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Projects Over Goals: Revealing Why End Goals Don’t Really Work

productivity

I will be rich. I will have the perfect body. I will be super organized. Goals, we all have them. We write them down, and what happens? They just stay in our notebooks or journal or a file on our computer. That is because end goals are what we think we need to set. But the reality is that end goals don’t really work. What does work? Converting your goals into projects. Projects get done. Goals get talked about.

The Truth About End Goals

An end goal is the final place you want to “end up” in a certain aspect of your life. This could be better health, more money, more travel, getting closer to your spouse, whatever. But the truth is, most people don’t achieve the goals they set out to achieve.

According to the Times-Tribune, only 8% of people complete or achieve their New Year’s Resolution. Clinical Psychologists blame this on self-sabotage caused by a lack of self-discipline.

Source: Ray Williams

And while self-discipline is a major contributor, I think a big factor is the whole idea of goals and end goal setting. Goals, in our society, have turned into another word for a dream. A goal is treated like something I would like to see happen someday.

This is not the attitude you need to have in order to get things done. In fact, just having a goal sort of sets you up for failure if you tell everyone about it. This is because you get a hit of dopamine just by talking about your lofty goals. This sense of accomplishment actually prevents you from then going on to pursue the goal.

So, in short, if less than 1 in 10 people achieve a goal, there’s probably something wrong with the way we set goals.

What Is The Difference Between An End Goal & A Project?

My current view (and I am working on this as I write this) is that we need to turn goals into projects. Think about it. Goals get talked about. Projects get done. Imagine you had a goal to paint the walls in your bedroom.

If you used the “goal setting” formula, you would bust out a piece of paper and write down your goal. You may even go cut out pictures of people smiling next to their beautifully painted bedroom walls. You would tell all your friends and family your intentions. You might join a Facebook group and share your goal of painting your bedroom wall.

Heck, you might even pick out a color or two or three!

And then you would wait. You would talk about it when it comes up, but you wouldn’t really “do” anything. Maybe you read a book about painting or go to a painting class, or even funnier – buy an online course about painting your bedroom walls.

But at the end of the day, it seems like nothing gets done when you set an “end goal” and do nothing further.

Instead, think about turning that goal into a project. If painting your bedroom becomes a project, you would actually create a plan. First, you would choose a deadline when the walls have to be painted by. Then, everything else would work backward from that point.

Here are the aspects I’ve uncovered when it comes to what to focus on in a project. Again, this is a work in progress, but it’s a good starting point:

  • Time – an indefinite period (usually marked by specific attributes or activities)
  • Talent – aptitude or skill
  • Tenacity – the quality or fact of continuing to exist; persistence
  • Tribe – External group community that supports you and provides feedback
  • Team – Internal group who works on the project with you
  • Trail- Your steps to get there. This is like a Plan or Strategy
  • Target- The end goal you want to achieve including your vision.

What you want to do is focus on each of these areas and fill in the gaps. Obviously, there’s so much more that can be said about this topic and I’ll continue to write about it. But, you really want to change the way you think about goals from now on.

So, to complete the analogy. If you were going to paint your bedroom as a project, you would choose the date it will be done by and the dates you will do the painting. You will make sure you or someone you hire has the talent to perform the task. Your tenacity must exist or you’ll never do the job.

You can consult your tribe (aka Home Depot) for help on choosing the right type of paint, etc. You assemble your team of painters from people you know who can help you. You create the plan of attack. Who will tape the corners, who will paint, who will move the bed?

And you have your final target set – your end goal. You make sure that everyone knows what is expected of them.

Then you go do what you have to do.

Final Thoughts On End Goals

End goals aren’t bad things. I don’t want to come across in that way. I just want you to start thinking of goals as one small part of the bigger picture. Goals are dreams. They are fun to talk about, but rarely do they come to pass.

Projects, on the other hand, are very tangible. They require thought and planning. They get done. The really great news is there’s a whole world of project management theory out there to learn from.

My goal is to take everything I’ve picked up from project management and planning (I got an MBA btw lol) and apply it to goal setting. I hope you’ll join me on this journey.

Any questions, comments, advice, etc please share below.

How To Save Time: 15 Real-World Strategies

productivity

How To Save Time

Let’s share a truth about how to save time. There is a common theme among the top performers in all fields: they know how to get more done in less time. They are productivity machines. They don’t do everything perfectly—no one can (and if you think you can, you’re wrong), but they do everything well enough. And they save huge amounts of time and energy by making sure that what they do does the biggest possible impact. I’ve worked with many of these high-achieving individuals. And in this post, I’m going to share with you some of their secrets for saving time so you can reach your potential faster than before.

Setup A Calendar And Stick To It As Best You Can

Looking at your calendar everyday is a great way to save time. You don’t have to keep a calendar to be productive, but all the productive people I know do. Personally, I use Google Calendar because it’s free and because it integrates so well into all my existing G-Suite setups.

What you want to do is check your calendar for the week. Set aside about an hour to plan out your week by looking at the calendar and writing down all your meetings and calls or class times, etc. Whatever you “have'” to do that week.

Write them down and order them by date. Now, go back through and add into your week all the “soft” things you have to do. I always add time blocks for thinking, planning, and working on my own personal projects.

If you don’t set aside time for yourself, you’ll always have a struggle with time management.

Prioritize Your Most Important Things First

This one is pretty simple but it’s important. You want to go back through your to do list and put the items in priority of importance. Make sure you do get the big stuff done first. This will allow you to save time because you’ll soon discover that only the big items really matter that much as far as productivity goes.

This is due to the 80/20 principle, also known as the Pareto principle. If you haven’t seen that before, this video should help:

Plan And Schedule Around Your Most Productive Time Of Day

Us humans are very interesting. We have certain times of day where we function better than others. Interesting. So, what I tell people is to figure out how to take advantage of that. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

If you’re an early bird, try to get up even earlier and work first on your most productive tasks. You can (and should) be in a quiet area where you can focus. For me, I prefer total silence. Others like to have music playing. For me, the music is a distraction.

The key is intense focus on the right tasks.

Same goes for night owls. I used to be a night owl, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve morphed into more of a morning person. But, when you’re up late, you can get a lot done because again it’s quiet and you’re not getting interrupted constantly by kids, co-workers, or other people.

