Have you ever wondered why it often seems easier to succeed at work than at home? I have too. Here's my perspective - at work, you have... 1. Guiding principles for why we do what we do. 2. A thought through strategy 3. Evolving backoff plans 4. Accountability measures 5. Meetings to talk about the progress we’re making or not making 6...

LIVING IN RADICAL ALIGNMENT Second Mountain Living is a call to action for those who want a deep and meaningful life. It's a decision of surrendering to live out your purpose-driven life under the Lord's guidance. This lifestyle is so unconventional and counter-cultural that a robust system is needed to help you live in radical alignme...

Many leaders experience a gap between the life they desire and the life they’re actually living. Instead of addressing the root cause of their issues, they often spend years reacting to the symptoms. Eventually, they start to question if this “is just who I am?” Or …“Is this all there is?” The problem they don’t see is they’re seeking ...

Consider this for a moment: What is money? Many people harbor fears about money and even greater fears about spending it. However, it's essential to understand that money is good. It's just a tool that was created for exchange. Other than that, There is no real value in money. You can't use it to stay warm, you can't eat it, you can on...

In life, there are two sets of virtues: Résumé Virtues and Eulogy Virtues. RÉSUMÉ VIRTUES: are the skills you bring to the marketplace. EULOGY VIRTUES: are the ones that are talked about at your funeral — whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful. Were you capable of deep love? WHY IT MATTERS: It's easy to claim that eulogy virt...

There are five purposes of a Christian life. Knowing this, how would it change the way you define success, allocate your time, and invest your energy? KNOW GOD Designing a lifestyle focused maintaining a constant, deep, and intimate relationship with the Lord. BECOME CHRIST-LIKE I read so that I can learn, so that I can know, so I can ...

THE WAY YOU SEE YOUR LIFE SHAPES YOUR LIFE How you define life determines how you live your life. Your perspective will influence how you: 1. invest your time 2. spend your money 3. use your talents 4. and value your relationships. If I asked how you picture life, what image would come to your mind? That image is your life metaphor. It...

5 BENEFITS FROM HAVING A PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE. 1. Gives Meaning To Life 2. Simplifies Your Life 3. Focuses Your Life 4. Motivates Your Life 5. Prepares You For Eternity MEANING: When life has meaning, you can bear almost anything; without it, nothing is bearable. Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning...

Everyone’s lives are driven by something Most dictionaries define the verb drive as “to guide, to control, or to direct.” Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment. What is the driving force of your life? Right now you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or ...

When I was 20 years old, I read a life-changing book, Getting Things Done by David Allen. I read this book from cover to cover, highlighting entire pages because everything Allen wrote resonated with me. The book's premise, as indicated in the title, is a productivity guide. Allen teaches the readers a methodology on how to get from wh...

There are two mountains we climb in life. 1⃣ THE FIRST MOUNTAIN THE PRIORITIES ON THE FIRST MOUNTAIN: Everyone starts out climbing the first mountain by getting a degree, developing a craft, pursuing a career, launching a business, or starting a family. It’s what culture teaches us to pursue. Some people manage to reach the peak they b...

The issue with habits isn't a lack of knowledge about what needs to be done. The main problem is maintaining consistency. Why is building consistency with positive habits so challenging? I have a guess, but first... LET'S START WITH WHAT WE KNOW: We know that we are far more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying...

There are two types of habit tracking: tracking your successes and tracking your incompletes. TRACKING YOUR SUCCESSES 1. encourages winning streaks 2. focuses on maintaining momentum TRACKING YOUR INCOMPLETES 1. Encourages awareness and introspection 2. Focuses on understanding failure points. WHY IT MATTERS: Tracking your successes he...

The most effective way I've found to follow through on my habits is to find it absolutely necessary to do so. There are four major factors you can use to instill this necessity. INTERNAL FORCES • An identity that yearns for high standards and is devoted to maintaining a high level of excellence. • An obsession for learning and the purs...

Try to find one-time actions that can automate your habits, eliminating the need to consciously think about them again. ONE TIME ACTIONS THAT LOCK IN GOOD HABITS Nutrition • Buy a water filter to clean your drinking water. • Use smaller plates to reduce caloric intake. • Instead of buying unhealthy groceries from the store, subscribe t...

