Living Life with Conviction

Have you ever noticed how all our best plans are set for tomorrow, yet tomorrow never seems to make its way to today? This is not a new concept and it seems fairly obvious as to why life works this way. Most people are so consumed with the “now” that they rarely take the time to project where they will be in the future. And though we could discuss setting goals and taking steps to obtain them, I think it more important to ask ourselves one question. “Why is my goal not more of a priority in my life?” More than that, how often do I pay lip service to an idea, but I don’t ever take deliberate steps to implement it?

We’ll discuss how this applies to the Fast Lane philosophy, but this question seems to transcend into all areas of life. You may say that living by the Golden Rule is a good thing, but then do you do your best to live it? Or you might think, “I’ve got to lose weight”, but you never even try. For some of the Fast Laners, you may say I’m going start my own business, and do whatever it takes to succeed. Instead you find your self reading posts, agreeing with the gurus, and not doing anything toward achieving your goals. Ok, fine, I admit that I’m talking about myself here.

I’ve been thinking lately about what delineates the successful from the unsuccessful. The answer is pretty obvious. They are disciplined. Ok, but is that the only reason? My answer would be “no”. The way I see it is that most of the world is full of dreams and dreamers, goals and goals setters. The key difference is that only a small percentage has gained the experience necessary to alter their perspectives. Those that see the world through different eyes are those that set different priorities. The rest of us continue to dream while sleeping through life’s opportunities.

For the vast majority of us we set goals but view them in a rather distant and hazy kind of light. It’s kind of like looking at a mountain range in the distance and saying, “Yep, one day I’ll climb them”. The problem is for most of us, one day is the day that never comes. Then again, we hear the gurus speak, and we feel inspired by statements and mottos such as “The only Easy Day was yesterday” or “The long journey begins with the first step”. We get a buzz off of writing down goals and subscribing to self affirmation techniques that we just “know” will help us succeed. For some people this is enough, just not for me.

So why is that the case? I think I know the answer. Those who have succeeded or are in the process have adopted a different perspective from the majority. They’re the ones that not only looked at the range, but they look to you and say, “I climbed it.” To them a view of the range is not about symbolism and dreams; it is about scaling the 100 foot cliff and watching the sunrise from the mountain peak. Where as to us, it may just be a concept; to them it is an attainable goal. The bottom line is that they see it through life experience as being real and legitimate rather than just a far fetched and nice distraction.

So let’s get back to the title of this post. Are you living your life with conviction? My personal answer is no. I can talk all I want about the mountain views, but I’m never going to speak to it with authority until I actually start hiking up the trail.

Rather than just saying it is possible to be successful and obtain my Fast Lane goal, I have to believe it and start implementing the necessary steps to make it happen. No more concepts, theories, and “wouldn’t it be nice”, it’s time for action.

So let’s look at the tools needed to make dreams less aloof and something more tangible.


GOAL: This is the mountain range. Now it’s time to pick a peak and head towards it. For me personally, I’m going to start off with something small. Not insignificant, just not overwhelming for my skill level. I’ll use this first goal as training for bigger challenges in the future.

DEDICATION: No more talk. Set aside an hour a day until you achieve or reassess your goal. (Using the same time every day will help it become a habit easily)

DISTRACTIONS: Turn off the television or computer games each day to work on the project. Pick a quiet place if possible (don’t say it parents, I know). Try to focus on your project only.

RESEARCH: Do what’s needed to understand the endeavor and utilize the available resources. Analyze which has worked best for others.

ACCOUNTABILITY: Some people don’t need this. It’s not always comfortable, but it helps along the way. By having someone nudge you along, you may be less inclined to put various tasks on the back burner. That being said, make sure you are positive you want to start a specific project. It’s not fair to get mad at a friend’s encouragement if you started the project reluctantly. He shouldn’t have to push you up the mountain, you should want to climb.

LOGBOOK: Write down what you implement and what works or doesn’t. By writing it down, it will help you remember past achievements/mistakes and cut down on repeat time.

BENCHMARKS: Use either dates or income to assess progress towards your goal.

MOTIVATION: This comes back again to the thesis question. Do you have the conviction that your goal is real, obtainable, and going to happen? Are you doing this for yourself or your family? Will you let this be another sprint start that morphs into a crawling or even a non finish? I know for me the desire is real. I’ve seen others conquer their goals. If I don’t try now, I’ll never know.


This started out as a brief post and kind of changed along the way. I guess I was trying to convey (at least to myself) that life is short. No more talking. It’s time to go Mountain Climbing!

Sparlin, you're on fire dude! +++speed

Agree with more or less all of the things you wrote, Sparlin. Though one word seems to be very reccuring.

I can only take myself, but I guess you can find many more successful people with similar traits: I do things because I like the challenge of doing them. There is no real need for dicipline per se. Your natural obsession for the challenge you want to take on make dicipline a bi-product.

After reading Robert Shemins book, I can also agree to the idea that successful people like to take on a challenge and play it like a fun game. Discovering the rules and then play the rules to the hilt just for the sake of it.

Many people have this crazy idea that it is all about being a guy at the grindstone, being mean and being a "big, warrior lord". That's just dumb assumptions. My dad was like that, but he died before reaching 40. And he wasn't rich either. When he died he was bankrupt. My dad was the most diciplined guy I knew.

I am a successful reader of books. What does that have to do with anything? A lot.