Don’t Give Up Your Breaks And Lunch Time

This is more of a “don’t” but I figured I would add it in. If you are looking for how to save time, don’t steal it from yourself. You should take full advantage of your breaks and of lunch time.

Just working through every break and lunch can be ok in crunch time, but over the long haul you’ll tend to burn yourself out. What I like to do during lunch is to watch an educational show on YouTube or even listen to a podcast.

Now, when I am going through an intermittent fasting protocol, I do sometimes work through lunch and that’s been great for me. So, there is that option. However, like all things in life, balance is important.

Prioritize Right, The First Time Around

Another easy one, but I want to reiterate it. You want to really make sure you are focusing on doing the right things, instead of doing everything. One way to do that is to rank your priorities with a prioritization matrix, like this one from Process.st:

From Process.st

The first things you want to do are the things that are both important and highly urgent. I know this seems like common sense, but many times we get lured into doing things that are urgent but low on the importance list.

These things rob of our time but make us feel like we are accomplishing things. So, be very careful with those types of items.

Learn How To Say ‘No’ Gracefully)

Saying no took me a long time to get right. I still struggle with it every now and again, but I have gotten way better at it. If you really are asking how to save time, then saying NO is probably your best answer.

We get so caught up in saying yes, because in our minds yes means more opportunity. But the reality is we don’t need more opportunity, we need more execution. And saying yes to new things actually forces you to say no to other things.

So, if you struggle with the idea of saying no, just remember that there isn’t a world in which you can’t say no. In fact, when we say yes to things we really shouldn’t say yes to, we end up saying no to those we love most – usually friends and family.

And that’s a real tragedy.

Fight The Time Crunch By Doing Just 2 Things Each Day

This one isn’t a “command” so to speak, but a suggestion. If you want to really get things done, try focusing on less things. Imagine if you just got 2 big things done per day, 5 days a week. That’s 10 big things.

Over an average working year, that’s 500 BIG things you got done. And if you focus really hard for 4-5 hours a day, odds are you can get 2 things done each day. This is a real secret of effective time management.

You can get more done in less time because you are doing less and focusing on what really moves the needle. This is a key time-saving tactic.

Find A Way To Delegate Things You Don’t Enjoy

Delegation is a time-savers best friend. Forget trying to do everything. If what you’re doing doesn’t “spark” joy or really get results for you then either stop doing it or outsource it to someone else.

This one can be tough until you get some money built up, so one strategy you can look for is to time trade with other people. Look for a person who will do a job for you and you can do a job for them.

It makes it a lot easier to trade time when you have more time than money. Eventually though, when you can afford it, you’ll want to outsource any task that you are uniquely qualified for.

Get The Biggest Payoff For Your Time Investment

This one is more of a question you must ask yourself. Am I getting the biggest payoff for my time? You should assign yourself an hourly rate. Could be $10 or it could be $1000. The point is that the rate must be in the realm of possiblity.

Use that number as your payoff number. Would you pay someone that much money per hour to do the task for you? If not, then you really shouldn’t do it. If your average earnings per hour is $50,then why mow your own lawn unless you really enjoy it?

Again, you will save time using this strategy and you’ll ultimately save money if your put your time savings to work for you and earn more money with that time.

But that being said…

Maximize Your Free Time

When you’re asking about how to save time, you may be asking the wrong question. You see, you need to ask yourself what the purpose is of your new free time. I submit to you that you should focus on how to maximize your free time, which is another way of saying getting the most out of it.

Do you LOVE working and producing? That’s great then, do more of that. Do you love to read? Read more! Watching TV your thing, though it’s not mine, hey more power to you!

Just make sure that you take time to enjoy life, that’s my point. Get the most out of life because you only get one shot.

Cut Down On The Number Of Meetings You Attend

Let’s face it. Most meetings are boring. You really can’t get out of them through, right? Actually, you can and you should. At work, if someone suggests a meeting just reply with something like..

Is there a particular reason we need to have a meeting on this? Can we try to resolve it via email first? I have a very full week and can’t do another meeting right now.

That’s it. Just try it and you’ll be amazed. This works face to face, over zoom, in your inbox, slack, wherever. It wont’ work 100% of the time, but it will cut down on meetings. Meetings eat up a ton of time because of the pleasantries involved.

If you must have a meeting, make sure you stick to a tight schedule and stay focused. Don’t go off into planning detailed executions. Save that for another time.

Get More Done With Less Effort (MEMO Principle)

I created a name for getting more done with less effort. I call it the MEMO principle. Minimum Effort Maximum Outcome. This doesn’t mean you want to slack off, instead if means you want to look for points of leverage in everything you do.

Case in point, I used to spend about 90 minutes a day exercising. This included driving to the gym working out for 45 minutes, driving back home, etc.

Then I discovered a system known as the X3, you can see my X3 Review here. This workout system allows me to workout in 10 minutes from home. I now save 80 minutes a day, 6 days a week.

That’s leverage. And the best part? I actually get better results too!

Set A Time To Check And Respond To Emails

Here’s another simple hack for how to save time. Set aside a time of day to check emails. I recommend during a break after your first working session. There’s no law that says you have to check email constantly.

Imagine how weird it would be if the mail carrier showed up and rang the doorbell everytime you got a letter. Multiple times per day. You would get super annoyed. Yet, with email we allow that.

Do your best to turn off the notifcations and check your email on your schedule. Let your co-workers know this is how you do email and they’ll accept it.

Double Up On Tasks

I call this trick the two-fer. Look to combine tasks that can be combined. They say you can’t do two things at once, but that’s not entirely true. It’s near impossible to do two tasks at once that both require cognitive function.

For example, it is impossible to listen to an audiobook while reading on your kindle. But, what you can do is combine something like listening to an audiobook while walking. Now, you get in your walking and your audiobook.

I do this all the time with phone calls. I pretty much walk on every call I do. This gets me out of the office, increases my steps, and makes me more creative on my calls. Most of my calls these days are all about strategy anyway, so the better I can think the better the results will be.

Use The Power Of The Tomato Timer

Ok, you may know it as the Pomodoro Timer, but Pomodoro is actually Italian for Tomato. All you do with this strategy is to set a timer for 25 minutes and focus on a single task during that time.

