🤢How Getting Sick Relates To Productivity🤢
This is going to sound gross.Just stick with me, here. It will make sense.It’s like throwing up.You know the feeling you get when you feel nauseous and you know that if you just throw up you’ll feel a lot better?
It’s awful and feels hard on your body but you know you’ll be okay afterward.
That’s what a lot of life is like.Difficult conversations, going to the gym, and doing anything else you don’t want to do.
You're just going to feel anxious until you throw up.
Of course, no one wants to endure the feeling of throwing up so we just avoid it as long as possible—but that just makes us stay nauseous longer.Your call.
2 Minute Action
Whats the thing you most want to avoid today?A conversation? The pull-up bar? A sales call?Start with that.You will get some serious confidence and momentum by making it the first accomplishment of the day.
How To Get Past Your Breaking Point
It might be hard to describe now but you know what it's like when you're there. Your breaking point is your breaking point. You didn't pre-set this. It isn't up to you, but the way you get past your breaking point is what will separate the new you from the old you.
Sneezing.
Coughing.
Headaches.
Achey and sore muscles.
The question isn’t whether or not you’re sick, the symptoms are clear, it’s “how hard do I push myself?”
After trying both the “rest and relax” and the “push through it” camps of thought, there is really only one conclusion:
You need to find your limits.
Not "know your limits." That can only happen after you FIND your limits.
This means pushing yourself to the edge and let's be real . . . it's going to hurt a bit.
This is another one of those “unpopular beliefs, but it has served me well.
Push yourself until you break. Let yourself recover.
Now you know:
- You’re not made of glass
- Where your limit is
Without getting to the edge, you will never know if you could have pushed through it
Getting past the breaking point will give you the confidence to approach it again and again.
And it will inform the intensity and duration of your next mission.
The Navy Seals have a 40% rule.
Once you get to the point where your body tells you “I just can’t go on,” you will know that you actually have only gone 40% of the distance you’re capable of going.
When your body is screaming, you actually have 60% left in the tank.
Understanding this rule is a keystone in living a mentally tough life.
2 Minute Action
Set your timer.
Everyone has 2 minutes, that’s why this little segment exists after every one of my blog posts.
Theres no excuse.
I bet you can do push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups or burpees for 2 minutes straight.
This is a physical example but the skill is transferable to other facets of life.
Big things are made up of lots of smaller, actionable things.
2 minutes is plenty of time.
Let's start Monday off right.
If you loved reading this, click here to get more posts like it in your inbox every day.
The Secret Benefit of Crappy Situations
I was boarding my plane and I couldn’t help it.There was nothing I could do.I got sick right there on the jetway.I took a knee and let everyone pass by me.They escorted me out and denied me for flying.
I feel awful.
My whole body hurts.
But do you know what I thought of immediately afterward?
I was thinking of how grateful I am that this isn’t that bad.I’m sick and I have to pay for an extra room/night—I’m not dying.I’m grateful for how my team executed our latest project.I’m grateful that Southwest treated me with respect and kindness and rescheduled my flight at no extra cost right on the spot.I even was reminded of Veteran’s Day and all the folks who have done the hard work so I can make the impact I want.I know this was a little weird to be thinking about while my stomach was turning in knots—but that’s just the point.
I haven’t always thought this way.
It’s been a habit of remembering that when things suck, it’s actually not that bad.There is a 0% return on investment for complaining.There is an immediate benefit of feeling gratitude.
2 Minute Action
What’s something that sucked recently?How might you zoom out or reframe this to see the big picture?Gratitude can happen by itself, for sure, but you can also make it happen with just a little more effort.The benefits are huge.Just think!You have the power to turn lots of crappy situations into positivity!