Transcription
[Music] I hope you're great. I wanted to shoot this for you as a cherished member of The Habit Camp program. This is all about a very important distinction, and it's the process versus perfection distinction.
One of the things that sets us up as human beings to fail is being addicted to perfection. We don't give ourselves permission to stumble. If we make a mistake or miss a day following through and installing that Keystone habit, we don't feel we're deserving of success.
Isn't it interesting? We're not only as human beings afraid of failure and afraid of ridicule and afraid of change and afraid of disappointment, we are also afraid, deep inside, of success. Because if we are successful, we might be different. If we are successful, we might have to leave the people we love. If we are successful, we'll stand out versus fit in, and the world doesn't like it when we are standing out.
So often, what we do is we develop this exterior or this architecture of perfectionism, and then if we stumble or miss the program one day or don't follow through in some way, we give up versus continuing.
One of the most important things I want you to remember is the character trait of relentlessness. You want to be one of those rare air souls. Remember that brain tattoo to have the results only 5% of the population has, you've got to be willing to do what 95% of the population is unwilling to do. Most people, well-intentioned, good-hearted, they retreat and wave the white flag of surrender around habit installation the first moment they hit a wall. You want to go under the wall, over the wall, around the wall, through the wall. You want to be one of those people who are absolutely relentless.
And also remember, a failure is only a failure if you see it as a failure. A bad day for the ego is a great day for the soul.
Thanks for being here with me on this walk. By the way, I, I'm not walking now. I've stopped because I wanted to record this for you, of course. But I want you to think about not perfection, but process. I think about Kobe Bryant. He said, you know, I fell in love with the process, and that's what allowed him to do an early morning workout and then one with the team at 11, another one in the afternoon, and another one in the evening. And he said, by doing four workouts at least a day, day after day after day, because consistency is the mother of mastery, it's not what you do once a year that it's important. It's what you do every day over the weeks and quarters and years and decades. He developed a gargantuan advantage that was so huge in terms of his skill level, his ability to see where the ball was going or to read the court, his ability in the clutch moments under intense pressure to make the game-winning shot because he practiced it thousands of times in practice. Isn't that true? The caliber of your practice determines the quality of your performance.
So anyway, he fell in love with the process, and because he fell in love with the process, it was all fun for him. And so when you're installing your Keystone habit, as well as the three secondary habits, the Keystone habit I suggest is the 5 a.m. Club. What's better than that? One hour, your victory hour, from 5:00 to 6:00. You work out, and then you reflect and pray and meditate and write in a journal. And then after that, for 20 minutes, from 5:40 to 6:00, what do you do? You read, you listen to an audiobook, you'll learn. But that could be your Keystone habit, the one habit that you focus on for the 66-day process of the Habit Camp program. You just forget about everything else and you focus on that one habit until it's automatic.
Or your Keystone habit could simply be starting your day with some kind of exercise. Or your Keystone habit could be you don't check your digital device for at least 2 hours after you've woken up. Or your Keystone habit could be you will not complain for 66 days. Or your Keystone habit that you're going to focus on in this Habit Camp, remember Habit Camp, it's like a training camp for a boxer. You just focus on one thing. Maybe it's 10,000 steps every day. Maybe it's 100 push-ups every day. Maybe it's no alcohol or no TV or no digital distraction for 66 days, which is about 9 weeks.
And then I also want you to install in this Habit Camp process three secondary habits, simpler habits, easier habits. Might be making your bed first thing in the morning every day. Might be having a family meal 5 days a week. Might be installing a world-class pre-sleep routine because getting up early depends on what you do the evening before.
But the key point I'm trying to offer you with great encouragement and deep respect is this idea of falling in love with the process. Learn to love the process. Don't be so addicted to the rewards that you'll receive when you install your Keystone habit in the three secondary habits. Love the process. Learn from it.
Isn't it interesting that when you're on this process of installing your core routines and rituals or new skills, you are learning the great virtues of the best human beings: focus, excellence, persistence, patience.
Okay, that's it. I'm going to continue my walk. Stay with your habit. Don't give up. I know you can do it. No one will believe in you until you believe in you. And then once you start believing in you, isn't it interesting? Everyone around you keeps believing in you.