Our lives are busy. We all have a lot going on. And, unfortunately, that often means we aren’t achieving our most important goals.
When we aren’t intentional about the highest priorities in our lives, we can easily become victims of our circumstances, feeling that there isn’t enough time or energy to do what we should be doing.
That needs to change. That can change.
Creating change doesn’t require that your life be stress free and your days be wide open.
It just requires that we not let the things that matter most be at the mercy of the things that matter least.
If something has disproportionate importance, it needs disproportionate priority.
In today’s episode we’re talking about how to make this philosophy a reality that is reflected in your choices & your actions and we’re talking about the ideas in the book The ONE Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan.
We are so used to overthinking, overconsuming, overanalyzing and coming up with long term strategic plans that we’ve forgotten how to simplify.
I had a listener email me recently saying that she wants to stop dieting. She wants to get healthy. She doesn’t want to over-restrict or count anything, she just wants to eat more real food and less processed foods.
Then she said, “I have no idea where to start”.
That is evidence of how far we’ve strayed from simplicity.
Where she starts is, quite simply: how can I execute that today? What can I do today to eat more whole foods? What can I do today to eat fewer processed foods?
But simplicity is not just about food.
We’ve lost simplicity in our belongings. In our thoughts. In our actions.
And today, we begin to get it back. Don’t miss this episode!
In October 2019, our relationship with Thrive Market changed. They decided to put their marketing dollars in avenues outside of podcasting but we still think they’re a good choice if you’re looking to save money on health & personal care products.
One of you lovely listeners emailed me the other day to request that I do more of my “Inside EB’s inbox” episodes where I share my responses to some recent emails!
That’s what we’re doing today! We’re covering a ton of topics from breakfast meal ideas & recipes to what to do when you don’t trust yourself and differentiating between needs of the mind (stress relief) and needs of the body (fuel).
Let’s stop fighting against ourselves & relying on discipline and willpower to create change.
I believe that one of the most simple things we can do to make change easier and dramatically accelerate our rate of progress is: ask better questions.
Tim Ferriss says that if you want uncommon results, ask uncommonly clear questions.
Tony Robbins says that the quality of your life depends on the quality of the questions you ask yourself. I’ll add to that “and the honesty with which you answer & frequency with which you ask”!
In his new book, Tribe of Mentors, Tim Ferriss asks 11 questions of some of the brightest minds & top performers in the world. The book is a collection of their answers.
In today’s episode, though I certainly don’t consider myself one of the brightest minds, I’m answering the 11 questions
I’d love to hear your answers! The 11 questions are below – post in the comments with your answer to one or more of them!
What is the book or books you’ve given most as a gift and why? Or what three books have greatly influenced your life?
What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or recent memory)?
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favorite failure of yours?
If you could have one gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it – metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions or billions – what would it say and why?
What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made?
What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing you love?
In the last 5 years, what new belief, behavior or habit has most improved your life?
What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student to enter the real world? What advice should they ignore?
What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?
In the last 5 years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations) What new realizations and or approaches have helped? Any other tips?
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? What questions do you ask yourself?
Though I am not a fan of one-size-fits-all approaches to any goal, there is one resolution I believe everyone should make this year and I’m sharing it in today’s episode.
This episode is the last one to air in 2017 but it doesn’t matter when you stumble across this gem – it has the power to dramatically accelerate your progress, reduce your excuses & change your life!
Have you ever fallen into the trap of “better”? You know, when your choices aren’t your best but you keep justifying them because they are better than what you used to choose?
You’re still eating ice cream every night, you aren’t making progress, but you feel justified because it’s better than your past binges?
I am all for the pursuit of better…until it becomes the trap of better. I’m all for the pursuit of “better” until it keeps you from identifying and acting upon your best.
The trap of better is what we are talking about today! Don’t miss it!
Today’s episode is a motivational minisode to help you in those moments when you feel stuck or you find yourself making a series of choices you don’t feel good about it. It could be a small moment, like mindlessly grabbing handfuls of Goldfish, or a chain of moments over a day, weekend or week.
This episode will be a great tool to help you implement a simple re-direct and stop digging deeper into a hole you don’t want to create.
I caught myself making a big mistake in my approach to creating an improvement in my life. While my mistake was in the gym, it’s a mistake I see most people making in the way they approach losing weight or improving their food choices.
This mistake, which I describe in detail in today’s show, is choosing intensity before establishing stamina. While this can absolutely happen in the gym, it’s just as common in our food choices.
Choosing intensity over stamina means choosing the intense approach without first building consistent basics. That might be a Whole 30 right from your standard American diet, or going from indulging too frequently to strict keto – but we jump to the intense approach hoping for faster results without realizing that we haven’t laid a solid foundation for change. Then, we bail. We get frustrated or can’t sustain the extent of the change and we give up.
Our ambition exceeded our preparation. Our motivation is greater than our stamina. We might have the desire to create big changes but we need to slow down, establish a solid foundation and making gradual changes that last instead of massive changes that don’t.
In today’s episode I’m talking about how and where we most often make this mistake and sharing some ideas of how you can establish that stamina for change before dipping your toes in the waters of intensity.
