THE FOUR STEPS TO UNSHAKEABLE COMMITMENT WITH ANY GOAL - part 2 of 2

by Logan Marshall
 

How To Go All Out: 4 Steps to Unshackled Commitment

Are you ready to go all out? Are you ready to throw off the bowlines and fully commit yourself to achieving a life of freedom and adventure?

If so, here’s how.

1. GET YOUR MINDSET RIGHT

Success in any aspect of life starts with your mindset. Faulty beliefs and assumptions are like powerful headwinds halting your progress and blowing you off course.

In order to truly “go all out” and make unprecedented progress, you must make the decision at a core level to hold nothing back. You must take a good look at your life and decide that nothing is going to stand in your way of success.

Back in high school I made the decision that no one was going to beat me to the finish line. I made a commitment at a fundamental level that I was going to do anything it took to achieve my goal.

This kind of raw, unrestrained dedication is extremely powerful. Trust me.

2. REFINE YOUR GOALS

It’s hard to commit yourself to something if your finish line is just a nebulous point off in the distance. So before you do anything, get ruthlessly clear about what your ultimate outcome looks like. Nail down exactly what you want, how you are going to get there and on what sort of timeline you plan to reach your destination.

For me, I want to have the freedom to pay my way through college, go to Alaska next summer and help build a school for 100 orphans in India.

This is what motivates me to continuously give my all. Your goals will undoubtedly be different, and that’s fine.

The key is to sculpt a vision that is so freaking awesome you are willing to do anything to achieve it.

3. FOCUS ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT

While the right mindset will give you the motivation you need to bring your A Game, if you focus on unimportant activities you still aren’t going to get anywhere!

“Going for it” doesn’t mean quadrupling your work load. Work for the sake of work is not the goal.

The goal is to live and work on your own terms.

This is especially significant if you already have a busy life full of responsibilities. In order to achieve freedom and escape the trap of selling your time for money, you must be ruthlessly selective about what you work on and what you ignore.

What should you work on? It all depends upon what stage you are on right now.

But if I could work on just one aspect of my business, creating invaluable content would be it. No question. Hands down.

4. HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE

Unfortunately, personal drive usually isn’t enough. It may be enough to get you started, but after a week or two the “new years resolution effect” begins to set in and your initial enthusiasm slowly begins to fade.

In order to stay committed, you need a way of holding yourself accountable.

How? Here are my top three ways:

·         Use the Weekly Daily Goals system to keep track of your most important tasks. At the beginning of each week, write down your top goals for the next 7 days. Before you go to bed each night, write down 2-3 key tasks that, if accomplished, will leave you satisfied with your day. Once you complete your goals for the day, stop guilt free.

·         Tell others what you are doing. At the very least, tell your family about the goals you’re trying to reach. Even if their reactions are less than supportive, getting your ambitions out in the open will help you stay committed.

·         Join a community. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people who are rooting for (and expecting) your success can be extremely powerful. It can provide you with the confidence and motivation you need to take your business to a whole new level.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been putting off anything in your life, I invite you to ask yourself why. What are you waiting for?

If you’ve been waiting for the stars to align in your favor, if you’ve been waiting for that perfect moment to arrive… I’ve got some news for you:

It will never come.

There will always be a new problem standing in your way. Something you need to do before you can fully commit yourself. As William James once proclaimed, “To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.”

Life is short. Give something (or everything) your all.

Tips for a successful relationship

All couples want to have a successful and rewarding relationship, yet it is normal for couples to have ups and downs. To meet these challenges, and to keep your relationship healthy and happy, you need to work at it. Relationships are like bank accounts – if there are fewer deposits than withdrawals, you will run into difficulties.

Tips that may help you improve your relationship and be better prepared to meet the challenges along the way include:

·         Talk to each other – just because you love each other doesn’t mean you will be able to communicate well or can read your partner’s mind, or that they can read yours. Communicate your needs – don’t wait for your partner to try to guess what is going on with you.

·         If you have something to bring up, do it gently – going on the attack rarely gets you what you want.

·         Listen to each other – often we are so busy defending ourselves that we don’t hear what our partner is saying. Let your partner know that you have heard them before you give them your response.

