Changing Your Default Settings

A several years ago I moved from Indianapolis to Fayetteville, NC, where I met a gentleman named Allister Edwards. He was a retired Command Master Chief (I know for the non military this means nothing), but he was pretty high ranking. The group soldiers he was responsible for, was a Sigma Six Team (if this sounds familiar, its similar group of guys that took out Bin Laden). He specialized in psychological warfare. Now, I know you are asking yourself "what does this have to with the price of tea in China"? Glad you asked! When I was being trained in how to write a plan, the tactics he used were the same he used to break the mindset of his soldiers. He had to get to the core of what was holding me back. Coming from a guy who never planned, it was a task. I used to be a "just wingin" it kinda of guy. I never planned my day, so I had no clue as to where I was going. The very first plan that I wrote was not a day, week, month or year plan. It was a 20 year plan. That's right a 20 year plan, now do you know how hard that was for someone who never planned at all. Like I said, Al specialize in psychological warfare. We sat in my living room for 6 hours straight, and I felt like I was being interrogated. When the smoke settled and the dust cleared, I had some direction. I had a 20 year plan.

I said all that to say, once I changed my default settings, I was able to move forward. So, you have your resolutions list and you can't figure out why it's the same every year. January you come out of the blocks and it's looking good. You are going to the gym every day, you're eating right, you cleaned out your car, you stopped cussing and everything is on auto-pilot. Then by March you're not as consistent, things start to slack off. By June, some stuff has already been moved forward to next year's list. By October, it's a wrap. Then you start the cycle all over again. I know that you are tired of that. 

How do we change your default settings, so that you are able to progress?  First thing, kill the resolutions list. Change it to "Things I Would Like to Accomplish This Year", or something like that. As I said yesterday, we will be using the S.M.A.R.T. acronym. 

S- is be Specific. You have to break down what you are really trying to accomplish. Let's say you want to lose 20lbs, and the first thing you think you need to do is get a gym membership. Now, having a membership to a gym is a start, but is not the first thing you should do. The first thing I recommend you do, is get on the scale. You may be closer to where you want to be then you think. How can you get to where you are going, if you don't know where you are? Remember you are not trying to lose the weight in 30 days. You have to change your default setting to, this will happen over the course of the year. Most resolutions fail, because we have this instant gratification mindset or a microwave mindset. It has to happen now. That not the case. So, being Specific will really help you lay out a plan of action. Tomorrow we will be discussing the M.