How I Stay Motivated

Good afternoon, timeboxers.

I hope you’ve all scheduled in a full and exciting day! (If you’d like to see my schedule for the day you can click here).

I wanted to share with you something that keeps me pushing myself even when I want to stop. It’s a pretty simple thing and, as always, it’s just about mindset but I think it’s worth thinking about.

What makes me go that extra mile is the sure knowledge that most people won’t. If you’re willing to push even a tiny bit past your natural stopping point, you’re ahead of 99% of the competition. It’s basically free.

I know that I don’t get to choose if I’m the best. I don’t get to choose if I have the most capital or if I have the best education or the best upbringing but I absolutely get to choose when I stop.

I think that there’s a profound freedom in understanding this. It’s acknowledging that we have control over this part of our lives and knowing that it can make a real tangible difference.

And, conversely, if you stop early, you’re giving the best 1% in the world a free leg-up over you. Why the hell would you do that?

I’ll leave you with something Will Smith said:

“The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. … But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m going to die.”

— Will Smith

Steve Poulton
Founder @ Aika
https://www.aikahq.com