1.

Meditate like a Zen Buddhist Monk

Kelly McGonigal Ph.D, who teaches a class on The Science of Willpower at Stanford
University, ranks meditation as the #1 way to increase willpower.

She says, Practicing mindfulness meditation for a few minutes each day can actually boost
willpower by building up gray matter in areas of the brain that regulate emotions and
govern decision making.

Ive personally been meditating every day for the past 2 years, and its the single-best habit Ive
developed since I got into personal development and optimal living.

To find out more about how you can get started with meditation, enter your email below to
receive a free copy of my eBook The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Meditation.

Email:

You can also check out The Brain Evolution system, which is the meditation audio system I
personally use every morning.

2. Take the Magic Pill of Exercise

The more I research the benefits of exercise, the more I see it as a magic pill.

Not only does it increase our fitness and mental performance, improve our mood and sleep
quality, reduce our body fat percentage, anxiety levels and likelihood of becoming sick Its
also been shown to improve our willpower.

In a 2006 study by Oaten and Cheng, participants were given free gym memberships and
personalized training programs. The study participants who regularly exercised reported:

Signicant decreases in perceived stress, emotional distress, smoking, alcohol and caffeine
consumption, and an increase in healthy eating, emotional control, maintenance of household
chores, attendance to commitments, monitoring of spending and an improvement in study
habits.

Even 5 minutes a day will make a difference but I recommend shooting for at least 30 minutes, 3
times a week.
Find something you love (ie, if you hate running on a treadmill, DONT do that), have fun doing
it, and work on making it a regular part of your life.

If you dont like exercising, its not because youre not made for it. Its because you havent
found the type of exercise thats right for you.

Keep looking. Its worth it.

#3 Harness the Power of Accountability

Admittedly, accountability isnt the sexiest word in the English language. But the concept it
represents is extremely powerful.

The idea behind it is that when were left to our own devices, its easy to come up with excuses
not to do something.

Im tired, I dont feel like it, its too much work, its too hard.

Blah blah blah.

Lets be real. 99% of it is just excuses our small self makes to stay comfortable and avoid
stepping into greatness.

The solution is simple: build structures in your life that will hold you to a higher standard and
that will prevent you from coming up with excuses.

There are several ways to do this. Here are a few to consider:

Get an accountabilibuddy, a workout partner, work side-by-side with a coworker (or friend), hire
a coach, join (or create) a mastermind group, or use the website Stickk.

Whatever specific system you use, the most important thing is that it takes away your ability to
procrastinate and make excuses, and that it makes you stick to your plan and highest values.

#4 Set SMART Goals

When someone emails me asking how they could have more discipline and willpower, my first
question to them is always, do you have clear goals for yourself?

90+% of the time, the answer is no. Oops.

Why is it so important to have defined goals?

Because they give you a clear direction in life and help you connect your daily actions to a
greater purpose.
When I was at The Bold Academy, I asked Ryan Ellis, a 28-year old entrepreneur who sold his
first company for $169 million what his number one advice for young ambitious people was.

He said, clearly define your goals, print them out, and put them up on your bedroom wall.

Simple enough.

When you create your goals, make sure they are SMART:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Timely

For instance, dont set a goal of I want to lose weight or I want to make more money.

Instead, it should look more like I want to lose 10 lbs of body fat by March 1 st or I want to
increase my monthly income by $5000 by June 10.

Once you do that, taking action and staying disciplined every day will be infinitely easier. Youll
be pulled towards the achievement of your goals, and youll feel a great sense of purpose
and fulfilment.

#5 Unleash Your Inner Conquistador and Burn the Ships

In 1519, a Spanish conquistador named Hernan Cortez made a bold-as-hell, history-changing

decision we can all learn from.

He sailed from Spain to South America with a fleet of 11 ships, and upon arriving to the new
land, realized that his troops would have to fight the natives in order to claim the land.

His men were tired, malnourished and out of shape from the long journey across the Atlantic.
Many of them didnt want to fight.

Cortez knew they had to do this. He ordered everyone to go on the beach, and once he was the
only one left on the ships, he proceeded to burn them all (!).

Now his men had no option to retreat. So they gathered up all their strength and courage, fought,
and claimed the land that is now known as Mexico.

Pretty damn bold, right?

Now, how does this apply to you?

If you have a big project to complete, and youre struggling to discipline yourself, burn your
ships.

Engineer a situation that will prevent you from retreating and that will force you to get into
action mode.

For instance, before I created The Superhuman Blueprint, I sent out an email on September
1st telling more than 2000 people that the course was going to start on October 8th.

At that point, I had yet to build any of the content or marketing material.

But now I had burned the ships. I had no choice but to get it done. And I did.

Moving forward, Ive decided to use this strategy for all my major projects, and I highly suggest
you do the same. Its astonishing what we can do when we take away our escape route.

#6 Remove Temptations and Distractions

All humans are subject to temptationits just in our nature.

