📧 Elevate Letter #44: 7 Rules for Overcoming Procrastination
Plus: 3-second technique, Get 80 Summers, Reverse-Engineering Success, and Life-Changing Purchases Under $100
Hey Ambitious,
Welcome to Elevate Letter!
If you're new here, this is the newsletter where every Sunday, I share the 5 best ideas I find each week to help you improve by 1% each day.
Let’s dive in!
You get 80 summers if you're lucky 👴
80 summers.
That's all you get.
Of course, we all know that the average person lives to around 80, but when I heard it described like this—it stopped me in my tracks.
Maybe because this summer is almost over.
Maybe because I've been thinking about my mortality lately.
All I know is that it stuck in my mind.
It also reminded me of my favorite article on the entire internet:
The Tail End by Tim Urban (it's a must-read, trust me)
In the article, Tim outlines how many more times he'll get to do certain activities in his life.
How many more times he'll eat tacos.
How many more times he'll go swimming.
How many more times he'll see his parents before they die.
It's a hilarious and poignant reminder of how finite life really is.
Here are Tim's 3 biggest takeaways at the end of it:
1) Living in the same place as the people you love matters.
I probably have 10X the time left with the people who live in my city as I do with the people who live somewhere else.
2) Priorities matter.
Your remaining face time with any person depends largely on where that person falls on your list of life priorities. Make sure this list is set by you—not by unconscious inertia.
3) Quality time matters.
If you’re in your last 10% of time with someone you love, keep that fact in the front of your mind when you’re with them and treat that time as what it actually is: precious.
An exercise to reverse engineer your ideal life 💪
Pro tip:
The easiest way to get what you want in life is to start with the end in mind.
This week, I was inspired by my friend Jay Yang to put together a set of questions that would allow you to reverse-engineer an ideal life for yourself.
Here's what I came up with:
What do I want my ideal life to look like? (Define your vision for your perfect day, environment, relationships, and activities.)
What kind of person do I need to become to achieve this vision? (Identify the traits, skills, and mindset required to reach your ideal life.)
What goals should I set to develop these qualities? (Determine specific objectives to help you grow into the person you need to be.)
What obstacles are standing in my way? (Recognize challenges or barriers that could hinder your progress.)
What actionable steps can I take right now to overcome these obstacles and move closer to my goals? (Outline immediate actions you can implement to start making progress.)
My challenge to you:
Set aside some time this week to go through this exercise.
Bonus points if you report back to me with your results.
What purchase under $100 changed your life? - Thread from Dan Go🧵
I'm such a sucker for a thread like this.
I firmly believe that a few well-thought-out purchases can greatly impact your overall well-being.
A few from the thread that caught my eye:
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind (book)
A white noise machine for sleeping
A weighted blanket
A bidet
A few of my own:
Kindle
A physical alarm clock (to keep my phone out of my bedroom)
A lot of different books
A high-quality pillow
Let me know a purchase under $100 that changed your life.
7 Rules for Overcoming Procrastination 🦥
“The Magic you’re looking for is in the work you’re avoiding.”
7 rules for overcoming procrastination:
1. The 5-Minute Rule (my all-time favorite):
Set a timer for 5 minutes
Work on the task you’ve put off
After 5 minutes, you can stop (if you want)
90% of the time, the momentum of starting is enough to keep you going.
2. The “action first” mindset
Most people think it goes like this:
Motivation —> Action —> More Action
When in reality, it’s more like this:
Small Action —> Motivation —> More Action
Action leads to motivation, not the other way around.
3. Set limits on learning time
Growth looks like this: learn —> apply —> learn —> apply
Procrastination looks like this: learn —> learn —> learn —> learn
Do you need more information?
Or do you need to apply the information you already have?
4. Break your goals into specific habits
“Get fit” is NOT actionable.
“Go to the gym for 45 minutes every weekday at 8 am” is actionable.
The smaller and more specific you break down your goals, the easier it is to act on them.
5. The 2-Minute Rule
If something takes less than 2 minutes, do it now.
Don’t let mundane tasks gnaw at the back of your mind for weeks.
6. Eat the Frog
Do the hardest task of the day first.
Get that weight off your back.
The rest of the day will seem easy.
7. Remove distractions
Being surrounded by digital distractions gives you more excuses to procrastinate.
Here’s my focus toolkit:
Phone in Do Not Disturb mode
Cold Turkey web blocker on
All open tabs are relevant to my current task
A 3-second technique that might save you from regret 🫡
I've been known to put my foot in my mouth from time to time.
This idea has been saving me lately:
Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates:
Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind?
I've seen this idea attributed to Rumi, Socrates and Buddha—so take your pick .
Regardless, it's a great tool.
Note: you don’t have to do it literally every time you speak, but if you find yourself about to overreact, overexplain, or say something you might regret...
Stop for 3 seconds
Run your response through these gates
Adjust accordingly
Try it out. Let me know how it goes.
~ Elevated Path