·         Remember the positives about your partner – this helps protect your relationship. One critical comment needs five positive comments to counteract its effect. Think carefully before saying what’s on your mind.

·         Make repair attempts – if your attempts to talk about an issue don’t go as planned, try not to let the situation become even more negative (such as not talking for extended periods or ignoring the other person’s attempts). Saying sorry or touching your partner in a caring manner shows you care, even though you disagree.

·         Spend time together – make your relationship a priority and make time for each other, even if you have to book it in. Regular ‘deposits in your relationship bank account’ will help protect your relationship.

·         Work on feeling good about yourself – this will help the way you feel about your relationship.

·         Everyone is different – accept and value differences in others, including your partner. We often choose people who have qualities and abilities we would like more of. This is one of the reasons why our relationships offer us significant opportunities to grow and develop as people. Remind yourself of this.

·         Make plans – set goals for your relationship and plan for your future. This shows that you are both in the relationship for the long term.

·         Be supportive – try not to judge, criticise or blame each other; we are all human. Remind yourself that you are a team, and in order for the team to be successful, you each have to cheer the other on.

·         Learn from arguments – accept that arguments will happen and try to resolve them with respect. The strongest predictor of divorce is ‘contempt’, which is any action whereby your partner feels ‘put down’ by you, whether it is the tone of your voice or what you say. Often in arguments, we become overwhelmed and this can often lead to behaviours that harm our relationship.

·         Stay calm during disagreements – or if this is not possible, take time out. Taking an ‘us’ perspective that prioritises the relationship rather than a ‘you’ and ‘me’ perspective can be very useful.

·         Look at your part in the conflict rather than focusing only on your partner’s contribution. Your partner is more likely to acknowledge his or her contribution if you do the same. Research has shown that relationships fall into difficulty when partners begin to think ‘here we go again’ and this negative cycle is associated with loneliness, hurt and disappointment.

·         Be sexually considerate – be affectionate (sometimes a lingering kiss or a warm hug are just as important). Accept that individuals have different sex drives and to sustain a healthy and happy sex life requires negotiation. A reduction in a couple’s physical connection is often a warning sign of problems in a relationship.

·         Be attentive – demonstrate your commitment to the relationship. It is what you do for someone that tells them that you love them. We tend to give our partner what we hope to receive but they may prefer another form of affection. Do they like gifts, quality time with you, a note or a cooked meal? Once you know what they like, make an effort to provide it.

·         Enjoy yourself – have fun and celebrate your life together. Rituals can enhance your relationship. It’s also important to try new things as a couple. Doing fun activities together is very important, as often ‘deep and meaningful’ about couple issues can turn into disagreements which leave you both feeling worse, not better. Fun activities are like glue.

·         Be flexible – let your relationship grow and adapt as you both change.

·         Share power – ensure that each of you feels that your opinion counts. Research shows that relationships where the female partner feels that she can influence her partner are the most successful.

Successful long-term relationships

In a long-term relationship, it’s easy to assume you know all there is to know about your partner. But people change. Try to be aware of what is happening in your relationship and understand who your partner is and where they are at.

Stay curious about, but respectful of, each other. It is really important to stay up to date about your partner. Friendship is at the basis of all successful long-term relationships. Successful couples tend to be realists who recognise that a relationship will go through ups and downs.

A good relationship doesn’t just happen – you have to work at it.

Source:

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Relationships_tips_for_success?open

5 Tips to Stay Totally Committed to Your Goals

by David K. William | The Web Writer Spotlight

Most of us know what we really want to do in life but just haven’t pursued it because we are too attached to the comfort, safety or simplicity of our routines. However, if you truly want to grow and actualize your innermost dreams and capabilities, you must get to a point in life where commitment supersedes comfort. Here are five tips that will help you stay totally committed to a clear goal you’ve set, whether the goal is to make a career change to freelance writing in six months or build up your online income to $3,000 per month by the end of the year.

1. Desire hard

Napoleon Hill, in his classic book, Think and Grow Rich, says: "The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat." You need to deeply desire the actualization of your goal to make it happen. Sure, there will be good days and bad days along the way. There will also be times when you question your decisions and future, but if you can picture yourself achieving your goal and you really want to achieve it, chances are high you will stay committed to and achieve the goal. Miracles happen when you throw yourself fully into what you want to achieve.

