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#51: Making Change A Habit
Change seems so damn hard sometimes.
How is is that some people can lose 30 pounds, change careers and learn guitar, but I can’t even hit publish on one new blog post?
I figured out what I've been missing, but, you guessed it, it's something that simple but hard.
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Back to change as a habit . . .
Today I’m going to show you the three step, cycle of change you can use to make a habit out of changing yourself to hit your goals and transform your growth.
This cycle is simple, but not easy (as you’ve come to expect from my writing!)
Step 1: Clarify Your Future Self
When you want a change, you are literally wanting to become a new person. You are transforming from someone who can’t pull the trigger to someone who is trigger happy.
But to pull the trigger at all, you need to know what you’re aiming at.
Most people don’t know, and so they lose years of progress to indecision.
I know. I’m one of them.
So step one is to get really clear on the future self that you want.
The good news is that your future self can change, especially if you make these skills a habit.
But you gotta get clear, today, on a version of yourself that is directionally correct.
You need to know it.
You need to see it.
But more importantly, you need to FEEL it.
Step 2: Make POWER moves toward that future
A power move is a big, bold action that is a step toward that clear vision of your future self.
For some, it could be reading a book (though I’d say this probably isn’t big enough), making a hire, buying a course, going back to school.
Or it could be removing something holding you back like a relationship, a job, a legacy revenue stream or a part of your identity.
If you want to be a writer, then write.
If you want to be a speaker, then get your first speech.
Step 3: Measure backwards
Now that we’re making power moves, we’re not going to compare where we are today to that idealized version of our future self. That’s living in what famed business coach Dan Sullivan calls “The Gap.”
No one is ever happy there, because we are always short of perfect.
Instead, each day, week, month journal the Power Moves you took towards your vision. Note your progress agains who you were at the beginning of the period.
If you’re taking action, you will make progress and you can be happy that you are closer to your goal. If you look back and you haven’t taken any action then you should be pissed, depressed or otherwise discontent.
Re-evaluate if your future self is what you really want, or if you’re wanting some version of what other people want.
But if you’ve made progress, celebrate that win and use your new capacity and energy to make even bigger power moves.
To go deeper:
I suggest creating a Map of your advantages, and think about how you can use those to influence your luck.
If you respond to this email with the word “Advantage” I’ll send you my Advantage Mapping Template for free.
Here’s to breaking your old habits and becoming the best version of yourself!
Mike
mike@careercloud.com
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The Latest Conversation on THE BREAK Pod
Imagine hearing growing up and hearing metal shell casings hit the street. Imagine being abandoned by your father, and then later your step father.
Then imagine creating over $50M in sales for a niche finance company, only to create your own business so you could travel around the world and work from anywhere.
This is Jermane Cheathem’s story. He could have been a victim like so many others in his early life. But he broke that identity. Instead he learned to trust himself, engineered his environment and built a bulletproof mindset that he could accomplish anything.
Today Jermane helps others find freedom and entrepreneurship by teaching them the niche world of equipment finance sales.
Jermane just blew me away with his enthusiasm and impenetrable mindset. This conversation definitely made me want to level up in many ways, starting with my mind!
You made it to the end! Hopefully you learned something about breaking your career today! If so, please share this with someone you care about.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was super helpful!
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