12 Powerful Habits I Have

Stolen from Ultra

Successful People
As you may already know I am very curious about habits, behaviour
psychology and how it all affects success. For over two years I have
been experimenting with my routines, work and lifestyle to find that
perfect fit for happy and productive, purpose and passion driven routine.

In this article, I’d like to share some of my recent powerful habits I’ve
been developing and experimenting with that I have stolen from ultra
successful people.

Hopefully, it will be useful and inspiring for you to start engineering

your perfect day, that will turn into a perfect life.

Waking up early
Waking up early has been giving me the most significant results since I
decided to make a shift from a night owl into an early bird. I used to
have my peak hours from 1 am to 4 am and would get amazing work
done with sharp focus. Years passed by and I realised that getting
enough sleep on a regular basis is a key to ultimate performance and
productivity, not to mention the increased quality of life.

For the last two years, I’ve been experimenting with my morning routine
which starts by waking up early. I’ve started at 7 am and managed to
stretch it to 5 am. My ultimate goal is to go to 4.30 am as I really enjoy
working on my morning rituals and getting lots of work done that push
me toward my goals. I won’t lie, at the beginning it was a nightmare to
wake up early, it’s dark, it’s cold, my eyes can’t open and all I wanted to
do was to go back to sleep. Sometimes it would happen, I’d be like, “I’ll
just close my eyes for one more minute”.
The more and more I was concerned about my health and lifestyle the
more I saw the benefits of getting up early. I’ve seen numerous articles,
infographics and interviews with the most successful people on the
planet and majority of them were emphasising the importance of getting
up early for their success and life balance. I’ve been greatly inspired by
this article: 12 Lessons of Waking Up at 4:30 a.m. for 21 Days by Filipe
Castro Matos.
If you have a vision and don’t have the time to achieve it due to family,
full-time job or other commitments, wake up 1 hour earlier and work on
it every day, until you make it come true. It’s that easy, you don’t find
time, you make it. Instead of watching another TV series, go to bed 1
hour earlier and wake up 1 hour earlier.

“It’s that easy, you don’t find time, you make it.”
An important factor of waking up early is to have the “me” time. How
many times did you want to read, write, reflect on your life, meditate,
stretch, visualise, create, take care of yourself but hadn’t had the time?
For me it was always a secondary goal, I’d say, it’s ok, I can do it
sometime later when I have time. The thing is if you don’t make yourself
a priority, you will never have time to really improve yourself, take care
of yourself and grow to become the greatest version of you. In the
morning, you have the most precious focus, creative energy and capacity
to learn, think and create. You choose to use it on yourself and your
work you love or spend it on a daily mindless routine like commuting,
consuming news and dealing with daily errands and work that you hate.

Making lists
I don’t have time for it. One of the most common excuses I hear people
say to me when I ask so why you don’t exercise, why you don’t write,
why you don’t build a business? You have time, I have time, Barack
Obama has time. We all have time, and just to remind you, we all have
24 hours a day, no matter where you live, how much money you make or
how successful you are, you have the same amount of time as everyone
else. So how some people excel and some don’t? They prioritise. You
must come to peace with a fact that you can’t have it all. You either
master one thing or you become mediocre at many things, but you can’t
have both.

“You must come to peace with a fact that you can’t have it all.”
 Making lists, and especially hand-written lists make your brain believe
that these are the only things you need to focus on. Once you start
working on something you will be bombarded with thoughts and excuses
of what you should be doing instead. Hold tight, write these ideas and
distractions down to your “later” list, as this little trick makes your brain
think about it as a complete task and then you can stop thinking about it
and focus on your work. Mindfulness and awareness help you a lot with
noticing these thoughts and I will talk about it a little bit later in this
article.

I love the idea of essentialism, you need to focus on essential things and
say a big NO to distractions and all the endless opportunities. Warren
Buffet has an incredibly powerful priorities list method.

