Hello, sweetest potatoes, having spent the past few years trying out new habits and
creating different routines to optimize for productivity
I want to share the single most important habit
I've grown to understand embrace and put into practice over the past few months that has completely
shifted the way I view habits all together
That is creating a system that works for me instead of comparing myself to others and setting hard goals.
"You don't rise the level of your goals you fall to the level of your systems"
In today's video, we'll talk about the difference between a goal and a system
how I created my own system
and how you can create your very own
To start, what is the difference between a goal and a system?
As explained in atomic habits, a goal is a result you want to achieve
A system is a process that leads to those results
It's like the saying life isn't about the destination
It's about the journey
Goals are hyper-focus on the destination while systems are embracing the journey
The purpose of setting goals is to win the game
The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game
true long-term thinking is goal-less thinking.
It's not about any single accomplishment
It's about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement
Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress
For example, if your space is a mess, you know, I'm constantly cleaning my room here on the tubes
You'd set it as a goal to clean it
and once you accomplish that goal the result you get is a clean room.
Temporarily, until it's messy again because your habits of not putting things back
to where they belong haven't changed
The outcome or output will always be the same because the system or input didn't change
So if we're able to fix the input the output will fix themselves
Of course, it's still important to have a general idea of where we're going and where we're headed
but the takeaway is that it's less about continually putting happiness off until the next milestone
Falling into the trap of "after I accomplished X-Y-Z, I will be happy"
and more about trusting ourselves and the process and our systems.
As we're constantly fluctuating and changing, it's inevitable that our habits routines
and lifestyle will fluctuate and change as well
While some work best with the very vigorously structure routine that repeats itself daily
I found that I work best when I have a repertoire of positive self-care habits
that I can choose from and fall back on daily
As you guys saw earlier, the one thing I never fail to do every morning is to make my bed
then I brush my teeth and I wash my face
If I need to implement the two-minute rule like cleaning out my humidifier, I will,
sometimes, it's writing down three things I'm grateful for the moment I wake up
Other days, It's making time for meditation
Reading a book and/or enjoying a nice cup of anything while sitting in stillness taking in the outside world
Some days, it may be doing all the things and checking all the boxes
Other days, it may be checking off one or two of the most impactful items
Sometimes, what you don't do is just as important as what you do
As someone who's constantly doing and thinking many things at once
I can always rely on mindfully doing nothing, meditating, and going for a walk to refresh
and reinvigorate my physical, mental, and spiritual state
If habits are memory of steps that solved a problem in the past
what problems doing me to solve
Over the years, I found myself getting
fixated over building good habits for the sake of building good habits
To the point where I don't even remember why I'm building them in the first place
Is it to be more productive?
so that I can squeeze in as much work in the day as I humanly can skipping meals,
sleeping late, and neglecting my health
or is it so that I can work smarter when I need to,
so that I can make time to fully unplug and recharge when the time comes
Now that we know the importance of systems
Let's talk about how to build them
The first and most important step is
to identify what is essential
With clarity of purpose, it's easy to say no to non-essentials
so that we can say yes to the essential
This is quoting "Essentialism" the book
it is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy
in order to operate at our highest point of
contribution by doing only what is essential
Having pushed myself as hard as I did the past few years prioritizing work and growth
I started feeling the consequences throughout 2019
working through weekends, having zero social life, staying up past 2 a.m, not eating proper meals
This all started to change a few months ago when I decided my physical, mental, and spiritual health
along with my sanity and relationships were a lot more important than anything
I could ever humanly build on my own
So while work will continue to be an important aspect of my life,
it will no longer be the only aspect
This year, I'm making an active effort to take better care of myself and all those around me
while nourishing my mind, body, and soul
intellectually, creatively, and spiritually so that I can strive forward gracefully
on this beautiful marathon reaping blessed with
Embracing the system rather than focusing on the destination
eh ehhh
The first pillar I've been chipping away at: is to make time for proper meals
with more nourishing whole foods and veggies in my diet
I feel so much lighter and energized throughout the day feeling a hundred percent physically
also helps with feeling a hundred percent mentally
It's worth looking into the gut brain access y'all
I just said y'all
Yep, for lunch on this fine fine Sunday
I'm making Daily Harvest's broccoli cheeze bowl and
it's cheese with a Z because the cheese is made with sweet potato, bell pepper, and nutritional yeast
How neat is that? The bowls are super easy to hack as well
You can enjoy it on its own or add avocado and your choice of protein
I add a tofu and some extra carbs
This tasted like broccoli cheddar soup, but make it health
I can't tell you guys how many times these Daily Harvest cups have saved me these past few months
super convenient super quick with organic quality ingredients
This may sound a little silly but having eaten such wholesome, whole fruits, and veggies
from Daily Harvest is actually encouraged me
to start cooking a lot more because I was reintroduced to how awesome
these good foods taste and how awesome it makes my body feel
I've been cooking a lot more and I've been baking a lot more
Making time to cook and making time to bake
I think that's just the foundation of all of this
just making time for what's essential and making time for what's important, which is my health.
