Advanced Strategies for the High Achiever Who Wants It All
Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
I had a profound experience a few years ago while reading Steven Pressfield’s book Turning Pro. In that short but powerful book, Pressfield describes the subtle shift that takes place when you move from the life of an amateur to the life of a professional. It is a dramatic transition, though at its core, it is merely an act of will.
Being a true professional implies that you are no longer willing to do what amateurs do. Amateurs do things when they feel like it instead of when those things need to be done; amateurs hope they will be successful instead of working directly for the success they desire; and amateurs work part-time on their dream instead of full-time on their clear and ambitious goals.
As Pressfield writes, “[Turning pro] changes our days completely. It changes what time we get up and it changes what time we go to bed. It changes what we do and what we don’t do. It changes the activities we engage in and with what attitude we engage in them. It changes what we read and what we eat. It changes the shape of our bodies. When we were amateurs, our life was about drama, about denial, and about distraction. Our days were simultaneously full to the bursting point and achingly, heartbreakingly empty. But we are not amateurs any more. We are different, and everyone in our lives sees it.”
To become a 5:00 a.m. pro, you must let go of your amateur status and enter the world of intentional success. 5:00 a.m. pros wake up when they plan to wake up. They know what they want and they have a detailed plan in place to see it through. 5:00 a.m. pros implement healthy habits and strategically choose each and every aspect of their day knowing just how important each and every day can be.
To call yourself a 5:00 a.m. pro, you will not need my approval, or to cross any predetermined finish lines. All you need is an act of will, a simple decision right here and now to prioritize your grandest goals and to pursue them with gusto.
And sure, waking up at 5:00 a.m. would certainly help, but that’s just my opinion.
Welcome to the seventh and final step of The 5 AM Blueprint. This chapter outlines the top five advanced strategies that are designed to work with and optimize the concepts in The 5 AM Blueprint.
Assuming you have a great handle on your own morning routine, productivity system, and healthy habits, these strategies can supplement your work and enhance your progress. Like many advanced strategies, these techniques work best when you are already in a productive flow and simply want to get even better.
Throughout my own journey of enhanced productivity I have found all of these strategies to be just what I needed to take my progress to the next level and truly be the icing on the cake.
Though I personally use and love each of the strategies, don’t feel obligated to adopt all of them. It may be tempting to want to dive in head first, but hold off on overwhelming yourself right now. There’s plenty of time for that later.
SCHEDULE TIME FOR THINKING
You become what you think about. We all do. What we think about determines our goals, our attitudes, and our ultimate achievements.
In the beginning of my own personal development journey, I discovered one of the greatest (and most obvious) strategies in existence, and it has transformed not only how I think, but also what I now choose to think about. This simple strategy is to schedule time just for thinking.
Earl Nightingale, the late pioneer of the modern personal development industry, created an audio program called Lead the Field. This is where I first discovered this powerful thinking strategy.
Scheduling time just for thinking is a highly underutilized productivity strategy, especially for busy people. It seems so obvious because it sounds just like brainstorming, but it’s much more than that.
To make the most of this strategy, schedule a focused block of time, isolate yourself, bring your favorite notebook, whiteboard, or journal, and ask yourself one vitally important life question. Write that question at the top of your writing space and then spend up to an hour brainstorming and recording as many answers to this question as you can.
The key is to ask yourself tough questions, especially ones regarding your current grand goals. What you will soon discover is that breakthroughs are imminent. You will inevitably land on brilliant ideas and experience triumphant ah ha! moments that can push your goals forward faster than by simply checking items off a to-do list.
Also, the more often you give your brain the space to think about tough problems the more creative and brilliant you will be. Schedule at least a few thinking sessions per week to optimize this strategy.
In Lead the Field, Earl outlines when to think: “Pick one hour a day that you can count on fairly regularly. The best time for me is an hour before the others are up in the morning. The mind is clear, the house is quiet, and if you like, with a fresh cup of coffee, this is the time to start the mind going.”
You see what this means? Even decades ago the 5:00 a.m. miracle was alive and well, and successful individuals like Earl Nightingale were making the most of it!
Of all the advanced strategies a 5 a.m. professional could choose from, this one trumps them all. Schedule consistent time for thinking and you will undoubtedly find a way to achieve whatever you set your mind to.
MUSIC DESIGNED FOR FOCUS
I spend many hours every day attempting to work. Whether or not I actually get anything done has a lot to do with how well I cut distractions and focus on what matters.