When the timer goes off, take a 5 minute mental break. It helps to stand up and walk a bit and stretch. At the end of the 5 minutes, sit and work again for a 25 minute block.

By doing this, you’ll find that you can work a solid, focused 50 minutes out of the hour. I’ve not found a better way to get creative projects done especially, then with this method.

Final Thoughts

I am hopeful this article gave you some strategies you can use as you continue to ask how to save time in your life. Some apply more to business, but all of them can be taken and used by you if you just think them through.

Whether you want to just have more free time or spend more time on your business, saving time from the mundane is the way to go. Focus on outsourcing or delegating what you can to other people, cut down on meetings, keep to your calendar, and combine tasks whenever you can.

By doing this, you will be more productive than you ever thought possible.

If you enjoyed this article, please check out my series on how to take good notes, which is another potential way to save time by allowing you to learn faster.

Decision Making Models: 10 Proven Mental Models

mental models

10 Decision Making Models For Life & Business Decisions

Let’s face it, making decisions can be tough. Even worse, the hard decisions usually have the biggest impact on life outcome. I’ve been lucky enough to have success in my business and in my life (with plenty of failures and screwups along the way!).

But, as I’ve “aged gracefully” I’ve come upon 10 Mental Models For Decision Making that really help me live a better life and make better decisions.

Let’s quickly define what a decision making model is, shall we?

Decision making means the process of selecting the best choices among various options.

From Tough Nickel

That’s about as easy as it gets, right? Our goal here is to make the decision making process easier by giving you a model you can follow and use again and again so you don’t have to waste time creating a framework for every decision.

By reading this post and applying these lessons, I believe you can get the results in life you’ve been looking for.

So, let’s go. This post won’t be fluff, just straight to the point about what it takes and how to make decisions.

Decision Making Models: Yes Or No?

The most usual decision we have to make it a yes or a no decision. Do we do the thing or not? This is a binary decision and many of life’s decisions are binary, whether we like it or not.

Do we turn left or right? Do we go back to school now or not? So, the simple formula I like to use now is this one.

I don’t make the decision a YES OR NO, decision. Instead, I ask myself if it’s an EMPHATIC yes or a no. The no is easy. It’s just a no. I don’t want to do that. But there are many things I would like to do that I really don’t have time for.

I run multiple brands so opportunity for me is in excess. I have to keep my options open, but every YES takes away from another area of my life.

That is why when presented with an opportunity, I only say YES if I am truly excited, bursting out the seams, ready to go, etc.

And if it’s not an emphatic yes, it’s a no.

I first heard this idea from Derek Sivers on the Tim Ferriss podcast. Check it out for more on this great decision making model.

Decision Making Models: Ranking On A Scale Of 1-10

We all love the ranking system, right? On a scale of 1 -10, how likely do you want to do something, etc?

It’s a great way for us to gauge our interest in a subject, and crudely, it’s been a way for people to judge the attractiveness of other people. “The guy is a 3 or this woman is a solid 9!”

I’ll use the attractiveness rating scale in order for this to make the most sense, because it’s the easiest to visualize.

The decision making model here is really simple. When rating a person, you can’t give them a 7. 7’s are a copout. That’s basically saying the person is attractive, but not really enough for you to want to ask them out.

Instead, make this the rule. Again, I am talking about attractiveness here, but this can be used to rank school choice, job opportunities, etc.

Get rid of 7 as an option. There are no 7’s… If you think something is a 7, you must instead choose a 6 or an 8.

And think about that in attractiveness. An 8 is WAY different than a 6, right? Use this in conjunction with the emphatic YES concept to make sure you actually make an informed decision.

Read more about this mental model here.

Decision Making Models: The Hard Choice

This is a simple maxim, but it really works. If you are faced with a decision, the right decision is usually the one that is HARDER to do.

Should you go to the gym and workout or stay home and relax on the couch? Which is tougher? Go to the gym!

Should I eat healthily or chow down on bacon cheese fries? Which is harder to do? Eat Healthy!

You really can’t go wrong if you make the harder choice. And here’s the thing. If you don’t make the harder choice now, life will force you to make a harder choice later on, anyway.

If you eat crappy your whole life, you’ll most likely develop diabetes and have heart issues as you get older. Life will force you to cut back on sugar and fats, etc. Make the hard choice now and you’ll never regret it.

Decision Making Models: Delayed Gratification

This goes along with the previous mental model, but whenever possible, delay gratification. Delayed gratification is usually the harder choice as well, but it pays dividends.

You can choose to satisfy yourself now or wait. If you wait, you usually receive compounding benefits.

An easy example is saving money. Sure you can spend money now on things you think you want. But then that money is gone. You have spent it on an item and that item only provides so much value.

If you had invested that money and waited to buy the thing you want, you could have earned enough of a return on your investment for the interest to have paid for the item. In other words, it would be “free” in that sense.

If you get the chance to delay gratification, take it!

Decision Making Models: Time > Money

This is an issue I see in a lot of people. They value their money way more than they do their time. This is because they haven’t looked at how much time they actually have left.

Do yourself a morbid favor. Fill out an actuary table and see when you are statistically most likely to die.

Here’s a good actuary table.

I just did mine again and my life expectancy is 87 years. As of this post, I am 39 years old. If all goes to plan, I have 48 years left. That’s 17,520 days. Not a lot.

If that was all the money you had, wouldn’t you spend it a little wiser? That is why I try to spend my money MORE than I spend my time. I don’t buy cheap stuff that breaks and requires me to replace it often.

I don’t drive all around time looking to save 5 cents per gallon my gas.

I also know that because of my copywriting skills, I can make more money with my time than I can by trying to save money being thrifty.

Remember your time is more valuable than your money.

Decision Making Models: Prioritize Relationships That Matter When You’re 80

This one is simple and one that I have gotten better at as I’ve gotten older. I see this trait in men a lot (including myself). But it’s true for all of us. Many times we get caught up in the busy schedules of life and we prioritize work and “things” over people.

The right decision making model is to prioritize the relationships that will matter the most to you when you’re 80. When you’re 80 years old, your job doesn’t really matter anymore, the PTA doesn’t matter, you often find that most of what you spent your time on was frivolous in many ways.