Begin with writing down 25 things you want to do in your life. After that
prioritise them writing a number from 1 to 25. Rewrite the list by
priorities starting 1 to 25, now draw a line after the 5th priority. First five
priorities are the ones you need and can focus to really achieve them, and
now, the most important part, below the line, 20 other priorities are your
“avoid at all costs list”. This is the list of you wanting to become a
musician, wanting to write a book, wanting to start a blog, wanting to
[INSERT A VERB + NOUN]. Most of the time it’s more about not
doing than doing. Doing nothing instead of doing anything in most cases
is better for your balance, health, sleep and focus on your main priorities.

Habit stacking
The concept of habit stacking is a set of habits, a script of your morning
routine to make sure you get the most of your morning and prepare
yourself for running the day like a boss.

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn
Habit stacking works like magic for me, my current morning miracle
looks like that:

 Wake up at 5 am
 After I wake up I will drink water
 After I drink water I will stretch
 After I stretch I will eat
 After I eat I will meditate for 15 min
 After I meditate I will read 20 pages
 After I read I will write 500 words
 After I write I will plan the day and define MIT
 After I plan the day I will do the affirmations (What do I want? Why do I want it? What am
I committed to doing in order to get there?)
 After I do the affirmations I will visualise and imagine doing the tasks
 After I visualise I will work on MIT
 After MIT, I will exercise

Habit stacking is a concept of sticking a new habit to a current one, for

example, when you’re brushing your teeth you can read 2 pages right
after doing it. You’re more likely to develop a new habit on top of an old
one because your brain has lots of synaptic connections for that habit to
run it on autopilot. After you start stacking habit on habit, your order
becomes a habit too, the best part is that habits are automatic, meaning
that it doesn’t use your willpower so you can basically program yourself
to do one or the other thing without even thinking about it. I write this
article 6 am as a part of my morning miracle after waking up at 5 am,
drinking water, stretching, eating, meditating and reading.

Stretching
Recent research shows that after just 30 minutes of sitting your
metabolism slows down 90 percent. The enzymes that move the bad fat
from your arteries to your muscles, where it can get burned off, slow
down. You already know that sitting too long and staring at your screen
is not very good for your posture, mental and physical health. But did
you know that the office chair is worse for your health than smoking and
kills more people than HIV.
One of the recent habits I am developing now is stretching, I was
inspired by my buddy Ivan Shulev who does it every day for at least an
hour. At the beginning, I saw it as a waste of time, but incorporating
stretching into my morning and workout routines I can see and feel the
benefits of being able to sit straight longer, reduced back pain and better
flexibility.
 My goal is to develop a habit and stretch every 30 min while working as
most of the time I am just sitting and staring at my screen.
Complementary to that I started experimenting with working standing
up, a little problem is that my current nomadic lifestyle doesn’t allow me
to work from one place so I need to get creative and use a fridge, put
chairs on the table, books under my laptop to make my stand up desk the
right height. Once again, thanks to Ivan for leading by showing an
example.

Listening to podcasts
For a long time in my life, I was constantly looking for instant
gratification, entertainment to be exact, mostly to escape my boring
lifestyle and day dream by looking at cartoons, movies and series that
would portray something. It would allow myself to impersonate with
people on the screen and feel the success they have.

“I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with
me.” – Dudley Field Malone
No matter how fulfilling and immersive these experiences are I decided
to invest in the future I want to live in, invest in myself and pay the price
of hard and consistent work to become the best person I can. I decided to
give up series, stop wasting time on weird videos and minimise time
spent listening to music. Instead, I wanted to allow myself learn more, be
inspired and have a positive impact on my personality and mindset
development.

Below are some of the benefits I see listening to podcasts:

 Learning new things

 Gaining a new perspective
 Getting in the zone
 Finding inspiration
 Uplifting and increasing happiness