One strategy that has revolutionized how I get work done is listening to music designed for my brain. I use a service called Focus@Will that creates music tracks based on neuroscience. Though I cannot explain the science (and you’re lucky that I am not even going to try), the positive and productive effects are easy to notice.
I spend as many as 10 to 12 hours a day in front of a computer and much of that time involves me wearing headphones and listening to Focus@Will’s Up Tempo station at a high-energy music level. What I experience is nothing short of a flow state, or getting “in the zone.” Within a few moments the music fades away and I laser in on my work.
The music tracks from Focus@Will are designed to help you focus, reduce distractions, improve your attention span, and learn considerably more while you work. I find that it’s best to use music like this when reading, writing, studying, or doing hardcore mental activity.
Prior to Focus@Will, I listened to techno or house music and it had a similar effect, though what I use now is certainly better because it is easier to forget about the music and think about the task at hand. What this means for you is that there is a type of music that is best for your brain and your ability to focus.
Music is a powerful force on your attention and finding your ideal music is important if you want to repeatedly achieve your ideal workflow.
STANDING DESK
Being more physically active is the name of the game when it comes to increased energy, productivity, and better health. One of my all-time favorite strategies for just those reasons is using a standing desk.
I have been standing all day for years and it has made a tremendous difference in my productivity, posture, digestion, energy, attitude, and willingness to keep working long after I normally would have stopped.
It’s also incredibly important to incorporate standing, walking, and more movement in general throughout your normal workday to prevent a myriad of health problems that accompany stagnation, including higher rates of cardiovascular disease, increased obesity, and a higher probability of an early death.
If you are used to sitting at a desk for eight hours a day, standing can dramatically improve your health and how much you get done.
You have two options to get your first standing desk up and ready: buy one or build one. I highly recommend you build your first desk with materials you already have available so you won’t have to spend a dime and so you will have time to experiment with standing more before you invest in anything.
I put together my first standing desk by stacking old textbooks on top of my current desk, so don’t presume you have to spend any money to get the benefits I am describing.
Once you have committed to a standing desk you can buy higher-end models or custom build your own to suit your needs. My current standing desk is a custom-built wooden desk that is fashioned on top of my previous desk. It’s not pretty, but it works wonders.
Adjusting to a standing desk can take a week or two, depending on your current fitness level. Your back will be sore, so slowly build up to standing all day. It’s helpful to incorporate other fitness activities to strengthen your back while you make this transition. I also highly recommend you buy a cushioned mat to stand on because you will likely need the extra support. High-quality standing mats are cheap and can be found online easily.
Start standing now and feel the difference.
THE NEW VISION BOARD
Vision boards are a physical display of things you want, usually hung on the wall on a cork board with pictures of houses, cars, or other similar items that are cut out from magazines. Essentially, this is an old school model of envisioning your life by idealizing the end result.
This method doesn’t work. It’s great to begin with the end in mind, but there’s more to it than that. Visualization is only the first step and, without a strategy, it gets you nowhere.
I recommend you start with this old school method to gain clarity over what you are trying to achieve. Then, advance to the new vision board, which is a representation of the journey. It focuses on the processes and work that lead to end results and outcomes you want.
For example, you could include an image of running at sunrise as an action that leads to a marathon, or writing in a coffee shop on your way to publishing your first book.
Old school vision boards never worked for me because I would always post pictures of fancy cars, even though I am not motivated by cars at all. Posting potentially inspiring images of a life you don’t have often leads to guilt around your lack of progress. Instead, focus on the process to get there.
The best vision boards answer the question, how will I get to my goal? Without the how, you only have the what, and the what is never enough.
The new vision board uses pictures, images, quotes, and practical reminders of what you will be doing all along the way to get to your grand goal. It’s that simple.
Practical vision boards like this new model I am describing have many benefits, including focusing on the actions you can take, preventing you from being distracted by distant fantasies, and encouraging you to take control of your future with specific habits today.
To create your new vision board, buy a corkboard or find a blank wall in your house to pin things to. Referring to your list of grand goals, focus exclusively on your current quarterly objectives and write detailed descriptions of the process to achieve each goal. Then find images, quotes, or inspirational content that directly reflect a few of the key steps in each action plan.
Revisit your vision board at least once a quarter and update it as needed. With a well-thought-out plan in place, your vision board can act as a phenomenal reminder to keep you focused on what matters most right now.
