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Improving Systems and Habits

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.

Success with a side of discontentment

Scott Miker

I recently finished a great book about a man who achieved incredible success in a competitive field. He was known as the greatest of all time, an innovator, and even labeled a genius.

While his legacy is unmatched, the journey to that point followed a common theme among those who achieve such heights. He worked and sacrificed his way to the top, never accepting anything other than greatness.

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Strategic Life

Scott Miker

Recently I was doing a leadership training and we talked about strategic planning tools that were available. I mentioned that one that is designed to be used for personal or family strategic planning.

After the training I continued to explore the tool and found it to be very helpful. It aligned with many of the other strategic plans I have developed for personal improvement in the past.

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The blocker between knowing and doing is important

Scott Miker

If I surveyed people in the United States and asked them if they would rather have wealth or not, they would almost all say they would prefer the money. If the option was between a perfect physique or an unhealthy body, we all know what would get chosen most.

If I asked people what someone should do if they want to build wealth, many would have great suggestions. They would talk about investing, not spending on frivolous items, and living within one’s means.

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Measuring Progress

Scott Miker

A key element of the systems and habits approach to improvement is the idea that we stop chasing outcomes. We stop fantasizing about the end goal. And we stop daydreaming about perfect situations.

It is important to have direction in your life. You need to know what you want and then set out to achieve it. This leads most to spend too much time obsessed with that outcome.

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Win at All Costs

Scott Miker

Most people applaud the mentality to win at all costs. We gravitate to winners. We write about them and praise them publicly.

We provide opportunity for them to make even more money. We ask them what they did to succeed and then copy it as much as possible.

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The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

Scott Miker

The US Navy SEALs have a saying they use when training. They say, “the only easy day was yesterday.” It signifies that each day presents new and increasingly difficult obstacles. Instead of hoping for the workload to ease up, they embrace the growing challenges.

It can be a great motivational tool to get through those difficult days when inspiration is absent. It reminds us to focus on doing the work, not expecting everything to be handed to us. It shatters the entitlement mindset that holds us in place. It keeps us aspiring to reach new levels of success.

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Avoid the Siren Song

Scott Miker

Gravitating towards something you know is bad for you is common. We see it all the time in sports, with celebrities, in businesses, with our own actions. It seems that knowing doesn’t change our behavior with something luring us towards a bad decision.

This isn’t a modern-day problem or phenomenon. It is a human occurrence. While the story of major travesty is often promoted, the subtle draw is more common and equally devastating.

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Take Your Time Even if There is Urgency

Scott Miker

It seems everyone is busy. More than ever before, I come across people who are buried in work. They are so busy they can’t do basic things.

They can’t take care of themselves. No time for exercise, or rest, or budgeting, or meditation. They can’t find a minute to prep for the lunch and must rely on the quickest option in the moment, the drive thru.

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Major Change and Improvement

Scott Miker

Change is something we all face. We all go through life changing with the circumstances. This is normal and natural.

We have all met people that seem to take on change with ease and willingness. We also meet people who resist change with everything they have.

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Standing still to make progress

Scott Miker

When we are working towards a goal, we often get to a point where the systems and habits start to drive our behavior. This turns into results.

During these times, sometimes the tendency is to keep pushing. We want to increase the pace of our improvement.

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Why Progress Matters

Scott Miker

With any goal or project, we must keep our focus on what is important. It isn’t just that final outcome that we need to keep top of mind.

Most people easily do that. But they still slip up and miss their goal. Why? The key isn’t the outcome or the focus on what it will be like when you hit your objective.

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Seeing Systems On the Playground

Scott Miker

Over the years I’ve learned how to see systems in life. This has been an incredible advantage throughout my personal and business life.

But I am not unique. I’ve read hundreds of books that promote the idea of using systems to see the world and then adjust to optimize the system to benefit from it.

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System layers

Scott Miker

When studying systems thinking, we come across many systems with multiple layers to them. Many systems can be viewed through the layers that make it up.

When we are creating systems in our personal life, we can use the concept of layers to help achieve our goals. But what could this look like from a personal improvement standpoint?

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Balance from loss

Scott Miker

The world needs balance. Our lives need to have balance. Without balance things get chaotic and unhealthy.

The earth is full of balancing aspects to keep everything moving. Our body is constantly working to remain in a balanced state.

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When Balance is the Goal

Scott Miker

When we are motivated, we often identify aspect of our life that we want to change. Often, this takes the form of some major point of misery or strong desire that convinces us to crave something more.

This desire rises and takes hold of our thoughts. We can’t shake it. We need this new change, and we must find a way to acquire it.

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Fresh Start

Scott Miker

Everyone gets to a point where they need to slow down and get a start fresh. It could be after a big project gets completed at work. It could be after recovering from an illness. It could be after a big move into a new house. It could be after the holidays, once summer start, or after getting the spring cleaning completed.

During these times, there is energy. It could be positive energy with excitement, calming energy after making it through something, or negative energy after a major loss.

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When you hit the crossroad

Scott Miker

If you use the systems and habits approach to improve, you will build up great habits. You will start to achieve your goals and experience success.

Everyone who follows this approach will eventually hit an ultimate crossroad. This ultimate crossroad will be difficult and confusing.

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Taking on Too Much

Scott Miker

We all know the feeling of taking on too much. It could be at work. It could be at home. We run the kids to their appointments, remember to pay the bills, cut the grass, and still need to remember to take care of ourselves.

It often feels as though we sprint all day just to get to bed before midnight. We run ragged and then hit the weekend hoping to squeeze in some fun and relaxation. Instead of fun, we end up working all weekend to get caught up for the moment.

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Resulting can misinterpret events

Scott Miker

Resulting is the term that is used by poker players to describe when they use the outcome of the hand to judge their decision. If they win, they assume they made a good choice. If they lose, they assume they made a bad choice.

But poker, just as in life, contains risk. This means there are factors that are unpredictable. There are elements that are beyond our control and beyond our ability to know ahead of time.

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Familiarity Heuristic

Scott Miker

Building new systems and habits to replace old ones is challenging. There are many reasons why this occurs.

One reason is based on the Familiarity Heuristic. This is a bias towards the familiar. When we judge something, if it is familiar, we rank it higher than if it is novel.

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