2. Plan well

Stephen Covey, author of the best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says: "All things are created twice. There's a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation of all things. You have to make sure that the blueprint, the first creation, is really what you want, that you've thought everything through. Then you put it into bricks and mortar. Each day you go to the construction shed and pull out the blueprint to get marching orders for the day. You begin with the end in mind." You must plan well and map out the route to follow in order to accomplish your goals. Needless to say, the beaten adage still remains true: “Failing to plan, is planning to fail.”

3. Invest wisely

Deb McAlister-Holland, a freelance marketing professional in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, says the $5,000 she spent remodeling her home office was the best thing she ever did to realize her freelance dream and increase her productivity. "I love my home office. It has a big leather sofa, three walls covered with built-in bookshelves and storage cabinets, dedicated circuits for my computers, special lighting, and a soft hand-woven rug on the floor that's the perfect spot for my dog to nap while I work," she says. It’s important to arm yourself with the tools and knowledge you need to realize your dream. Arming yourself with the right tools and knowledge calls for wise investing―a material and immaterial effort that compels you stay true to your goal.

4. Sacrifice wholly

George Santayana, 20th century philosopher, poet, essayist and novelist, says: “Nothing so much enhances a good as to make sacrifices for it.” And he is right. A key sign that you are totally committed to something is when you are willing to make sacrifices for it. Army officers literary sacrifice their lives because they wholly believe and are committed to the greater good. Top-level athletes train and practice countless hours every day because they believe they can do better. If you believe in and are fully committed to your goal and mission, you will be willing to sacrifice. Step out of your comfort zone and trod the rocky path toward the realization of your dream.

5. Review regularly

Diana Scharf Hunt, renowned author and time-management guru, says: “Goals are dreams with deadlines.” Review your goal regularly to make sure you are making progress in the right sequence of time. Don’t allow your goal to fall by the wayside or let it be overtaken by time. Document everything and assess what you need to do to make things happen. If you are not making progress, tap into a support group to ensure you get all the help you need to realize your goal.

Source:

http://webwriterspotlight.com/5-tips-stay-totally-committed-your-goals

Your Daily Quote - SMART goals

Deepak Chopra's S.M.A.R.T goal system:

Stretch for more than you can reach

Make everything measurable

Agreements from your team and supporters

Record your progress

Time limits

How To Set Goals – Lessons From Napolean Hill & Tim Ferriss

by Keep Inspiring Me

A goal is a dream with a deadline — Napoleon Hill

Think And Grow Rich is “The Secret” for hustlers, for people who want to go out and make things happen for themselves, but just need a push in the right direction.

The process of goal setting taught in Think and Grow Rich can be distilled into the following points:

1. Determine exactly how much money you desire – don’t be vague.
2. Determine exactly what you intend to do in order to earn the money you desire. What value are you going to offer? Remember, there is no free lunch.
3. Establish an exact date for when you plan to possess the amount of money you desire.
4. Establish a definite plan for achieving your desire, and start right this moment, whether or not you feel you’re ready.
5. Write out a clear statement of how much money you are going to acquire (the amount from step 1), what you intend to do in exchange for the money (the value from step 2), the date you’ll acquire it by (the date from step 3), and your specific, actionable plan for reaching the desired monetary goal (the plan from step 4).
6. Twice daily, read your written statement out loud to yourself. Do it once in the morning, and once at night. While you read the statement, visualize yourself executing on your plan and visualize the money in your possession.

The goal setting principles above fit into a larger framework of what Hill calls creating “burning desire to win”, but it is essential to the framework presented in Think And Grow Rich. While Hill focuses on goal setting as it applies to financial success (the book is called Think and Grow Rich after all), the same principles can be applied to anything you want to achieve.

In The 4 Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss describes how he went from working 100+ hours a week on his online supplements business to turning it into a passive income business that funded his travels and hobbies. He accomplished this by creating what he calls a “dreamline” for his ideal lifestyle.

*Note: Don’t let the catchy title fool you, the 4 Hour Work Week isn’t about only working 4 hours a week – it’s about rejecting social norms regarding how we “should” live and work. It’s about using out-of-the box thinking to minimize the work we don’t want to do, so we can spend time doing what we really want.

