Choke Out Your Day

My day sucks.

I'm depressed; I feel like a flop.

I had so much I wanted to get done. Instead my day had other plans.

I accidentally left the interior light of my car on last night and my battery is drained.

Getting my car started took me the better part of my morning. I didn’t get anything I wanted finished.

Ever had a day like that?

I’m going to show you how to never let it happen again.

Jiu Jitsu
First I’m going to tell you about Jiu Jitsu.

Almost everyone who starts thinks it's about power. Everyone tries to use muscle to move their partner to different positions. They try and use speed to get to a better spot. They try and use strength to break free of certain positions or locks.

Using power doesn't work. You  get exhausted and you lose.

Good jiu jitsu is like rock climbing. The inexperienced climber tries to use upper body strength, the experience climber uses positions and leverage to get up the wall.

Jiu jitsu starts with no preconceived notions. Just learning to feel the partner's movements; to pull when they push, to push when they pull. A great jiu jitsu player will stay connected with you, changing his energy to match yours until ...

... something opens up.

A great jiu jitsu player does not submit you. YOU submit YOU, and they just follow your movements until it’s over.

Motivation
Kenneth Blanchard; author of “The One Minute Manager” used to spend most of his day wandering around pointing out what people were doing right. 

People's natural response is: “Oh ya; you think that was good - watch how much more I can do”! Having your accomplishments noticed motivates you.

So what does jiu jitsu and noticing your accomplishments have to do with a winning your day?

A lot.

Bad days are caused by bad Jiu Jitsu. You're trying to force your will on the day. You're trying to win your day with muscle!

You decided in advance what you want to do get done. But you didn’t know about the road construction or the sick kid. You couldn’t predict what life would pop up and throw you off.

When you’re stuck trying to muscle through a day, you miss all the opportunities to do OTHER THINGS that would drive you to your goals.

Planning your day is the mistake!

I can hear the objections: “But aren’t you supposed to start your day with a plan - to list the things you want to do and do them”?

NO!

Like a Brazilian jiu jitsu fighter who decides in advance what move he’s going to do; planning your day doesn't work. You wanted an arm-bar; but it’s not there. Better to move on to something else. Better to try a choke or a sweep. Maybe even tap and start again.

When your plan fails you get frustrated. Your mind is STUCK and you can’t think of anything else. Dozens of opportunities that would support your goals are right in front of you but you can’t see any of them because your plan has blinded you!

You’ve got to stay open, fluid, and have plenty of moves available. That’s how you win the day.

Time management that ALWAYS works.

Here’s the system I use to get a lot done but still stay flexible and motivated.

1. Remember themes; not specific things to do.

There are key life themes I’m going to work on. My key themes are:

Health
Mind
Abundance
Relationships

2. Develop one habit in each theme.
A habit is something you do every day. In each theme you want to develop one habit that you do every day. In the area of health it might be going for a walk. In the area of your mind it might mean meditating for five minutes.

Develop one habit in each area and do it every day!

3. Do your daily habits first.
The earlier you get to your daily habits the more likely you will be to get them done.

4. Ditch the “To Do” list. Replace it with an “Ideas” list.
Use your idea list when something else you are working on gets blocked. You’ve always got a list of items that will move you forward. You use your ideas list to stay flexible. Any time your day throws you a curve use your ideas list to head in a new direction.

5. Use the MOST powerful list. Create an “I DID” list.
This is the list that gets most of my attention. This is the list that motivates me.

Every time you finish a task you add it to your “I DID” list. Take a moment and congratulate yourself for doing something right. By writing down what you did and NOT what you are going to do, you get a burst of motivation.

Each day starts as a mystery. What you will get done today (other than your daily habits) is unknown. What IS known is your day will end in victory.

Ditch your “To Do” list. Start an “I DID” list.

Practice good Jiu Jitsu. Win your day.