n the last few topics… you saw how you need to understand 3 things to start losing weight (and keep it off)…
1 Getting the proper information
2 Taking action on it, and
3 Holding yourself accountable
That’s what we call “What the 1% know”.
But as we saw… the main problem is that most people keep going back to the first thing…
… they go back to purchasing more and more information if they mess up or they quit their current program, and they think that they were given a bad diet.
And the truth is – people who succeed in the long run, they focus on steps 2 and 3, taking action and holding yourself accountable for it..
Remember this picture…
“Why did I fail to keep going?
Why couldn’t I continue with it?”
That’s what the experts ask.
So instead of purchasing more things, they’ll look back at their habits, they’ll say “Okay, I don’t need more information, I need to figure out why I failed to apply this…”.
And the way they keep themselves accountable is by…
Creating really small targets, daily systems, habits, rituals, that keeps them focused on their path.
And a weird side effect of this is, accomplishing small daily goals is far more motivating then going after (and failing!) big goals.
Also, concentrating on one thing at a time, just one goal at a time keeps you focused.
If you’ve got too many other goals…if you’re trying to make ten other lifestyle changes right now…
… like if you’re trying to quit your job and also start a business or find a new job and you also just got married… well…
It’s very tough without focusing on just one thing at a time.
So what we suggest is making your health & weight loss goal the top one for the next 1 year
Be laser focused on your health for the next 12 months, and you WILL see results.
In fact, here are 2 examples…
Think about the most financially successful people you know, their day revolves around their obsession – which is money and work, right?
To give you another example, think about the most religious people you know, maybe it’s your grandmother, maybe a friend.
The most religious people, for them, their day usually revolves around their religion, right?
Their morning ritual involves doing a pooja, or reciting the namaaz, or reading some other holy text. Sometimes it’s praying at meals or praying at certain specific times. Some other times they might simply be meditating.
The point we are trying to make here is…
All these people, they don’t have grand plans… they don’t wish to build a temple. But they have a daily accountability practice that takes them closer to (their?) God.
Getting the point?
or be it being a devotee…
… they all have small daily rituals/practices that keeps them accountable to their habits.
And no marks for guessing… the same is true for people with perfect health!
So for example…
In the morning… people with good health, they’re doing their ‘health ritual’ – they are preparing meals or they are waking up 10 minutes earlier maybe to make a nice smoothie, or they’ll wake just 20 minutes earlier for a small walk or even to meditate.
And don’t disregard this as, “Yeah right, usse kya hoga boss…”
Because if you truly want to lose that bad weight & improve your health, these small daily practices and habits are what literally change you over time.
And the best part is… these daily habits… it’s not necessarily… like exercise. It does not have to be exercise.
The point of this daily accountability practice is…. it’s a ritual, it’s a trigger, and it’s an emotionally-charged process that keeps you focused and gets you to inculcate a new HABIT.
Just think about it…
We all have tiny daily habits that we don’t even think about anymore…
For example, when you wake up, you might automatically go and brush your teeth, or… maybe go and grab the newspaper… and all this happens so automatically. Seriously, think about this…
Do you have to think about doing these things?
Do you think about how much toothpaste you need to apply on your toothbrush…?
No…
And the answer’s no because…
Because it has become a HABIT
And you now know that once you apply such simple, every day habits to your health and weight loss goals… the results are fantastic.
In other words, you don’t need motivation and willpower to do this… you need habits.
You don’t need reminders… you need habits.
You don’t need to count calories… you need habits.
And to form and maintain these habits, you need to focus on accountability.
new journey later.
For now, just understand the importance of habits, and the need to stay accountable.
And here are some real life examples to prove this…
A couple of months ago, I read an article on the daily health habits of millionaires and billionaires.
One of them said he meditates in the morning, another one said he exercises, yet another one said he wakes up at 5 AM and reviews his goals, and so on!
For example, Richard Branson, one of the world’s richest people, was asked in an interview about his daily routine and his secret to success, and he just said 2 words- work out.
According to Branson, working out added about 4 more productive hours to his day.
In fact, I myself, used to wake up late for many years… but these days, due to my son’s school, I wake up at 6AM, drop him at his school, and hit the gym after that.
And this small change, this simple daily habit of getting up early and going to the gym, has increased my energy and stamina tremendously.
Previously, I used to sleep like a log. 10 hours a day, to be specific!
But nowadays, I sleep for not more than 6-6.5 hours, then I am awake for the next 17-18 hours, yet, I am still fresh and energetic in the evening.
Why?
Because of the daily exercise I am getting, and how am I ensuring that?
With my daily habit, remember – waking up early and hitting the gym.
All in all, the whole point is…
These daily habits, call them rituals or practices… these are suggested by some of the world’s most successful people.
And this is what will help you lose weight, get back in shape, and improve your health.
Now, we are going to teach you something different.
We are not going to ask you to meditate, to work out or to wake up at 5 AM (if you are, great!)…
What we are going to help you create is a simple accountability trigger… for every single day… that reminds you WHY you are doing this…. WHY you want to lose weight…
And this is extremely powerful because once you understand why you are doing it, it becomes intensely meaningful, intensely purposeful and very specific to YOU.
Because your health is just a reflection of very simple things you DO daily, little things you can break down to… like…
- How often do you eat at home?
- How often do you eat junk food?
- How often do you eat sugar, oily foods, refined foods?
- Do you engage in any form of activity?
What these simple questions do is, they once again prove that…
Your whole life, what you are today, is just a reflection of the daily habits, things you did knowingly or unknowingly for years.
And on this exact topic… daily small habits… there was a yearlong research to see if it really affects people and makes them accountable…
We won’t bore you with the details… (Here’s the link if you wish to read the details)… but just read its conclusions…
There was this one group who had a small follow-up call to remind them about their daily habit every week, their habit was exercise… and at the end of the year… these people had doubled the time they were exercising…
How?
By simply giving them reminders every few days… that’s it!
Just this small reminder, small accountability reminder to be precise, was enough to keep them on the path…
Summarizing…
Simple accountability is the key to success…
And remember that we want you to bypass motivation, because as you saw earlier, motivation eventually fails… and the way you bypass motivation is through habits, through a small commitment to small goals…
One of the world’s greatest writers, William Faulkner said…
“I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at 9 o’clock sharp!”
Best-selling authors, top level athletes, professional musicians, none of them rely on motivation – they rely on systems.
They rely on habits, behaviors that are programmed for their success – that’s what we want you to think about.
THE KEY THING TO REMEMBER:
Your body is the sum of what you did (habits) all these years, by purpose or unknowingly.
And that is also how you will change it! One day at a time, one habit at a time, one goal at a time.
Forget motivation. Stop saying “I’m unmotivated, I’m lazy, I don’t have willpower”.
There’s nothing wrong with you.
You’re not lazy, you’re not unmotivated, you just need to create small daily habits and stay accountable to your habits.
And in the very next topic, we’ll teach you how to form these habits, one day at a time.