I am curious about the top performers, best-selling authors, industry

disruptors, creatives, entrepreneurs, lifestyle designers and leaders that
inspire and change the world. Check out my list of the podcasts I listen
to and you may find something for yourself.
The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes – Lewis interviews
bestselling authors, top athletes, successful entrepreneurs and other
inspiring individuals.
The Tim Ferriss Show – Tim talks with scientists, authors, entrepreneurs
and people who change the world. Topics range from neuroscience to
psychology to business and more.
The $100 MBA Show – real life business lessons in short form episodes
with Omar Zenhom and Nicole Baldinu.
The Fizzle Show – fun, actionable and inspiring show for creative
entrepreneurs.
The Cubicle Crashing Podcast by Lydia Lee – Lydia interviews creative
entrepreneurs and individuals about unconventional lifestyle and
escaping 9-5. Check out my conversation with Lydia.
Entrepreneur on Fire – John Lee Dumas interviews most inspiring and
successful entrepreneurs.
Meditation
I’ve been meditating inconsistently for over a year now, inconsistently
meaning I’d meditate 5 times a week, other weeks only once or twice.
However, after spending 10 days in silence in the mountains of Northern
Thailand I am meditating at least 5 times a week, for at least 15 minutes.
It really helps me to calm down, accept the things happening in my life,
get in peace with the present moment, become more grateful and
relaxed.
Mindfulness and meditation may help to lower levels of the stress
hormone cortisol, suggests new research from the Shamatha Project at
the University of California, Davis.
I’ve been an active mindfulness advocate for the last year and I will
repeat myself again, if you haven’t tried meditation yet, do it, try it for at
least 3 days and observe how you feel, I recommend starting
with Headspace or Calm app and spend at least 10 minutes a day
focusing on your breath and relaxing. The world is buzzing and many
things are happening. You are not aware of the world around you but
more sadly of your inner self too. Humans can think of 60,000 stories
and feel 300,000 emotions every day, how many of them are you aware
of?
Reading
How do you read more books? I was obsessed with that question and
tried to find all the hacks possible, speed reading, reading excerpts,
summaries, trying audiobooks, watching videos that explain the most of
the book concepts and so on.

I’ve discovered a mind-blowing hack that was there all the time. If you
want to read more books, simply spend more time reading. If you don’t
have time to read, make more time. Have a book always with you, read
after you wake up, read when you commute to work, read while you wait
for your morning coffee at the cafe. Having a break at work? Read. Read
before the bed. All of these will add up and give you 20-40 pages a day
which are around 2 books a month. I used to waste months without
reading a single book.

I hope I don’t need to tell you about the benefits of reading books as
these are enormous. If some of the wealthiest people in the world like
Warren Buffet and Mark Zuckerberg can read hundreds of books a year
and Elon Musk can teach himself rocket science reading, it must be
important. Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people
seek education and learning. That’s why most successful people are
reading books instead of wasting time watching TV.

Over years reading you will certainly reshape your thinking, you will be
knowledgeable and have ideas on many topics, you will think and see
differently, you will have answers to common questions, you will feel
more confident and creative.

Make reading your priority.

Writing
Writing is definitely one of the major skills that have influenced my
lifestyle in a positive way. It’s not only very meditative activity as it
helps me think deeper but it also allows me to create stories, makes me a
better communicator and increases my creativity. When I get into the
zone words are just flowing.

What I love about writing the most is the impact it can have. You can
potentially reach millions of people by just writing once and publishing
it online, you don’t need to repeat yourself and tell everyone personally
about your story.
It makes you a better person, you take everything that has been bothering
you into words on paper or screen and it leaves you calmer, more
satisfied and inspired.

Clearly expressing thoughts and ideas will help you make more friends
and influence people. Whether it’s your personal relationships or career,
clear communication will help you build smooth and bulletproof future.

Continuous writing can easily lead to additional or passive income

stream. Think about it, you can contribute a couple of articles a week to
your favorite blog or magazine and make some cash or you can work on
a book, sell it online and make money while you sleep. I’ve tried both
and will be improving on what I’ve learned.

It helps you clear your mind. According to social psychologist Roy F.

Baumeister, our brain is always looking to complete tasks, if you have a
thought or idea circling in your head it may not stop until you write it
down. Once you do it, your brain registers it as a task complete and then
you can enjoy your life again. That’s why people wake up at night and
can not sleep again until they write down their idea on a napkin or
whatever is close to their bed.

It helps you learn. Read and you will forget, see and you may remember,
teach and you will understand. Once you are learning something it’s a
good idea to write down your notes in your own words how you
understand it. Once you start teaching what you have learned you’re
taking a critical look at what you want to say and that leads to a better
understanding.

