| The #1 secret for achieving more success, happiness, and freedom in every area of your life…
… is to develop a core set of “personal rules to live by”.
Personal rules help to eradicate indecision, temptation, and distraction — which creates freedom for you to do the things you love.
I know making rules to have more freedom sounds counter intuitive…
But I also know my personal rules were critical in taking me from being an anxious, broke, burnt out, binge-drinking personal trainer…
To building five 7-figure businesses in different industries and finishing work most days by 2 or 3 PM.
Just consider someone who’s vegan…
When you’re a vegan, you live by the personal rule that “Under no circumstances will I ever eat meat.”
You don’t have to spend time weighing the pros and cons… or waste mental energy justifying your decision each time meat is presented…
The decision has already been made long ago.
You do NOT eat meat. Ever.
It’s just part of who you are.
And this is the same type of structure I want to help you build in your life.
When you take the time to develop your own rules to live by, everything in your life becomes easier.
You have a clear set of operating principles that make everything automatic.
I challenge you to think deeply about this…
And come up with a few non-negotiable rules you believe could have a profound and lasting impact on your quality of life.
To help you get started…
Let me share with you 10 personal rules that have guided me for the last 20 years and were critical to much of my success.
*Please Note: you’ll find it most beneficial if you craft your own set of rules as they relate to you and your life…
… Rather than too closely replicating mine.
Of course you’re free to borrow from these but they’re really just here to get your juices flowin!
1. Commitment to a Consistent Wake Up Time
For years, I operated by the rule that “I go to bed and wake up at the same time 7 days per week” (8 pm and 4 am respectively).
But more recently — after reading Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker — I realized that this was unnecessarily restrictive.
I’ve now modified this rule to fit my new lifestyle and committed to simply waking up at the same time everyday.
This not only helps me stay consistent in my schedule (and allows me to attack my deep work blocks every workday), but gives me more energy and motivation than I’ve ever had before.
I challenge you to try it out for a month.
Whether you join the 5 am club... the 7 am club... or even the 9 am club doesn’t matter.
Just commit to waking up at the same time every day of the week and watch your life change.
2. Daily Deep Work
For me, this means writing.
I’ve literally made my millions through the power of the written word.
From sales pages to email copy to my best-selling books…
All of my business ventures have lived and died on my ability to put words on a page that motivate my audience to take action.
As such, I follow the personal rule that I write for at least 60-minutes first thing every morning without fail.
No matter what type of work you do, committing to this type of consistent daily deep work will have a profound impact on your business.
And as a result you’ll enjoy more money, less stress, and more fulfillment.
3. The “No Email” Rule
For years I would wake up, check my email, and immediately get sucked into the vortex that is my inbox.
This caused me to start my days from a negative and reactive state...
So I implemented the personal rule that “I do not check email before 11 am and don’t take phone calls before 10 am”.
The result has been more focus and productivity during my “magic time” and infinitely less stress and overwhelm.
Whatever your business is, I urge you to set a strict personal rule around how you handle emails and other forms of communication.
It will protect your time, sanity, and success.
4. Be Polite and Courteous (and Don’t Swear)
I’ll be honest with you…
Hanging out with friends like Bedros Keuilian and Jason Capital makes living by this rule a challenge ;)
But I still do it.
A few years ago, I still swore like a sailor and punctuated every thought or comment with an aggressive f-bomb.
But I realized I was misaligned…
I never swore in front of family or on stage… so why do it in my daily life?
I committed to my “no swearing” rule… got accountable to it... and in a few months I could articulate my ideas without added profanity.
5. Proper Planning and Preparation
I attribute most of my success to my commitment to proper planning and preparation.
At the end of each day…
I take time to plan the following day and update my daily gratitude and achievement journal.
This one rule has literally changed my life.
When you wake up knowing exactly what needs to be accomplished and why, everything runs smoother.
Your days are more productive, effective, and fulfilling and you eliminate the dead time from your schedule. --- I hope you’re starting to see just how powerful personal rules can be.
Rather than trying to cram all 10 of my rules into one email…
Keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow for Part II... when I’ll send you another email with the last 5.
But don’t wait until then — start creating your own personal rules right now!
What can you borrow and build on from the rules I’ve shared?
What can you come up with that’s completely different and unique to you?
Until tomorrow…
Success Loves Speed,
Craig |
