Sometimes the best way to teach someone what to do is by revealing the polar opposite. In this case, instead of learning how to get things done – let’s look at how to get nothing accomplished.
Yes, let’s look at three seemingly valid reasons you don’t achieve your goals – and none of them, conveniently, are your fault. None of them have anything to do with YOU.
The way I see it, there’s nothing you cannot accomplish provided you do ONE THING.
“What’s that?” you ask.
“Identify and systematically eliminate all distractions.”
That’s right. Once you’ve freed yourself of all distractions, what else is there for you to do? You’re down to one thing staring at you, nudging you to “get ‘er done.”
Okay, so what would I classify as a distraction?
Well, do you want me to be brutally honest or soft-pedal the answer to be politically correct?
Brutally honest, you say. Alrighty then, here goes the list of distractions/reasons you can’t get anything major (or minor) accomplished:
1. Family – uh oh, that wasn’t very nice, was it? But it’s the truth. You’d have all your goals accomplished 100x over if it wasn’t for your parents, spouse, teenagers, middle schoolers, toddlers and babies.
So blame your family. They got in your way. They’re the biggest reason you’re getting nothing done.
2. Social Media – well, that was nicer than blaming your family – but come on, you love chit-chatting and posting your opinions, pictures, videos and so on – and people like it. Don’t they? Okay great. How much of what you contribute is helping you get what you want out of life?
3. Television and talk radio – just think how much you’d get done each day if you didn’t have to watch your favorite program or listen to two or three hours of radio?
Okay, so now you know the top 3 reasons – but there are millions more. These are what I’ve observed to be foremost in helping you accomplish the least.
So what to do about these distractions? How do remove ‘family’ as a distraction? And social media? And television/radio?
It’s really quite simple.
In fact, the “way out” of the mess is so easy most people won’t pay it any head. Only those who want wisdom and the rewards that go with it.
So you need to make a decision to either “get smart” – or live your life on everyone else’s terms.
And the answer isn’t to get rid of your family, to stop using social media and throw out your tee-vee.
Ahhh, you can breathe. Feels good, eh?
Alright, so what’s the answer then?
The answer is contained in the following Fureyism:
“Anything you’re not getting done, anything you think is too difficult, can be accomplished with far greater ease if you’ll do two things: One, go to bed. Two, get up at least an hour before anyone else in your home.”
Additional details: When you get up, you exercise for 15-30 minutes to get your engine humming, then you sit down and work on your goal in total silence.
This means: No tee-vee. No Internet. No Facebook. No Twitter. No checking emails. No text messaging. No radio. And no music.
Silence.
My friend, let me tell it to you straight. If going to bed earlier and getting up before everyone else doesn’t work for you – then there’s a very good chance that nothing will.
Now, a confession.
For much of my adult life, I refused to follow the advice spelled out above. I went to bed late and I was definitely NOT “early to rise.”
Then one day I came to a startling realization. For the first time in my life, I had goals that weren’t getting accomplished.
I got up when my wife and children got up. Then I had other “obligations.” And then some more. And on and on.
By the end of the day, I’d helped everyone else except myself.
So I got to thinking about all the “monks” and “nuns” of all religious faiths and spiritual traditions, wherever they may be, all over the whirld (God loves the way I spell that word), and how they got up EARLY in the morning.
3 AM.
4 AM.
5 AM.
Some even earlier.
And what did they do at that hour?
They took care of their mind/body/spirit in some way.
The Tendai marathon monk, Sakai Yusai, who ran 1,000 marathons in 7 years – was declared a Living Buddha – but asked to be challenged again – the second time running 1,000 marathons in 6 years – got up before 3 AM – showered in a freezing cold waterfall (much harder than the ice bucket challenge), donned his robe and began to run the mountains of Mt. Hiei, in Kyoto, Japan.
How many marathons would he have run if he started at noon? Or 3 PM?
So after pondering this, I started going to bed much, much earlier. Not midnight or 1 or 2 AM.
And I got up at least a couple hours before anyone else in the house.
Guess what happened?
Got my workout and my reading and my meditation/visualization done before anyone else opened their eyes.
The rest of the day was a bonus for doing something rewarding early on.
I took care of number one – and when that was complete – I had time to take care of the other “number one’s” in my life.
This means your family is NOT a distraction – unless you run your life on their schedule.
It means social media is not a distraction – provided you use it to achieve your goals instead of using it to hide from them.
And tee-vee and talk radio – well, so long as you take them in spurts – and you’ve got what’s important to you done “for the day” – then no problem.
So I guess Kipling was right when he said, “There are six million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.”
Go to bed earlier. Get up before anyone else in your house. Start your day with exercise – the very best are what I teach to members of the Matt Furey
Inner Circle.
Why? Because you don’t need to go anywhere. You start where you are – at home – with just YOU and your own Bodyweight.
Put some petro in your tank first with exercise – then you’ll have plenty of fuel for the rest of the day. You’ll be happier and more productive – as well as an inspiration to others who’d like a bit of your wisdom.
So you have a choice – Wisdom or Whizdum.
What’s it gonna be?
Yours,
Matt “Coach” Furey
P.S. Just heard from a lady who learned my Neck Chi Kung exercises a few days ago. She’s down 7 pounds already with no change in diet. How can that be? Well, I told you a few days ago that your thryroid gland is in your neck. So perhaps that has something to do with it. Ya think? The full set of these neck exercises will be going up on the Matt Furey Inner Circle very soon.