Step 6: Productivity is Personal

Productivity isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of thing. You can’t be the best version of yourself in all areas of your life all the time. You’ll have to focus on one or two areas of life per season.

Don’t buy matcha’s every day if your goal is to save money, but do it when it’s your goal to stay healthy. Don’t work 12 hours a day if your goal is to work out more, but do it when you want to grow in your career.

Every person has different goals, and achieving those goals ‘discipline’ and ‘productivity’ is in that sense personal.

Step 7: Find Shortcuts

Start repeating your habits every single day. That way, it will become automatic and your brain will find shortcuts.

For example, if your goal is to grow an audience on social media, and you’re posting every single day, you might find a way to automate it with AI after a period of time, or you’ll understand the algorithm better and will have to post less content, or etc…

But don’t forget to explore too. You wouldn’t have found that AI automation tool if you didn’t explore, right?

You wouldn’t have a shortcut to work, if you didn’t take a different route yesterday, right?

Step 8: Care, Don’t Critic

Daily gratitude to me, is a non-negotiable. Celebrating small wins as well. Even if I’ll just hit a certain number in my bank account, like €100 or €1000, I’ll always celebrate. I mean I won’t spend all of it that day, but I would take myself to Starbucks, or I would take a day off work.

Step 9: Do It For You

The gap between your current and ideal self is called ‘discipline’. We often see discipline as an all-or-nothing kind of thing, as something that needs to happen overnight, as a talent we just don’t have. But that’s actually not the case. James Clear wrote: “Every action you take is a vote for the person you want to become”. Look at your actions and reflect. How can you get a better life and why do you need/ want to get there?

Step 10: Motivation & Accountability

Motivation flows. It appears, but disappears as well. So, you have to have some sort of accountability tool, like an accountability buddy, a coach, a to-do list, a habit tracker, a vision board, a journal, …