It’s a key to success or, at least, one of the keys. I’m not surprised these
wealthy and highly successful individuals like Warren Buffet, Richard
Branson and Bill Gates regularly take the time to put down a pen to
paper to express their thoughts.

You will remember things long forgotten. Writing about daily

experiences and feelings provides a recorded history. As I was
meditating in silence for 10 days in the mountains of Northern Thailand,
I was able to access my long forgotten memories and experiences.
Meditation has a direct access to your subconscious which registers
everything you see, hear, smell and feel. Writing allows you to dig deep
and access these memories and write them down so you can learn from
your past and recall those amazing moments. it’s important for your
future decisions, as Einstein said, it’s insanity doing the same thing over
and over again and expecting different results.

Start writing.

Defining the most important task

(MIT)
Most of the time I’d just write a to-do list of some random tasks I want
to do that day and my over optimistic to-do list would go unfinished
every day. Now, I am focusing on one major task, the most important
task (MIT) of the day that will help me achieve my vision and contribute
the most to the future I want to build. I wrote a piece on Forbes
about decision fatigue and its consequences which are all about making a
limited amount of decisions every day and consuming a certain amount
of willpower for each and every decision.
Defining and focusing on my most important task helps me get the most
vital task done and move closer to my main goal, if I still have energy
left for other tasks, I’d work on secondary and tertiary importance level
tasks to run errands, ensure the cash flow and work on improvements for
my business and life.

Doing the affirmations

Doing the affirmations is quite new for me, I heard about the concept but
never really took the time to do them. Now, every morning I am doing a
short positive self-talk that I am already creative, productive, confident,
influential, calm, loving, leading, inspiring, humble, intelligent,
innovative, attractive, sensible and successful. It really helps me get that
little positive boost for the day and adds extra confidence to whatever I
do.

The next step for me is to do it in front of a mirror with more energy and
belief to really pump up myself with positive energy for the day.
Visualisation
Imagine it with all the details, how does it look, smell, sound, feel? What
emotions you’d have, how would you look, what would you do? Make it
as realistic as possible and truly believe into it. Practising visualisation
daily helps me stay on the track and know that it is inevitable, I’ve
already been there and done that, now just need my body to get where
my mind already is, the victory.

“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” – Buddha

Visualisation is a process of recreating all the images, sounds and
feelings in your mind in order to practice in a perfect environment. Turns
out, visualisation is very popular in sports psychology.

As I was active in athletics for around a decade, I would watch videos of

great athletes and analyse their techniques, I’d look at the pictures of
pole vaulters and imagine myself doing the same movements jumping
over the bar. Before the competition I’d imagine myself warming up,
stretching and finally competing. I was visualising without even
knowing about it.

What is the difference between a good and great athlete? Their mental
strength and power of visualisation. One of the most overused cliches in
sport is that 90 percent of performance is mental. According to Doug
Gardner, sport is 100 percent mental.
“I am a big believer in visualization. I run through my races mentally so
that I feel even more prepared.” – Allyson Felix, 2012 Olympic
champion, a 3-time World champion, and 2-time Olympic silver
medalist.
Visualisation might be as effective as physical training
Australian psychologist Alan Richardson made a little experiment. He
took a group of basketball players, divided them into 3 groups and tested
each player’s ability to make free throws.
The first group would practice 20 minutes every day. The second would
only visualize themselves making free throws, but no real practice was
allowed. The third one would not practice or visualize.
The results were astounding. There was a significant improvement in the
group that only visualized; they were almost as good as they guys who
actually practiced.

In some cases, research has revealed that mental practices are almost
effective as true physical practice and that doing both is more effective
than either alone.
There are many benefits of visualisation
Visualisation process works as a form of relaxation as it reduces anxiety,
with visualization there are no limitations, you can be and do anything,
you can gain inspiration to pursue your dreams as you have already seen
them happen, boost confidence and improve focus to work toward your
goals.

One of the most mind-blowing benefits of visualisation was discovered

by Dr Maxwell Maltz. In his classic book Psycho-Cybernetics, he noted
that your subconscious cannot tell the difference between a real memory,
and a vividly imagined visualization.

