Are you living your life on autopilot?
Not sure what I mean by that?
Let me ask you: are you happy with where you are right now in your life?
Did you imagine that you’d be sitting where you are today?
What about your goals?
Have you accomplished most, if not some of your goals?
For most people the answer is usually no on that last question and that’s a shame.
Because now, more than ever, you can accomplish practically anything thanks to the internet.
You can learn how to run a marathon, become a full-time freelance writer, and so much more, all from reading free articles on the internet.
But I’m guessing you haven’t done that yet.
Instead, you’re sitting back waiting for a lightbulb of an opportunity to come out and find you.
But life doesn’t work that way.
You have to go out and get what you want. And today’s guide will show you how to do that.
I’ve also created some free worksheets for you to download that will help you get through this:
If deep down you know you should and could be doing more but you’re not sure how to start, this guide is for you.
And the first step is pretty simple and straightforward:
Decide On What You Want
I worked enough full-time jobs to know that I wanted more out of a job.
I wanted to create my own schedule, have more control over my income, and be able to travel when I wanted to.
The days of losing PTO were over for me.
But I didn’t know what else I could do and I had zero experience with how to get started.
So while I worked at my regular 9-5 jobs, I started learning little by little about what it takes to freelance.
I spent time researching, saving money, and preparing for it like it was something that could happen at any moment.
Check out my actual notes from 2013!:
It took me 2 years of preparation, but now, I’m celebrating the my 8th year of doing it full-time (that’s a 10 year journey!).
I have a small team that has pumped out over 810 pieces of published content, across 23 industries for 51 clients.
And I love what I do because my days are filled with researching and finding what works, dispelling myths, and giving people the tools they need to solve their problems.
Not only that, it still amazes me that this whole freelance business happened, because it wasn’t always like that:
Take one of my favorite clients for example, HubSpot.
I’ve always turned to them as the experts in my field of marketing.
Between their guides and Neil Patel’s I was able to learn how to become a better writer, something I did not go to school for.
I used this knowledge and paired it with my marketing background to build my own freelance business.
And I went from writing notes from HubSpot’s guides to being asked to write those exact guides for them as an independent contractor.
See for yourself.
These are notes I took in 2014 from HubSpot on how to write well:
Needless to say I was floored away. I was even more amazed when the editor recently reached back out to me with two more guides.
In just 3 years from taking those notes, I turned from bystander to contributor.
And you can do the same.
Another thing that I decided was that I wanted to get stronger, and be more active.
I’d bet you have a similar goal:
- Lose weight
- Get healthier
- Tone up
Once you decide on what you want, you’re ready for this next step:
Immerse Yourself in Everything You Need to Know
Most people decide they want to do something and then get overwhelmed by what needs to be done to get there.
Then they give up because the entire task sounds impossible and out of reach.
Instead of doing that, you need to start diving headfirst into learning more about what you want to do.
If you want to start a side hustle, find articles online that can help you narrow down your focus and give you a plan to run with.
And if you want to lose weight, figure out what it’s going to take to do so.
Do you need to workout?
Eat better and cook more?
Nail down what you need to do and the skills you need to learn and start sharpening your saw, so to speak, which basically means you should always build and hone your skills since you never know when they’ll come in handy.
Another thing you need to do here is:
Learn from the Experts
As you find information online, you’re going to see some natural leaders emerge.
For me, that’s where HubSpot and Neil Patel’s sites came in.
I studied everything they did and taught myself the exact things they were talking about.
I also turned to successful freelancers to learn what they were already doing right:
And I use this strategy when it comes to things like building better habits, creating workout plans, and figuring out how to adjust my diet to get the results I wanted.
With the amount of information available to you online, it’s incredible how much you can teach yourself.
But, if you’re not careful this can turn into another overwhelming point that may cause you to freeze.
This is called analysis paralysis and it happens to the best of us.
To avoid this, tackle this next step:
Create an Action Plan
While it’s great to gather information, you can’t get stuck in this stage and too many people do, including me.
Instead, you should learn enough to get yourself going and then go back only when you get stuck or want to level up even more.
