Morning Reader,

James Clear said best in his book Atomic Habits “making a choice that is 1% better or 1% worse is insignificant in the moment. But over the span of moments that make up a lifetime, these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be.”

I see the "could be" as the version of yourself with the highest potential. And it's small, tiny adjustments that make all the difference; not huge leaps of change.

So today, I want to share 5 tiny adjustments that have helped me make progress, in hopes that you can steal these methods and propel forward in your endeavors.

Even if it's only by 1%.

You ready?

Let’s dive straight into this one 🪂

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Master Self-Discipline

Discipline = freedom.

Freedom is NOT eating as many Cheetos as you want.

Freedom is knowing you’re in control.

Self-discipline is a muscle.

When you decide that you’re going to get in shape, your first week in the gym will feel horrible.

Your body will tell you, “what the f*ck, this shit sucks.”

But if you continue to show up regardless of how you feel, you’ll get your ass in shape.

That's self-discipline at play.

At the beginning of COVID, I stopped working out for six months and my excuse was that I didn’t have a gym to use anymore.

By that sixth month....

It was the lowest I had ever felt about myself.

I’m thankful for that break though, because it taught me a valuable lesson.

Without self-discipline, you’re prone to self-sabotage, fear of judgment, and self-doubt. You become weak.

Which, in my opinion, is the worst prison cell to live in.

That’s why self-discipline is the golden key to freedom.

While it might feel physically horrible in the moment to push through a dreadful workout, the delayed gratification sets you free.

Free from your own worries and insecurities.

Free from caring too much about what others think.

When we’re a little hard on ourselves, it’s harder for others to be hard on us. Instead of waiting for the world to challenge you, challenge yourself first.

Sharpen your sword.

Do the uncomfortable things.

Know that self-confidence is created through challenges.

Better to be uncomfortable now than to experience the agony later.

We all have the power to be self-disciplined.

Control what you can control, and you will soon gain the reins back to your life path. Your destiny.

The person who is in self-control is harder to beat. They also tend to be more confident, happier, and in better shape.

All it takes is the willingness to do the hard thing now, over and over and over.

Simple solution:

The more discomfort now, the better you'll feel about yourself later. Stack uncomfortable activities and watch the compound effect change your life.

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Stand Up For Yourself

How often do you say no?

Up until this year, I spent my entire life being a people-pleaser.

Doing my best to make everyone happy at the cost of my own well-being.

This desire to please everyone stemmed from a lack of self-confidence.

The self-doubt would creep up anytime I felt uncomfortable. Saying yes allowed me to avoid that discomfort... or so I thought.

Tim Ferriss reminds us that "saying yes too quickly can create an incredible amount of busy work and repair and churn that we just don’t want to deal with...”

I made myself miserable by taking on too many projects and doing unfulfilling work. All because I kept saying yes.

If only I realized the cost I’d pay for avoiding discomfort.

When you’re doing work that doesn’t excite you, you’ll start to feel like you're wasting life away.

A new day feels meaningless.

A new project is just another one of those.

It’s why Sundays get a bad rap and Mondays usually come with “the blues.”

But things don’t have to be this way.

It is possible to be excited about your work.

It is possible to fulfill your highest potential.

It is possible to feel a sense of deep meaning in the process.

Sometimes we can be people pleasers because we’re seeking approval.

We want to avoid rejection.

Or we want to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.

Because we’ve been there, right?

But it’s difficult to appreciate your life if you’re living up to everyone else’s standards.

It’s not your fault for wanting to be of service to the people you care about. However, when it gets to the point where life feels meaningless, it’s only good for you to consider the alternative.

A life where you’re in control.

A life where you’re not scared to say no.

A life where you have so much self-respect that the moment you feel the ick, you protect your energy at all costs.

If it means ridding yourself of an employee, client, friend, or colleague, do it. Only you know which vampires are sucking up your energy.

Stand up for yourself out of respect for your time, energy, and well-being. Because you deserve it.

If you don't stand up for yourself, who will?

“Every time you try to change yourself to get someone to like you, you lose a part of yourself," Jay Shetty warns us.

Make the difficult choice now. You'll be glad you did later.

Simple solution:

When in doubt, avoid rushing to the “yes.” Either say no immediately or tell that person you need to think on it.

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Practice Gratitude

The amount of times I’d hear this cliche statement in the midst of madness used to cripple me.

What the hell do I have to be thankful for?

I'm out of shape.

I’m not making money.

I have no clue what to do with my life.

How am I supposed to practice gratitude when nothing seems to be working?

That was my mindset from 2020 all the way to 2022.

Our emotions cause brain waves that either propel us forward or keep us stuck where we are. Thing is, your brain doesn’t know the difference between dreams or reality.

If you close your eyes with AirPods in and listen to the ambient noise of rain dropping, you'll feel like you’re actually outside in the rain.

It’s only your ego that pulls you back and forth between make-believe and reality.

I thought I “needed to be successful by age 25.”

When that age came and I didn’t meet my own standards, I felt like I didn’t deserve to feel gratitude.

