Upload
others
View
3
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
1
The 5 AM Miracle with Jeff Sanders
#300: 7 Keys to Your Most Productive Day Ever
August 5, 2019 ________________________________________________
Introduction
[Play “Alternate”]
● Recently, I decided to restructure my calendar.
● I tweaked it, optimized it, adjusted it, and then
realized that all of the tweaking was only producing
tiny improvements.
● I then decided to scrap my calendar and redo the
whole thing from scratch.
● The end result is a bold approach to doing just a
few things, in the right way, that produce the best
results.
● This is The 5 AM Miracle - Episode #300: 7 Keys to
Your Most Productive Day Ever
● Good morning!
● I am Jeff Sanders and this is THE podcast dedicated
to dominating your day before breakfast.
2
[Fade Music Up and Out]
● Before I dive into this week’s content, I want to
thank you.
● The 5 AM Miracle Podcast just celebrated it’s 6-year
anniversary on July 1st, I just turned 35 years old
on August 2nd, and now today, we are celebrating
episode #300!
● This milestone of 300 weekly episodes is a big
deal, mostly because I would not still be here today,
if it were not for you listening week after week.
● This show is a ton of work to produce every week,
but it’s always been fun.
● In case you’re not keeping track of the data at
home, in the last 6 years this podcast has been
downloaded 7.8 million times, with an average of
just over 100,000 downloads every month.
● On top of the 300 standard weekly episodes, there
are 42 extra episodes, including announcements,
audio blog posts, and other bonus content.
● If you were to listen to every episode of the show
3
right now, back-to-back, without stopping, it would
take you 162 hours (or 6.8 days) -- which does not
include any content from our sponsors -- just pure
content.
● I have interviewed 177 guests since the show
began, and the most common repeat guest is my
wife, Tessa.
● No surprise there.
● This podcast has been nominated for 6 podcast
awards over the last 6 years, although we’re still
waiting for our first win.
● Maybe next year!
● This podcast has been the central focus of my
business since I launched episode #1 in 2013.
● Producing this show has directly resulted in 2 book
deals, dozens of speaking engagements, coaching
clients, sponsors, and a phenomenal network of
amazing people all over the globe.
● Let’s not forget that I was able to make the
transition from employee to entrepreneur because of
this show, so I really can’t emphasize enough what
an incredible honor it is to share my energy and
enthusiasm with you every Monday morning.
4
● I end every episode reminding you that “you have
the power to change your life, and the fun begins
bright and early.”
● That catchphrase is my mantra.
● I live by it, and repeat it week after week because it
reminds me to stay sharp, stay proactive, and stay
the course to dominate my own day before
breakfast.
● On that note, let’s dive into this week’s content:
7 Keys to Your Most Productive
Day Ever
● 1. Stop Tweaking What Isn’t Working
○ Henry Ford famously said that “if he asked
people what they wanted, they would have said
faster horses.”
○ What do don’t need is a faster or better version
of your calendar.
○ What you need is a NEW calendar.
○ You need a fresh perspective that reinvents your
current reality.
5
○ Andy Andrews, my guest from a few weeks ago,
thoroughly discussed how small changes that
result in 10% improvement are fine, but they
don’t really move the needle.
○ If your goal is to double, triple, or quadruple
your productivity, you can’t approach your day
and your goals with the same old approach.
○ Something BIG has to change.
○ Something significant has to happen.
○ Adding 30 minutes here or there won’t get the
results you really want.
○ What does a new approach look like?
○ Starting over.
○ Clear your calendar and design it from scratch,
taking into account the BIG goals you want to
see accomplished in the next 90 days.
● 2. Design Your Ideal Day
○ The only way to achieve your most productive
day ever is to first DEFINE your most productive
day ever.
○ In the world of productivity there are 2
6
approaches to getting things done:
■ 1. Doing a lot
■ 2. Doing what matters
○ In this case, we’re going to combine both
approaches by doing a LOT of what matters. ○ Your most productive day will be BOTH
productive AND effective.
○ It will be busy, and you will have incredible
energy because you are doing work that means
something to you.
○ To identify what matters you will have to clarify
your top priorities AND guarantee space for
those priorities on your calendar.
● 3. Clarify Your #1 Goal
○ The ultimate form of clarity is to do just ONE
thing.
○ It’s the hardest goal of them all because no one
really just wants to do one thing.