INVERSION
This may be the most bizarre advanced strategy in the group, but trust me when I say this is going to flip your perspective on going pro. Inversion, or hanging upside down, can actually improve your health and help you get more done.
I was first convinced to try out inversion after watching a series of videos, many of them from Dr. Robert Lockhart, an Australian physician who has been practicing inversion on a daily basis for more than 40 years.
The goal behind inversion is to reverse the effects of gravity. Gravitational forces are hard on the body and when you reverse gravity you relieve incredible amounts of pressure and disrupt your normal rhythms, which carries with it benefits you cannot get with any other exercise.
Other benefits include a significant reduction in back pain, less stress, better brain functioning with an increased flow of blood to your head (which helps productivity), improved leg and core strength, better joint health, improved flexibility, better posture, clearer skin, reduced wrinkles, an improved lymphatic system, and from my personal experience, the ability to grow taller.
Inversion is not a miracle cure for everyone and there are a few potential drawbacks, including the fact that hanging upside down can be hard on your joints, it takes a while to get used to, it could be dangerous to practice alone, and the inversion equipment is a little bulky and difficult to store.
I have been inverting nearly every day for over a year and from my experience (and despite the potential drawbacks), this is a phenomenal practice for anyone in decent physical shape who wants the benefits I just described. Within a few weeks of beginning this practice, I noticed less back pain and improved mental clarity, and I was actually 1/8 of an inch taller! Not much, but it’s progress.
You can practice inversion with a pair of gravity boots, an inversion chair, or an inversion table. I invert every day with gravity boots for 10 minutes after my daily run, and it is my favorite way to cap off a great workout.
Hanging upside down is a bizarre way to spend your time, but I continue to find it incredibly beneficial. You can even combine inversion with other healthy habits at the same time, like meditation, affirmations, crunches, squats, and listening to a great podcast.
There’s a lot you can do while just hanging around!
KILL THE SNOOZE BUTTON
Pitfalls, Mistakes, and Problems to Avoid
Work Hard. Play Hard.
The results of one of my podcast audience surveys revealed that most people want a life where they work hard and then play hard. Most noted that they did not want a life of mediocrity, sameness, or consistency—they wanted variability.
Though routines, rituals, and solidified habits are essential to success, when your system wears you down, mixing things up is what creates progress and a greater sense of satisfaction. We all benefit greatly from seasons in our lives, variety in our projects, and a healthy swing of emotions. Living at the same pace every day is exhausting, no matter how fast or slow the speed actually appears to be.
When I think back on the best days of my life and the memories that stand out above others, I realize there is a not-so-subtle through-line. Each of these experiences involves me exerting extreme effort and/or celebrating an extreme effort. What now seems obvious in hindsight is that giving my all is deeply satisfying.
There’s not much genuine joy in consuming endless hours of entertainment, day after day. It is highly unlikely that I will reflect back on my life many years from now and wish I had watched more television or played more video games. It just doesn’t provide the beauty in life that I’m after.
Working hard is hard work, obviously. But working hard on something you care deeply about doesn’t always feel hard. Instead, it can feel like the perfect way to spend a life of meaning, service, and achievement.
When paired with a grand celebration, working hard is somehow always worth it.
QUICK REVIEW: ADVANCED STRATEGIES
1. You don’t have to implement every strategy in existence to get great results, but it’s a good idea to see what opportunities exist that may take your health, growth, and productivity to the next level.
2. High achievers are always on the lookout for anything that will give them an extra edge because they know how valuable their time is to themselves and their success. Be ready and willing to try new things, even if they seem extreme, because that is where growth takes place—outside of your comfort zone.
3. Working hard on your goals is best countered by playing hard. The most satisfying days are often the ones where we give tremendous effort toward something we care deeply about, and then party like there’s no tomorrow.
1. Schedule time on your calendar at least once a week to think. Write down an important and challenging question to answer. Then give yourself at least 20 to 30 minutes to brainstorm every possible answer.
The times each week you will block off for intentional thinking include:
The most important questions based on your quarterly grand goals that you want answers to are:
1) __________________________________________________
2) __________________________________________________
3) __________________________________________________
2. Choose the best productivity music for your focused blocks of time. I recommend Focus@Will, but the best music for you is music that drowns out the noise of the world and allows you to dig in deep on your primary project.
The type of music or music service that you will be listening to while working includes:
3. Build or buy a standing desk for use at home. If you are allowed, do so at the office as well.
The date you plan to research standing desks, standing mats, proper shoes, etc.:
OR
The date you plan to research building your own standing desk: