How to Achieve Your Most Important Career Goals in a Fraction of the Usual Time

These themes can be nurtured, for instance, through daily rituals. These are processes in which we feed the “right wolves” and “turn on all systems” to ensure alignment with our theme and the right level of performance through the day.

Cultivating a Theme: Try It Yourself!

As a practical example: Many of us wish to cultivate a “productivity” theme, so that we can grow a “proactive” mindset and inject more effectiveness and better execution into our everyday lives.

How can we do that?

There is plenty of literature out there on how morning routines can help us start the day with a can-do and productive attitude, the same way that a top athlete tunes up body and mind in the hours before a competition to perform at his best once the race starts.

Wake up a bit earlier in the morning. Build it progressively and in very small increments over time until you give yourself a 60–90 minute window to feed your brain and soul before opening your email and getting dragged into your day:

• Feed your attention: journaling in the morning is a great way to focus your attention, as it triggers the Reticular Activating System in your brain and prompts you into action. You may try the Morning Pages technique, by Julia Cameron. I actually nurtured my interest in coaching and personal development writing to myself about it in my morning pages, over a period of a few months.
• Feed your ambition: a few sentences outlining your affirmations and your end goals will go a long way. Taking some time to visualize yourself achieving your goals (and imagining how that feels) will fuel your determination. You may do this on paper, or as you meditate for as little as 10 minutes every morning.
• Feed your love for learning: read non-fiction quality content, just 20 minutes every morning. Not only you will go through dozens of books per year without even noticing (a decent goal in itself), but you will adopt an openness to acquiring knowledge that will prove very valuable work.
• Feed your resilience: a while ago I adopted Tim Ferris’ practice of 30 seconds of cold water as I finish my morning shower. It reminds me that I can get through uncomfortable things every day. It seems like a silly act on the surface, but this will help you develop stamina and resilience.