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Using systems and habits to improve your life is a proven method to succeed. It requires seeing the work as a system and then adjusting your thoughts and behaviors to be able to take advantage of your opportunities in life.
Most of us want control in our lives. We want to be able to choose the path we take. We want to have freedom over the decisions we make and the situations we face.
But many times control is an illusion. We assume we have control. We have some obvious control in some situations. But there is always a spark of unpredictability in any given life event.
Read MoreWhen people think of freedom, they think of doing whatever they want. They picture a life without any restrictions. They can spend what they want and never run out of money. They can eat what they want and never gain weight. They can drink whatever they want, do whatever they want and feel however they want.
But life isn’t that way. There will always be consequences to our behavior. Being rich might mean we can buy what we want. But it doesn’t mean we can eat what we want. It doesn’t mean we can drink whatever we want. We can’t just do whatever we feel like doing at any moment.
Read MoreWhen I first heard about the concept of systems and systems thinking, I was building a small business. I read an article that discussed the difference between successful and unsuccessful businesses.
The theme of the article centered on the ability of the successful small business owner to transition from doing everything to creating systems for everything. They relied on systems to run the business.
Read MoreAbout a year ago, I began the arduous task of rewriting my first book, You Can’t Surf from the Shore. That book was the very first thing I wrote on the systems and habits approach to improvement. At the time, I kept much of the systems info out of it to keep it simple and easy to read.
Over the years I have written a second book, thousands of articles, an ebook, and designed an 11-week course on the various aspects of the systems and habits approach to improvement. Surf from the Shore was in desperate need for a rewrite.
Read MoreSystems thinking changes the way we process information in the world. Instead of seeing the output from a system and judging it based on that information alone, we look deeper. We want to understand the depths of the system.
The surface of the system contains what we interact with on a regular basis. These are the outputs, the events. They occur and grab our attention.
Read MoreThe other day I heard a sportscaster say that an athlete’s performance was flawless. He said went on to say that the athlete gave, “flawless effort.”
Right away I cringed. Too often we focus on the end performance and ignore the steps leading to it. When the performance is magnificent, we see it as flawless. We assume it was his one-time effort that day that made the difference.
Read MoreWe all face challenges in life. When I was younger, I hated these challenges. I wanted things to be easy and pleasant. I did everything possible to avoid them.
Inevitably, they would still surface. When they did, my reaction was immediate. I wanted out. I wanted to get away from the discomfort. I wanted to end the negative feelings associated with that struggle.
Read MoreThe other day I was reading about a debate between several prominent authors and professors. The debate regarded the future of life. One side argued that life was improving, overall, across the globe. The other side took the counter point. They argued that quality of life will decline in the future.
As I read, I sided with the optimistic point of view. They provided better data. Almost all the main measures of quality of life have increased throughout the decades. They argued that there is no reason that this will end.
Read MoreWhen you are using systems and habits to improve your life, you will likely get to a point of exhaustion. It happens to everyone. Even with the best of intentions, you will become tired.
That is the point at which you start to question the work you are putting in. You measure it against what you feel you deserve to get from all that hard work. Many times, it seems like you haven’t received as many rewards as you feel appropriate.
Read MoreLife is complex. Sometimes, in the midst of something horrible, we forget that life can be great. Hearing someone talk about the beauty of a flower right after being fired would be infuriating, not joyous. The pain from the firing would drown out everything else.
But life contains those horrible moments and moments of bliss. They both exist in the same system. We can’t separate them out. They coexist.
Read MoreToo often we get caught up trying to be perfect. We dislike errors. We despise faults. We want to perform flawlessly without committing any mistakes.
While we may desire perfection, it doesn’t help us to improve. Instead of using it to get better, we try to avoid imperfection. Want to avoid any mistake so we avoid challenging situations.
Read MoreOur society craves more. We want more of everything we judge as good. It could be feelings such as happiness, joy, pleasure, etc. It could be material possessions and resources such as money, cars, houses etc.
On its face, this doesn’t pose a problem. If we want more happiness and are willing to do what is necessary to obtain that happiness, what is the problem? If we want to travel more and take a higher paying job to fund our adventures, who does it hurt? If we want a nice car or a nice house and are willing to do the work to obtain those goals, why shouldn’t we work for those?
Read MoreLife is full of ups and downs. During the high moments it is easy to feel in control. The low moments feel as though control has been ripped away from us.
During those ebbs and flows, our control remains more consistent than we realize. This means that have to be able to maintain our perspective during those low moments to work through challenges and obstacles.
Read MoreThe other day I was discussing systems and habits with a friend. He has used the systems and habits approach to improvement for years to better himself.
He was heading out of town for vacation and worried that his routines would fall apart with the time away. He asked me if I found that these breaks from the systems we create mean that he has to start over.
Read MoreThere is a difference between systems thinking and linear thinking. Systems thinking looks at the full situation to better understand how the elements all interconnect. Linear thinking skips the complexity and looks at part of the full system, usually two variables.
Linear thinking makes sense in some situations. If a car is speeding towards you, you want to come to the conclusion that you should move as fast as possible. No analysis needed.
Read MoreIn life, we pay too much attention to the major changes. We see the awards at the end of the journey and ignore the journey itself. We want to feel ambition and instantly reach the highest heights of our dreams.
This might seem good, and it can be. It can motivate you to try something new. But it can also be the reason you aren’t reaching higher heights. Striving for massive success overlooks the small steps needed to get on track. We see the mountain ahead of us. We don’t focus on the next step on the trail.
Read MoreIf you want to be happier in life, there is a simple recipe. All you have to do is learn how to be more thankful for the things in your life. It might sound simplistic, but it holds the ability to bring about great happiness.
But there is a catch. You can’t just come up a few things that you are grateful for today and then your whole life changes. Doing it one time, or even a few times, will result in nothing. Maybe it helps you get through a tough day. Maybe it helps remain positive for a short period. But it won’t drastically change your life.
Read MoreIt is great to have ambition in life. The desire to do something more is within all of us. We all daydream as children of all the fun and interesting things we could do with our life.
But somewhere along the way, that ambition wilts. By adulthood, we are just going through the motions of life. We make decisions by default by not actively pursing our goals and desires. Instead, we stick our heads in the clouds, hoping for something better. Or we stay grounded by feeling nothing is worth the effort. But neither approach is a recipe for success and happiness.
Read MoreWe all get motivated from time to time. Maybe we watch a documentary on some ultra successful businessman. Or we hear about some harrowing journey. We listen to an acceptance speech from an actor, or pro athlete, telling us to follow our passion.
Whatever it is, we get a jolt of energy, a push to do something extraordinary. The more we contemplate it, the more power emerges within us. We commit to do it, whatever it is for us.
Read MoreThe further away from a problem you are, the easier the answer. If you are not the one trying to right the ship, it is easy to know what to do. When you don’t have to face your decision, it always seems right.
I find it funny how many people feel their opinions are the truth. They spout off about their beliefs. They argue their point of view. They criticize everyone and everything around them.
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