Free Yourself With Routine, Prepare For Your Big Moments and Goals, and Break Down Your Goals Into Small Steps

Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one: 

1. Free up your mental space by unlocking some freedom with a routine.

2. Preparing for a big moment in your life such as a presentation, exam, or interview doesn’t have to be scary. Make a plan, create a process, and trust that process.

3. Make your steps small and carry them out with full focus and to completion.

Starter Mindset Tip: The Freedom of a Routine

When we hear the word routine we often think of something that we are tied to, something that is boring, something that pulls us away from other things, things that are better. We want you to start thinking of a routine as freedom. When you have a routine, you do not have to waste your mental energy thinking about what you are going to do, because you just do it. This frees up your mental space to think about other, more important things in life. For example, have you ever made a plan to jog more, and find yourself always thinking about when you are going to fit it in, and then feeling bad that you are not following through on your new habit formation? Instead of saying I am going to jog more, say I am going to jog on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Get even more specific and state what time you are going to jog. Then write these dates and times on your calendar, and now you can stop thinking about when you are going to go jogging. You are just going to jog on these days and at these times, done, end of story, no more thinking. This can be applied to so many things in your life. These habits you have always wanted to have will now be in your schedule, in your routine, and they will no longer be aspirations of things you want to do because you will be doing them, without thinking, because they are just what you do. 

Health Recipe:  How to Prepare For a Project, Big Test, or Big Interview

Timing: 10-30 mins to make a plan and create your process

Level of Difficulty: Hard to start, easy to follow through when your plan is in place

Serving Size: As much time as you need to complete your small steps every day

Spiciness: Spicy at first, but once you trust your process, it will be as smooth as a strawberry milkshake

INGREDIENTS  

Just yourself, a plan to break your project into small pieces, a process to complete your steps, and some deep work to achieve your process

 REASONING AND BENEFITS

You are looking at your calendar and you see a big X on a date months in the future. It is something important to you, something a little daunting, overwhelming, something that you may think will be too much to handle and prepare for properly. When you feel the anxiety rising a little bit, this is a perfect time to stop, close your eyes, take some slow breaths with long exhales, and then open your eyes back up, make a plan, and create a process for carrying out your plan. Preparing for a big moment can feel chaotic, so creating this process, this plan, will provide you with clarity and direction. The first thing you should do when creating your plan is to break it down into small steps. Next, create a  process to help you carry out each small step, do them well, cross them off your list, and move on to the next small step. Complete each step fully so that your brain can focus on each individual task instead of worrying about the task that you stopped halfway through because it was a little hard. Crossing things off a list is incredibly satisfying, and it will provide you with something to look at to track your process. Once you have this process in motion, evaluate it. Check in with yourself periodically to determine if you are giving yourself enough time to complete all the steps. Make a plan, create a process, schedule in time to carry out your process, do some deep work, and TRUST THE PROCESS.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mark the date on your calendar of your big exam, interview, presentation, or project. Use this process for completing small goals, big goals, and implementing new habits.

2. Make a plan with a series of small steps to reach your end goal and create a process for carrying out your plan. 

3. Get specific with your process. Write down when you will work on your small steps, for how long, schedule it in your calendar, and give yourself time to evaluate the process. 

4. During the time blocks you set aside to work on your small steps, get DEEP. Read the book “Deep Work” by Cal Newport. Put your phone away, take away the distractions and allow your mind to fully focus on the task at hand.

5. If you are studying or learning something new: Instead of just rereading information over and over, after a study session, think about what you just learned and test yourself on that material very soon after it, and then teach someone else what you just learned. (Huberman Lab, Aug 26th)

6. Some tips to keep your body and mind working in top form: consistently get 7-9 hours of sleep at night, exercise every day (even 5-10 minutes on a busy day will go a long way), focus on quality nutrition by eating foods that make you feel good while avoiding sugars and hitting your protein numbers of 1 gram or protein per pound of body weight daily. 

1. Bonus tips: (1) Use cold water exposure, exercise, or Wim Hof breathing to fire you up for a study or work session. (2) Get some chill time every day to give your mind a break such as going for a walk, reading, or enjoying the sunrise with your morning coffee (3) Rest your mind and body a little every day with some relaxation, meditation, non sleep deep rest, or some sessions of slow breathing. 

PRO TIP: When you feel stress rise inside of you, consider this as good stress, not bad stress. Harness the focus that comes with an increase in stress, harness the energy that comes with the increase in adrenaline. Use this good stress as a tool to help you complete your tasks. 

* “We are A-to-Z thinkers, fretting about A, obsessing over Z, yet forgetting all about B through Y.” (Holiday, p. 90)

** “The unordered mind loses track of what’s in front of it—what matters—and gets distracted by thoughts of the future. The process is order, it keeps our perceptions in check and our actions in sync.” (Holiday, p. 88) 

*** If you remember nothing else, remember to trust the process you create!

Dessert Quote: 

"The person who focuses on one task and sees it through to completion—even if they work in a somewhat slow or outdated manner—beats the endless optimizer who jumps from tool to tool and always hopes a new piece of technology will help them finish what they start." — James Clear

Now we want to hear from YOU! Please let us know what you think of today’s newsletter, and send us an example of how you applied the health recipe to your life! We would love to share how you introduced this week’s recipe into your life’s unique menu. Thanks and have a great Sunday!

Sources:

Learn more about creating a process and how to view obstacles:

Holiday, R. (2014). The obstacle is the way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph. Penguin.

Learn more about how to improve focus and carry out deep work:

Newport, C. (2016). Deep work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. Hachette UK.

Learn more about the best ways to study and learn:

Huberman Lab Podcast Episode Aug 26th, 2024: Optimal Protocols For Studying & Learning