So, make the choice right now to focus on the people closest to you. Your spouse or significant other, your siblings, children, family, friends, etc. No one gets to their death bed and wishes they worked more.

This also includes focusing and spending time with your parents if they are still around. Even though they most likely won’t’ be there when you’re 80, you’ll have plenty of time to think about them. Make sure you look back on your life knowing you spent as much time with your parents as you possibly could.

Decision Making Models: Family Is More Important Than Opportunity

This goes along with the previous mental model for decision making. When given a choice between family and opportunity, I’ve made the choice to choose family.

Now, this may not be right for you. I haven’t met your family – they could be crazy! But, in general, this goes with my theory that it’s better to prioritize people over profits. Money only does so much and really after a certain amount doesn’t affect your happiness level much.

According to CNBC:

A 2010 study out of Princeton University found that there’s a correlation between happiness and wealth, to a point of about $75,000 per year. When people make more than $75,000 a year, their happiness doesn’t increase, but the lower their income is the worse they feel, the study found.

So, if you have to choose one or the other – choose family. You will be a lot happier in the long run.

Decision Making Models: Outsource As Much As Possible

This is a mental model I’ve had for a long time thanks to my natural business-like personality.

OUTSOURCE EVERYTHING!

If you are presented with a task, you should only do that task if at least one of the following is true:

A. You can’t afford to have someone else do it

B. You are the BEST person to do this job.

C. You will learn something valuable that will help you over the long-term.

D. You get immense satisfaction out of performing the task

If you don’t meet at least one of those criteria, then you should outsource it. Give the task to somebody else that likes doing it or that needs the money. You’re creating jobs that way, which has such an incredible impact on people’s lives.

I know that early on you can’t outsource and that’s fine. But, as soon as you can, start getting rid of as many things as you can. This goes with the Time is greater than Money Mental Model as well.

If you haven’t read the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, it’s a great place to start learning all about how to outsource.

Decision Making Models: Process Over Outcome

It takes a while to get used to this decision-making model. But it’s so worth it. This is more about how to prioritize what to focus on and for how long.

The gist is this.

Never concern yourself with the outcome, other than to decide what the best outcome would be and make that into a goal. That’s great and very helpful.

But after that, forget about it. You see, we can’t control the final outcome of anything. Our lives are left up to fate and luck in many ways. Yes, with skill and determination we have a great say in what happens.

But never 100%.

So, I have learned to not put pressure on myself to achieve a certain outcome “no matter what”. Instead, focus on the process.

Focus on what you control. Everything else is an illusion that you create in your own mind to give you a false sense of security. The world is a scary place in many ways. We are like a ship at sea in a violent storm.

All we can do is focus on the process. If we are the ship at sea, we can navigate around the rocks, we can hoist the sails, and prepare the boat… plug holes and hire a great crew. But we can’t control the storm. We can’t control if we hit a rock we can’t see.

The important lesson here is to make decisions where you feel like you will enjoy the process no matter what the outcome is. If you would only do the project IF you get the result you want, then don’t do it.

The goal is that by doing the project or task, the process is enjoyable and educational enough that just gaining the experience is rewarding enough.

Decision Making Models: Invest Like A “PIMP”

I’ve saved the most interesting for last. This is one of the criteria I look for when I’m going to invest in a company or project. Or if I decide to take on a consulting project or not. Because I’m a nut for acronyms, I’ve come up with this (maybe now culturally insensitive) word PIMP.

It helps remind me to look at my investment options with a certain order of ranking. The ranking goes like this:

P – People

I – Idea

M – Market Size

P – Product

Here’s my rationale behind this. Firstly, people are everything. If you put 5 smart people in a room and give them a business model, they’ll most likely make it work. Especially if they are smart, experienced people. So, I’ve got to LOVE the people and believe in them 100%

The idea is very important, but again, not as important as the right people. But, it’s # 2 for me. I want to make sure that the idea of the company makes sense and is exciting. I want to see a BIG IDEA that is attempting to solve a big problem.

Because of my marketing background, I also want to see how the marketing idea plays with the company idea. I like ideas that spark multiple campaigns.

Then there’s market size. Some investors look at this as a really big deal. Obviously, I like to see an addressable market to start with, but I don’t always have to see a MASSIVE market. My reasoning for this is simple.

We never really know the market size. Think about Facebook. When it started the market size was Harvard, then other Universities, then basically the world. Very few investors could have ever know the that total addressable market for Facebook was everyone with an internet connection or smartphone.

As a matter of fact, smartphones didn’t even exist when Facebook started up, so no one could have predicted it.

Same with the automobile.

My point is a great product aimed at the right people will eventually find or create a large market. But, I do like to see at least some addressable market so it’s not a complete moon shot.

And finally, we have the product. Why is this last for me? Basically, because the product can always be fixed and updated. Once you start selling into the market, you’ll get lots of customer feedback and they will let you know what they want.

I’ve seen this firsthand with Roam Research. The user community has helped take the product to incredible heights. So, I look for a good product and a good idea, but it doesn’t have to impress me at first.

I know it will get better over time.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this post. It’s always important to think about thinking. Become aware. Use these mental models to guide you as you face decisions.

The other benefit to having mental models is found in a test question I’ve seen:

What effect do mental models have on the decision-making process?

Answer: They allow decision makers to maximize the potential of their decision making.

This is key. You want to maximize your decisions always. You can do this by having a chosen framework you use when it comes time to decide. If you know that you always make the harder choice, think about how easy it becomes to make a lot of decisions.

This is how you create habits. Create a system that basically does the work for you. Over time, you won’t even think about it. It will become the way you are.

What sort of decisions are you facing right now? Leave a comment and ask away and we can work together on what decision making models are right for you.

Also please consider sharing this post on social media if you like it. 🙂

Habit Tracker Bullet Journal For Roam Research [Guide]

habits

Many people are looking for a habit tracker bullet journal guide or example. In this post, I’m going to show you how I take the spirit of the bullet journal concept and apply it to Roam Research.

There are many things that can be tracked, but for my example I’m going to show you what I track and how I track it. I’ll also give you the exact “code” I use so you can set this up yourself to create your own habit tracker bullet journal for Roam.

Maybe you’ll make it a habit to take good notes, which I think could be a life-changing habit to add to your life. Beylikdüzü escort

Habit Tracker Bullet Journal Table Of Contents

Why You Should Use A Habit Tracker Bullet Journal In Roam

Famed management guru Peter Drucker said it best.

