Sunset Spi-ritual

“Efficiency largely determines a man’s place among his fellows, and leads one on by steps to higher and higher positions as greater powers are developed… Energy is economized by the formation of good habits.” ~James Allen

I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, San Diego (America’s Finest City). I’m not saying that to brag, just as a matter of fact, having traveled to many of the most exotic locations in the world from Tahiti and Indonesia to Fiji. I also mention it because we happen to have a fairly large and growing homeless population— which is very sad. However, given our climate, it’s certainly understandable.

This homeless “situation” had me reflecting just the other morning as I walked past our park toward the bay for my morning run and there, up against a tree, was a homeless couple covered by heaps of bags, clothing, cardboard and a shopping cart tipped over. A sad sight — but for some reason it got me thinking about the concept of routine, rhythm, and productivity.

The fact is, the higher up the productivity food chain you go (particularly where you find mastery), you find an extreme, almost quirky trait of fanatical “routine-ism” and rhythm. And strangely, that morning, all I could think was, I bet those two poor souls haven’t slept in the same place for the last month, moving from one location to another. Not by choice, but because they’re probably being chased around by the authorities.

The top performers purposefully form routines

Regardless of what industry or profession you survey – whether it’s music, architecture, processing mail (FedEx), making sandwiches (Subway), professional sports, football, soccer, hockey, tennis, golf or swimming – there’s one thing in common. If there is a representative master or champion, I can assure you they have multiple effective routines for study, preparation, creativity, practice, communication, strategy, execution, assessment, etc.

So the takeaway is simple and powerful. If, in your life or, perhaps even your company, you aren’t able to create the results you desire, ask this simple question, “What routine could I purposefully develop to create the desired outcome? And, “What behaviors (habits) would make up those routines?”

The “right” routine develops structure, which creates rhythm, which forms a foundation for productivity, execution and efficiency.

How do you find the “right” behaviors and routines? As mentioned in the book, that is actually the EASY part. The internet is littered with mountains of quality information and garbage. I trust you know the difference. Just know there is a representative expert (or many) in any particular field who’s written a book, offers a seminar, teaches a class, provides online training/videos, etc. about the desired and required information you seek.

So, the difficulty is not in finding the right information (at least not in the age of Google) it’s execution – and the key to execution is routine.

The essence of ALL EXECUTION is forming the positive habits that make up the routine. So, how do you develop habits? Good question:  Yes. There’s an app for that. ; )

until next time,

~mg

BTW: Professionals…. Early Bird sign-up for the THF Certified Professional Program begins soon. Sign up Today to qualify for BIG SAVINGS!!

If you could somehow lift the Universe’s Kimono (so to speak), what do you think you’d be left with? Well, physicists would tell you we’d be left with a few curious things like dark matter, dark energy, and energy for starters. However, for our purposes, I believe the important answer is ENERGY.

“Energy is bliss,” William Blake, the great English poet and artist, once declared. And, of course he’s spot on. In fact, energy is a lot more than just bliss. Energy is everything! (The bliss and even the not-so-bliss.)

So, when it comes to any sort of personal achievement, whether conscious or unconscious, you can rest assured that the one constant ingredient always at play is ENERGY.

And, one remarkable trait about energy is that it has this fascinating predisposition for rhythm and pattern. That is, whether you analyze some of the smallest energy forms, say, the DNA/RNA structure, or even the largest energy forms, such as a far-off galaxy, the overarching, general observation is that energy “gravitates” (interesting chose of words) toward pattern and rhythm.

Begin at the beginning.

Good Morning.

Our daily lives are filled with energy and it isn’t too long before we notice our behaviors, themselves, (energy) forming patterns and rhythms. For instance, chances are VERY GOOD you went through the very same morning routine today as you did yesterday and the day before. Chances are excellent you will go to bed tonight and proceed through your same peculiar set of behaviors.

