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Master Don Juan
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Self-improvement is the focal point of any man’s existence. It shouldn’t be women, or wealth, or pleasure – these things should come as a result of your life accomplishments. The best thing about life is that we can transform ourselves into what we want to be, through sheer force of will . Here is my system for goal-oriented self-improvement, based on what I’ve read and experienced firsthand.
Remember, self-improvements breeds confidence and success, and those two feed off each other - success breeds confidence, and confidence breeds success. Eventually,you'll be doing a lot of breeding yourself, if ya know what I mean.
Goals
It’s very important to write down what you want to accomplish.
1. General Goals
I like to start out by writing several very general, non-specific goals. “I want to be stronger” “I want to be more knowledgeable” “I want to be financially stable”, etc.
2. SMART GOALS
Then, I re-write these goals using the SMART principle.
SMART equaling:
Specific ( instead of simply “I want to get stronger”, try “I want to add strength to my arms, chest, back, and legs”)
Measurable – your goal should be quantitative. (“I want to add 20 lbs to my incline bench press”, or “I want to gain 15 lbs without raising my body fat”)
Attainable – know your limitations. A goal is worthless if there is no chance of actually reaching it. Remember, though, it is better err on the side of difficulty, rather than giving yourself an effortless goal. Push yourself.
Realistic – pretty much the same as attainable.
Time-Oriented – all goals must be set in a specific time period. This should be tied in with attainability and realism.
using the SMART system, we’d write under our general goal of
“I want to be stronger” -“I want to add strength and mass to my chest by adding 20 lbs to my incline press in 6 months.
-etc, etc. You could probably have dozens of goals just underneath this general one, all building on one other to reach the main goal.
3. Daily Tasks
Look at your general goals again. Ask yourself, “What can I do every single day to help me reach these goals?” If you want to be more knowledgeable, maybe you should read 100 pages every day. If you want to be more confident, talk to a stranger every day. For our original strength goal, it would probably simply be to follow our workout and diet regimen completely. The key is to write these daily tasks down, post them the wall by your bed, and review them right before sleeping. If you failed to perform any of them, make a point to execute them the very next day, at the earliest possible opportunity.
4. Daily Variable Tasks
Make a time–ordered list of everything you are going to do on a specific day, preferably the night before. By time-ordered, I mean if you are going to wake up Monday, April 17 at 8:00 A.M., how long is it going to take you to eat breakfast, get dressed, etc.?? Figure out how long a task should take and write it down. This will help prevent you from stretching out a particular task. It will eliminate waste.
As the day progresses, keep your list with you and check off your tasks as you complete them. Make a point of finishing everything you’ve written down. At the end of the day, you’ll feel a sense of satisfaction looking at a list with every single job having a line drawn through it.
5. Weekly and Monthly Goals
In addition to your previous goals, which will probably be more long-term, first ask yourself “What exactly do I want to accomplish this month?” or “What do I need to get done this week?” Write down your answers, and incorporate them into your daily variable tasks. At the end of the week/month, review your goals.
MOTIVATION
I will briefly address the question of motivation. It’s rather simple to write down what you want to accomplish; it’s a much greater chore to actually do it. Most people fail.
Self-Improvement expert Brian Tracy (you should seriously read this guy’s books; he’s about 10x more detailed and eloquent than I am ) has a great suggestion: Perhaps the very best question that you can memorize and repeat, over and over, is, "what is the most valuable use of my time right now?"
Ask yourself that question all day, over and over again. If you find yourself sitting on your couch watching The Golden Girls with your penis in your hands, ask yourself: "what is the most valuable use of my time right now?"
Whatever your answer is, make sure that you are doing it.
Theory of Conflicting Desires (Brian Klemmer)
It’s important to realize that, as human beings, we have inherently conflicting desires. Why can’t people lose weight when they really, really, really want to?? There’s no question about their desire to lose weight, but they still can’t do it. It is because they have other, stronger desires – “the desire to eat sweets” “the desire to be comfortable and sedentary” and most of all “the desire to feel pleasure/avoid pain” that override their desire for self-improvement.
Having knowledge of our conflicting desires can help us accomplish what is best for us. For example, whenever I’m tired, unmotivated, and tempted to sit on my ass all day rather than, say, work out or study, I ask myself “Which of these desires is really more important to fulfill? Which one will give me greater satisfaction when I wake up tomorrow?” It’s important to look past the present. Learn to deny yourself easy comforts and temporary pleasures in favor of things that will make you a better person in the future.