What Ferris calls a “dreamline” is essentially a list of things you want to acquire and/or accomplish, without concern for how exactly you will accomplish it. The idea is to not limit yourself to your preconceived notions of what is or isn’t possible, but to design an ideal lifestyle for yourself, figure out how much money you’ll need to accomplish that lifestyle, and then aim to create income streams that will support that lifestyle. Its about setting fixed deadlines for creating our dream lifestyle, rather than using a vague notion of “the future” to indefinitely defer what we truly want from life.

Here is an excerpt from the 4 Hour Work Week where Tim talks about creating a dreamline.

Create two timelines—six months and twelve months—and list up to five things you dream of having (including, but not limited to, material wants: house, car, clothing, etc.), being (be a great cook, be fluent in Chinese, etc.), and doing (visiting Thailand, tracing your roots overseas, racing ostriches, etc.), in that order.

For now, don’t concern yourself with how these things will be accomplished. That’s all covered later.

Consider the question: What would you do, day-to-day, if you had $100 million in the bank? If still blocked, fill in the five “doing” spots with the following:

• 1 place to visit
• 1 thing to do before you die (a memory of a lifetime)
• 1 thing to do daily
• 1 thing to do weekly
• 1 thing you’ve always wanted to learn

Chances are that the ultimate TMI figure will be lower than expected, and it will decrease over time as you trade more and more “having” for once-in-a-lifetime “doing.” 

The key takeaway from the 4 hour work week as far as goal setting goes, is not to let our preconceived notions of what is and what isn’t possible dictate our goals. Much too often, people set goals based on what they think is realistic.

The other takeaway is to set both a short term and long term goals. You can write down a specific goal with a specific deadline, but if the end goal is 5, 10 years down the line, how do we measure progress in the meantime? Its important to create short term goals that you can start working towards right now, and to always give yourself less time than you think you’ll need to accomplish any given goal.

Conclusion

So now that we’ve looked at goal setting from the perspective of two authorities on the subject, what common elements can we draw here? Whether we’re talking about the great depression, or the modern internet era of remote working and the digital nomad, it looks like there are certain elements that remain universal truths when it comes to setting goals:

1. Don’t let your pre-conceived notions of what is and isn’t possible define your goals. Rather, describe what you want to achieve, and work backwards from that to create a plan to get from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be).
2. Part of your goal setting should involve a plan of action to achieving your goal, starting from today.
3. Goals must be specific and exact in nature. They should state exactly what you want.
4. Goals must have a specific timeframe for accomplishment.
5. Goals should be written down so they’re concrete.
6. Re-visit your goals daily.

Your Daily Quote - Responsibility and Optimism

“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.” 
― Noam Chomsky

15 Things Successful People Do on Monday Mornings

Those first few hours after the weekend are critical. Start your week off right.

By Jacquelyn Smith

Monday mornings are the most critical time of the workweek, as they set the stage for the day and week ahead.

Most successful people are keenly aware of the typical Monday morning workplace dynamic of unanticipated events, overflow of communications, and general chaos. But after weathering hundreds of them, they realise they must gain control and stay upbeat. They take extra steps to compensate for this busy time of the week, and apply their best management skills to ensure that the day unfolds as smoothly as possible.

Here are 15 things successful people do on Monday mornings:

They wake up early and exercise.

This gets your circulation going and helps you stay alert, putting you at an advantage for a productive week ahead. You'll get your endorphin rush, which will help your mood, too.

They eat a healthy breakfast.

On Monday morning, you want to handle everything you have control over. Eating breakfast is one of those things. You don't want to be staring at the clock, awaiting lunchtime as your stomach growls at morning meetings.

They arrive early.

Do not succumb to the snooze button. Commutes are bad on Monday, so beat the odds. Plus, getting in earlier than others will help make Monday morning seem more like the afternoon, because you'll have had a chance to breathe before responding to the barrage of people and issues. Being an early bird will give you some wiggle room for the unexpected at work, not to mention any important personal matters that may arise.

They clear their desk and desktop.

Hopefully you already did this before you left on Friday. But if you didn't, get this out of the way, or you might add to Monday stresses in a sea of disorganisation. Organise and prioritise your files. Put aside unimportant paperwork, and keep critical files easily accessible. You want to be prepared when you, your boss, or colleagues need something at the last minute.

