This is Optimal Living Daily, Episode 763. 20 Key Questions on Motivation and Habits Answered Part Two by Leo About of ZenHabits.net, and I'm Justin Mollig, your very own personal narrator. Welcome to Optimal Living Daily, or OLD for short, old for shorter, where I narrate the best blogs I can get permission from to help you optimize your life. So today's a continuation from yesterday, and it's so long that it'll continue through tomorrow.
If you're new here, I recommend listening to yesterday's episode first. And speaking of recommending listening, there's an unrelated article that I really think you should hear, I'll mention at the end, for now it's your Part Two of Leo's Post, and continue optimizing your life. 20 Key Questions on Motivation and Habits Answered Part Two by Leo About of ZenHabits.net. Number eight, what would be the 10 most motivating words I could say to myself every morning to get myself to exercise?
I would say these 10 words, just lace up and get out the door and smile. Once he has started to take that first step, the rest is easy and smiling makes it enjoyable. Number nine, my hubby likes interest in anything except boating, how can I motivate him to get off the sofa? I don't think you can motivate others.
If they want to do something, they'll do it. If they don't, then don't make them. However, you can't influence others in positive ways. I'd recommend setting an example by doing, and sharing how great it is without judgment for what he's doing.
If he's happy doing what he's doing, then that's great. If you'd like to do more, then be there for support, but don't push. You can ask for his help as well in your efforts. Sometimes spouses love to help, and that can rub off on them and get them thinking about trying it themselves, or maybe not.
In the end, worry more about what you're doing and less about what he's doing. He's living his life and you're living yours. People don't like to be pushed or judged or badgered, but like to be loved and accepted. Number 10, how to minimize tension and frustration with others who are less organized than you are.
It's a matter of only worrying about what you can control and accepting that which you can't. You can't control others or their organization level, so don't even try to. There's actually a deeper issue of control for many organized people. They want to control everything in the world around them and for a long time I was one of them, but it's impossible, and it only leads to stress and frustration and conflicts.
Instead, learn to embrace a degree of chaos except that the world is out of your control and love it. The world is a wonderfully unpredictable, wild and beautiful place. To learn to let go, every time you find yourself frustrated, stop and breathe. Let the frustration flow out of you and let peace come in.
Remind yourself that you don't have to control and love others for their humanness. It takes time, but you can learn. Number 11, what is your best advice on keeping focus on the important when the distractions in our lives are constant? Figure out what's distracting you and how to minimize them, or at least put them in a certain place.
Engineer your environment so distractions are minimal. For example, shut off the internet except four times when you really need it predetermined times. At the very least, shut off email notifications and anything else that pops up and tells you there's a new message or tweet or whatever. Close those programs and only have what you need for the task in front of you.
Learn to focus for short amounts of time, say, 10 or 15 minutes, then lengthen that time gradually by five minutes until you can focus for 45 to 60 minutes at a time or more and enjoy that time of focus. It's fantastic. Number 12, how do you stay motivated in business when you've never done something before and the results won't show up until down the road? Learn to love the process and don't let your happiness be so dependent on the outcome.
Be passionate about the actual things you do, do them because you love it and you'll stick with it. The great things that result will be a natural byproduct. Number 13, thoughts on getting unstuck? If you're stuck on a project or a task, give your brain a breather or a jolt.
A breather can be going outside to take a walk, doing a little bit of easy meditation, focus on your breath as it comes in, then goes out for a minute or two, or doing something fun like a game for a few minutes, like five to 20 minutes. A jolt could be some kind of inspiration. Read blogs or books you find inspiring. Look for something others are doing that inspire you to do something creative.
If you're stuck in life, that requires a bit more work, but think of it as an opportunity to reinvent yourself and your life. Take a break from work if possible, even if it's just for an hour or two, but a day or two is even better. Think of it as a necessary work session because it'll help you get unstuck. Take this break as a breather from your normal routine, but use it not just a veg out, but to think, to get some perspective, to take a while or look at your life.
What are you doing that you love doing? What can you eliminate that's both unnecessary and unexciting? If you hate what you're doing, can you change it to something you love or can you change jobs? Can you automate or outsource things that you don't enjoy or eliminate them so you can focus on creating on things you do enjoy?
Make a list of things you like to do in the short term and long term and then start implementing them one little thing at a time. Number 14, how do you stay away from distractions? Do you do just one thing at a time or a multitasking a planned way? I'm a big proponent of single tasking.
Multitasking can work in some cases, but most of the time it gets in the way of focusing on what's really important. Multitasking can work for little tasks like checking email and your bank account and Facebook and things like that. We just set aside time for the important tasks earlier rather than later when things might get too busy. When you're gonna work on an important task, clear away all distractions and focus just on that one task.
Close programs you don't need, clear away clutter on your desk, turn off any notifications, turn off your mobile devices, and preferably shut off the internet and close your browser. Number 15, here's that in tomorrow's episode. You just listened to part two of the post titled 20 key questions on motivation and habits answered by Leo Babada of ZenHabits.net. And I mentioned that there's another article I think you should hear.
It's a tear jerker from Jaws over at Optimal Living Daily Relationships. Check it out, it's Wednesday's episode and Thursday's, it's yesterday's, this episode's 188 and 189. I gave her a really tough one to narrate, but she did a great job. And while it is hard to listen to, I highly recommend that one.
It's rare that I do that. So yeah, definitely check it out. Again, that's episodes 188 and 189 of Optimal Living Daily Relationships. And I'll do it for today.
I'm gonna be a great one. And I'll see you tomorrow over the weekend to finish up this post and to where you're optimal life.