○ We all want to accomplish dozens of goals,
because we are bombarded with messaging all
day every day about getting our beach body
while building our million dollar business while
making the time to be the world’s best parent,
spouse, friend, and mentor to everyone we
7
meet.
○ It’s exhausting, unattainable, and completely
unrealistic to pursue all at once, even if we
could do all of these things in a single lifetime.
○ So, your mission is to clarify what absolutely will
make the biggest difference in your life and to
pursue the sole purpose with every waking
minute you have available.
○ Your #1 goal will overtake your ideal calendar
and your ideal day.
○ It will consume you.
○ It will be the thing that wakes you up at night,
and the thing you get random creative thoughts
about in the shower.
○ It will be your entire life, because your most
productive day is based on pursuing a much
bigger and worthwhile goal.
○ Once again, our mission to be effective, not just
busy.
○ Our mission is to do what matters, and do a lot
of that.
● 4. Get Up Early
8
○ Yep, early mornings are important.
○ Recently, I conducted a few experiments where
I went to bed later, and then compared those
days to others where I got up early.
○ The difference was striking, not just from a
productivity standpoint, but also from an
energy, motivation, and purpose-driven
standpoint.
○ The days I woke up earlier were days I woke up
on purpose.
○ I had a mission.
○ I had somewhere to be.
○ I had things to do.
○ I was up early to do something with my life.
○ I was up early to make a difference and to make
a huge dent in the projects I had committed
myself to.
○ Waking up early is not just something kitchy or
trendy -- it really is a lifestyle that can make or
break your progress.
[Play “Spring in My Step”]
● Now we’ll pause here for just a minute to feature
and thank my premium sponsors of The 5 AM
Miracle.
9
[My Wall Street]
● I’ve always thought about investing, but I had no
idea what stocks to invest in or how to start.
● It’s easy to set up a broker, but how do you build a
portfolio of stocks with a solid return?
● MyWallSt offers a shortlist of stocks their
experienced investors have spent countless hours
researching.
● That’s the difference with MyWallSt.
● They provide a shortlist of thoroughly researched
stocks that they believe have significant growth
potential, which gives me the power to decide which
ones to invest in.
● Unlike a broker, MyWallSt is an investing companion.
● They help you take that first step into the world of
investing and guide you along the way.
● All our listeners can access the entire MyWallSt
app for free and use it for 30 days instead of the
normal 7 days.
● Visit MyWallSt.com/5am to download their app now
and get access to their market-beating stock picks
10
and expert guidance.
● After your trial, you can continue your investing
journey with them for just $9.99/month. ● That’s MyWallSt, spelled My-Wall-S-T
● MyWallSt.com/5am
[Sun Basket]
● Sun Basket makes it simple to cook healthy,
delicious meals at home—no matter how much
experience you may have in the kitchen.
● They have Vegan, Carb-Conscious, Gluten-Free,
Mediterranean, Diabetes-Friendly meal plans, and
more.
● Whatever you’re into, choose from 18 weekly
recipes, which includes everything you need to eat
clean and healthy.
● Sun Basket’s recipes are pre-measured and quick
to prep.
● You can enjoy a dinner full of organic produce and
clean ingredients in as little as 15 minutes.
● Try mouthwatering Sun Basket dishes like
five-spiced braised tofu, black bean spaghetti, or
Tamarind chana masala with naan.
11
● Plus, Sun Basket’s 5-minute salad mixes make for
an easy lunch you’ll crave day after day.
● Sun Basket has everything you need to eat clean
and feel great, delivered straight to your door.
● So, put meal planning on autopilot with this special
offer: Go to SunBasket.com/5am to get up to $60
off
● Visit SunBasket.com/5am to learn more about this
limited-time $60 off special.
● Once again, that’s SunBasket.com/5am
[Freshbooks]
● Starting a new business can be tough work.
● It takes a lot of late nights, early mornings, and the
occasional all-nighter.
● Bottom line: there’s always a lot to get done.
● So, why not make things a little easier?
● Well, our friends at FreshBooks have the solution.
● FreshBooks invoicing and accounting software is
designed specifically for small business owners.
● It’s simple, intuitive, and keeps you way more
organized than a dusty shoebox filled with crumpled
12
receipts.
● Create and send professional looking invoices in 30
seconds, and then get them paid 2 times faster with
automated online payments.
● File expenses even quicker, and keep them
perfectly organized for tax time.
● And the best part?
