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Base your time on principles, not just by-the-book
12-week-year
Atomic Habits
Eat That Frog
What do these have in common? They all make it seem as if you, yes you, can get more done in a superhuman time frame.
What’s wrong with this thinking?
It means that somehow they have the secret sauce that no one else has. But in reality, they base their short n’ snappy titles from grounded principles.
Here are 3 principles that each of these well-known phrases have, that you can apply right now.
Stick with daily habits
“The things you do daily create the results you achieve yearly,” — 12-Week-Year
“Your habits shape your identity, and your identity shapes your habits.” — Atomic Habits
In every self-improvement, self-growth article, and heck — what hasn’t talked about daily habits? There is someone saying that without habits, you don’t have anything.
That’s why there’s so many apps, Notion templates, and software designed for checking that habit off of the calendar.
At this point we’ve probably become so used to it, that it’s one of those phrases we say in the comments of our favorite self-help guru on Medium.
Prioritize the most important first
“If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.” — Eat That Frog
Simple to do, funny to say, isn’t it? Because people hate doing the thing they dislike the most first, why don’t you make a jingle out of it?
Nope I’m not a hater, I think it’s a perfect way to remember it. But again, in every self-growth book I’ve read they all say to prioritize the most important thing first. It’s only that Brian Tracy came up with a delicious way of describing it.
Take action
“A vision without a plan is a pipe dream. It’s not what you know; it’s not even who you know; it’s what you implement that counts.” — 12-Week-Year
This is the most important of any strategy, right? You can read all the books you want yet never take action on them.
But did I have to read a whole 208 pages to know that?
Well, maybe if I was looking for that certain spark of motivation at the last page, then it’d be worth it.
Personally, I think the 🔑 is to view everything you read as something to implement in your day. Otherwise, why are you reading it?
While these principles make the whole process of implementing more simple, it doesn’t mean they substitute the books! Since authors are initially trying to hook-line-and-sinker readers, what’s often the case with best-selling books like the 12-week-year is that they’re best-sellers for a reason: they’re full of gems once you read its entirety.
So while you’re applying these principles, go and read the books! You may have a deeper sense of how to apply them even better.