So if you want to start working out, start searching for beginner plans on the internet. And then schedule your first workout for the very next day.
Pack your clothes, shift your schedule around, set your alarm clock.
Whatever it takes to get it done, just do it.
But before you lose your momentum of day 1, there’s one more step you can take here so that you don’t use tomorrow logic (I’ll just do it tomorrow): make sure to do something on day 1, and after you’ve found your plan.
So if it’s a new workout, practice the moves in your living room so you’ll feel comfortable enough to do them on your own.
After all, you don’t want any distractions slowing you down during your actual workout.This is the time to get the kinks out and build up your confidence.
Using my freelance example, I knew I had to start building my portfolio.
So my first day was all about finding pieces that I’ve already published and adding these to a page on my site.
Then I created an outline for my first article and called it a day.
The next day, I just had to pick up from where my outline left off which kept the momentum going.
Another thing that helped do just that was:
Use the Jerry Seinfeld Technique
Jerry Seinfeld once said that he used to draw a big red X on his calendar on any days that he practiced his daily writing habit.
And what he found was that he was more motivated not to skip a day because he didn’t want to break his momentum.
If he skipped a day, a big white block would be staring back at him in a sea of red X’s.
I used this logic when I started to form my workout habit and I really believe it helped.
I put it on my vision board first and then started using it in real-life:
It was so fun to see just how many workouts I got in once the month was over.
I went from maybe 1-4x/week to 5-6x/week consistently.
I use this same strategy for writing and journaling too.
These are two things that can help your mental health and overall well being, which is why I highly recommend them, even if you don’t want to be a write professionally.
The next key point is:
Don’t Give Into Your Excuses
Now that you have a plan and you’ve started building momentum, your only job is to just keeping going.
There’s going to be times when you want to quit.
And there will be points that push you both mentally and physically.
You may even get thrown a few curveballs just as you declare your new path, and you should expect this.
Things will get worse before they get better because the good things in life don’t come easy.
You have to work hard and bust through obstacles instead of turning away from them.
Most people give up when things get tough.
And that’s why most of us can’t flaunt a radical transformation in a before and after photo, figuratively speaking.
Instead, you end up not reaching your goals and find yourself in the same position year after year.
Because of that, I want you to stop giving into the voice in your head who tells you you’ve earned something you haven’t worked for.
Oh, I’ve had a tough day, I deserve a beer or glass of wine. I’ll just workout tomorrow instead.
It’s a little rainy out, so I’ll just skip my walk for today.
You’ve been good all week. You deserve a cheat day.
Giving into these voices sets you back in two ways:
- They’re usually the exact opposite of what you need to do to reach your goals which slows and can even halt your progress
- They also weaken your discipline and stall your momentum
Just one skipped day can snowball into two, a week, a month, and another year that goes by.
This is running on autopilot folks and it’s time to stop that.
As Lewis Howes puts it, you need to adopt and develop a champion’s mindset.
Remember those experts you looked at earlier?
Think about them whenever you want to give into an excuse and ask yourself: what would they do?
Would they skip a workout?
Would they not spend 15 minutes everyday writing?
You know what you need to do now it’s just about getting it done.
Stop telling yourself that you’ve earned things you haven’t worked for and put in the time it takes to make a real difference.
And when you start to get uncomfortable and like you want to retreat, you know it’s working and you just keep going.
This is where the magic happens.
Turn Off Autopilot & Start Creating a Better Life for Yourself
Once you tackle these tips, you’ll see a completely different version of yourself.
And you’ll be amazed by what you see staring back at you in the mirror.
I’ve seen it firsthand and I know you can do it too!
To get started with the tips in today’s guide, be sure to grab your free copy of the worksheets that go with this guide:
By turning off autopilot and taking the right first steps, you’ll put it out to the Universe that you’re ready to make a BIG change in your life.
And while it may throw you some curve balls, these are just lessons that you need to learn on your new journey.
Don’t quit and power through them instead.
You got this!
And if you need my help, feel free to reach out: devan@behappynothangry.com
Sending you the strength to get started today,
Devan