If you read our philosophy page, two of our five pillars are discipline and focus. Dreaming big has never been a problem for us, that’s the easy part. But like most people day to day activities can easily derail our focus. Keeping the same motivation from day one throughout the lifespan of a project can be very difficult. We have found two methods that we implement religiously everyday that have proved to help us stay motivated and therefore focused and disciplined.
#1
Read 15 pages of a book everyday. It needs to be a book that is aligned with your goals and helping you move towards attaining them. For example the books we read are focused on business and how to become a successful entrepreneurs. A little recommendation. Read the books of the successful people that have come before you. The ones who have already accomplished what you want to. Obviously, the more the book is aligned with where you are going the more beneficial it will be.
Look at how much education this little daily task will get you. 1 month=30 day / 30days X 15 pages = 450 pages a month! And seriously, how long does it take to read 15 pages? Continuing your education is one of the best things you can do day in and day out to put yourself out in front of everybody else. Imagine if you read 15 inspiring books every year. You think you will be lacking any motivation?
(I first read about this in the Slight edge by Jeff Olson. This book has a ton of daily tasks like this and is highly recommended!)
Below are some of the books:
The Slight Edge ~ Jeff Olson
How to Win Friends and Influence People ~ Dale Carnegie
Think and Grow Rich ~ Napoleon Hill
The 4 Hour Work Week ~ Tim Ferriss
The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People ~ Stephen R. Covey
The Magic of Thinking Big ~ David Schwartz
You Can Negotiate Anything ~ Herb Cohen
Spin Selling ~ Neil Rackham
22 Immutable Laws of Marketing ~ Jack Trout
Purple Cow ~ Seth Godin
The Dip ~ Seth Godin
Built to Sell ~ John Warrilow
The Personal MBA ~ Josh Kaufman
The Tipping Point ~ Malcolm Gladwell
#2
Read a motivational quote before you go to bed at night and before you get out of bed in the morning. The key is to not just read the quote, but apply it to your life. I am not a morning person and this has helped tremendously in getting me out of bed without hitting that dreadful snooze button. It’s unbelievable how useful quotes can be if you have the discipline to take the time and read them. I use the 5 minute rule. After I read the quote I will meditate for at LEAST 5 minutes about the quote and how it applies to my life.
Below are some of our favorite quotes:
“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people wont so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t” ~Unknown
“Once you decide to work for yourself, you never go back to work for somebody else” ~Alan Sugar
“The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business–or almost anywhere else for that matter.”
~Lee Iacocca
“Do not go where the PATH may lead; go instead where there is no path and LEAVE a trail.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” ~Jim Rohn, Entrepreneur