Every day, each one of us assumes these patterns, whether it’s driving to work on the same route, brushing our teeth or TOWELING OFF (see tweet above). Coincidentally, I had just finished speaking at an event and mentioned how a friend confided that he noticed he always towels off in the same exact manner after showering. I thought that was funny, then, randomly, a few days later ran across the above TWEET. Same story, different guy.

Where do we go from here?
Knowing that you and I are truly creatures of HABIT and knowing WHY we are creatures of habit are really two different ideas. Once you couple this understanding (WHY habits exist) with the knowledge of how to conscientiously forge new patterns and rhythms, you can dramatically accelerate your achievement.

Recall, for example: Tying your shoes was rather difficult when you were six years old. Today, it is a habit, an action you can perform without conscious thought. Therefore, it makes sense that the absolute greatest gift you own as a human achiever is the ability to consciously develop, craft and refine new habits at will — habits that align with your desires, goals and objectives.

And, here’s the best part, ANY habit is learnable!

So, how does one best develop a habit?
Well, that has truly been the $64,000 question. To best understand how to develop a habit, it helps to understand the dynamics of our body’s “energy” being. Body building and muscle training provide a fantastic, proven model to strengthen human muscles, and it just so happens a similar process works very well for habit development.

While there are maybe hundreds of other habit development theories and practices, many of which are extremely complex and involve psychological considerations (cues, rewards, punishments, hope, belief, motivation),  and while all of these are very important factors, it becomes quickly obvious that those pyscho-dynamics are thought habits of their own which involve work. So, the good news is, this process (The Habit Factor) works whether it’s a mental or physical habit you’re trying to develop!

Doesn’t it take 21 Days to develop a habit?
That theory became popular shortly after, Dr. Maxwell Maltz introduced the idea in his PsychoCybernetics self-help book. His theory was, if you performed a habit 21 days in a row (say for 10-15 minutes), you’d develop a habit — reroute your neuro-associations within the brain. He was a plastic surgeon and he recognized that many of his patients needed new thought habits and self-esteem rather than his plastic surgery. How about that for a doctor?

He originally developed this theory after observing that amputees would tend to lose their neuro-associations right around the twenty-first day.
Unfortunately, 21 days turns out to be no silver bullet. Due to the great number of variables, habits can take three or more months to develop. And, for our purposes here, I’d like to separate the mental/psychological factors involved in habit development. At least for now, since we all recognize for instance, that any participant must first BELIEVE they can develop a new habit.

So, the question remains, what is the best methodology?

ENTER: The Habit Factor®
A significant part of The Habit Factor’s effectiveness can be attributed to a few of its relatively simple and innovative concepts. Each helps to provide a strong framework for habit development via measurement, tracking, feedback and of course repetition.
1) Tracking Period
2) Minimum Success Criteria
3) Target Days

THF’s proven framework suggests that habit development does NOT require successive days. Rather participants may skip days. For instance, if I want to develop the running habit, but my knees may not allow for me to go running every day. With THF’s methodology, you select TARGET DAYS then identify your Minimum Success Criteria. For instance, RUNNING 3x/week (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday. These = Target Days) and then, you establish your Minimum Success Criteria (are you running 20 minutes or 40 minutes) during each “Running” episode.

Next, enter the Tracking Period. For beginners, we highly recommend 4 weeks as an ideal, initial tracking period. Without proper eduction/understanding though this feature has proven to be confusing to people. Those that don’t understand it, don’t want to have a tracking period yet it’s one of THF’s strongest and most unique features.

The benefit of a tracking period is you can compare your target instances to your actual behaviors. Then, say after four weeks you assess your actual behaviors vs your ideals/targets and the app provides this data via its many charting options. (Apparently, that is FUN too – see above). Then, after assessing your chart (actual vs targets) you can quickly identify if you are hitting your targets or not. If not, lower your frequencies and minimums. If so, and this is the beauty and where the muscle analogy comes in, your increase your frequencies per week and/or minimum success criteria. You essentially raise the bar and strengthen the habit muscle!