Sometimes success is less about making good habits easy and more about making bad habits hard. This is an inversion of the 3rd Law of Behavior Change: make it difficult. If you consistently struggle to maintain your plans, consider making your bad habits harder to maintain by using a technique psychologists call a commitment device. A ...

Twyla Tharp, considered one of the most influential dancers and choreographers of our time, received a MacArthur Fellowship, colloquially known as the Genius Grant, in 1992. She has dedicated much of her career to performing her original works worldwide. Interestingly, Tharp attributes a significant portion of her success to her daily ...

High achievers often struggle with creating new habits. Why? Because, high performers tend to have a perfectionist mindset and rely heavily on self-control and willpower to try and accomplish their habits. But here’s the problem, you can't approach the creation of new habits in the same way you approach projects or tasks. Habit formati...

On the first day of class, Jerry Uelsmann, a professor at the University of Florida, divided his film photography students into two groups. The left side of the classroom formed the "quantity" group, graded solely on the volume of their work. The final grade would depend on the number of photos each student submitted by the end of the ...

When attempting to build or break a habit, you will face the daily decision of whether to stick to your commitment. You’ll either execute or make excuses. THE GOOD NEWS: Typically, individuals tend to make only seven different types of excuses, which I refer to as loopholes. THE BAD NEWS: Even with knowledge of the most common loophole...

THE SEDUCTIVE PULL OF SOCIAL NORMS Most of the time, conforming to a group feels natural, not forced. We all want to feel part of something. • If you grow up in a community that values athletic prowess, becoming an athlete would seem like a compelling choice. • If you're in a workplace where everyone values continuous learning, you mig...

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: The more attractive an opportunity, the greater its potential to become habit-forming. This concept embodies the 2nd Law of Behavior Change: Make it attractive. Our goal is to learn how to make our habits irresistible, thereby increasing the likelihood of their occurrence. THE DOPAMINE-DRIVEN FEEDBACK LOOP Habits ...

People often choose products not because of what they are, but because of where they are. If I walk into the kitchen and see a plate of cookies on the counter, I’ll pick up half a dozen and start eating, even if I hadn’t been thinking about them beforehand and didn’t necessarily feel hungry. If the communal table at the office is alway...

Habit stacking is a unique form of implementation intention. Instead of associating your new habit with a specific time and location, you link it with an existing habit. This technique, developed by BJ Fogg in his Tiny Habits program, can be utilized to create an obvious cue for virtually any habit. This pattern is everywhere. • You pu...

THE BEHAVIORAL EXPERIMENT In 2001, RESEARCHERS in Great Britain began working with 248 people to build better exercise habits over the course of two weeks. The subjects were divided into three groups. 1. The first group was the control group. They were simply asked to track how often they exercised. 2. The second group was the “motivat...

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: All effective behavior changes start with an awareness of the current behavior. Self-awareness is crucial for self-examination, as it helps identify necessary changes. THE WATER WE SWIM IN: Over time, the cues that ignite our habits become so common that they essentially become invisible. • the treats on the kitch...

There are four laws of behavior change The four laws represent a set of simple rules used to create good habits and break bad ones. All habits are broken down into four steps with two phases. Problem phase 1. Cue 2. Craving Solution phase 3. Response 4. Reward THE CUE The cue triggers your brain to initiate a behavior. It is a bit of i...

Whenever you face a problem repeatedly, your brain begins to automate the process of solving it. Your habits are just a series of automatic solutions that solve the problems and stresses you face regularly. Behavioral scientist Jason Hreha writes, “Habits are, simply, reliable solutions to recurring problems in our environment.” BOTTOM...

Your habits are how you embody your identity. • When you make your bed each day, you embody the identity of an organized person. • When you write each day, you embody the identity of a creative person. • When you train each day, you embody the identity of an athletic person. WHY IT MATTERS: The more you repeat a behavior, the more you ...

Habits are a double-edged sword. When working for you, empowering self talk and a growth-mindset identity can be a powerful force for self-improvement. When working against you, however, the way you perceive yourself when you're by yourself can hinder your growth. WHY IT MATTERS: Once you have adopted an identity, it can be easy to let...