What gets measured, gets managed.

Peter Drucker

So, if you want to create lasting change in your life, you need to start tracking your habits and becoming “aware”. The truth is you already are relying on habits to run your life. It’s the nature of being human that we rely on habits to reduce our cognitive load.

By becoming conscious of our habits, we can track them and over time get rid of old habits and create new habits. But the key is that we must be aware and we must track. Otherwise, we will slide back into our “old ways” and the change we seek will stop.

What Should I Track With My Habit Tracker Bullet Journal?

There are so many things that you can track, the list is really up to you. However, in general, there are a few areas that most of us should be tracking. I’m going to list out for you now what I am presently tracking. Erotik Film, Erotik Film izle

List Of Habits To Track:

Supplements/Medicines:

Diet & Exercise

Other

  • Brush (I like Quip for this – feels good)
  • Floss
  • Washed Face
  • Fluency Control (this is to help control my stutter)
  • Created Something
  • Listened To Audible Book
  • Read On My Kindle

I track a few other things that I didn’t include, but I wanted to give you a great start on ideas of things you can track.

Now if you are using a habit tracker bullet journal, this video shows how you to do that:

How to track habits in a bullet journal

But for this blog post, I want to focus on how to create your own habit tracker bullet journal inside of Roam Research.

Habit Tracker Bullet Journal In Roam Research

Now, if you are using Roam Research yet then you need to go sign up. It’s relatively inexpensive and it can absolutely change your life. It’s a sort of note taking tool that really has changed my entire life.

Get a free trial here.

And I also want to say that I didn’t create this idea of Habit Tracking in Roam. I watched a lot of Youtube Videos about this and the ones that were most helpful were Anonym.s and Shu Omi.

Video Walkthrough Of Setting Up Habit Tracking In Roam Research

Here’s a video walkthrough if you prefer learning that way.

What you want to do is to create a table inside of Roam. You can create a table by typing /table and pressing enter.

You will then see something that looks like this:

Underneath the table, you will then want to create the things you want to track. For my sample, I will use my Supplements tracking.

Make sure you tab over one to the right so that you are indented underneath the table (The blank bullet in my screenshot). Press tab to indent.

Start by giving a name to what you will be tracking. In my case, I will type “Supplements”. You should now see this is the top left name of the table.

Now, press enter and tab over one and type out Monday. Press enter, tab again, and type Tuesday. Do this until you have completed the days of the week. Note that you can start on any day of the week you want or you could do this weekly if you wanted like Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, etc.

When done it should look like this:

If you look at your Table now, you will have 8 column titles… starting with Supplements and running all the way through Sunday.

Now that we have the columns, we need to start putting in the rows. To do that, press enter again and use “shift + tab” until your bullet is now even again with “Supplements”. Then type the first thing you want to track. You should keep these all on the same indentation just pressing enter after each one.

In my case I would type:

Testosterone (enter)
DECA (enter)
HCG (enter)
AI Blocker (enter)
Vitamin D (enter)
In Perium (enter)
Collagen (enter)
Fortagen (enter)

At this point you’ll see that you have rows and colums and it should look like this:

If you have any extra rows showing up at this point that’s ok. It should fix itself when we do the final step here which is to add a checkbox so we can mark a field as “complete”.

To do this, we want to go back to the different things we want to track. Let’s start with Testosterone again. Click on the Testosterone line and press enter. Now tab one over. If you had any weird formatting issues, they should be gone now.

What we want do to now is add a checkmark that can be toggled On/Off. Thankfully, this feature is built into Roam Research.

So go ahead and type /todo and this will create a checkbox for you. If you are feeling fancy you can also type the code in directly which is {{[[TODO]]}} or you can hit CMD Enter or CRTL Enter and this will also insert the TO DO box.

Press enter and tab over again. Insert the TODO code. Do this again and again (enter and tab) and you should see the checkboxes being added underneath the day of the week.

It should look like this when done:

And your Table should look like this:

To finish off the table, you will just repeat the same step again underneath each of the things you are tracking.

To make it easier for you, you can “cheat” and use this code below. Although, I recommend doing it yourself a few times so you know how to better tweak it later.

- Supplements
    - {{[[table]]}}
        - Supplements
            - Monday
                - Tuesday
                    - Wednesday
                        - Thursday
                            - Friday
                                - Saturday
                                    - Sunday
        - Test
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - 
        - GACLIV
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - 
                                    - 
        - DECA
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - 
                    - 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - 
                                - 
                                    - 
        - HCG
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - 
        - AI Blocker
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - 
                                    - 
        - Vitamin D
            - 
                - 
                    - 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - 
                                - 
                                    - 
        - In Perium
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - 
        - Collagen
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - 
        - Fortagen
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
- Diet & Exercise
    - {{[[table]]}}
        - Diet & Exercise
            - Monday
                - Tuesday
                    - Wednesday
                        - Thursday
                            - Friday
                                - Saturday
                                    - Sunday
        - 16/8 Fasting
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
        - Kept It Lower Carb
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
        - X3
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - 
        - Walked 10,000 steps
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
        - Meditation
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
        - Breathing
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 

        - Sauna
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
        - Cold Shower
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
        - Oxygen Restriction
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
- Other
    - {{[[table]]}}
        - Other
            - Monday
                - Tuesday
                    - Wednesday
                        - Thursday
                            - Friday
                                - Saturday
                                    - Sunday
        - Brush
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
        - Floss
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
        - Washed Face
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
        - Fluency Control
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}} 
        - Created Something
            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                    {{[[TODO]]}} 
                        - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                            - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                - {{[[TODO]]}} 
                                    - {{[[TODO]]}}

When you paste that into Roam you should be good to go.

A Few Advanced Tweaks For Your Habit Tracker Bullet Journal

Here’s a few more things I do to make it easy on myself.

First, save your habit tables on a page called either Metadata or Templates. That way you can always grab or edit the code as needed.

My Metadata setup looks like this:

Those are different types of metadata that I track in Roam Research. Let’s look closer at the Habit Tracking section by opening up that bullet.

If you were to open up each of those 3 bullets, you would see the full table code as I shared above.

