all day on Zoom.

I eat, sleep, and breathe other people’s goals.

It gives me the most magnificent insight into human potential – but also into human struggles.

One of the most common struggles I see is inaction.

Not taking action at all.

Taking some action, but not enough.

Taking action only when we feel motivated.

Taking action for a few motivated days and then stopping.

Planning to take action but getting distracted.

There are 100 reasons why you might not be taking action. Self-doubt, fear, boredom, distraction, other people’s priorities, disillusion, exhaustion.

But there’s one fool-proof way to guarantee action:

You have to make it utterly non-negotiable.

So you HAVE to. So you’ve got no choice. So you’d never even consider not doing it.

Like picking your kid up from school, or breathing.

When I lived in England, in the winter it was so cold I never wanted to go for a run, so I forced myself into it by making a rule that I wasn’t allowed to shower – unless it was to wash off sweat.

I never, ever, ever took a shower unless I had been for a run.

The longest I went without running (or a shower) was a day.

(I was inspired by the novelist, Victor Hugo, who forced himself to take action by commanding his servant to take away all his clothes each day. Left totally naked in his study, with only paper and pen, he had nothing to do but write.)

Make your most important actions non-negotiable.

Then you’ll guarantee results.

What are your non-negotiable actions?👇

Decide Your Excuses Ahead of Time

Decide your excuses ahead of time. 

Plan them.

Make exceptions.

Choose when it’s okay for you to not show up for your goal when you had planned to.

• Decide it’s okay the day your sister gives birth to her baby.

• Decide it’s okay when you have a migraine.

• Decide it’s okay when your kid gets sick.

But don’t decide in the moment, just because you don’t feel like it.

Decide ahead of time.

Make a list of valid excuses. Anything can be on the list.

But if it’s not on the list, don’t make an excuse.

A long day, argument with your friends, feeling tired - none of that counts. Unless it was already on the list.

Be the kind of person who can stick to her word. 

It’s how you show love to your future self ❤️

How to Act As If

When you set a goal, you’re auditioning for a role.

The role of future you.

Congratulations, you got the part!

Now your job is to learn the lines.

You have to practice acting like the future you over and over until you get it just right.

How does she talk?

What does she wear?

What time does she get up?

What action does she take?

Step into the staring role of FUTURE YOU.

You will be awkward at first.

Keep practicing.

Until one day, you’ll realise that the entire set around you has come together - and you no longer have to act like the person who can achieve your goal.

You will BE the Future You.

You will achieve the goal because you will be the kind of person who achieves that kind of goal.

Act into your future self, and one day, you will be her.

Having It All vs Doing It All

My entire life, I’ve believed you can have it all.

But a couple of days ago, someone said something absolutely brilliant that changed my whole perspective.

She said “Yes – but you don’t have to DO it all.”

It was one of those struck-by-lightning, world-stops-spinning, a-ha moments for me. 

It makes so much sense.

You can have everything you want.

You just don’t have to make it happen all by yourself.

Ask for help. Outsource. Or just don’t do it.

Maybe we could rebrand the popular #allthethings to #someofthethings?

How would your life change if you let go of the idea that to Have It All, you have to Do It All?