Don't negotiate with yourself

The person who carefully designs their daily routine goes further than the person that negotiates with themselves every day.

The most successful people I know follow a routine to ensure the most important projects get the time they need.

A successful and busy acquaintance decided to write a book not long ago. I asked him how he planned to do that given all of his responsibilities at home and the office. He simply said, “I get up at 5, make a coffee, and write from 530 to 7 every day. I’ve been doing it for 9 days now and I’ll do it until the book is done.” I knew right then he’d finish his book. Why? Because he designed part of his life to accomplish that goal.

There are two parts to using this approach. First, you must design your life so the default is to do the work. Second, and equally important, you can’t negotiate with yourself.

One of the most valuable skills you can adopt in life is doing things when you don’t feel like doing them.

A lot of people get stuck negotiating with themselves. A little voice in their head says, “I don’t feel like doing this right now, let’s do it later.” The minute you entertain that thought, it’s over.

Design the defaults and don’t negotiate with yourself.