Don't Wait for 2025
Waiting is the death of dreams
Christmas is over. Another year is about to be checked off. You ate too much. Your bank account is empty. You're starting to think about your New Year's Resolution list. You're going to kill it -- 2025 is going to be your year.
Before you even get to writing that list, did you know that over 90% of New Year’s resolutions aren’t kept for the first 12 months? Even worse, about 80% aren’t kept through February.
Pathetic.
Do you want to be another statistic? Is this how you will become a beast, a king, a queen or whatever other supercharged self-descriptor you think you deserve? Will this be another year where Steve, Jen, or whoever else it is that lives rent-free in your head continues to have what you want? Will you still not understand? Why isn’t YOUR hard work paying off? Why can’t you seem to get dialed-in and check those boxes? Why aren’t you successful?
Your first mistake is believing you need to wait for the right time.
Waiting for the “new year” is your first mistake. Why do that? Do you really have no idea what you need to do? Set your alarm to 4AM. Wake up and start now. Deep down, you know what to do.
Take a look at this list of successful people:
Elon Musk — Accomplishments: Founder of SpaceX, Tesla, and several other companies, Musk has revolutionized space travel and electric vehicles. He's also behind Neuralink, The Boring Company, and has significant stakes in other ventures. Work Ethic: Musk is known for his extreme work hours, often working 80-100 hours per week. His drive is legendary, with anecdotes of him sleeping in factories to meet production deadlines. His philosophy includes working harder and longer than competitors, famously suggesting that one should work twice as many hours to achieve success twice as fast.
Indra Nooyi — Accomplishments: Former CEO of PepsiCo, where she led a transformation focusing on healthier products, significantly increasing the company's market value. Work Ethic: Nooyi was known for her grueling schedule, often working late into the night and waking up at 4 a.m. to start her day. She balanced her high-profile job with family responsibilities, often admitting the toll it took but never wavering in her commitment to PepsiCo's vision and performance. Her approach was about constant innovation and a deep sense of responsibility towards her company's future.
Kobe Bryant — Accomplishments: NBA legend with 5 championships, 2 Olympic gold medals, and numerous scoring records. He transitioned his work ethic into business and filmmaking, winning an Oscar for "Dear Basketball." Work Ethic: Known as "The Black Mamba," Kobe's work ethic was mythic. He'd practice shooting in the dark, both literally and figuratively, often at odd hours when no one was watching. His famous quote, "Mamba mentality is all about focusing on the process and trusting in the hard work when it matters most," encapsulates his drive.
Do you think these people set arbitrary start times for their goals? Do you think they know exactly what they need to do? No. They start now and they make progress. One. Step. At. A. Time. You can too.
Successful people figure it out along the way and win through the power of compounding. They know that, just like in poker, you can’t rely on getting a perfect set of cards, or a perfect hand on the flop, turn, or river. You have to work with what you have, see what comes along the way, and you absolutely need to protect your stack. You must rack up more wins than losses but there definitely will be bad reads, missed opportunities, and some losses along the way.
You think you need to be motivated or find your passion.
You’ve accepted the lies that you’ve been told about motivation and passion. Motivation isn’t real. It’s a social construct designed to keep you in the matrix. A need for motivation keeps you dependent on other people and buying courses and books you don’t need. Think about it. Do wolves only hunt when they feel like it? Do you think lionesses feel motivated to use their face to attack thousand ton animals with horns on their heads? Because it’s JUST… so… thrilling...? Of course not, they do it to survive.
A hunter needs to hunt. They have a family to feed. A cellar that should be full. There’s no time to think about whether they feel like hunting today. Instead they just do. You must adopt a similar mentality. Know what needs to be done and make it so.
The notion that you need to “find your passion” is an even worse mind virus. Imagine, you finally win the mental and hormonal lottery. You finally feel like getting after it today - BUT now you need to like what you’re about to do! What a joke.
I have a very short list of things I like doing — I’m sure you do too — and I can tell you that none of those things will accomplish anything for me or my family. Instead, it’s better to forget about your feelings entirely. Figure out what you need to do and do it. Adopt the mindset of an animal on the hunt. You’re just doing what you’re programmed to do. But in this case — you get to write, and execute the program. Rinse and repeat. Day in, day out.
You need to systematically figure out what it takes to win and start moving in that direction.
You are not giving your goals the time or energy they truly demand.
First of all, your goals are too small. People like to set goals like losing 10 pounds, paying off some debt, or doing date night. These goals suck. When you write your basic goals on that brand new Moleskine or Bullet Journal that you’ve been holding on to for 2025, does that really get the juices flowing? You need to set huge goals. Goals that excite you. Goals that make your friends and family scared, or say “Wow! Well if you can do that, now that would be worth it!” Goals that make you feel like your the god damn best. Goals that will make Steve and Jenny say “wtf just happened?”.
Once you have those big goals. You need to stop underestimating the energy required to overcome the inertia that is current you — the sheer drive required to start and maintain the momentum necessary to break your personal glass ceiling and get to your next level. If you don’t want to be like everybody else, your effort is going to have to exceed everybody else. Period. And please don’t bother with that “work smarter, not harder” junk. That’s a given, and then you’ll still need to work hard.
You need to realize that accomplishing your goals means winning in your personal game of life. Winning has never been easy and if you want to win it must become your life. Once you get laser focused on accomplishing your goals, everything else will become optimized around that. There will be trade-offs, but there will also be success.
I created this blog to cover topics that will finally give you the information you need to be successful in your personal advancement journey. I believe we have all been given everything we need to succeed. If we overcome our fears and use our talents wisely. They will grow when we put them to work.
Join me in this journey to discover the mentality, tools, and actions needed to successfully complete our goals and earn abundance for ourselves and those we care about.
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