There’s one man you definitely know, even if you don’t know his name.
That man? J.P. Morgan
Yep — there’s a bank named after him. That’s because he’s basically the inventor of modern finance. He changed the way money works.
And right now, I want to tell you a story about him.
One day, a man approached JP Morgan, held up an envelope, and said, “Sir, in my hand I hold a guaranteed formula for success, which I will gladly sell to you for $25,000.”
“Sir,” JP Morgan replied, “I do not know what is in the envelope. However, if you show me and I like it, I give you my word as a gentleman that I will pay you what you ask.”
The man agreed to the terms and handed over the envelope. JP Morgan opened it, and extracted a single sheet of paper. He gave it one look and handed the piece of paper back to the gent, pulled out his checkbook, and paid the man the agreed-upon $25,000.
The paper read:
Every morning, write a list of the things that need to be done that day.
Do them.
Apocryphal? Probably. But the point is very clear.
Most business owners have neither clarity, nor accountability, on what they do every day.
And now, back to my story.
I’m assuming that you’ve arrived here from this page. If not, that’s kinda weird, and you should read it first.
I was just telling the story about when everything changed.
I was in Budapest. I had run out of money. I had to steal bread from a grocery store.
Like Aladdin.
And then — I decided to make a change.
First, I made the hard decision — I told my team we were out of cash. I let a number of people go. I dropped our costs to something sustainable.
Secondly, I decided to make a real change about myself. I decided to implement one single habit that would change everything.
I decided that I would write down 3 things I would do, every night before bed.
Then, I would do those things.
Seems simple. But it made all the difference.
Here’s what happened:
I asked my coach to hold me accountable. I had to send her 3 things I would do every morning — or she would penalize me by taking $50 from me (money I didn’t have).
Then, I had to do those things. Or she would penalize me.
BUT, if I achieved those goals, several days in a row — I’d get to reward myself. Something I would commit to at the beginning of the week. A massage, a pair of shoes, a movie — something small, but something tangible.
Instantly, everything changed.
Here’s the honest truth.
The secret to success is closer than you think.
The secret to comfort is closer than you think.
The secret is a single, small habit.
The secret is committing to actions you’ll do daily and then doing them.
That’s it.
But for some reason, we make it so hard.
We let ourselves react to “urgent” tasks, instead of doing the important things.
We let ourselves become reactionary, instead of proactive.
And if you want to massively upgrade your business –it’s time to make a change.
The code is simple.
Achieve clarity in what you should do. This is encapsulated by:
Do three things every day.
Achieving the code is a little harder.
How do we get ourselves to:
1) Commit to three things every day
2) Do those three things every day
But achieving that code — and skyrocketing your business — isn’t impossible. If you’ve ever studied psychology, you’ll understand it instantly.
You need just a few factors.
1) Positive Reinforcement — You need to be rewarded when you set your goals, and when you achieve your goals.
2) Negative Reinforcement — You need a consequence if you fail. If you don’t have a consequence — you’ll never ever get started.
3) Accountability — You need to be held accountable to your commitments. If you simple say “I’m going to start writing down what I’ll do and then doing them!!!” — you’ll make it a few days, and then devolve as soon as some fire comes up.
But if someone
1) ensures you suffer the consequence when you fail
2) but also encourages you with your positive reward when you succeed
3) and most importantly — makes sure you don’t cheat
Everything Changes.
How do I know this?
Because everything changed for me.
Within three months of implementing this change:
I knew I had stumbled on something enormous.
I had solved a fundamental problem.
And I decided to build something for you. Something that could help you achieve the same results that I did.
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Habits, Technology & Behavioral Change