In short
How to set life goals using “tomorrow” instead of vague 5-year vision boards, then build them through daily consistency, implementation intentions, and an “indistractable” focus on personal integrity.
Guests
Nir Eyal (author; discussed as the episode’s guest) appears as the main speaker; Lewis Howes hosts The Daily Motivation Show.
Key claims
Consistency over intensity (“relentless forward momentum”) beats dreaming; the only success metric is whether you did what you said you’d do for the time you scheduled, without distraction; implementation intentions (planning what you’ll do and when) outperform to-do lists; “don’t stop” time-boxing (e.g., 2 minutes starting a run, 15 minutes email only) builds self-confidence by keeping promises to yourself.
Notable examples
time-boxed writing (30–45 minutes), running by putting on shoes and starting for 2 minutes, and email “flush” for 15 minutes only.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOSetting and Achieving Goals
0:04 to 0:21
Discusses the importance of setting priorities and working consistently towards goals.
“With their step-by-step experience, you can find investments based on your goals and comfort level.”
Setting and Achieving Goals
0:41 to 1:49
Discusses the importance of setting priorities and working consistently towards goals.
“What should we be thinking about on how to set our goals and dreams for our life?”
The Power of Implementation Intentions
1:49 to 4:25
Explains how implementation intentions can boost productivity and self-image.
“Did I do what I said I would do without distraction.”
Reinforcing Positive Self-Image
4:25 to 5:01
Highlights the negative impact of self-deceit and the importance of personal integrity.
“We all know that we wouldn't want to be a liar being called a liar is one of the worst insults anybody could say to you, right?”
Reinforcing Positive Self-Image
5:08 to 5:24
Highlights the negative impact of self-deceit and the importance of personal integrity.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00What should you invest in and how often? Making investing decisions is easier with Fidelity. With their step-by-step experience, you can find investments based on your goals and comfort level. And if you'd like, you can decide how much and how often to invest with recurring investments that happen automatically. Ready to make your next investing decision? Head to fidelity.com slash trading. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC, member NYSE SIPC. Hi, my name is Lewis Howes and welcome to the Daily Motivation Show.
0:41What should we be thinking about on how to set our goals and dreams for our life?
0:45Nir Eyal:Yeah, so goals are tricky. I would say that, you know, there's nothing inherently wrong with the smart goals technique, etc. There is definitely a lot wrong with, let me sit here and make a vision board and a mood board about like my five-year plan. My best piece of advice is let's just start with tomorrow as opposed to, Ooh, what do I want to do in five years? And my vision board and my mood board and all that stuff. Again, it's about living according to your values and nobody can tell you what your values are. How would the person you want to become spend their time by blocking out that time to say, you know what?
1:17Nir Eyal:Yes, I have a dream that someday I'll write a novel. I have a dream that I'll get my PhD. I'll get a dream, a dream that I'll have a successful business. Okay, but how much time are you going to invest in that? And knowing that constraint of the same 24 hours with everything else that you want to do and that you dream of forces you to prioritize. Consistency over intensity, that is essential to getting to that long-term goal is to work on it day or over day after day after day. Relentless forward momentum. This is how we accomplish these big goals, not just dreaming about them. The only metric of success from now on for you should be one thing.
1:52Nir Eyal:Did I do what I said I would do without distraction. It's not about finishing anything. Because when you say to yourself in your calendar, I am going to sit at my desk and work on my book for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, whatever it is you say you want to do. I don't care how long you work on it. Whatever you said you're going to do. And this is called making an implementation intention, which is just a fancy way psychologists call planning out what you're going to do and when you're going to do it. That technique has been shown to be more effective. Here's the kicker. The people who do that actually finish more.
2:26Nir Eyal:They actually get more done than the people who use the to-do list technique. It's kind of like saying, okay, I'm not going to go run for an hour today, but I'm going to put my shoes on and I'm going to go outside and I'm going to start the run for two minutes. And I'm just going to do that every day. So I respect the, you know, just get started technique. Very nice. But it's the don't stop technique. Don't say, oh, I'm going to run a 730 or whatever. Say I am going to walk for 30 minutes and I'm not going to do anything else that might take me away from working on this thing for 30 minutes in my life.
