Guys, I messed up…

Three weeks ago, I met author, professor, and stone cold killer, Michael Easter. Michael has an incredibly successful newsletter, so when he started giving me advice about this newsletter, I leaned in to listen.

His advice? “Never miss a week. Be consistent.”

And yet here I am on Friday night, typing the newsletter that was supposed to go out on Friday morning ☹️ 

Two reasons you should care:

1. I’m making a vow right now - if I miss one more deadline (Friday at 7am PT) by the end of the quarter, then I will get a tattoo that says “CONSISTENT”

2. The Akrasia Effect - let’s dive in

So why didn’t I write the newsletter on time?

I wanted to. I planned to. I had time to. But why didn’t I?

The Akrasia Effect.

The Akrasia Effect is the natural phenomenon that takes place when we don’t follow through on what we say we’re going to do for no other reason than not doing it.

Here’s an example:

You’re in bed and your alarm clock goes off. You open your eyes but don’t actually get out of bed. Your inner dialogue begins…

“Time to get up.”

*doesn’t get up

“I’m excited for today! Let’s do this!”

*still doesn’t get up

“Uhhh is there a reason I’m not getting up?”

*lays in bed for another 10 minutes pondering

So now that you know what The Akrasia Effect is, what can we do to stop it? 3 things:

1. STOP beating yourself up. It isn’t just you who deals with this! Every person who has ever walked this planet has felt this. It’s not you; it’s temptation trying to stand in between who you are and who you will become.
   

2. Don’t focus on doing the thing. Focus on becoming the person who does the thing. Instead of saying “I’m going to get out of bed when the alarm clock goes off” approach the situation with the mindset of “I’m the type of person who gets out of bed when the alarm goes off.”
   
   Tiny change. World of a difference.
   

3. Set a reward and/or punishment for yourself. I know this seems extreme but stay with me…
   
   Did you notice how I set a public punishment for myself at the beginning of this newsletter? As someone who hates needles and doesn’t want a tattoo, I can tell you that writing this newsletter is no longer optional - it’s mandatory..
   
   Or you could set a reward:
   
   “If I do this thing, them I’m going to buy myself a steak dinner.”
   
   Personally, I’m more motivated by punishment than rewards. Not sure why and not even sure it’s healthy, but it is what it is. #KnowThySelf

Let’s Get Naked

There’s a famous story about the 19th century author, Victor Hugo. He experienced The Akrasia Effect so bad that he missed a deadline to write a book.

So what did he do in order to hit his next deadline?

He got naked, gave all of his clothes to his assistant, and said “Don’t give me my clothes back until I’m done with this book.”

It took him 6 months, but the result?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

So my encouragement/challenge/nudge for you is this:

What’s that thing that you want to do and know you should do, but just haven’t done yet?

Identify it and then set extreme measures to achieve it. Whether it’s a steak dinner reward, a tattoo punishment, or forcing yourself to be naked for 6 months - do yourself a favor and get a little extreme.