Hi there. I’d like to welcome the 13 new members who joined this newsletter in the past week, you’re in the right place. For this week;
- I need you guys to help me make a decision.
- I’ll share the second form of leverage I promised.
Let’s get on it.
What would you do?
I’m in a dilemma. When I got a job last year, I needed a place close to the office. So I moved into an overprized bedsitter 10 meters from Ngong Road. I’d rather pay an extra coin for a little more convenience.
My contract ended last month, and I decided not to renew it. Now, I’m not getting any value for my money staying in this bedsitter. I’m moving out, and that’s where the problem is.
I have two options, each with unique propositions.
Move to a cheaper house and save money for the next six months so I can move into a fancier house in 2024. However, I might lack the motivation to work hard because it will be easy to generate the rent. But on the bright side, I’ll not be worried about rent for the next half year.
Or
Move to an expensive house and commit to turning it into a home I’d be proud to live in for at least two more years. However, freelancing is unpredictable, and I’m terrified anything can happen, making it hard to raise the amount. I hate cat-and-mouse games with landlords.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been faced with this dilemma, but what option would you pick?
Another Powerful Form of Leverage
Last week we talked about a form of leverage that will guarantee you success: consistency leverage. Here’s a link to the newsletter if you missed out. And I promised to discuss another form of leverage that you need to know. So here we go.
Almost every self-improvement guru swears on goals and habits. Sure, they help. But you need a lot of willpower to keep them going.
Goals often take a long-term framework and set us up for disappointment. For instance, how many of your 2023 goals have you hit so far? We are halfway through already.
Will you be smiling at your accomplishments in late December, or will it be just another one for those moments you realize time moves very first and your goals need to be more realistic?
Meanwhile, what’s the average time it takes to build a habit? 66 Days roughly. Those are three months of reminding yourself to stick to the course.
Habits are nice haves, the things we do when we have the time to. You need a lot of willpower to keep doing it.
Last month I started a habit of taking cold baths to increase my tolerance for challenges. Today, I can’t remember the last time I took a cold bath. Habits take a lot of work to build.
So what’s the solution?
Systems – a form of leverage that can significantly improve your ability to get things done and hit your targets.
A system is a goal-oriented habit backed by a standard operating procedure.
You know what you need to do, when, where, and why you are doing it. You don’t have to think; you just do.
Systems are documented. You know what should be done, and there are checklists. Anyone should be able to read the documentation and follow through with ease.
Building an online business is no walk in the park. But with systems in place, you substantially increase your chances of success. It shifts from a factor of willpower to a matter of time.
You stop depending on motivation and start doing things because it’s your mandate. You stop wasting energy on making decisions, and your daily activities fall into place.
So here’s how to take advantage of systems leverage
- Define your yearly goals and break them into quarterly and monthly goals.
- Define the actions to help you achieve your monthly goals and turn them into daily tasks.
- Set the time and pick the place you’ll do the daily tasks
- Define a condition or repercussion that will keep you accountable, e.g.; I will not use Whatsapp in the morning until I’ve written and published an article
- Document every part of the system in case you’ll want to outsource parts of it later.
- Most importantly, commit yourself to the system for one month.
At the end of the month, sit down with yourself and evaluate your progress. If The system has enabled you to achieve your monthly goals, fantastic, repeat. If not, make improvements.
See you next week