You may be asking, “Why would I want to lower my targets?” Well, it’s essential that you experience positive, forward momentum. This is why it’s far better to begin habit development with your target frequencies and minimums lower at first. The idea here as it relates to muscle building is it would be ridiculous if you started curling weights to build your biceps with 55lb weights if you’ve never culred before. Similarly, if your trying to build the writing habit, certainly don’t recommend you try to start with writting every day for 1 hr (as a minimum). I would recommend you try for 2 or 3 times a week for say 20 or 30 minutes. This way it’s far easier to gain positive momentum and a sense of accomplishment and encouragment when you hit your lower targets. Then, after the four week tracking period is elapsed, you can establish new frequencies and minimum targets!

Get it? You can do this indefinitely until you (as happened to me) find that you are slipping on the running shoes without any real conscious thought or writing your next book.

Exciting stuff!!!

Until next time, remember, goals are NOT optional!

-Martin

P.S.: Many of you have emailed asking about the status of our Certified Professionals Program. Stay tuned please, apologies for the delay, and if you’re interested please sign up. There will be updates forthcoming and discounts for our early adopters (which may be limited early on!).  Thanks!

Mr. Hill himself declared, “I knew I must find the ‘missing link’”.

If you know anything about the history and study of personal achievement, you know that Napoleon Hill is recognized as one of the great-grandfathers of the “Science of Success and Personal Achievement.” (BTW, if you didn’t know that, that’s OK too!) Napoleon Hill authored the all-time classic self-help book, “Think & Grow Rich.” You can read about the book here: Wikipedia Link. The book was originally published in 1937 and proved to be a deep study into the “science” of personal achievement. Mr. Hill (a former newspaper writer) undertook the project to write this book at the request of Andrew Carnegie (the world’s first billionaire). Hill was tasked with dedicating 20 years of his life to the study, development and construction of a new “success” philosophy certain to provide the world with a “recipe” for success and wealth to any who would follow its instructions. For his efforts, Carnegie promised to provide Napoleon unique access to many of the greatest achievers at that time – men such as  Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, John D. Rockefeller and Charles M. Schwab, to name a few. After interviewing these great successes and gathering their “best practices” and collective wisdom, he compiled the many lessons into a workable and powerful success philosophy – one that transformed the lives of millions of people.

Something appeared to be missing.

This book was an instant classic and positively affected millions of people; even today it is a best-seller. But numerous people wrote Mr. Hill letters after reading his book and they even approached him after his inspirational talks as he toured the country. These people, unfortunately, shared that his book did NOT make them rich. They explained that even though they followed his detailed 16 PRINCIPLES for success, they did NOT become millionaires – that, unfortunately, the book “did not work.” A distraught Napoleon was confounded as he heard this feedback repeatedly. Consider that after he spent 20 years writing this book and refining this “success” philosophy, he found that it did NOT always work for everyone.

WHY?

That is a terrific question, and it’s really the most incredible and important part of the story – an unintended gem resulting from his efforts to pen the greatest assortment of success principles. In fact, EVEN TODAY seemingly nobody is aware of or understands the significance of the discovery Hill made so late in his career.

I consider this discovery to be the single greatest contribution to the “science of personal achievement” of all his efforts. And, the irony is it was what he LEFT OUT OF THINK & GROW RICH that provided the most value.

“WHAT was missing?” you ask. Well, Mr. Hill pondered that question long and hard, and, as he explained it, he found himself meditating upon this “missing link” FOR ANOTHER 20 YEARS!

So, what was missing!?
Well, it’s almost unfair to share it. Again, Napoleon Hill spent 20 years of his life formulating this success philosophy and authoring Think & Grow Rich, then another 20 years trying to figure out what the “MISSING LINK” was (his words).

