EXPOSE | A Hack is All You Need
“Lifehack is a place where you can find answers to all the questions in your life.” – Leon Ho, CEO of Lifehack
EXPLORE | Doesn’t Life Deserve More Than a Quick Fix?
Have you seen the tennis ball key holder? Some life hacks are not only creative, but down right handy. I would even goes so far as calling this one cute.
I can appreciate not wasting time getting an answer to a question. But Leon Ho’s quote seems to perpetuate a growing mindset that there is a quick answer to every question. According to Ho, if you do have a question or a problem, “there’s a hack for that.”
It may be very tempting to begin the New Year with the mindset of shaving off some time and effort toward getting to where you want to go. Short, straight lines can be very appealing.
But before we get all “hack happy”, let’s consider a couple of truths from this concept that if applied correctly could be far more substantial than just getting a quick answer. Ignoring the fact that life is a journey, not a destination, I want to highlight the ideas of taking immediate action, and that the impact of that action can be seen in a relatively short period of time.
The main motivation toward taking immediate action and realizing the impact of that action, however long it may take, is the right life we’ve discussed in the past. But even with the right motivation, there are at least two barriers to overcome to our being able to apply these ideas effectively: emotion and focus.
One thing that I’m trying to get my boys to consider is this helpful tip: stop focusing on how you feel, and instead, focus on what you need to do. “No one wants to hear how you feel about doing your chores, but everyone will benefit from you doing them.”
Set aside how you feel, and stop waiting for some wave of emotion or a better time, to just… well… do it. I think Yoda is appropriate here: “Do or do not. There is no try.”
Like the picture in this post, you’ll also want to put in view only that which should be focused on. Everything outside the frame is not an option.
So, if there is any hacking to be done, it may be that you hack away those feelings and distractions that are keeping you from doing.
EXECUTE | Kickstart the Doing
I’ve included 3 ways for you to go about “doing”. The first is the 31 “Daily Dos” to begin building the habit of doing, followed by Matt Cutt’s popular TED Talk on really understanding, if not mastering, something each month. Lastly, is asking the big question: if you’re going to focus on what you need to do, you have to ask yourself, What do I need to do?
1. 31 “Daily Dos”
This first phase is really to establish a habit by building momentum around doing. Spending at least a month, or ideally, 6 weeks, (according to Michael Hyatt, we need more than the popular 21 days to build a habit) practicing doing something every day to get past the emotional and focus barriers highlighted above. This list is simply an example, but some of the actions may be appealing to you. Regardless, the idea is that you’re doing something every day. This process will set you up for implementing the second phase which is the 30 Day Deep Dive. Use this 31 days (or longer) to also think about growing in ways you need to, while establishing the intentionality of “doing”.
2. 30-Day Deep Dive
After the daily habit of doing is established, hopefully you’ve also identified areas where you want or need to grow. It can be things that interest you, topics that you don’t know enough about, or is something that you need to correct and improve. In theory, you’ll discover, improve, or master, 12 different areas over the course of a year. Whether you try something new each month, or every other, it will help get you passed the ‘how I feel’ and ‘waiting for the right time’ to be about “doing”. I also explore the idea of “deep work”, through the application of the 5 hour rule, that would provide more insight into this idea of the “deep dive”.
3. What Does Your Life Most Need?
If you found it fairly easy to come up with a handful of areas that you want to improve in, or that interest you, but still need a few more, I want to challenge you to list at least 3 things that you have been avoiding up until now.
We tend not to go right to the hard things, which is why our initial list is made up of things that we may need to do, but doesn’t include those that we NEED to do.
If you’ve worked through the first two phases, you should now be well on your way to intentionally, if not habitually, “doing”. This confidence and formed process will help you tackle the deeper, more meaningful needs that need “doing”.
Do nothing, and nothing happens. Do something, and something happens. Do what needs to be done, and the right things happen.
I hope that this is the year of the “do” for you.
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Further reading:
These 31 life hacks can improve your life in just a month
Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days
How to really leverage the 5 hour rule