Now, here’s one more cool thing and this feature just came out.

How To Replicate Your Habit Tracker In Just A Click

Next to the word Habit Tracking I added another page called roam/templates. To create that page you would just type [[roam/templates]].

This allows you to turn all the sub-bullets into a template that can be used anywhere you want it.

To do this, just make sure you’ve added [[roam/templates]] next to the Habit Tracking Bullet. All the sub-bullets underneath the Habit Tracking bullet (nested bullets) will be copied over when you load the template.

How do you load the template? It’s actually really easy.

Put your mouse where you want the Habit Tracker template to go. Type the following:

;;

That’s 2 semi-colons. Now a pop-up will appear and you can just choose the Habit Tracker page and like magic, your template appears.

Pretty cool and this is gonna save so much time for me going forward.

Final Thoughts

What I do is daily or every few days I go in and I check off the habits that I follow through on. The goal is to get as many habits per day that you can. And ultimately you don’t want to break the chain.

I also don’t track every habit for every day. Some are weekly. Like my Vitamin D. In those instances, I just leave those days of the week blank. You do this by hitting enter and moving on to the next tab.

Another advanced thing you could try (which I don’t do yet) is you could track other things besides a YES/NO. For example, for my Wim Hof breathing, I track how long I hold my breath. I could insert that time as a number in order to see how I’m progressing instead of the checkbox.

Alright, if you found this helpful, please consider following me on Twitter where I share more stuff like this. Also, my Youtube Channel.

And if you’re in marketing or need to write better ad copy to sell your stuff, check out Copywriter Brain where I teach how I use Roam Research and a slew of tools to write killer copy faster and easier than ever.

HOW TO SET GOALS FOR 2021 AND BEYOND: 7 Proven Steps 

Uncategorized

HOW TO SET GOALS FOR 2021 AND BEYOND 

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 Is 2020 over yet? This is one of the most popular questions being asked by many of us these days!   

Background, 2020, Christmas, Bokeh, Blue, Silver

 

2020, without a doubt, is a year like no other. The word unprecedented has become synonymous with this year and over-used repeatedly and often times ad nauseum. But, it rings true! 2020 has been beyond unprecedented. Hell, it’s almost seemed apocalyptic at times.   

 

From global pandemics to Presidential elections to natural disasters, there’s no need to re-hash all of the craziness that has happened this year. But, hopefully, in between the stress, anxiety, fear, sadness, hardship, loss, turmoil, and resentment, each and every one of you have been able to see a small glimmer of the silver lining. 

It is important to find something, anything to be thankful for – no matter how difficult 2020 may have been for you. Perhaps, you’ve learned to appreciate the small things in life that you took for granted in years past, like a roll of toilet paper or a walk outside in the fresh air.   

 

Toilet Paper, Role, Happy Role, Smilies, Emotions

A new year brings hope, and we all need some hope right about now.  There are a myriad of things to feel bitter about as 2020 did not go as many of us planned, but it’s almost over. We have a new year and a new beginning to look forward to and a chance to try this again, a do over if you will.  

 

Before we begin, let’s all just take a deep breath. Inhale all that is good and exhale all the bad air and negativity. Breathe in … Breathe out! 

 

Now bring on 2021!  

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New Year, 2021, Moon, New Year'S Eve, Man, Silhouette

 

And, don’t look back. Let’s just consider 2020 done and let’s forge ahead. You may not be ready to set goals for 2021, but you have to start somewhere. There is no better time than right now whether you believe it or not because I believe in you, and I’m here to support you.  

 

The hardest part is knowing where to begin so here are a few tips to get you started.  

 

The first piece of advice I have for you is do not set New Year’s Resolutions. The very term sets you up for failure and in 2021 we are not going to fail. In fact, “the statistics on how many people actually follow through and accomplish their New Year’s resolutions are rather grim.

Studies have shown that less than 25% of people actually stay committed to their resolutions after just 30 days, and only 8% accomplish them. Don’t be part of that statistic. This year, set goals instead of resolutions.”1 

 

There are a number of ideas and different types of goals to set in 2021. The whole process can seem overwhelming, but to get the juices flowing, you need to start visualizing the goals. Here are some ideas for 2021 and beyond:   

 

❖Reading and Educational Goals  
❖Couple Goals   
❖Family Goals    
❖Financial Goals
❖Business Goals 
❖Exercise and Fitness Goals  
❖Health and Eating Goals   
❖Spiritual Goals  
❖Career Goals 
❖Social Goals  

 

Now let’s get started!  

 

HOW TO SET GOALS FOR 2021 & BEYOND – STEP #1: FREE YOUR MIND  

 

Write everything down. It seems daunting but unless it’s on paper and formed into existence it won’t happen. Your goals need to be set in stone (or paper in this case), and your 2021 goals need to be actionable and based in reality.  Write your 2021 goals down. Do a data dump. Whatever comes to mind just write it down. It doesn’t have to be grammatically correct or formatted perfectly, just get all of your thoughts down and get them out of your mind.  

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Goals, Setting, Office, Work, Note, Hand Writting

 

HOW TO SET GOALS FOR 2021 & BEYOND – STEP #2:  START ORGANIZING

 

Once you have created a broad list with all of your ideas – start breaking it down into smaller pieces and drill them down into more actionable and doable items. It’s time to create a to-do list, but don’t be overwhelmed. Just start making the list. The most important thing to remember is a to-do without a when will never happen. Once the list is a bit more organized, you can start assigning definitive dates and times.  

  

 HOW TO SET GOALS FOR 2021 & BEYOND – STEP #3:  GET INSPIRED

 

Setting goals should be fun. It should be an event that brings you joy and the hope and promise of something to look forward to and achieve in 2021. So, splurge a little. Invest in a planner or themed calendar that will inspire you. Purchase an app that is designed to help do the planning for you and will keep you organized. This is your life and your life goals so make an investment in you!  

 

HOW TO SET GOALS FOR 2021 & BEYOND – STEP #4:  ENSURE GOALS ARE MEASURABLE  

 

Make sure your 2021 goals are measurable. For example, save $100 more per month by skipping that morning run to the coffee shop and invest in a Roth IRA instead. Goals that are measurable can be crossed off a list and provide a sense of accomplishment. If a goal seems too large or unattainable, break it down into smaller parts that can be measured, like losing 2 pounds per week to reach that 20-pound goal.   