Why do I say it’s unfair to share the answer? Well, I can almost assure you (as in guarantee) that without the same sort of contemplative meditation, his answer will either appear 1) too obvious, or worse yet, 2) insignificant.

TWO NAMES — A Single Truth

What Mr. Hill “discovered,” that is, what he left out of Think & Grow Rich, was something he labeled “The Law of Cosmic Habit Force.”

You see, Mr. Hill recognized (after all that time) that while these disheartened souls (readers) were in fact applying one principle in his book after another, there was no consistency – there was a randomness to their efforts. In short, they did NOT DEVELOP THE HABITS necessary to ensure that his 16 principles became HABIT and were therefore effective!

That was it, the answer: The Law of Cosmic Habit Force!

Hill knew he had to quickly revise his success philosophy to include this new, 17th and final principle, again, entitled, “The Law of Cosmic Habit Force,” Unfortunately, this was near the end of his career and seemingly this powerful truth has vanished. It’s been LOST IN TIME.

Listen to his words here: 


Note: Hill speaks for the first 40 seconds about the lesson of personal initiative and persistence, which he learned from Thomas Edison, and then shares how that same lesson applied to his discovery of the Law of Cosmic Habit Force. This is an excerpt from THE SCIENCE OF PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT. (Note: You can find a few videos on YouTube, as well.)

Again, even the most earnest students of Napoleon Hill and Think & Grow Rich today, including the current “GREATS” of personal achievement (no names… Just visit your favorite self-help guru’s website and see if they EVER wrote about The Law of Cosmic Habit Force (prior to this date). They seemingly ALL fail to share this great story – his great discovery.

So, if I’m you at this point I’m probably asking two questions: 1) What does it mean? What is the law of cosmic habit force? and 2) Why haven’t I ever heard of this before? Let me attempt to answer question #2 FIRST. I have various theories, but the most likely one is the very name itself is, at best, a bit cryptic. So cryptic that even those earnest students simply didn’t understand the message. Even when it came from his own lips as he gave lectures about it (if you heard the audio above you know what I mean), it appears people had a hard time grasping what it all meant. So, if you purchase THE SCIENCE OF PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT, and I recommend you do, you will notice for yourself that while he emphasized the principle, it was a bit hard to decipher. As for the first question, “What does it mean?” Listen carefully again to the end of the audio clip. “My persistent personal initiative finally yielded this GREAT LAW OF NATURE into which all the other 16 principles blend and upon which they must depend for AUTOMATIC application.” THAT is exactly what it means. It’s a law of nature (discussed thoroughly in The Habit Factor), one that ALL other principles of success must depend upon.

If there was ONLY one thing I could teach my children.

Recently, I spent a weekend with Brian Tracy at his speaking academy along with several other well-off authors, coaches and business personalities. As we went around the room, Brian asked each member of the group to share our SINGLE GREATEST SUCCESS SECRET. He asked that we share the single-most important lesson or “secret” that we might share if we could only share ONE thing with our kids. It was a fantastic exercise and each person revealed spectacular insights and great best practices. When you think about it, coming up with just ONE key is very difficult. Again, these were all very high achievers in the room, so it was great to listen to everyone’s tips, such as: setting daily goals, modeling after the experts, leveraging time and talents, etc. Then, when it was my turn, I simply held up my book, The Habit Factor®. I explained that while everyone’s tips, secrets, keys and lessons were spectacular, without developing HABITS of them, unfortunately, they would be ineffective. I then explained that it was this very question and exercise I had asked myself years ago that drove me to write this book. As I held up the book, I told them, “I had to write this book. I had to share this information!”

You see, whether it’s Malcolm Gladwell revealing the 10,000-hour rule in Outliers or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People or The Secret, or just pick any current diet fad, workout regimen (P90X, 4-Hour Body) or any other practice/philosophy designed to better and improve your being, and guess what? NONE of them will work until you do – until you put in the work to develop and channel the force of HABIT! Darwin once said, “It is notorious how powerful is the force of habit.” Interesting when you consider Darwin was a naturalist (you’ll see how that plays into this in a bit).