● FreshBooks grows alongside your business.
● So you’ll always have the tools you need when you
need them - without ever having to learn the ins and
outs of accounting.
● Join the 24 million people who’ve used FreshBooks.
● Try it free for 30 days - no catch and no credit card
required.
● Go to FreshBooks.com/5AM and enter 5AM MIRACLE in the how did you hear about us section to get
started.
● That’s FreshBooks.com/5AM and enter 5AM
MIRACLE in the how did you hear about us section.
13
[Gusto]
● If you have a business or you know someone who
does, you probably know that small business owners
wear a lot of hats.
● And some of those hats are totally great.
● But some, like filing taxes and running payroll, are
not so great.
● That’s where Gusto comes in. Gusto makes payroll,
taxes, and HR actually easy for small businesses.
● Fast, simple payroll processing, benefits, and
expert HR support all in one place.
● Gusto automatically pays and files your federal,
state, and local taxes so you don’t have to worry
about it.
● Plus they make it easy to add on health benefits
and even 401(k)s for your team.
● Those old-school, clunky payroll providers just
weren’t built for the way modern small businesses
work.
● But Gusto is.
14
● Plus, listeners get three months free when they run
their first Payroll.
● Try a demo and see for yourself at Gusto.com/5am. ● That’s Gusto.com/5am
[Fade Out Music]
● 5. Change Your Environment
○ Where you work is EVERYTHING.
○ Your environment determines your results.
○ If you want to get more done, or achieve a
specific result, you have to put yourself in the
ideal environment that breeds those results.
○ I’ve said this before, but this is worth repeating
1,000 times.
○ If you want to workout effectively, go to the
gym.
○ I’ve never had a great workout in a coffee shop,
library, or even at my own house.
○ My best workouts ALWAYS happen in the gym or
at the park.
○ Imagine that you are standing in a gym and
wearing workout clothes -- what are the odds
15
that you are going to workout?
○ Really good!
○ It may not guarantee a great workout, but it will
guarantee that you do what you planned to do.
○ Likewise, your most productive day will be
based on your defining what matters most AND
then putting yourself in the environment that
guarantees you make the most progress possible
on that goal.
○ I recently stopped working from home.
○ That may sound weird because as an
entrepreneur who has no boss, I have defined
myself as someone who “works from home”.
○ As it turns out, when I am at home I am really
good at doing the laundry, taking my dog on a
walk, and making an elaborate lunch.
○ What I’m not great at doing is WORKING.
○ So, I changed my environment.
○ I now commute to my wife’s office and work
from there.
○ My wife is a professor at a university here in
Nashville, so I work at the university’s library.
○ I wear casual clothes and carry a backpack, so
everyone assumes I’m a student.
16
○ I login to the university’s wifi with my wife’s
info and start plugging away.
○ I wrote the script for this podcast episode at the
library, just like I wrote both of my books, and
just like I will probably write my next one.
○ It’s really hard to do my laundry at the library.
○ It’s really hard to walk my dog, clean my house,
or waste time in a place to breeds quiet
productivity.
○ If you want better results, go to the place that
guarantees better results.
● 6. Change Your Diet
○ I have spoken at length on this podcast about
my plant-based diet, so I won’t go into detail
about it here.
○ However, what I will say today is critical for
your daily habits and your overall productivity.
○ What you eat matters.
○ What you eat has a DIRECT impact on your
energy, focus, and ability to think and work at
the highest levels.
○ If your goal is to get more done, you absolutely
have to be intentional about what you eat, how
17
much you eat, and when you eat it.
○ Diet and nutrition are some of the most
debated topics on the planet, and I have no
intention of discussing the nuances of my daily
choices compared to the millions of other
options we all have every day.
○ What is important to consider, and what has
worked well for me, is to be willing to make
radical changes if you want to get radically
better results.
○ My willingness to change is what opened my
mind to going vegan 9 years ago.
○ My willingness to change allowed me to
experiment with dozens of diets, and I’ve
learned A LOT about how my body responds to
many different foods.
○ For the sake of our topic today, and to help you
ensure your most productive day ever, I would
highly encourage you to take a serious look at
the foods and beverages that you eat on a
consistent basis.
○ My guess is that you already know of half a
dozen foods you would cut out, and about half a
dozen more you know you know you could begin
to eat for better energy, focus, and a trimmer
18
waistline.
○ I recently restarted a habit I had years ago, which is to pack my daily produce bag.