The reason I am successful at reading somewhere between 2-3, 400 page sized books in english every week is because I do it as a fun game. I have these game rules setup that says:

1) Before you put down your book you shall read 1 chapter straight.
2) The way you read the book is by reading one chunk of lines at a time and do it as fast and as focused as you can.

This way I can read one chapter in a small time frame and be totally in "flow" and enjoy the process. Reading a book now becomes a game that is all about beating my time reading the last chunk of lines. Not about the dicipline of reading the whole book or even the whole chapter (which might be 50 pages long in many cases).

The same goes with walking long distances (I do power walking. Good excercise for those of you who haven't tried it). I can walk several miles straight because of my game rules ffor walking long distances. My rules are pretty simple:

1) Map out the distance to walk.
2) Then focus on one focus point a couple of feet in front of you. Then reach that point as fast as you can.
3) Now quickly find a new focus point and then reach that point as fast as possible.
4) Once again do what you have done before. Until you reach your target where you rest and take a sip of your water.

It's all about the Game. Not about the dicipline.

I read about (can't remember his name unfortunately) this Navy Seal guy and his BUD/S experience. The only reason he got through that whole BUD/S and Hell Week training was because, as me, he did mental games of the whole thing. One step at a time and he made it.

MAKE IT A GAME. NOT A MENTAL TORTURE.

Sparlin - If you haven't already, I'd suggest PARTICIPATING in Russ' How To Develop Your PLAN thread. That way, you don't come to the conclusion, after the fact, that your mountain climbing expedition lead you to the top of the wrong mountain (for YOU). It may be wise to plan your route and choose which mountain is right for you while you're still at base camp.

KWerner-

Great point.

As one of our other fastlane posters says, "Speed is irrelevant if you're heading in the wrong direction."

-Russ H.

Kwerner- I've seen Russ H's thread and agree it is full of good info. I will probably utilize it in the near future. Right now, I have an idea that I would like try. My plan is to try the initial stages of it on my own, then seek advice as I continue to develop it. Kind of a "before" and "after" experiment. I've already read a lot here on the forum which has helped build confidence in this venture. I plan to have the initial phase completed by next week. Thanks for the advice.


Russ H. - if I remember the posts correctly, you are looking for "A Ha" type of moments. To clarify, you are looking for more of a mindset change rather than a factual report. Is this correct or do I need to read it some more? I know it's more detailed than that, I just wondered what your emphasis is. I'll revisit the thread later tonight. Thanks.


Fanocks2003... Thanks for pointing out the benefits of making a game out of endeavors. I emphasize discipline because it’s one of my personal flaws that I have to overcome. I also believe it's a strong component of success.

The fact that you make a game is a good way to keep yourself on task. It seems to me like your philosophy is contrary to most peoples. They think that you have to work hard (suffer boring tasks) in order to reach their goals (enjoyable lifestyle).
You advocate masking the tedious details by “enjoying the ride” as you go along. The end result is the same, the details are done. It’s just a matter of how you choose to view them.

Making it a game is very important. Sure, all of us have to do certain boring stuff from time to time. As an entrepreneur you never will get away from the "reading and studying" part, because that is where you get your real edge. So reading, for me, is paramount. Making reading a game makes me enjoy reading a lot. I read factual books mostly. Biographies, marketing books, sales books, networking books etc. Everything that can aid me or give me new ideas to go along with.

Excercising is not something people enjoy. Most people really don't (we all know that). But for me, if I don't excercise I get very unproductive, tired and fatigued. I really need my dose of intense training every week. So making this a game is also a very important feat. Without the game I would not have done it. Some days, you just don't like to do it.

The same goes with business meetings. I don't like business meetings. I think they are, first of all, a waste of time. Secondly, I think they are horrible events that are as unproductive as anything can be (especially now when people can send a simple email or just go online with a webcam). So if I really have to go to a business meeting, then I will play games in that setting to. I play with my time. Mental time games.

The mental time game can go something like this:

1) Find a watch on the wall. Focus on being hyper focused in 15 minutes intervals and be as nice and interested as possible. Be genuin, of course.
2) When 15 minutes have gone by, then take a sip of your coffee or tea (or whatever you are drinking) and then be hyper focused another 15 minutes and soon enough the whole boring meeting is over. End the whole thing with a smile and "take care".

Another take on it could be to experiment with looking into the other persons eyes straight on for 5 minutes (intervals of 5 minutes). The first guy to flinch, loses. It only matters that you know what the hell you are doing. Be focused on the business task at the same time, but do not flinch. Make up your own games, there are many ways to get through the hassle and still end up with the last smile.

You just need to make silly games of life when it gets boring.

I told Runum that if I ever went to jail then I would not have any direct problem with sitting there for a couple of years. You may think "ya, right". But trust my words: I wouldn't. When you get very good at these "mind games" of yours, then you can have time pass by pretty fast. It's all about finishing off one small interval after the other and be focused on being in the "flow" doing it. And after all, you sleep most of the time anyhow, so you don't need to focus too much.

And besides: If you are in jail, then you could set up self competition with yourself. Like, how many cops can I piss of today and still have them smile at my jokes at the end of the day.

Or, how many pushups can I make in 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 60 minutes? You get the idea.

To top it of: Ted Turner has a lot of wood and land. How and why does he have this? I guess it is all about the idea, the game, behind having it. Because he could, or maybe could, do it.

Larry Ellison in an interview with Mr. Rose (the TV figure). He said that why do people scale mountains? They scale mountains because they wonder if they can.

It's just a fun game, that maybee, just maybee, I can do this and win. If I don't win, then atleast I know what scaling a mountain means.