COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #6

#6. Find Your Arena for Your Best Results

For 45 minutes, a violinist played his heart out in a subway station.   

During that time, thousands of people walked by.   

No applause.  

No recognition.

Two days earlier, that same violinist, Joshua Bell, one of the world’s best musicians, sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats average $100.

In the one arena, nobody appreciated his performance.  

Nobody expected the world’s best musician to be performing right there in front of them in a subway station.

Change the arena, and suddenly Bell’s world-class performance is recognized and rewarded.

As my one mentor put it to me, “You can’t be a preacher in your home town.”

Sometimes you have to change your container.

You might be the world’s worst boxer, but the bar’s best bouncer.

Maybe you’re a lousy novelist, but the word’s best children’s author.

Maybe you’re a second-rate teacher, but one of the world’s best entrepreneurs.

The ugly duckling wasn’t so ugly when he found out he was actually a Swan.

Don’t be a fish out of water.

When you’re in your element, it’s night and day.




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Do the Opposite

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #7

#7. Do the Opposite

 

Sometimes the best thing you can do is to “do the opposite” of what you’d normally do, to periodically surprise people and have them see you in a new way.

It’s easy in life to fall into routines that don’t serve us.

The fastest way to change our game is to rattle our own cage and shake things up.

If you’re always late, try being early.

If you’re always slow, try changing your pace.

If you’re always fast, then try slowing down.

If you’re the person that always says, “No” to things, try saying more “Yes.”

If you always find what’s wrong with things, try finding what’s right.

If you lack your confidence, try strutting more of your stuff.

Doing the opposite of what you normally do, might lead to your next best breakthrough.

Worst case, you’ll learn more about you, you’ll learn more about balance, and you’ll put more options under your belt for how you show up or how you respond in life.



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Build Better Habits

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #8

#8. Build Better Habits

As the saying goes, “First, you make habits, and then your habits make you.”

Your routines and rituals can serve you well.   

Your daily little actions add up over time for the compound effect.
Do something once or twice and it’s a one off.  

Do it three times, and you might be on to something.  

Do it for 21 days in a row, and it just might stick.

Be careful in your little choices.   

The thoughts you think, the things you drink, the stuff you eat, and the little things you do.  

Habits can be insidious and act like a slippery slope.



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Break the Loop

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #9

#9. Break the Loop

Our little loops can make us or break us.

Whether it’s an action or a thought, if it doesn’t serve you, break the loop.  Don’t dig the ruts deeper.

When the loop starts, catch yourself and choose whether you need to start, stop, or continue something.

It’s easier said than done, but awareness it the first step.



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Use Mentors as the Short-Cuts

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#10. Use Mentors as the Short-Cuts

 Mentors are the ultimate short-cut.

 Find mentors who have “been there, done that.”   

They can shave years off your journey and help you avoid dead ends.

The best mentors will know how to tailor their experience and insight in a way that helps you play to your strengths and accelerate your success.



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Model the Best

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #11

#11. Model the Best

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” – Isaac Newton

You can start from scratch or you can start from examples. 

By starting from examples, you can “Stand on the shoulders of giants” and leapfrog ahead. 

More importantly, you can use the examples to model from and inspire and guide yourself with skill. 

They will help you avoid dead ends and glass ceilings.

You can always choose to ignore what other people have done. But that should be an explicit decision. 

One of the best ways to speed up success is to build on the patterns and practices that work.

Success always leaves clues.

You can learn from the success of others to tune and prune your own success path.




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Do More of What You Love

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #12

#12. Do More of What You Love

One of the best questions a mentor once asked me was:
“What do you want to spend more time doing?”

I had been so wrapped up in figuring out my career moves that I lost sight of the basics.   

After thinking it over, I got clarity around the things I liked to do the most.   

This made choosing my next moves a lot easier, because I now knew what I wanted to fill my day with.

Figure out what you want to spend more time doing.

Then, find a way to do more of it.




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Keep Reinventing Yourself

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #13

#13. Keep Reinventing Yourself

Life’s not static.
  
Neither are you.  

Embrace your changes and make them work for you.

Life is a continuous process of reinvention.

Sometimes, it means becoming more of who you are.  

Sometimes, it means becoming more of who you were born to be.  

Other times, it means choosing more of who you want to be.


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Ask Better Questions

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#14. Ask Better Questions

 If you want better answers in life, ask better questions.

What are some better questions you can start asking yourself?

Exactly.



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Change the Things that Aren’t Working for You

If your outsourcing and the hired help isn't working, change it till it does then Review and Refine and move on.

 

Getting this right means we have more time to do the things that we want to do and the things we are best at.

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #15

#15. Change the Things that Aren’t Working for You

 “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein

As Tony Robbins reminds us, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”

If things aren’t working for you, change them.

Change yourself first.

The fastest person you can change in any situation is you.   

If you’re not getting the results you want, try changing yourself first.

Change your rules.  