○ Yes, a produce bag.
○ I bought a reusable bag from Whole Foods, and
every morning I fill that bag with fresh, organic,
ripe fruits and veggies.
○ All day long I eat out of that bag.
○ No lunch break.
○ No vending machines.
○ No excuses.
○ I only eat what I brought with me, and what I
brought is ridiculously tasty and healthy.
○ As an example, in my bag today I have a box of
strawberries, a container of blueberries, a bag
of grapes, 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes, a
cucumber, 4 bananas, 2 bell peppers, and 1
apple.
○ This is my ration for the day.
○ This food will power me through my tasks and
provide the energy I need to continue to think
and work for hours on end.
○ This food will power my workout later today,
and will set the tone for my healthy habits for
19
the next workday tomorrow.
○ You may not be a fan of eating such a huge
amount of produce. ○ Fine, then pack your own bag.
○ Fill your bag with your healthy food and make
no excuses.
○ Take your health seriously and you WILL get
seriously better results.
● 7. Establish Hardcore Boundaries
○ The difference between people who get things
done and people who don’t always comes down
to boundaries.
○ Boundaries define when we do things, and for
how long.
○ Boundaries clarify how much time we have, and
when we have to stop.
○ Boundaries provide motivation when we’re
battling against the clock, and they provide
immense relief when our time is up.
○ If you want to ensure your day is filled with the
most value you can imagine, you have to first
define what your limits will be.
○ Days are already set for us at 24 hours, and I’m
20
assuming you know how much sleep you need.
○ The time remaining defines your effective
waking hours.
○ These hours are yours to craft, mold, and test.
○ These hours are up for grabs every day, and
need to be tamed like a wild animal.
○ Your well-chosen environment will do wonders
for eliminating distractions and keeping you
focused on the task at hand, but when will you
get there?
○ How long will you stay?
○ How much time do you really have?
○ What has to be cut so you can focus on what
truly matters?
○ What needs your attention first so you can
dominate your day before breakfast?
○ What predetermined boundaries are already in
place, like your employer’s requirement to be at
the office, or the daycare pick up time for your
kids?
○ The answers to these questions will clarify your
boundaries.
○ Your boundaries will clarify what options you
have available, and working within those options
will clarify what you ideal day looks like.
21
○ Now, let’s go back to Step #1, “Stop Tweaking
What Isn’t Working.”
○ If your current boundaries will NOT ensure the
results you want, it may be time to take some
radical action and change your boundaries.
○ Does this mean you have to quit your job to
change your boundaries?
○ No, but it may help.
○ Your boundaries are your choice, just like the
job you go to every day, the house you live in,
the spouse you married, the kids you had, and
the dog that just peed on your shoes.
○ Your life is your choice, and if you want
different results you have to make different
choices.
○ Your most productive day is based on your
willingness to change and do what no one else is
willing to do.
○ I don’t see many other entrepreneurs at the
library.
○ I don’t see many other people eating produce
bags for lunch.
○ I don’t see many people taking the actions
that would produce the results they want
22
because they are living within the
predetermined confines of their fixed beliefs
and ingrained habits.
○ The hardest thing in the world to do is to
change -- but it’s the only thing that works.
[Play “Opening Night”]
Action Step: ● Start Over.
○ There are only 2 ways to improve anything,
tweak your current system, or begin with a
brand new one.
○ The best way to restructure your day, and get
the best possible results, is to start from
scratch.
○ Take an hour this week to think through your
ideal day.
○ What does it look like?
○ What top priorities need your attention on a
daily basis to ensure long term success?
○ Asking a few key questions like these can be
the springboard you need to craft your most
23
productive day ever!
[Fade In Music]
● If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to The
5 AM Miracle in your favorite podcast app.
● You can also visit JeffSanders.com/subscribe to
see a quick list of the most popular podcast apps
where my show is available, including Apple
Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube,
Pandora, Overcast, and a variety of Android apps.
● For this week’s show notes page, visit
JeffSanders.com/300.
● I would love for you to join The 5 AM Club where
you can get a variety of free productivity resources,
as well as updates every Monday morning about the
latest episode of the podcast.
● You can join for free right now at 5amMiracle.com.
● Well, that's it for this episode of The 5 AM Miracle
Podcast.
● Until next time, you have the power to change
your life, and the fun begins bright and early.
24
[Fade Music Up and Out]