Plan, prepare & execute. Get Good.

√ #Summary

Designing plans and strategies to succeed in your career or your personal life means nothing if you don’t follow through with them.

If the plan is the road, consider your energy the fuel to get you where you want to go. While having and maintaining the energy will never be the most important factor in your success (a lot of people work 24/7 but go nowhere), without it - your threshold for quitting, or even getting started, will be lower.

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Most people do some pretty basic bitch stuff - they snooze their alarm to avoid the day until the last possible minute. They sit at their desk just kind of staring until about 2pm where they crash out and waste the rest of the day in a haze. They flop down on the couch, watch Netflix, and drink some beer/wine to go to sleep.

Coincidentally - most people don’t do shit with their lives, and a lack of energy is a large reason why.

When I began my journey of self-improvement 5 years ago I soon found that my energy had increased dramatically. I jumped out of bed at 5am, worked hard, and actually enjoyed my evenings, engaged with friends or hobbies.

This wasn’t via conscious effort towards that specific goal, but was the byproduct of some of the following that I’ll share.

I created 2 categories, physical and mental. While you may think that energy manifests itself physically, and it does, as with all things - the mental aspect is far more important.

Note: You can find threads on TRP that go into *far* greater detail on any point than here than I did, because they each could be their own post. For each, I've provided just action item that's just the very, very first step I advise someone take to at least get a handle on things.

Choose 1-2 things and do them immediately after reading this.

#Physical

Yes, everything you've read here about being in shape here is right.

**1. Reduce your body fat**

Losing 50 lbs while gaining muscle was the best thing that ever happened to me for a variety of reasons. Between self-confidence,

The more excess fat you have, the more your body has to work. Which is to say that if you’re fat, you’re literally living life on hard mode.

Notice I didn’t just say “lose weight,” because performing resistance training (lifting) to increase your muscle mass is just as important.

**Action**: *Weigh yourself every morning at the same time for 2 weeks to increase your awareness of your current state.* If you don’t have a scale - [get one](https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_14?url=search-alias%3Dhpc&field-keywords=bathroom+scale&sprefix=bathroom+scale%2Caps%2C197&crid=161H1I5TVT6D2). That's it.

**2. Reduce your resting heart rate**

This is literally a measurement of how hard your body has to work when you’re doing nothing. Needless to say - if it’s high - that’s a problem. Getting gassed sitting on the couch because your body crashed after 8 hours of simply existing is a great way to ensure you'll never leave the couch.

Reducing your RHR is generally done through cardio. This is up to you, but I would advise doing some High Intensity Interval Training (short bursts) rather than Low Intensity Steady State (walking/jogging) for a variety of reasons.

If you're worried that "cardio kills your gains," ask yourself what gains you've made without it. Unless you're an advanced lifter, you will be fine.

**Action**: *Try doing something using [the tabata method](http://www.tabataprotocol.com/)*. I prefer doing it on an exercise bike at the gym, but it could easily done with jumping rope, burpees, etc. Just try it once.

**3. Quit filling your body with crap - sugar, beer, etc.**

If you’re eating Doritos for a snack during the day, binge drinking beer at night, and always find a way to have some ice cream, there’s no wonder why you’re constantly tired. Limit or eliminate the shit you put in your body and I guarantee you it’ll be like night and day.

Ask anyone that’s given up just soda by itself and they can tell you that they lost weight and felt better in as little as a week or two.

What we're going to combat here is the rationalizations we're making.  How many times have you gotten the combo meal or gone out drinking and thought "diet starts tomorrow." Save your drinking for special occassions and all of the sudden you look back and you've had lots of occasions you rationalized as "special."

**Action:** Get an app (I like [LoseIt](http://www.loseit.com/)) and *track everything you eat for 2 weeks.* Everything. That’s it. You will be amazed at the lies you've been telling yourself.

#Mental

"Where focus goes, energy flows" - Tony Robbins.

Overly simplistic? Sure. Simply effective? Definitely.

**1. Quit filling your mind with crap - Netflix, Video Games, etc.**

First, the obvious: if you’re mindlessly watching TV or playing video games, you’re not adding to your life in other, more satisfying ways.

The real problem: If you come home and sit on the couch it will make you [more stressed and feel worse](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/stressed-out-watching-tv-playing-video-games-may-make-you-feel-worse/). You think you’re relaxing and turning your brain off, but in reality you are fighting against yourself because you know you should be doing other things.

You will get in a cycle of getting your energy depleted at work, depleting it further on the couch, sleeping poorly because you're stimulated and stressed, and then doing it all over again.

The cycle really perpetuates because TV is the lowest common denominator. It's always easier than doing other things. Always.

In fact, it may truly be the *the easiest* thing you can do, because without it you'd actually have to be with yourself.

**Action:** *Write down the 2 days this week where you're not going to watch TV at all (on any device) and what you will otherwise be doing. Block it off on your calendar.* This will be hard. You may find you're more of a basic bitch than you make yourself out to be.

**2. Get committed to something**

Pastor Norman Vincent Peale, the author of The Power of Positive Thinking ([must-read](https://www.amazon.com/Power-Positive-Thinking-Norman-Vincent/dp/0743234804)) said it better than I ever could:

> Many people are tired simply because they are not interested in anything… the surest way not to become tired is to lose yourself in something in which you have a profound conviction…Get interested in something. Get absolutely enthralled in something. Throw yourself into it with abandon. Get out of yourself. Be somebody. Do something.

How many times have you seen a variation of this question posted on some shallow, trash motivational subreddit:

> How do I get out of bed in the morning?

Wrong question. Try this one:

> Why am I getting out of bed in the morning?

You’ll find if you have a reason to get up - you will.

I started a business, began working out, and decided to love my life. Once I was committed to succeeding, a generously-snoozed 9am became 5:30am without an alarm.

I believe everyone should create a vision for their life and sets goals that will help them achieve it. For now, however, try this:

**Action:** Before you go to bed tonight - *write down three reasons why you’re excited to get up tomorrow, and one (just one!) action you’re going to take towards a bigger goal. The action must be so small you cannot fail. Sending 1 email, making 1 call, reading 1 page - those are fine.

**3. Get momentum**

Each sale I made in my business increased my enthusiasm to make the next call. Each progress photo I took while getting in shape made getting up at 5:30am to go to the gym that much easier.

You know the power of momentum, because you’ve lost it before. You decided not to go to the gym, decided to blow your diet for a weekend, and then woke up weeks, months, or *years* later (as I did) realizing you’d gone nowhere. You have to start all over again.

Starting is hard, but when you’re rolling the next step is easy. It becomes a perpetual motion machine. That’s why the previous action item only had one action for tomorrow. Make it so easy that you can’t fail. Once the train leaves the station and picks up steam - you’ll know what to do.

**Action**: That action you wrote down for tomorrow? *Do just that one thing.* It'll make it that much easier to do the next.

#Takeaways -

* A lack of energy will limit your potential in everything you do.
* Like everything in life: it’s more mental than you think.
* Start small - weigh yourself each day, track your calories, lift.
* Commit to something: Get a reason to get up early, stay up late, and bust your ass on something that improves your life.

/u/TaylorSwift_AMA