It’s easy to create a bunch of rules for yourself that make success impossible, or always out of reach.

Change your environment.   

As Deepak Chopra , “You can’t make positive choices for the rest of your life without an environment that makes those choices easy, natural, and enjoyable.”

Change your relationships.  

As W. Clement Stone says, “Be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.”

Change your metaphors for life.  

Is your life a comedy?  A tragedy?  A sitcom?  An epic adventure? A dance?

Change how your represent things.  

Change what they mean to you.  

When you change how you represent things, you change how you experience them.






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Take One Step Back to Take Two Steps Forward

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#16. Take One Step Back to Take Two Steps Forward

I remember the pain of learning to type.  

I thought my two-finger method was fine.  

I hadn’t realized how much faster I could be.

But getting there was painful.

Speed didn’t come easy.  

It was like taking a step back.  

Eventually, taking the step back paid off, and now I get the benefit on a daily basis.

A lot of things you learn can be like that.  

Learning is awkward.

But the results are worth it, if you stick with it.

P.s This helped me a lot    www.freetypinggame.net/



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Raise Your Frustration Tolerance

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#17. Raise Your Frustration Tolerance

 Imagine if you found out that your frustration tolerance level was the main thing holding you back from enjoying life a little more each day?

Think of all the little thing that bug you each day.

Maybe it’s the traffic.  

Maybe it’s people you know.

Maybe it’s a lot of little things throughout your day, that all seem to rub you the wrong way.

Imagine if you suddenly raised your frustration tolerance, and all the little things that bugged you no longer pushed your buttons?

This is one of those big choices in life that affects you every day.





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Add More Life to Your Years

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #18

#18. Add More Life to Your Years

 

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” — Abraham Lincoln

Life’s short.

You can try to add more years to your life, but first add more life to your years.

Otherwise, what’s the point.




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Seek Progress, Not Perfection

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #19

#19. Seek Progress, Not Perfection

“The perfect is the enemy of good.” – Voltaire

Perfection is a great way to paralyze yourself.

Improvement over time beats seeking perfection out of the gate.

Think of perfection as a journey, not a destination, and enjoy the journey as you go.




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Age Like a Fine Wine

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #20

#20. Age Like a Fine Wine

 

Some people let time wear them down.

Others put time on their side.  

They get better with age.

Imagine if you got just a little better each day, how quickly that adds up over time.

Imagine you a year from now, better in so many ways, through better choices, better habits, and better thoughts.




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Anticipate It

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #21

#21. Anticipate It

 “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Peter F. Drucker

Be what’s next.

Think ahead.    

Anticipate.

A lot of the same things happen every day, every week, every month, every year.   

Watch for the patterns.  

Make them work for you.

You’d be surprised how many things we think are random can be traced back to a simple flow of events that weren’t random at all.

When you get in the habit of looking head, you set the stage to help yourself prepare for changes that may come your way, long before they start to show up.




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Embrace Change

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #22

#29. Embrace Change

 “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin

Change is a constant in our lives.

If we embrace it, we can use it as an opportunity to let go of what’s not working, and carry forward what is.   

We can also use it to reinvent ourselves.



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Surround Yourself with Catalysts

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #23

#23. Surround Yourself with Catalysts

Robin Hood had his Merry Men.

Build your wolf pack.

Some people we know, just happen to bring out our best.

Somehow, when you’re around them, you smile a little more.  

You feel a little stronger.  

You walk a little taller. 

You shine a little brighter.

They are your catalysts.

Surround yourself with the people that lift you.



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Stay Hands On

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#24. Stay Hands-On

Use it or lose it.

Don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and dive in.

It’s part of learning.

When I was at Tiffany & Co, the head of our department always reminded us that you learn more by doing, and that you’re never above any job.

And he would add that the more you know about the job at all levels, the more capable you are as you go up.


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Give Your Best Where You’ve Got Your Best to Give

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #25

#25. Give Your Best Where You’ve Got Your Best to Give

Spend more time in your strengths.

It’s one thing to play to your strengths when you get the chance.

It’s another thing to deliberately find ways to spend a lot more time in your strengths.

John Wooden’s secret to a happy life was peace of mind.  

His secret to peace of mind was giving his best, every chance he got.



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Form a Personal Board of Directors

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #26

#26. Form a Personal Board of Directors

Find people in your life that you trust to give you deep feedback on ways to improve.
They may even know you better than you know yourself.
Find the people and friends who are willing to offer you insight and guidance on how to bring out your best.



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Create a Feedback Loop

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #27

#27. Create a Feedback Loop

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” —  Ken Blanchard

The fastest way to improve with skill is to get a feedback loop that gives you data to learn and improve from.

Find ways to build learning loops, where you can iterate on something, and get a little better each time.

If you’re not getting the insight you need, fast enough, or relevant enough, then tighten your loop.


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Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #28

#28. Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude

“Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.” — Rabbi H Schachtel

Acknowledgement and appreciation are the most powerful rewards on Earth.
 
