Have you ever wanted to become BETTER?
STRONGER?
MORE EFFICIENT?
Then this message is for YOU.
Remember when you made your new year’s resolutions? You were so excited by the new energy, you
made a list of all the things you would do throughout the year.
I am going to hit the gym five times a week.
I am going to learn how to cook.
I am going to read a hundred books this year!
Maybe you even started some of these things but along the way, you just stopped.
Yeah, we’ve all been there.
But what if I told you there is a way to stop all that?
There is a way you can start the habits you want to start and become the person you’ve
always wanted to become.
And it is very SIMPLE.
Start with two minutes.
No, you didn’t hear me wrong. That’s what I actually said: start with only two minutes.
No activity you want to practice in your life takes 2 minutes to do. But two minutes is
more than enough to start.
And that is what you should focus on. STARTING.
And what does that look like in practice?
You want to start running? Put on your running shoes, get out of your house, lock the door
then open it again and come back.
You want to write? Turn on the computer, write five words and turn it off.
You want to read more? Grab a book, read one page, and put it back on the shelf.
It seems weird, I know. But I guarantee you it WORKS.
And the reason is, though you’ve only committed to these two minutes, you’ll often find
that after you start doing something you will want to keep at it.
We think that motivation is some kind of inspiration we must have to start something, but most
times it is what comes after we start an activity.
Seems totally counterintuitive, right?
But when I really understood this, it changed my life.
The greatest amount of effort to do something comes right at the start. And it is because
one of the hardest things to do is change.
Bodies at rest tend to stay at rest.
Once you are stuck, starting your ignition requires a lot of effort.
And you thought that physics class from school wasn’t going to help you in life…
But the trick is, the opposite is just as true.
Bodies in motion tc
So once you start, once you really establish that habit you become unstoppable.
And that is where the two-minute rule comes in.
Because even if at first you stop your activity after two minutes, if you keep doing these
two minutes every day they’ll eventually become an hour.
It is the consistency in the activity, more than the timespan that builds the routine
and the strength to commit to your goals.
It is the process, more than the result that matters.
The truth is we optimize for results when first we shout be optimizing for starting.
But let me tell you another thing that will blow your mind.
When you achieve a result, you only change your life for a moment. If you change the
habit, your whole life changes.
Results are overrated.
They are just that. The culmination of small action, after small action that creates a
huge impact.
Each change you make, however small, helps you embody the type of person you want to
become.
Each time you write, you are a writer.
Each time you play the guitar, you are a guitarist.
Each time you run, you are a runner.
Even if you are spending just two minutes on each of these things.
The important thing is you are creating the mindset and the routine that will allow you
to be those things for a much longer period of time.
The benefits of habits are life-altering.
Habits are the method to become your best self. You are what you repeatedly do.
And over a period of time, they are the difference between who you are and who you could be.
Choose now. Do you want to be your normal self? Or your best self?
This choice is made every day with what we focus on. There will be temptations to go
back to lazy habits. But there is a HACK to that.
You’ve learned that great effort is needed to start something. So if you want to stay
on the productivity path you have to do THIS.
Increase the amount of friction for bad habits, and reduce the amount for good ones.
Make it so hard to start a bad habit that you won’t go through the trouble to start
it. And make it so easy to start a good one, almost no energy will be necessary.
Remember.
Getting started gives you the most powerful form of motivation, progress.
Progress will keep you going when you want to give up. It will keep you awake at night
with the will to finish your project. It will give the energy to become invincible.
It all starts with a small step.
Remember this.
Micro habits mean macro action.
It is like building a brick wall. At first, all you see are small blocks, but step by
step they become the greatest wall ever.
This wall represents a fundamental truth about YOU.
The way you act with small things is the way you act with big things.
Become great at the small things and you will become great at the big ones.
Start with two minutes and greatness will soon follow.