Of course, you will quickly recognize, as my buddy Mark mentioned to me the other day, “Crazy… it seems it always come back to HABIT, or The Habit Factor.” And, of course, it must. This is precisely the conclusion Napoleon Hill recognized some 60 years ago.

AND HERE’S WHY…

Since you and I are of this “natural” world, we must assume the same characteristics. “What does that mean?” you ask. It’s explained deeply in my book, but the fact is, HABIT (rhythms and patterns) can be found throughout the cosmos and natural world. In its simplest form the universe is ENERGY. In your simplest form, YOU are ENERGY. Energy is predisposed to pattern and rhythm (habit). Our personal energies must be drawn into habits, and they are, for better or worse. The beauty is, as humans, we are endowed with the power of conscientious choice and, with PRACTICE, can at will harness this remarkable force of habit. Yes, There’s an app for that .

Enter The Habit Factor and the Great Leap To Goals!

While The Habit Factor® has delivered on its promise to rekindle Mr. Hill’s “Law of Cosmic Habit Force” and spotlights his seemingly lost efforts, I recognized my undertaking in writing The Habit Factor® needed to be far more exhaustive, descriptive and explanatory by focusing exclusively on the SUBJECT OF HABIT (vs. multiple success principles) and by analyzing new and exciting dimensions Mr. Hill either never considered or had information about. I not only wanted to shed light on his lost discovery, but knew I had to go much further with The Habit Factor. I believed that HABIT, as the sole subject matter, demanded an even more thorough investigation, even starting with the fundamental question, “Why do habits exist?” (Google it!)

I felt it was critical to introduce and share some of the latest science (neuroscience) about habit and our brains, again, discoveries and information unfortunately Mr. Hill never had access to. I also recognized it was critical to investigate the philosophical and business aspects of habit; marketing to franchises. But, what is proving to be the most valuable contribution of The Habit Factor® is the introduction of Habit Alignment Technology™ as a best-practice for goal achievement, (and, of course, there is no greater showcase of this literal application than the iPhone and Android app bearing the same name). TRY THE APP FREE!  It’s a bit funny to me that The  Habit Factor® will probably always be best known for its introduction of a simple and powerful goal achievement process rather than the rekindling of Mr. Hill’s greatest discovery, The Law of Cosmic Habit Force.

So, there you have it. You now know what the large majority of the world’s population does not know, understand or perhaps even care about. That whenever you hear anyone talking about how great Think & Grow Rich is, ask them if they know what was missing? : )

Your Time is NOW!
So, now the question is what are you going to do with Mr. Hill’s greatest discovery. The irony here is if you do nothing with it— you are of course still applying The Law of Cosmic Habit force / The Habit Factor®. I humbly suggest it’s time you give The Law of Cosmic Habit Force and/or The Habit Factor® YOUR BIGGEST, most important GOAL and put Habit Alignment Technology™ to the test.

***BTW: The BOOK makes a RIDICULOUSLY PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT (inexpensive and value-packed). I’m still hearing from friends about the “thanks” they are getting from giving away the book last year. Finally, for those of you who purchase a minimum of 5 or 10— we have a couple gift packages. Please email me your receipt to: mg AT thehabitfactor.com, and we have a special gift for you. I’m not sharing what the gift is because we’d like to know that your giving /purchasing for the purpose of serving & giving rather than getting. If you plan on purchasing 25 or more email before purchase.

Happy Holidays!!! Enjoy and put THF and TLoCHF to work today for your benefit!!!!

~mg

“The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance.
Proceed, and light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path.” ~Jim Rohn

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
~Lao Tzu

I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m into numerology but I can’t help but notice how certain numbers always seem to play a significant role in my life.  Whether it’s the triathlon number etched on my arm or an old apt number or my first business address or a suite number. It goes on and on, the pattern is a bit freaky. BTW: If you’re wondering, the key numbers seem to be 11 and 12, predominately and often various combinations. Bizarre.

