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Let me share with you a small technique to perform better immediately: Just want to.

Yes, just want to. It’s that simple. How does it work?

We all have an identity, rules and patterns for how to act. We think we can’t do this or that. We think we need to do this before we can do that.

If, for a moment, you can discard all your rules, you will perform much better immediately.

If, for a moment, you think you don’t need to be great to accomplish a task, you’ll accomplish it.

If, for a moment, you think you can do it in the best way right now even without practice, you’ll do it in the best way right now.

It takes a bit of faith, a bit of confidence, but those are not the defining factors. Or they might be, but you won’t access them trying to access them. You’ll access them by letting them be and just focusing on wanting to do it better.

Notice, I’m not talking about how much you like what you do. That is an important subject, but by all means not what I’m talking about right now.

I’m talking about wanting to do a task. A logical something. And wanting to do it might not mean liking it at all. It can be just because you want to step on to the next task, because you want to get rid of an obstacle.

But whatever it is, just want to do it, and you’ll do it.

Hey everybody. How are you doing?

I’m just writing to give a little update on things. I’ve been so busy and I haven’t been able to write that much, but just wanted to give some value with some insights.

I want to share this article I’ve found, Seven Productivity Tips for People Who Hate GTD. It really boils productivity down to some core ideas that can be extremely useful both for people who are in a bit of a mess and for people who are already doing well and want to step to the next level.

The article is written by Jonathan Mead, which also happens to share some fantastic ideas on his personal blog, Illuminated Mind.

Check them out if it seems interesting!

Hello everyone!

Sorry for not posting in some time, but I’ve been brainstorming some new ideas. I’ve produced three new articles.

How Making It Yours Can Help Achieve Peak Performance
This is an article about what belongs to us. When you do something, do you do it just because you do it, or do you have a passion, a drive? This article explains how a connection to the subject can help you achieve more results.

110% Is the New 100%
This is the article of the original idea that named this blog. It’s about the effort you put into what you do and what you get back from it. It’s a very interesting article, if I may say so myself! :)

Just the Next Level, Please
How hard should we try? How much information should we take? How much should we do? This is an insight on the amount of effort we should put into what we do, and the results we get from it.

I hope you enjoy them :)

We live in a total blackout. We have so many possibilities we get lost in them.

Imagine you want to start a new hobby. Person A already does it, and he does it in a way. Person B also does it, but he does it in a totally different way.

When too many options are presented to you, we tend to feel less intense about them.

What is the solution? Create a unique way you’re going to follow. Then calibrate.

Imagine it like this. You want to start a company.

Some people start companies with 200 employees and take personal care of many tasks.

Some people start companies with 4 employess and outsource most tasks.

There is an infinite spectrum of possibilities halfway. So you get lost in it and just think “Bah, people do it so many ways either way works”.

False assumption. You need to filter out the best way, regardless of what others are doing.

To do so, just have a unique opinion when deciding: I’ll create my company with 4 employees.

Then, if it’s too little, increase it.

If it’s too much, decrease it.

Take the first step, then calibrate. It doesn’t matter if it’s a good or bad step, it only matters that you take a step.

Because in life there are many times in life where we don’t know what to do.

You’re buying your first home. You’re choosing your first job.

And then we see so many people doing it in different ways. So we guess anything works.

Remember this, just because there are many ways, it doesn’t mean they’re right. You still need to filter out the best way.

Don’t take anything for granted. Have certainty in something.

If you’re taking a bad step but you have certainty behind it, you’ll realize what you’re doing wrong and can work it out immediately.

If you’re not taking either a bad or good step, you never know what works.

So take a first step towards something. Good or bad. Doesn’t matter.

You can always improve. But you can only improve if you have already started.

If you want to make decisions effectively, do them quick.

Is it that easy? Yes, it is.

Let’s look at things this way:

You can either make a decision immediately, or wait in indecision.

If you wait a long time before you decide, during all that time you did nothing.

If you make a decision, even a wrong one, you’re already knowing what works and what doesn’t.

It’s better to take a bad step than a no-step.

Most people think the need ALL the information in order to make a decision.

Decisions aren’t about who has more information. They’re about who uses their information better.

If you make a decision, you can always calibrate later. But the thing is:

If you haven’t made a decision yet, you’ll get more information and you’ll calibrate a plan that’s not field-tested.

If you have made your decision, you can calibrate what you’re currently doing.

Imagine you have to develop a strategy for your team to win a war.

You can either A) Attack quickly B) Plan an attack.

In a first scenario, you decided immediately. You attack quickly. In the meanwhile, you receive weather reports. You’re on the field, you know where your soldiers are, the spots that will be affected by the weather change, and calibrate your plan.

In a second scenario, you haven’t decided. In the meanwhile, you receive the weather reports. You will think “if we choose to attack quickly, we might have to change soldiers from this zone to this one, or from that one to that one”.

When you’ve decided already, you’re only following your direction. When you haven’t decided, you’re trying to follow all and not following any.

Note, this has nothing to do with having an open mind. You consider all directions in both scenarios. But you only follow one.

If you decide, you know all options and choose one.

If you don’t decide, you know all options and try to choose all, and end up choosing none.