And in todays world were surrounded by more temptations than ever.

Google gives us access to all the information in the world within a few seconds. YouTube is
filled with funny, entertaining, and interesting videos. Our Facebook newsfeed gets updated
every few seconds. Our smart phones are full of apps and other cool things.

Knowing this, its imperative to figure out a system to bulletproof ourselves against all these
distractions.

How?

First, identify what are your common distractions are.

Second, build a structure to mitigate them.

Here are a few of the particular strategies I use:

-Using Freedom, a web-app that allows me to block out my internet for a set period of time.

-Using Stayfocusd, a Chrome web-app that allows me to block out chosen websites for certain
parts of the day (Thanks to Max Nachamkin from Inner Gladiator for the tip)

-Putting my phone on Airplane mode while working.

-Keeping only healthy foods in my fridge/cupboards.

Once the temptations are removed, you can direct all your willpower to doing great things
instead of fighting the urge to procrastinate yet again.

#7 Eat the Big Ugly Frog First

Another discovery Roy F. Baumeister PhD made during his research is that we only have a finite
amount of willpower each day.

Our willpower is at its highest at the beginning of the day, and progressively decreases as we go
about our business.

Knowing this, we want to engineer our day so as to do our most challenging tasks in the
morning, when we are fresh and rested.

In his book The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss talks at lengths about Paretos Law (also known
as the 80/20 rule) which states that 20% of our input creates 80% of our output.

For more about Paretos Law, click here.

Every morning, get clear on what your 20% is. If youre not sure what that 20% is, its generally
the most uncomfortable/challenging task you have to do all day. Once you figure out what it is,
roll up your sleeves and get it done.

#8 Eliminate Unnecessary Decisions

When asked about his productivity strategies, President Barrack Obama said, I dont want to
make decisions about what Im eating or wearing because I have too many other decisions to
make.

As Baumeiseter found, every single decision we make during the day dips into our willpower
reserves. Therefore, we need to cut down the number of decision we make to a minimum, and
focus on the most important ones.

I personally have the same breakfast (superfood smoothie) and lunch (mixed green salad with a
chicken breast and a half-cup of quinoa or beans) every day. I never spend more than 15 seconds
deciding what Im going to wear today. And Im learning to empower my team to take more
decisions without seeking my approval.

As you go through the day, try to pay attention to where you are getting hung up in your decision
process.

Try to eliminate or minimize all the unimportant, and preserve your brainpower for what truly
matters.

#9 Create Powerful Habits, Rituals and Routines

Building on the last point, creating rituals is a great way to remove needless decision-making
from your day.

Once something has been turned into a habit, you dont even have to think about it. You do it
without using any of your willpower.

Every morning, I start my day with the same 60-minute power routine to get me in an optimal
physical, emotional and intellectual state.

Each step of the ritual is carefully choreographed for optimal results, yet it requires no willpower
on my part because its engrained in my ritual.

To learn how to craft your optimal morning ritual, enter your email below to receive a free copy
of my eBook How to Supercharge Your Morning.

Look for all the ways you can routinize your life, and youll gain the double benefit of having
better habits while conserving more of your willpower.

#10 Hack Your Mind with the 5-Minute Rule

Our mind can be our greatest ally and our greatest foe.

The trick is to be aware of its inner workings, both its strengths and its weaknesses, and optimize
around them.

One of our minds greatest flaws is that it often struggles to get things started. But once were in
flow, its easy to keep going.

If youre struggling to get started on some work you have to do, or to start your daily
meditation/workout, make the following deal with yourself: youll do it for just 5 minutes.

Answer one email. Run 1 time around your block. Meditate for 5 minutes.

From personal experience and discussing it with others, Ive found that 80 to 90% of the time,
once were in motion, we end up continuing well past the 5-minute mark we had decided on.

This is truly a Jedi Mind Trick we can use on ourselves.

#11 Go for 100% Commitment

Jack Canfield, author of the book Chicken Soup for the Soul famously said 99% is a bitch,
100% is a breeze.

If you really want to do something, commit to it 100%.

If youre just sorta-committed, therell always be a little voice in your head saying aahh, maybe
today Ill take the day off. Youll waste a lot of willpower fighting off that little voice.

But the moment have you that 100% commitment, the game becomes easy. You dont have to
think about it you just do it!

Conclusion

One of my teachers once told me, our human spirit is the greatest gift weve been given.

That human spirit is what built magnificent cathedrals, explored far-away lands, and created
world-changing technologies.

That force is inside of you, its inside of me; its inside all of us.

And its your duty to put it to good use. For yourself, for those around you, and for the next
generations.

You, my friend, have been bestowed with some unique gifts, talents and passions. You can do
things that no one else in this world can do. Seriously.

And we need you to rise up and shine. To be a beacon of light, love and inspiration for others.

So please take the teachings Ive shared with you today seriously.

They will change your life. And you, in turn, can go out there and change the world.

Choose Greatness,
Phil