Small wins matter so take the win and keep striving to achieve those 2021 goals.

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Hourglass, Clock, Time, Deadline, Hour, Rush, Hurry

 

HOW TO SET GOALS FOR 2021 & BEYOND – STEP #5: ESTABLISH AND STICK TO DEADLINES   

 

The best intentions of establishing 2021 goals mean nothing if you set them and forget them. Remember, a to-do that is not connected to a when will never get done. A timeline and a deadline should be tied to each goal. Goals should be reviewed and assessed on a regular basis whether it be weekly, monthly or quarterly, but holding yourself accountable is vital to accomplishing your goals.

 

HOW TO SET GOALS FOR 2021 & BEYOND – STEP #6:  FIND YOUR GOAL PEOPLE

 

Setting goals and staying focused is hard and that is why it’s always easier when you have a strong support system. Find a friend, family member, co-worker … anyone. Create a positive network and find the people that will help to hold you accountable. Whether it be couple goals, fitness goals, or reading goals, find the people that will help you reach your goals for 2021.  

 

HOW TO SET GOALS FOR 2021 & BEYOND – STEP #7:  BELIEVE IN YOUR GOALS

 

Believe in your goals and believe in yourself! If your friend wants to work on fitness goals by running every day, but you despise running … then don’t commit to that goal. Setting yourself up for failure is not an option. When setting goals for 2021 and beyond, you must, I repeat MUST, believe in the goals you have created or else the whole process will not work.  

 

MAKING YOUR 2021 GOALS A REALITY

 

If Frank Sinatra were re-writing one of his most popular songs today, he would most definitely say if we can make it here, we can make it anywhere. If you’re reading this article – you did it – you survived 2020. We are in the home stretch and can start to look forward to the promise of a new year!

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Road, New Year, 2021, City, Buildings, Skyscrapers

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If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s to go with the flow, learn to adapt, realize that things may not go as planned. And, most importantly to always have plan b through z in your back pocket. Utilizing these strategies will help you get thru 2021 and beyond, but sometimes we could all use a little help. Whether you want to launch a new career in 2021, lose weight in 2021, or improve body, mind and spirit in 2021 …

I’m here for you! My name is Mike Giannulis and I want to help you get there and start working towards and accomplishing your goals for 2021 and beyond. We don’t know what lies ahead or where the road may take us but setting a clearer path will help. So, let’s rip off the 2020 band-aid and get started today! Contact me to start your 2021 journey. 

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1.(2018) Forbes. This Year, Don’t Set New Year’s Resolutions available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashiraprossack1/2018/12/31/goals-not-resolutions/?sh=72da90963879 accessed on 14 December 2020.

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How To Write A Nonfiction Book In 21 Simple Steps

Writing

If you want to know how to write a nonfiction book, you’ve come to the right place.

We are going to focus on 21 simple steps to help you learn how to write a nonfiction book. This post is not meant to have much fluff and it’s going to focus on a 21 step process I have used to write my first nonfiction book which is coming out soon.

The truth is, you can learn how to write a nonfiction book fast IF you have all of your notes ready to go from the start. That’s the real secret to writing nonfiction books in 30 days.

The key is you don’t want to start from scratch. You want, instead, to pull from notes that already exist that you’ve made along the way.

You can check out this video by Ryan Holiday to see the process in action:

How To Write a Nonfiction Book Fast (The 21 Steps)

Table Of Contents

  1. Intention
  2. Destination
  3. Compensation
  4. Collection
  5. Inspection
  6. Rejection
  7. Selection
  8. Injection
  9. Extraction
  10. Education
  11. Reflection
  12. Connection
  13. Question
  14. Consolidation
  15. Formation
  16. Summation
  17. Citation
  18. Fortification
  19. Production
  20. Publication
  21. Distribution

If you like this content I may come back and flesh these sections out into more individual posts. Let me know by leaving a comment or contacting me.

Step 1 – Intention

You have to choose what it is you want to learn or create. So, if your goal is to write a nonfiction book fast then you want to sent the intention. Decide what you want to write about so you can start looking for materials.

Step 2 – Destination

Begin with the end in mind, as Dr. Covey so famously said. Create a specific goal or place you want to end up going with this project. What’s the “end game”? This is a real key to the whole process if you are serious about learning how to write a nonfiction book.

Step 3 – Compensation

Decide what’s in it for you. How will you get paid for this knowledge you are creating? And this doesn’t always mean money either. You can get paid in awareness, attention, brand building, getting leads, getting practice, building your authority, for SEO ranking, and even just as a way to demonstrate your skills.

It’s important to decide on your compensation early because that will affect how much time and effort goes into the project.

Step 4 – Collection

This is a very important step. It’s now time to start looking for materials that you can draw inspiration from. I recommend at least 4-5 books on similar topics, multiple blog posts, twitter feeds, podcasts, and audio books. You want as much material as you can get your hands on.

Step 5 – Inspection

Go crazy. Dig in. Read way more than you should. Most of what you read won’t be directly useful but will indirectly help you by helping you make connections later on. This is the step that really turns you into an expert.

There’s no way around it, you’ve got to inspect a lot of material at this stage. You want to expose yourself to the top-down structure of existing knowledge that already exists.

Step 6 – Rejection

Here’s a fun step! If the material isn’t right, get rid of it. While it’s important to read as much as you can, don’t waste time on material that doesn’t resonate with your or your book topic.

Rejection can be very therapeutic.

Step 7 – Selection

The time has come. You’ve done a lot of research and now you want to pick your dream time of material that you are really gonna dive into for ideas and help. Basically in this step you are just picking out the best material you’ve found so you can do a deep dive on it.

Step 8 – Injection

My favorite step! This is when you READ READ READ or LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN. You will be reviewing the material you chose in step 7 with wild abandon. Go through everything and don’t hold back.

Feel free to add more material as well as you go. You will often find references to other material in the books you are reading. You can never read to much when you are focused on how to write a nonfiction book.

Step 9 – Extraction

This is my favorite step. You want to extract as much knowledge from the material you are reading as you possibly can. Make sure it resonates with you. You want to highlight, bold, and of course takes notes in your own words.

