To People Who Want More Success But Struggle To Be Productive

Imagine you just got back from a hard day's work.

You just read through dozens of emails. You've got a to-do list that's a mile high. And you've got a looming project that's been riddled with obstacles the whole way.

And the first thing you want to do is plop your body on the couch, turn on Netflix, grab a drink, and drift into lazy land.

But as you lay there, trying to relax, you remember you have other goals to take care of as well.

Like getting some exercise in. Or learning to draw. Or starting a new business.

But you're already exhausted from work, and just don't feel up to doing much of anything at this point. Story of your life, am I right? And the worse part is, this is a regular and daily occurrence!

But this is also the time when most people get their "extra-curricular" activities done - meaning it's prime time for improving your life. But if you're completely spent by the end of the day, doesn't that mean your life will never get better?

Well, you're not the first person to have this problem. And luckily, that means several ways to fix this dilemma have popped up as well.

"Your Expectations Are Through The Roof"

The biggest issue is that whenever your mood and energy are low (like after work), every task after that feels insurmountable.

And that means for even the smallest of tasks (including the ones directly related to important goals you have), it's easy to brush them aside as our human nature takes over and goads us into doing easy, instant-gratification activities (like watching Youtube or eating junk food) instead.

But it's not just an expectation thing.

Because deep down, on a biological level, we're practically made to procrastinate on certain things.

"We're Designed For Laziness"

People often blame themselves for being lazy. And it can be a really depressing and frustrating experience.

"Why am I always so lazy?"
"How come I can't do something so simple?"
"Am I the only person who can't do something this easy?"

But that's the wrong way to think about it. In fact, according to Daniel Lieberman, a professor of evolutionary biology at Harvard University, we are predisposed to laziness in the first place.

Basically, if an action isn't directly tied to saving your life or protecting your livelihood (such as working a job for money), then your body and brain will resist anything beyond that.

So think about this - we don't really "need" to get fit to live, we just want to look and feel better. And we also don't "need" to start a new business or creative hobby, we just want more fulfillment and freedom in our lives.

These goals aren't really things that contribute to our immediate survival. In fact, modern life has taken away the dangers of our ancestors, so we have even less need to do many non-urgent (but fulfilling) activities in life.

And, well, your body knows this. And it won't contribute any energy to those goals because of it.

"So Shatter Your Expectations"

We can't change our basic biology. But we can change our mindset towards "non-essential" goals - the ones that our brains induce laziness towards.

And we can do that by mentally "expecting less work" from each productive session towards these goals.

Because if we can at least make things "feel" easier, we can greatly reduce our mental resistance towards them, and even make headway on them, too.

And here's 3 ways how you can do that:

1) Think Like You're An MVP

In the world of entrepreneurship, there's this idea of an MVP. And that stands for "minimum viable product."

The way it works is instead of making a 100% complete product or service to sell (including the bells and whistles), they'll instead focus on the core features of that offer, and then immediately put it out on the market.

And then they'll tweak it based on how people respond to it.

And in my experience, this is a perfect way to approach your goals and tasks as well.

So try this: think of what would barely count as getting your task done, and then "only" do that. For example, if you normally do 20 pushups and 50 jumping jacks for exercise, cut that in half.

And if that still feels like too much, cut it in half again. Then keep doing this until your brain finally "accepts" the task, and you actually do it.

It's very simple to do this, so try it out next time you've got that "mental resistance" gunning to take over your actions.

2) Adopt "Ready, Fire, Aim."

Sometimes the big issue is there's too many ways to deal with a task.

For example, if you want to get fit, well, there's thousands of ways to do it! You could lift weights, go for a jog, clean up your diet, and many more as well. But if you let yourself get overwhelmed with all these options, you'll just stall into procrastination.

And of course, that means you're stuck at square one.

So try this: next time you've got a list of options that are all pretty decent, and you're struggling to pick just one... just close your eyes, put your hand out, and then randomly select one.

And don't overthink your selection.

Because honestly, if we can just get started on a task (which is usually 80% of the productivity battle), then the chances of motivation rising through sheer momentum of just starting... will skyrocket.

3) Think "Good Enough Is Done Enough"

Being too attached to an outcome can be dangerous for motivation.

It's perfectly fine to have specific goals you want to achieve. But circumstances can change on the dot. And the biggest, most fluctuating part of your circumstances is your mood.

We've all mustered up our willpower and forced ourselves to do something before, despite low willpower and energy. But that rarely works out - especially in the long run.

What's a more manageable strategy?

Lower the bar of your goal. And I mean lower it so far that it hardly counts as progress.

Now, let me tell you something very important:

In the world of productivity, momentum is king. And motivation is its queen.

Because even if you say to yourself that you'll only do something like a single pushup a day, you're still likely to surpass that number easily each time.

But if you say your goal is 35 pushups a day, how easy is it to "take a break" one day and then find your habit broken the next? This kind of thing happens ALL the time, so it's important you manage your expectations... and reduce them for the sake of momentum as much as necessary.

"Motivation And Momentum Go Hand In Hand"

One thing to remember is if you can just keep your momentum going (no matter what task or even the size of it), then motivation will follow closely behind.

So just make sure to do one small thing each day (again, no matter how small it is) so you have more motivation... and are more likely to achieve your goals because of it.