Forget well-thought plans. Forget strategies.

Don’t make a strategy. Develop one once you’re in the field.

This applies to everything. Starting a project? Don’t try and plan all the details. Start working right now and details show up as they are needed.

Studying for an exam? Don’t try and schedule and plan your study in advance. Start studying immediately, and then make small changes and calibrate.

And yes, you might have to switch plans. If you make the wrong decision, what gives? You discard it, and decide on a different direction. The difference is:

Deciding the first time isn’t rigorous because you don’t know what’s good or bad in each side. You only know in theory.

Deciding after you’ve left your current decision is rigorous. You know exactly what didn’t work and why you’re changing directions.

In sum: Decide quickly, and if you need to switch, switch quickly. Never let yourself fall into the trap of paralysis by analysis.

Another specific example:

Two people have to race through a lap. They have two cars available: Car 1 and Car 2. We have person A and B.

Person A spends 3 hours thinking about why Car 1 might be better than Car 2, and this and that, theorizing. After 3 hours he chooses Car 1.

Person B took Car 1 immediately and went for a test-drive. After 10 minutes we knew due to the tight turns throughout the track, Car 1 has horrible. So he ditched it and chose Car 2. This took 20 minutes.

Due to real-world experience Person B took the right choice. He actually took the wrong choice but corrected it.

Because A never took a choice, he could never change it, so he’s stuck to choosing by ignorance (or theoretical previsions, which are not that different).

We can even add a little twist if you want.

Person B test-drove Car 2, for more 20 minutes, and realized due to its limited top speed, he did worse times in all of the straight segments of the track. And this was actually even worse than the limitations of Car 1. So he chose Car 1 again.

Person A was still theorizing by that time, but he chose Car 1 too.

Now, are these people equal? Never.

Person A made the right choice, but he doesn’t know why it’s the right choice. He might have planned or thought about it, but does he know why it works in the real world? Nope.

Person B made the same choice, but it’s because he knows exactly what is right and wrong with each choice.

So, in sum. Decide quickly, hang to your decision to infinity. If you can, you’re successful. If you can’t, switch to a new decision and hang to it to infinity.

Repeat until successful.

It’s so simple yet so effective.

The word momentum was invented for a reason. We might have found it today.

So, in sum, the lession is:

Don’t think about acting before you actually act.

Act first, think later.

One final note: Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying just “act first”. I’m saying “act first, think later”. You do have to think and develop a strategy.

But you do it AFTER you know what the field is, who your opponents are, what are your strengths and weaknesses. It’s useless to think in advance.

Don’t invent facts based on thoughts. Invent thoughts based on facts.

Hope you liked the message :)

You read a book once. You get the general picture of it.

You read the book again. You get deeper knowledge about it. You read it again and again, maybe in the period of days, maybe in the period of years.

The thing is, you reach a point where you know the book forward and backward. You know exactly how many principles the book defends for doing a certain thing, how many chapters there are, and so on.

This is great. But it might also be a trap.

You have to obtain all the knowledge of a book, but then induce from it. You know the saying about the student always surpassing the master? It’s the same with a book.

You have to get all the knowledge you can from it, but then add more. Mix it. Transform it. Add a bit of spice to it. Add your own twist to it.

Many people read a book and capture its knowledge, but they think it’s a fixed thing. It can’t change.

The solution for that is: Capture the OLD fundamentals of a book, but use them to think of NEW ramifications.

You read a book about mounting a business from the 1980s. It might have some fundamental information, but in this new age of course some things have changed.

Don’t just consider “there’s the old way” and “there’s the new way”. Don’t separate them. Mix them both. Use the knowledge of the past and of the present. Mix them together. Integrate them and use them to jump to the next level.

So, don’t separate the knowledge of a book from the rest of the knowledge you obtain.

If a book contains the principles for setting up a business, how would those principles evolve in the present? How would the author do it?

If a book contains techniques for better life quality, would they still be valid today? What would the author add?

Don’t consider book knowledge static.

In sum: Don’t just capture what every book says. Capture what it would say if it had accompanied the evolution up to the present.

This might be hard to do at first. But it’s one of the best ways to generate knowledge ever. It has the book’s base, but it has your twist.

Become an interpreter of knowledge, someone that cuts it, reforms it, integrates it and transforms it.

Think about it. This just blew my mind the first time I thought about it.

On achieving your goals

Segment it!
Segment it! (Business example)

On making decisions/Persisting

How to Make Decisions Effectively
Certainty Can Produce Results Instantly

On life quality/Happiness

5 Ways to Be Happier Instantly
Communicating Simply and Effectively
How to Do What You Don’t Like

On peak performance:

How to Use Experience for Maximum Performance
Are You Using Your Limits Effectively?
How Each New Day Defines Your Success
Bye Bye, Performance Barriers; Hello, Results
How to Perform Better Immediately

On learning/mind mechanics:

How to Get Infinite Knowledge Out of a Book
Never Label

Based on others’ material:

Being Stimulated Without Stimuli

Book reviews:

Jonathan Mead - The Zero Hour Work Week
Gary Vaynerchuk - Crush It!