If you're interested in trying out Daily Harvest for yourself,
you can use Rowena to get $25 off your first box
I'd like many many more days like this in 2020
Essentialism is not about how to get more things done
It's about how to get the right things done
It doesn't mean just doing less for the sake of less either
It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy
in order to operate at our highest point of
contribution by doing only what is essential
Going back to our repertoire of positive and self-care habits
I would also like to add here that you can have a repertoire of things
that you know will make you feel good, positive, happy, uplifted, and inspired
For me, it's Spirited Away and spending time by myself in silence
Let's put on my face and head out
Another thing I've been prioritizing: making my way outside
Using the legs that I've been blessed with, to use, to walk around
enjoy the city, enjoy where I'm living in which is a very beautiful vibrant place
with many many things to explore
all to say more exploring, more adventures, more frolicking, and less working
along with taking better care of myself
I also want to do a better job at being present for my friends
and taking better care of my friends as well in the
capacity that they would want me to
After a nice meal and spending so much needed downtime alone,
I headed out to Brooklyn on this beautiful sunny day
to meet with a few of my friends to catch up
and go over our 2020 resolutions and intentions and the things that we like to accomplish
so that we can help keep each other accountable and help each other realize our dreamiest of dreams
One thing though is surprising and also not too surprising
was that our vision for 2020 are all pretty similar
with the desire to build community, work smarter not harder,
and help each other continue using gifts for the greatest potential
to help make the world just a little better
and we're taking notes, Liah with her notepad
I'm taking it with my phone not being rude, promise.
So the first thing about creating a system: to identify what is essential
The second thing I would say: to choose to invest in yourself
Here's another quote from Essentialism:
"When we forget our ability to choose, we learn to be helpless drip by drip
we allow our power to be taken away until we end up becoming a function of other people's choices
or even a function of our own past choices, in turn, we surrender our power to choose"
That is the path of the non-essential list
The essentialist doesn't just recognize the power of choice, he celebrates it
The essentialist knows that when we surrender our right to choose
we give others not just the power but also the explicit permission to choose for us
So, choose for yourself and choose you.
We are after all our best assets, whatever that contribution may be
whatever world were hoping to create, we need to make an active decision
to disengage so that we can engage with what's most essential
and.. the last thing would be: spend time on what essential
like actively carve out time, actively make time for what is most important
I have a question
mom: which is?
she doesn't even say bye
This is so cute
if you guys forllel lol follow* @veggiekins, remi
This is her merch. So cute. I'll link it down below.
She also has another one "feelings are superpowers"
*whisper* I love it
Okay
Dancing around my apartment this weekend
just saying the words making time as I was baking
saying the words making time as I was cooking
and as watching Spirited Away and I was going out to see and meet my friends
and I think I didn't intend for making time to be like a little manifestation
and manifesto words for my 2020 but I think it will be "making time"
I'm gonna make time for what is essential and I'm gonna make time for what's most important
So, let's end this video with a quote from Atomic Habits
"When you fall in love with the process rather than the product.
You don't have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy.
You can be satisfied any time your system is running and a system can be successful in many different forms
Not just the one you first envision"
and with that thank you guys so much for joining me as always
I hope you found this video helpful and...
We're gonna end as always with a giant voice hug. See you guys in next week's video. Bye
K, bye.
Thanks for watching all the way till the end. I love you