2:58Nir Eyal:That's all I'm going to do. I am going to check email and do nothing but flush through my email inbox for 15 minutes without doing anything else. I am going to read a book and nothing else for 20 minutes. That is all you need to do to measure yourself. Don't worry about will I finish the book? Will I get to inbox zero? Will I ever be in good physical fitness? Don't worry about the end goals. Worry about did you put in the time to work on the task you wanted to work on without distraction? That's your only metric of success. And what happens to our self-confidence or the belief in ourself when we constantly let ourselves down with this process of not doing what we say we want to do?
3:36Nir Eyal:So if you use the if you run your life on a to do list and you don't finish what you said you're going to do, which barely anybody with a to-do list actually, you know, who runs a life with a to-do list actually does. You're reinforcing a negative self-image of another day went by and here I go. I didn't do what I said I was going to do. Look, I still got all these things that I didn't get to. What a loser. As opposed to when you measure yourself based on this only metric of did I do what I said I was going to do for as long as I said I would without distraction, you are a winner with every time box.
4:06Yeah, it doesn't matter the results you get. It's just that I was my word today and what I said I was going to do I did it and that builds a better self-image and self-confidence bingo So being indistractable first and foremost is about personal integrity
4:21Nir Eyal:It's about being as honest with yourself as you are with other people, right? We all know that we wouldn't want to be a liar being called a liar is one of the worst insults anybody could say to you, right? You wouldn't want to lie to your friends to your family to your co-workers and yet we lie to ourselves every day. And that takes a huge psychic toll on our self-image. And we don't even realize it until it's too late. And that's when people start concocting all these ridiculous ideas. Oh, I have a short attention span or I'm bad with time management or, hey, you know what? I probably need some kind of diagnosis.
4:52Nir Eyal:For the vast majority of people, there's nothing wrong with them, right? They just reinforce this crappy self-image of someone who's incapable when they are perfectly capable if they had the right techniques.
5:07I have a brand new book called Make Money Easy. And if you're looking to create more financial freedom in your life, you want abundance in your life, and you want to stop making money hard in your life, but you want to make it easier, you want to make it flow, you want to feel abundant, then make sure to go to makemoneyeasybook.com right now and get yourself a copy. I really think this is going to help you transform your relationship with money this moment moving forward. We have some big guests and content coming up. Make sure you're following and stay tuned to this episode of The Daily Motivation Show.
5:49Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of The Daily Motivation, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to click the link in the description. That will take you to the full episode of our main podcast on the School of Greatness. And if you are loving the daily motivation, please follow us over on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review over on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want more exclusive content and ad-free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you wanna get even more inspiration from our world-class guests and learn how to improve your life and take it to the next level, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter.
6:39Again, have an amazing day and I'll see you tomorrow with another episode of the Daily Motivation Show.
6:51What should you invest in and how often? Making investing decisions is easier with Fidelity. With their step-by-step experience, you can find investments based on your goals and comfort level. And if you'd like, you can decide how much and how often to invest with recurring investments that happen automatically. Ready to make your next investing decision? Head to fidelity.com slash trading. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC, member NYSE, SIPC.
From the publisher
Leave an Amazon Rating or Review for my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy!
Check out the full episode: https://greatness.lnk.to/1097DM
Nir Eyal delves into a comprehensive exploration of transformative habits that have the potential to bring about significant and positive changes in your life. With a focus on practical and actionable strategies, Eyal covers various areas, including productivity, concentration, and overall well-being. By providing valuable insights, he offers listeners a detailed roadmap for incorporating these habits into their daily routines, fostering a holistic approach to personal growth and life improvement. The episode serves as a practical guide for those seeking tangible and enduring positive changes in their lives through intentional habit formation.
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