So, given that The Habit Factor® book’s “official” publishing date was 11-11-2010 and today is Veteran’s Day (exactly one year later) I thought it would be appropriate (if not my obligation) to CELEBRATE with a WILD and CRAZY PRICING PROMOTION! Not just on the Book (Kindle and iTunes) but on the entire suite of Equilibrium apps as well. To boot, we plan to donate 10% proceeds to DAV.org (disabled american veterans) from sales during this SPECIAL BDay/Special Date/Veteran’s Day PROMOTION.

So, even if you’re not into personal development (but willing to try ; ) ) Our AIM is to make this a DAY & DATE to remember! HOpefully, a catalyst for some positive change. We certainly believe the BOOK and apps have proven to make that happen!

 

The Promotional Pricing Madness:

1st, THE BOOK:
The Amazon best-selling, The Habit Factor [Kindle and iTunes] – NORMALLY $9.99
NOW ONLY $2.99!!!! [11/11/11 THRU 11/13/11]

Note: we have never offered the book at this price.

The Apps:
Virtues Normally $2.99 to FREE
Noble Paths Normally $2.99 = FREE
Bucket List Pro Normally $2.99 = FREE
Eat That Frog! $1.99
The Habit Factor® (PRO app) Nearly 50% OFF = $3.99

P.S.: Let’s make a deal. Please do NOT buy the book just because of this promotion. My hope is you will buy it because your interested in some positive change and are looking for a simple, no B.S. method to facilitate the process.  If you’ve been thinking, wondering or asking what might get you moving in a new, positive direction, then, perfect— I think we have a deal!

That’s what this promo is all about. Check out the FREE preview on Amazon or Google.

All the best,

~mg

P.S.S.: WHY DO THIS?
A birthday promo like this serves a couple purposes really. 1) To increase exposure of the book and our apps and, 2) Think how great it would be if even just ONE person (literally only ONE person) were able to look back on 11-11-11 and say that was the day they got The Habit Factor— the book and / or downloaded some of our apps and things changed for the better.

Winning. ; )

Believe it our not, one of the habits that I’m trying to develop is the habit of “tweeting”. I’m not much of a Twitter-guy. But, certainly recognize it’s potential for exposure and with apps and a book – it’s undoubtedly a great vehicle to help spread the message/awareness in order to help people achieve their goals.

After my talk at TEDx AlAin went live on Youtube. I started tweeting to share it via @thehabitfactor account. Lifehacker picked up that tweet, viewed the talk and then about 3 hours later this feature was posted. I was totally surprised by it.

It’s really a great example how the power of habit transcends the realm we can affect to help coordinate events well outside our sphere of influence. That is covered in the book so I’ll leave it there for now.

If you haven’t seen the Lifehacker article or the video click here or the link above.

Until next time thanks and remember, in life, goals are NOT optional.

~mg

“Great acts are made up of small deeds.” ~Lao Tzu

While we can all recognize and appreciate Roz for her heroic efforts, her remarkable courage and leadership, I believe what’s most appealing about her story (like any superhero, really) is how we identify on some level, perhaps even see a bit of ourselves in her. We sense (if not know) that we might — just might — have that same capacity to overcome the insurmountable, whatever that may be, whether it’s rowing across the ocean, running a marathon or embedding a sustainability mindset around the planet.

On a conscious level that is certainly an intriguing prospect; however, on a subconscious level, I’m fairly certain that scares the hell out of most of us. We wonder, Could I really do that? Is that capacity within me? Could I somehow lead and inspire others? Could I really motivate others? Could I — little old me — inspire thousands or even millions of people to go for their dreams? To modify their behaviors for a better community and world? Me?!

Read the rest of the post here: Visit Roz’ Blog