When I kept asking myself, What the hell do I have to be thankful for? it was my ego stepping in.

As if life owed me something and I hadn’t collected my check yet.

Be mindful of how much your ego dips his big toe in your emotions, because he will keep you stuck if you let him.

Sure, life might not be where you want it right now.

But if you keep reinforcing negative thoughts about your current situation, how will you come up with creative solutions for your future?

It's like driving to a nearby state with your e-brake on.

Avoid self-sabotaging your potential, and trust that your life will figure itself out with the right discipline, daily habits, and dedication.

Ryan Holiday preaches that "the less you desire, the richer you are, the freer you are, and the more powerful you are."

And gratitude keeps your unhealthy desires in check.

Simple solution:

Find gratitude for one thing every day. Trick yourself if you need to. A roof over your head is plenty of reason.

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Lean On Faith

Greatness requires consistency.

The best way to remain consistent is through faith.

Faith in yourself.

Faith in your potential.

Faith in your decisions.

Faith is defined as “having complete trust or confidence in someone or something.”

Not half-ass trust or confidence.

When life tests you, what’s really being tested is your faith.

How much do you believe?

When you don’t meet your own expectations by a certain age, how will you react? Will you beat yourself up or continue to take the next step?

There are countless stories of men and women who were an inch away from quitting but decided to get back up anyway.

Let me paint an example using this popular image about two miners:

The easy choice is to turn your back when expectations aren’t met. It also happens to be the choice that keeps you stuck.

The person who decides to persist and keep digging regardless of the outcome tends to be the successful one.

The person who walks away will spend the rest of their life chasing the next shiny object, leaving them dissatisfied with themselves. He’ll also spend the rest of his existence as a victim, blaming others and "bad timing" for his own shortcomings.

If you want to play the long game and discover meaning in your life, lean on faith.

No matter how difficult your current situation is, believe that your success is inevitable and that you’re always on the right path.

No matter how long it takes.

Because it's the only way.

Pivot when necessary, but never give up on yourself.

Simple solution:

Make the promise today that you will believe in yourself, especially when all the cards are stacked against you.

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Stop Being A Perfectionist

Want to live a miserable life? Try to make everything perfect.

Want to live a meaningful life? Ask yourself why you feel the need to make everything perfect.

Is it because you’re afraid of rejection?

You don’t believe in yourself?

Or does someone have unrealistically high expectations of you?

The point is not perfection.

Even Babe Ruth had a batting average of lower than 50%.

0.342 to be exact.

“The most important thing a young ball player can learn is that he can’t be good every day.”

Yes, pay attention to the details and do what you can to set yourself up for success. But at what point will you decide to publish this project and move on to the next?

If J.K. Rowling spent her entire life perfecting her first book, she would’ve never experienced the fifth, sixth, or seventh. And neither would we.

If you want to grow as an individual, realize that progress is made when new lessons are applied to the next project.

There is no traction without momentum.

There is no momentum without movement.

And there is no movement with perfectionism.

You stay stuck, wallowing over details that only matter to you.

The 80/20 rule – otherwise known as the Pareto Principle – states that 80% of outcomes result from 20% of inputs. In simple terms, determine what matters and optimize your time and energy for it.

Let’s take YouTube for example.

Out of this list, what do you think matters most?

1. Title & thumbnail
2. The solution to a problem
3. Popup text, captions, subtitles, etc.
4. Confidence on camera
5. Storytelling

Out of the five, the answer, in my opinion, is #2.

Using the 80/20 rule, I’d optimize my 20% for delivering a solution to a specific problem, because that’s what will dictate 80% of my results.

Yes, title and thumbnail are important.

Yes, captions are cool.

Yes, it helps to be confident and have storytelling skills.

But… here’s the caveat:

Try to optimize for all five – aka be a perfectionist – and you’ll never move the needle forward.

The costs of perfectionism outweigh the benefits.

Yes, you’ll feel proud when you finally release that video you worked a whole month revising. But not when you reflect on the time spent and notice you paid the unsexy prices of:

• Overthinking
• Stress & pessimism
• Low self-satisfaction

There’s a difference between striving for excellence and striving for perfection.

The 80/20 rule helps you decipher that.

Simple solution:

Discover which 20% of your efforts matter most. Don’t fully ignore the other 80% – just be mindful which areas actually move the needle. You'll spend time more wisely that way.

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Detach From The Past & Design Your Future

The quickest way to make progress is to take extreme ownership.

Don’t blame anyone or anything for your circumstances or your behavior. Doing this takes the initiative away from you – the only person in control.

Even if it feels better to blame, choose not to for the sake of your own well-being. For your own potential.

Each of us has our flaws, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be improved. With the right intention and attention, we can design better lives for ourselves. And others, if we choose.

I hope this letter served you in the best way possible.

Good luck and let me know if any of it helps.

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Cheers,

A

P.S.I need your help. Can you reply to this email and let me know if these letters are helping you? Why or why not? I value your feedback and want to continue raising the bar. Thanks champ 🥂