“Your subconscious cannot tell the difference between a real memory,

and a vividly imagined visualization.” – Dr Maxwell Maltz
It may sound incredible and too much of an inception but when you
visualize you effectively “implant” new memories into your self-image
meaning that your subconscious mind “thinks” you are already the
success you dream of being.

Start with a simple skill that you want to learn, like waking up earlier or
eating slower. That way you can practice with something easier and
strengthen your visualization skills before tackling the big complex
skills.

Exercise
I’ve been exercising for over a decade now. I’ve been involved in
athletics from a young age of 12, I’ve faced many personal defeats,
struggle and growth of my physical and mental body. For the last three
years, I switched to the gym, running and stretching. Occasionally trying
new things like yoga, surfing, ultimate frisbee, tennis and surfing.
 Now I am regularly exercising 4-5 times a week, with exceptions when I
get sick or travel. I recently switched from a 3 to a 4-day program that
you can see below.

Monday – Chest and Triceps

Chest
 Barbell Bench Press 1 x 10, 8, 8, 6
 Incline Bench Press 1 x 8, 8, 6
 Decline Bench Press 1 x 8, 8, 6
 Dumbbell Flys 2 x 10
 Dumbbell Pullover 2 x 8

Triceps
 Tricep Extension 1 x 10, 8, 8, 6 (adding weight)
 Tricep Dip 3 x 10
 Tricep Bench Dip 3 x 8

Tuesday – Back and Biceps

Back
 Chin Up 2 x 8
 One Arm Dumbbell Row 3 x 8
 Seated Row 2 x 8
 Bent Over Barbell Row 2 x 8
 Lat Pull Down 1 x 10, 10, 8

Biceps
 Standing Barbell Curl 1 x 8, 8, 6
 Close Grip Preacher Curl 1 x 8, 8, 6
 Incline Dumbbell Curl 2 x 12-14
 Concentration Curl 2 x 10

Wednesday – Rest Day/Cardio

Thursday – Shoulders and Forearms
Shoulders
 Machine Shoulder Press 3 x 10
 Dumbbell Reverse Fly 3 x 8-10
 Military Press 4 x 10
 Dumbbell Lateral Raise 2 x 10
 Dumbbell Shrugs 2 x 10
 Upright Row 2 x 10

Forearms
 Standing Wrist Curl 4 x 10
 Barbell Wrist Curl 4 x 10

Friday – Legs
Legs
 Squat 1 x 10, 8, 8, 6, 4
 Leg Extension 3 x 12
 Leg Curl 3 x 12

Calves
 Standing Calf Raise 4 x 12
 Seated calf Raise 2 x 12

According to David J Linden, intense exercise can bring about short-

term euphoria, reduction of anxiety, and increases in pain threshold.
More than that, I exercise in the morning, right after my morning routine
and get that feeling of achievement and motivation to take up other
challenges.
If I had to leave only one daily habit in my morning routine it would
definitely be exercising. It leads to numerous physical and mental health
benefits.

Improve memory and thinking skills. Many studies have suggested

that the parts of the brain that control thinking and memory (the
prefrontal cortex and medial temporal cortex) have greater volume in
people who exercise versus people who don’t.
Increases productivity. Exercising increases the amount of endorphins
that are released into your body and increases productivity.
Exercising boosts self-confidence. Exercising can help ease your mind
and rejuvenate your body. Working out will make you feel great and
boost your confidence.
Working out helps you sleep better. If you are someone who has
trouble sleeping or staying asleep then working out is your answer.
Exercise helps to clear your head and helps you feel relaxed.
Improves your mood. Exercising lifts your emotional state and as
mentioned before reduces stress and anxiety.
Conclusion
This is one of the longest posts I have ever written and I appreciate you
reading it all. These habits, routines and realisations didn’t come
overnight. It was all based on trial and error, waking up at 5 am for 7
days and then breaking the chain and waking up at 11 am. I wouldn’t
read or write for weeks. I would get sick and wouldn’t exercise or
meditate.

My point is, you will certainly fail with your new lifestyle managing
your new habits. Your old habits will creep in and try to get you back to
your comfort zone, don’t give up. Start over and over again until you
realise you are the person you always wished to become.