That’s key too, Take notes in your own words and you can’t go wrong. If you want to get better at taking notes, may I suggest my 5 post series on How To Take Good Notes?

Step 10 – Education

This is a step added to make sure you are thinking like an educator. When you are writing a nonfiction book fast especially, it’s very important to keep the mindset of an educator. Everything you read or listen to… do so with a teachers mindset.

Being a teacher means learning with the intent to share the knowledge with others. Always look for how you can better explain a concept or problem.

Step 11 – Reflection

Now that you’ve read a ton of materials, it’s time to take a break. Let your subconscious mind go on a hiatus where it will work hard for you to make sense of all the material you’ve been learning.

Feel free to think about it if you want, but you really don’t have to. Just set intentions before you go to bed at night or ask yourself questions. You’ll be amazed at what your subconscious mind can do.

Step 12 – Connection

Now it’s time to start connecting the dots. Write out or speak out interesting connections from this new material or even from old material. This is where creativity starts to happen.

Your brain should start firing on all cylinders and you should have lots of notes that you made in the “Extraction” stage. As you go through those notes, look for connections that others may have missed.

Step 13 – Question

As you are making connections, one of the most powerful things you can do is start asking questions. Write out the questions that you just don’t know the answer to. Here’s an easy way to come up with questions.

Start explaining your ideas to a child. See what questions they ask. If you can’t explain it to a 10 year old, then you probably don’t really understand.

See this video of a lecture of Richard Feynman to learn the difference between knowing and understanding

Step 14 – Consolidation

Now we’re getting somewhere! You’ve made connections, you asked questions (and hopefully answered them), and you’ve spent a LOT of time reading, listening, and contemplating on what your nonfiction book is going to be about.

Now it’s time to start consolidating all the knowledge in your head and start breaking it down. Focus on breaking down big ideas breaking them down into smaller chunks of information.

You can do this in a simple bullet point format. But the key here is to think in First Principles. This means that instead of reasoning from analogy (this is LIKE that) reason from the fundamental truths.

If X is true, then what does that mean for Y. This is how you get really good at thinking and ultimatley creating more breakthrough ideas.

Here this concept best explained by Elon Musk:

Step 15 – Formation

This is my favorite step. You now take all your discoveries and aha moments and begin to convert this new knowledge into a system that others can easily grasp. This is also an exercise in branding.

Think of many great nonfiction books, they all have a “Big idea” that explains the book in just a few simple words. Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss is a great example. Or 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

For my own book, my writing partner and I settled on “Scaling The 7 C’s” a play on words and also encapsulates the idea which is the 7 C’s that companies need to focus on in order to scale and grow.

So, think through everything you’ve written and learned so far. Can you turn these principles into a system? Acronyms work great. Big promises work well too. The key is to make something unique that hasn’t been said before in that way.

This is the secret sauce you must learn if you really want to know how to write a nonfiction book.

Step 16 – Summation

You’ve got all your ideas mapped out now. You’ve created your unique system. What’s next? It’s time to sum it all up. For this, I personally like to use Roam Research. I love the bulleted format and I just brain dump everything I possibly can into it.

You also should use this summation to serve as a nonfiction book outline. Try to organize your material into chapters. For most nonfiction books you’ll want around 10 chapters. The first and last chapter are intro and outro.

The in-between chapters are where the meat is. You also want lots of stories. As you layout your chapter ideas, try to jot down a note with a link to a story you read or liked, or better yet if you have one from your own life use that.

Step 17 – Citation

Lest we get accused of plagiarism or making stuff up, make sure you write down and accurately track all your sources of information. You never want to be in a position where your nonfiction book makes a claim you can’t back up.

Citations can be pretty boring, so don’t be afraid to get some help here. You may have a friend who loves this kind of stuff. I do , and I go to him when I need help.

Step 18 – Fortification

You came here cause you wanted to learn how to write a nonfiction book fast, but I want to stress the importance of this step. Don’t skip it. During this step, write down a list of FAQ’s and do your best to answer them.

Think of what questions your darkest meanest critic would say, then answer their questions. This material can then be weaved into your nonfiction book so you come out looking like a champ.

There are always critics who love tearing down creators, don’t give them the chance. Fortify!

See what writing instructor David Perell says about how he does this:

Step 19 – Production

This is it! You have everything now. You have your outline, you’ve become your own worst critic. You have TONS of notes to draw from. You have a unique system that you created and you can explain all the concepts to a 10 year old.

This is where you actually start writing your nonfiction book. If you’ve been wondering how to write a nonfiction book in 30 days, this is how. All you have to do is spend a few months beforehand doing all the prep work!

I hope now you can see that the writing part is the easy part. It’s just taking all your ideas and putting it into words. It’s not easy, but it’s simple. The hardest part is taking the time to sit and write it out everyday.

Your nonfiction book outline is your guide. Your main job is to just type!

Step 20 – Publication

YES! You did it you have your book. As part of the Production process, you will want to have edited the book at least a few times. You also should have a 3rd party editor read it if at all possible.

Once you’ve done that (and gotten your book cover designed) then it’s time to publish your nonfiction book. Obviously, I can’t go into detail on that side in this post, but it’s a very happy day when you see a book that you wrote on Amazon or even better in a book store.

Step 21 – Distribution

Sadly, publication doesn’t mean sales. Now that your book is published you’ve got to find ways to promote it and get it out there. I recommend trying lots of free strategies like Twitter and Facebook groups and talking to your target market.

You can also give away a free chapter of your book (make it the best one) and build an email list up.

If you’re a first time self-published author it will be slow growth, but that’s ok. If you want to really crank it up, you will need to explore paid ads, but that’s another topic all together.

Final Thoughts On How To Write A Nonfiction Book

Well, there you have it. The 21 step process to go from 0 to a completed and selling nonfiction book. You now know what it takes to get a nonfiction book written. You know how to make a nonfiction book outline, and most importantly you know that it’s gonna take some work to get your book done.

And that’s ok! Yes, you can write your nonfiction book in 30 days… after you’ve done all the pre-work required to get there.

If I had to sum up the most important step, it’s coming up with a unique, brandable angle for your book. There are hundreds of thousands of nonfiction books written and you have to stand out.

That’s why gathering and reviewing as much material as you can will give you the brain juice to come up with something creative.

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