You can cultivate your attitude of gratitude by being thankful for the good choices you make during your day. 

Acknowledge and appreciate when you make the tough call, do the right thing, or take the high road.

Tony Robbins starts his day from a place of strength by reminding himself what he’s grateful for.

Whenever you can’t find a way to be grateful for what you’ve got, remind yourself how things can always be worse, and if you look for examples, you’ll find plenty.  There is always somebody worse off than you.


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Tavis Smiley: There Are No Shortcuts. You Find Your Path By Walking It.

Be here now

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #29

#29. Be Here Now

 

“Where are you? …. HERE.
What time is it? … NOW.  
What are you? … THIS MOMENT.” – Peaceful Warrior

Be here now. 

Your choices are in the moment.

You can choose what you focus on.

You choose whether to worry or take action.

Now is a great time to act.

Right here, right now, you can think the thoughts that serve you.

Throughout the day, you’ll have learning opportunities and leadership moments.

In the moments throughout the day, you can connect what you do and how you do it back to your values.

In this moment, do you know what you want, what you think, and what you feel?


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Enjoy the Journey and the Destination

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #30

#30. Enjoy the Journey and the Destination

““Life is like skiing.  Just like skiing, the goal is not to get to the bottom of the hill. It’s to have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets.” – Seth Godin

It’s one thing to focus on your destination.

It’s another to enjoy the journey as you go.

Do both.

Find a way to make the journey worth it.

Sometimes, you won’t actually reach your destination. 

You’ll want to look back and know that you made your journey worth it, you stopped to smell the flowers along the way, and if you had to do it all over again, there’s a good chance you’d do it the same way.

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Choose your response

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #31

#31. Choose Your Response

“All change happens with a choice.” — Tony Robbins
Don’t let other people push your buttons.

Expand the space between the stimulus and the response.

Stephen Covey said it best:

“In the space between stimulus (what happens) and how we respond, lies our freedom to choose. Ultimately, this power to choose is what defines us as human beings. We may have limited choices but we can always choose. We can choose our thoughts, emotions, moods, our words, our actions; we can choose our values and live by principles. It is the choice of acting or being acted upon.”

As one of my mentors puts it, “You are the sum of your decisions.”
Exercise your choices.

When it comes to making big change and making big choices, put yourself into a position where failure is not an option.

Tony Robbins shares this advice:
“If you want to take the island – burn the friggin’ boats!”


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Ruthless Focus, Relentless Execution

Interesting Video, It states Urgency is the key factor to making things happen

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #32

#32. Ruthless Focus, Relentless Execution

 

 It’s true.

Likewise, no challenge can withstand our sustained action.

When it comes to making things happen on a consistent basis, no single strategy has served me better than extreme focus and relentless execution.

Act on your best idea, in some small way.  

Over time, with sustained focus, relentless thinking, and little actions, you compound your effort into greater results.

Keep in mind, that sometimes the best way to get great results is to take massive action.

In the words of Dan Brown, “Everything is possible. The impossible just takes longer.”



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Take Action - Unlock What's Stopping You

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #33

#33. Take Action

“Life is like a game of chess.  To win you have to make a move.” — Allan Rufus, The Master’s Sacred Knowledge

As Tony Robbins reminds us, “It’s not knowing what to do, it’s doing what you know.”

Our power is our ability to act.  

Exercise it.  

Life’s not static.  

Lead a life of action.

Taking action helps you deal with change.  

A lot of success in life is about reducing the gap between knowing what to do, and actually doing what you know. 

Taking action keeps you from wallowing in misery, and it helps build momentum.

If you’re worried that you missed the boat, remind yourself of this timeless Chinese proverb:
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”


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Focus on what you can control, Let go of the rest

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#34. Focus on What You Control, and Let the Rest Go

 

Every time life feels out of control, remind yourself to focus on what you control.

And, let the rest go.

When you act on what you control, you build momentum.

More importantly,  when you exercise the things within your control, you remind yourself that you are powerful and resourceful.


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Never Give Up !!!!

Doesn't matter how many times we fall 

as long as we get  back up we will win our own race.

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #35

#35. Never Give Up

“If you’re going through Hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

Giving up is easy.

Don’t.

Keep getting up to bat.
 
Never shut down for good.
 
It’s not how hard you fall. 

It’s how high you bounce.

When you fall, get up again. 

As the saying goes, “Fall seven times, stand up eight.”

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Embrace Life, Embrace the Challenge

COUNT DOWN OF 50 OF THE BEST LIFE HACKS/MARGINAL GAINS FOR A BETTER FUTURE SELF #36

#36. Embrace the Challenge

 You know the saying, “Easy come, easy go.”

And, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

Do the tough stuff. 

Embrace the effort. 

It’s how you grow.

You’ll often look back and you’ll be proud of yourself for all those moments and all those times where you leaned in to your challenges, and gave it all you got.

For so many things in life, you’ll need to remind yourself the following:

It’s not easy.  But, it’s worth it.


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