They carve out time for unexpected projects and tasks.

Successful individuals expect the unexpected on Monday. Your boss, team members, or staff may have remembered some loose ends over the weekend, so you're wise to build in some extra downtime on Monday morning.

They greet their team and boss.

This is important to do first thing every morning to keep morale high, but on Monday it's particularly valuable, as your team needs a special boost. Ideally, you'll spend an few extra minutes with your colleagues on Monday mornings. It reinforces a sense of purpose and community for everyone, including you.

They update their to-do list and goals.

Get yourself current on priorities and tasks, then set five to eight goals for the week.

Accomplished professionals have several goals in mind for the day and week. They know that if all goals aren't achieved, they can take pride in accomplishing most of them, and there's next week to achieve additional objectives.

They visualise the week's successes.

By envisioning the positive outcomes of various projects at hand, you can work backwards and determine the necessary steps to get your desired results.

They screen emails for urgent requests.

You can sink into email oblivion if you don't scan your inbox for urgency. Star emails that are priorities, and think quality, not quantity.

They tackle the tough challenges first.

The least desirable but critical projects are easy to put off, but your energy is stronger in the morning, so that's the ideal time to confront the most difficult assignments.

They make an extra effort to smile.

It might be the last thing on your mind, but overcompensating for the pressure-cooker morning will help you get through it. You may well stand out in the crowd, but your smile will likely be contagious, helping both you and team members relax.

They add a "blanket of humanity" to their emails.

It's tempting to power through all your emails in the most efficient way on Monday mornings. But before you hit Send, read them over to ensure that they're friendly and clear. Put yourself in the recipient's shoes. It's relatively easy to appear curt when you're in a hurry, along with the impersonal nature of emails and texts. You want to mitigate false starts and misinterpretations. One way to do this: Start the email by saying "Hi" and "I hope you had a great weekend."

They're able to say no.

"On Monday mornings, there will be many distractions--from people to emails to calls, meetings, offers for meeting in the break room, and so forth. "Successful people can diplomatically and politely say no to colleagues by offering to engage at a later time."

If your boss needs you, that is clearly an exception. However, if you have crucial calls to make or meetings to attend, give your boss the heads-up. It's stressful to be a people pleaser, particularly on Monday mornings. "Generally, no one ends up being pleased, as you can't do your best work with conflicting priorities."

They stay focused.

Successful people don't dwell on any challenging events that occurred over the weekend or other frivolous thoughts. Compartmentalize by putting them in a separate box as you start your week.

They remember that there is Tuesday.

In all the chaos, it's easy to believe that the world will cave if you don't solve all Monday's problems on Monday. "But when the dust settles at the end of the day, you may realize that certain tasks could have waited." Sometimes, you obtain more information over time that enhances your decision-making process. Or you may find that certain problems you're pondering will resolve themselves.

For the full article:

http://www.inc.com/jacquelyn-smith/things-successful-people-do-on-monday-mornings.html

Your Life - How Much Time You Have

Your life in jelly beans...

How will you spend them wisely?

Your Daily Quote - Greatness

Greatness does not come as a complete package, in a one-off delivery. You have to consistently build on your skills, knowledge, strength, with responsibility, perseverance and focus on the goals, on your mission.

Elena Long

Daily Habits of Successful People: It's All About Routine

Habits can be learnt. And can be un-learnt.

What habits will you master?

Five Scientific Ways to Build Habits That Stick

by Gregory Ciotti

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” Sobering words from Aristotle, and an astute reminder that success doesn’t come overnight. On the contrary, it’s discipline that gets you from Point A to the often elusive Point B.

In our day-to-day lives, habits can often be tough to build, as there are plenty of distractions that can lead us off the “straight and narrow” and right back to our old ways. To alleviate some of those troubles we can examine some academic research on motivation, discipline, and habit building, and break down their findings into actionable steps that any aspiring habit-builder can put into place.

1. Make “micro quotas” and “macro goals”

In a fascinating study on motivation, researchers found abstract thinking to be an effective method to help with discipline. In the most basic sense, “dreaming big” is pretty good advice after all. And since a variety of research around the self-determination theory shows us that creating intrinsic motivators (being motivated to do things internally, not through punishments or rewards) is an essential process of building habits that stick, you need to find a way to balance this desire to dream big with your day-to-day activities, which often do not result in quick, dramatic changes.

