Habit Fragments: Are Your Good Habits Disconnected From Your Life?

Fragments We all have habit fragments. 

The word “fragment” has negative connotations as it goes against positive words like “whole” and “complete.” But in the case of good habits, it’s a huge benefit to have habit fragments.

Think about a good habit that you want. It can be something you’re currently working toward or one that you’ve struggled to develop. It could be your dream habit. With this hopeful good habit in mind, are there any individual times that you’ve done it? You’ll see where I’m going with this.

Hypothetically, let’s say that I want to develop a habit of doing 20 pull-ups every day, but that I’ve been inconsistent. What would you expect my problem has been?Read More

How Waking Up Early Can Change Your Life

Waking up earlier

[box]I’m happy to present to you the first guest post on Deep Existence! *crowd roars* It’s from Eric Gati, who actually just interviewed me on his new daily interview website (which is awesome, check it out). If you’re interested in writing a guest post for Deep Existence, click here. Thanks for the insights, Eric![/box]

The longer you are awake, the more time you will have in the day. Having more time in the day can lead to greater productivity. Greater productivity can lead to better results. Better results will bring you closer to your goals. The logic is simple.

Despite understanding this logic for the better part of my adult life, it wasn’t until recently that I found a way to execute it effectively.Read More

The REAL Reason Why You Procrastinate

wait

Everyone has a theory on procrastination: 

  • It’s because we dread the work
  • It’s because we fill up the time we have (Parkinson’s Law)
  • It’s because we’re addicted to candy crush

The case-by-case reasons for procrastination vary, but they’re not all that helpful for solving the problem. Let’s find the root cause of procrastination.Read More

How To Say “No” To Temptations

Saying no is hard

Some people have a tough time saying “no.” They don’t just struggle to say no to other people, but to their own distractions and temptations. Here’s how to change that.

Think In Empowering Terms

Is it that you can’t waste time on Facebook or that you don’t do it? The slight difference in perspective between can’t and don’t makes a monstrous difference in results. Here’s an example to explain why:

  1. What does a child say to his friend when he isn’t allowed to spend the night? “Sorry, I can’t sleep over tonight.”
  2. What does a non-smoking adult say when offered a cigarette? “No thanks, I don’t smoke.”

The child from #1 is not in control of his situation. The adult is.

Consider that “can’t” is more of an appeal to authority than a personal decision to change. Like in the child’s case, he wants to sleep over, but he can’t because his parents said so. When an adult tries this “can’t strategy” and they realize that they are the decision-maker, it’s really easy to break that rule.

There’s science too. Vanessa Patrick and Henrik Hagtvedt analyzed howRead More