__________________________________________________________
I’m always trying to further educate myself on this subject, so comments/questions/suggestions are quite welcome.
Remember, self-improvements breeds confidence and success, and those two feed off each other - success breeds confidence, and confidence breeds success. Eventually,you'll be doing a lot of breeding yourself, if ya know what I mean.
Goals
It’s very important to write down what you want to accomplish.
1. General Goals
I like to start out by writing several very general, non-specific goals. “I want to be stronger” “I want to be more knowledgeable” “I want to be financially stable”, etc.
2. SMART GOALS
Then, I re-write these goals using the SMART principle.
SMART equaling:
Specific ( instead of simply “I want to get stronger”, try “I want to add strength to my arms, chest, back, and legs”)
Measurable – your goal should be quantitative. (“I want to add 20 lbs to my incline bench press”, or “I want to gain 15 lbs without raising my body fat”)
Attainable – know your limitations. A goal is worthless if there is no chance of actually reaching it. Remember, though, it is better err on the side of difficulty, rather than giving yourself an effortless goal. Push yourself.
Realistic – pretty much the same as attainable.
Time-Oriented – all goals must be set in a specific time period. This should be tied in with attainability and realism.
using the SMART system, we’d write under our general goal of
“I want to be stronger” -“I want to add strength and mass to my chest by adding 20 lbs to my incline press in 6 months.
-etc, etc. You could probably have dozens of goals just underneath this general one, all building on one other to reach the main goal.
3. Daily Tasks
Look at your general goals again. Ask yourself, “What can I do every single day to help me reach these goals?” If you want to be more knowledgeable, maybe you should read 100 pages every day. If you want to be more confident, talk to a stranger every day. For our original strength goal, it would probably simply be to follow our workout and diet regimen completely. The key is to write these daily tasks down, post them the wall by your bed, and review them right before sleeping. If you failed to perform any of them, make a point to execute them the very next day, at the earliest possible opportunity.
4. Daily Variable Tasks
Make a time–ordered list of everything you are going to do on a specific day, preferably the night before. By time-ordered, I mean if you are going to wake up Monday, April 17 at 8:00 A.M., how long is it going to take you to eat breakfast, get dressed, etc.?? Figure out how long a task should take and write it down. This will help prevent you from stretching out a particular task. It will eliminate waste.
As the day progresses, keep your list with you and check off your tasks as you complete them. Make a point of finishing everything you’ve written down. At the end of the day, you’ll feel a sense of satisfaction looking at a list with every single job having a line drawn through it.
5. Weekly and Monthly Goals
In addition to your previous goals, which will probably be more long-term, first ask yourself “What exactly do I want to accomplish this month?” or “What do I need to get done this week?” Write down your answers, and incorporate them into your daily variable tasks. At the end of the week/month, review your goals.
MOTIVATION
I will briefly address the question of motivation. It’s rather simple to write down what you want to accomplish; it’s a much greater chore to actually do it. Most people fail.
Self-Improvement expert Brian Tracy (you should seriously read this guy’s books; he’s about 10x more detailed and eloquent than I am ) has a great suggestion: Perhaps the very best question that you can memorize and repeat, over and over, is, "what is the most valuable use of my time right now?"
Ask yourself that question all day, over and over again. If you find yourself sitting on your couch watching The Golden Girls with your penis in your hands, ask yourself: "what is the most valuable use of my time right now?"
Whatever your answer is, make sure that you are doing it.
Theory of Conflicting Desires (Brian Klemmer)
It’s important to realize that, as human beings, we have inherently conflicting desires. Why can’t people lose weight when they really, really, really want to?? There’s no question about their desire to lose weight, but they still can’t do it. It is because they have other, stronger desires – “the desire to eat sweets” “the desire to be comfortable and sedentary” and most of all “the desire to feel pleasure/avoid pain” that override their desire for self-improvement.
Having knowledge of our conflicting desires can help us accomplish what is best for us. For example, whenever I’m tired, unmotivated, and tempted to sit on my ass all day rather than, say, work out or study, I ask myself “Which of these desires is really more important to fulfill? Which one will give me greater satisfaction when I wake up tomorrow?” It’s important to look past the present. Learn to deny yourself easy comforts and temporary pleasures in favor of things that will make you a better person in the future.
__________________________________________________________
I’m always trying to further educate myself on this subject, so comments/questions/suggestions are quite welcome.
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