Success Advice

A Ten-Minute Habit To Take Back Control And Change Your Life

Published

6 years ago

Jun 24, 2017

It was that time of the year again that I hated. My birthday.

My mentor took me out for lunch at my favorite vegetarian restaurant that doubles as a Buddhist temple. Over some crispy tofu, my mentor asked me why I hated birthdays. I explained to him that age is just a number in my mind and I don’t value the day I was born.

I probably shouldn’t have said any of those words because what followed was an onslaught of abuse, some of the best advice I’ve been given and a ten-minute hack to take back control of your life.

My mentor first told me that I had to stop being childish and celebrate my birthday. Sometimes we all need a kick in the face to wake us up from the lies we tell ourselves. He said that by not celebrating my birthday, I was essentially saying that my life didn’t matter and wasn’t worth acknowledging.

I pondered that thought for a second and realized that’s a horrible way to treat myself.

“I have to love myself before I can show love towards others”

My next question went like this: “Okay tough guy what do you want me to do on my birthday then? I’ll do it if you tell me it’s worth a try.”

My mentor told me to reward myself. I then listed a few things I could do, but he said I was cheating myself. All the activities I chose were things that I would have done on any other day of the week.

To cut a long story short, I decided to go and buy a family sized pizza and stuff my face. It’s something I always loved because I worked in a piazza shop as a kid. I hadn’t done this for years though, and that was my reward. Showing love to myself? Tick.

The habit

So while having lunch with my mentor, he told me a story. He said that in 2012 he had a break from his consulting days for three months and became bored. He was disappointed with the relationship he had with his parents and decided to make a drastic change.

“For ten minutes, every single day, for the next five years, he rang his mom and dad”

No matter what he had on or where he was in the world, he rang his parents and told them that he loved them. The poor relationship that he had with his parents slowly became better. In 2012, his brother was looked upon more favorably because he was financially supporting his mom and dad.

By ringing his parents every day, my mentor was able to change his parent’s opinion to the point where now his brother isn’t seen in the same positive light as he is (not that it’s a competition).

Why this habit worked?

This habit worked for my mentor because it was a decision that was made with love. When we make decisions from a place of love, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and give everything that we have to offer. A habit, such as this one, on paper, would look to have an insignificant effect.

“That’s the thing about habits; they have a massive effect on our lives and we almost never realize this”

This habit was also highly effective because it was only ten minutes long and was done every single day. Excuses that get in the way of habits cause us to lose control. We have to have discipline with everything we do and not become lazy with useless excuses.

The importance of the habit determines if it will stick

This habit worked because there was an intrinsic motivation to heal a family relationship. This relationship was important and created its own motivation for my mentor. If you’re trying to take back control and make a major change in your life, then your habits must be aligned to something that matters. Something that matters to you, not everyone else around you.

Habits that are created to serve a goal, which impresses other people, rarely work. Drop the habits that are not tied to your biggest goals and dreams and focus on a select few habits that do. These are my most crucial habits:

– Regular exercise to avoid getting sick again
– Green juice every day to avoid another cancer scare
– Blogging every day to inspire the world and accomplish my vision
– Meditation daily to keep me calm and stop me from becoming stressed

As you can see, I don’t have loads of habits, but each one is tied to a significant goal of mine. Each goal is so big and audacious that not to follow these habits would be catastrophic.

So when you look at your habits make sure they are tied to goals that matter.

My challenge to you

Everyone reading this post has a big dream that they’ve seen others achieve. You’ve probably felt at one time or another like you’re not quite sure how to follow in the steps of the greats who have done what you hope to do.

As you can see from the story of my mentor, fixing his family relationship, by doing one simple habit each day means that success is almost guaranteed. The people who can support your goals and help you achieve them can’t ignore you forever.

That’s part of the hack. Habits that involve people are impossible to ignore in the long term.

Think about trying one of these:

– 10 minutes writing to someone who’s influential
– 10 minutes writing to someone you love
– 10 minutes writing to a family member you’ve fallen out with

There’s no way that these people orientated goals can remain unfulfilled forever. If you wrote to someone who is highly influential and that you admire every day, eventually they will notice you. For example: If I wrote to Tony Robbins every single day for ten minutes, via one medium that he’s always on, there’s no way he could ignore me forever.

If I told someone I loved them every single day for at least a year, there’s no way this mantra would not have an effect on them. If I wrote to a family member (my brother) every single day, there’s no way it wouldn’t have a positive effect on our relationship.

My challenge to you is this:

DO TEN MINUTES A DAY OF A HABIT THAT IS TIED TO A MAJOR PAIN POINT OR GOAL IN YOUR LIFE.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

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Tim Denning

Aussie Blogger with 500M+ views — Writer for CNBC & Business Insider. Inspiring the world through Personal Development and Entrepreneurship You can connect with Tim through his website www.timdenning.com

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There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

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3 weeks ago

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In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.