The answer is to create what I call “micro quotas” and ”macro goals.” Your goals should be the big picture items that you wish to someday accomplish, but your quotas, are the minimum amounts of work that you must get done every single day to make the bigger goal a reality. Quotas make each day approachable, and your goals become achievable because of this.

Writer/developer Nathan Barry has made for a great case study of the use of these quotas as someone who forced himself to write 1000 words per day come hell or high-water. The result was three self-published books resulting in thousands of dollars in sales.

2. Create behavior chains

Creating sticky habits is far easier when we make use of our current routines, instead of trying to fight them. The concept of if-then planning is built around environmental “triggers” that we can use to let us know that it’s time to act on our habit. Also known implementation intentions, this tactic involves picking a regular part of your schedule and then building another “link in the chain” by adding a new habit.

For instance, instead of “I will keep a cleaner house,” you could aim for, “When I come home, I’ll change my clothes and then clean my room/office/kitchen.”Multiple studies confirm this to be a successful method to rely on contextual cues over willpower. So the next time you decide to “eat healthier,” instead try “If it is lunch time, Then I will only eat meat and vegetables.”

3. Eliminate excessive options

According to a variety of research on self-control  —and expounded upon in books like The Willpower Effect — there is great power in being boring. Take, for instance, Barack Obama’s insistence on never wearing anything but blue and gray suits. According to the president, “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make too many decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”

The president’s belief is well supported by the research—Kathleen Vohs and her colleagues’ study on self-control found that making repeated choices depleted the mental energy of their subjects, even if those choices were mundane and relatively pleasant. According to the Harvard Business Review, if you want to maintain long term discipline, it’s best to “Identify the aspects of your life that you consider mundane — and then ‘routinize’ those aspects as much as possible. In short, make fewer decisions.”

For lasting change, the steps you take must ultimately change your environment and schedule. Stop buying snacks if you want to stop snacking (no willpower needed), pack a very similar lunch every day of the week, and embrace the power of routine to get the necessary done each day.

4. Process plan (but don’t fantasize)

The step that many people skip when they fantasize about building a certain habit is they never clearly answer why they want the change to occur. It may seem like a small detail, but it plays a huge role in keeping our motivation up over time. A variety of research shows us that excessive fantasizing about results can be extremely detrimental to the stickiness of any habit.

According to this study from UCLA, the mistake is in what we visualize. Researchers found that those participants who engaged in visualizations that included the process of what needed to be done to achieve the goal (ex: fantasizing about learning another language, by visualizing themselves practicing every day after work) were more likely to stay consistent than their peers (that visualized themselves speaking French on a trip to Paris). The visualization process worked for two reasons:

• Planning: visualizing the process helped focus attention on the steps needed to reach the goal.
• Emotion: visualization of individual steps led to reduced anxiety.

5. Eliminate “ah-screw-its”

New habits are often very fragile, and it is for this reason that we must eliminate any source of friction that may lead us astray. These “ah-screw-it” moments (hat tip to blogger Derek Halpern) are the specific moments where you find yourself saying, “Screw this, it’s not worth the effort!” A more scientific take on this phenomenon is called the What the Hell Effect, which explains why we are so likely to abandon ship with a new habit at the first slip-up.

The solution? Examine your habit and find exactly where things start to break down. In a great example of putting this in action, Author and 99U speaker Ramit Sethi has explained how he improved his gym attendance by finding where things would slip:

When I sat down to analyze why I wasn’t going to the gym, I realized: my closet was in another room. That meant I had to walk out in the cold [to] put on my clothes. It was easier to just stay in bed. Once I realized this, I folded my clothes and shoes the night before. When I woke up the next morning, I would roll over and see my gym clothes sitting on the floor. The result? My gym attendance soared by over 300%.

You can even incorporate an “if-then” scenario once you find the culprit. For instance, if fatigue is stopping you from playing guitar after work, you could set up a system of “If I’m feeling tired after work, then I will take a 20-minute nap and listen to music for five minutes to get myself motivated.”

Source:

http://99u.com/articles/17123/5-scientific-ways-to-build-habits-that-stick