Yesterday’s email with the 3 Jake’s talking to each other got some interesting reactions. Justin Wampler posted on the Daily Attitude Email Blog an interesting way that he had tricked himself into being more disciplined. Justin was gracious enough to let me share his thoughts with you.

“I’m a big fan of tricking myself too, but I have to approach it a little differently. Using your example of working out, I’d have to make a deal with myself, once I felt the urge to skip the workout. I’d say, ok self, if you want to skip this workout, go put on your exercise clothes and stand on the treadmill, to prove to me that you did originally intend to workout. Then I’ll consider skipping it. Of course, once you’re standing on the treadmill with your exercise clothes on, it’s much easier to follow through.”

And then he followed up with some more:

“I was thinking about this some more, trying to figure out why this kind of trick works for me, and I think your analogy of the Three Jakes was the missing piece. I’m not sure how to avoid sounding like a crazy person when trying to describe several metaphorical parts of my consciousness, but here goes…

I guess you could think of those separate parts of you as roommates. They spend a lot of time together in a crowded space, so they must always make an effort to reconcile their differences.

Turns out that although Lazy Me tends to get the final say in arguments with Aspirational Me, Lazy Me is not a bad person. As such, he feels guilty whenever he lets Aspirational Me down. So when Aspirational Me tells Lazy Me that he can have a guilt free pass for exercising that day, on the condition that Lazy Me proves he was honest about his intentions to work out by putting on the exercise clothes and standing on the treadmill first, Lazy Me is eager to do so. So he does. Once he’s there he either promises Aspirational Me he will do better tomorrow (and not want to let him down twice in a row) or more often than not, he’ll just decide to go ahead and work out since he’s already standing there.

The human brain is weird, huh?”

Thanks for sharing, Justin.

Make it a great day.

Jake

BO – “Discipline is doing what you don’t want to when you don’t want to do it.”

EB – We impress people with our strengths…but we connect with people through our brokenness/weakness” – Craig Groeschel

JD – I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings. – Gustave Flaubert

JW* – Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount. – Clare Boothe Luce

MS – Answer not a fool according to his folly, Lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own conceit. Proverbs 26:4–5

Mr. O’Shaughnessy responded to the Daily Attitude Email this morning saying that he had the quote above attached to his monitor.

My story of trying to trick myself into a more disciplined version of myself reminded Brian of this little trick he was using.

Visibility.

A great trick to get yourself moving or continued down the path is to put a reminder where you will see it at the point it matters.

The swimsuit you want to wear this summer on the fridge.

The workout clothes laying right in your way as you get started on the day.

The password for logging into your accounts that reminds you of what is most important.

Find some way to get in front of “future you” in a way that will wake him/her up.

My advice on this one is to make the reminder kind of ugly and not cool. This is not an area to try to be cool or cute. You want it to stand out and not be able to ignore it.

Awesome idea, Brian.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I’ve learned something interesting about myself lately that might be useful to a few of you.

I’m not always trustworthy.

Sometimes I say to myself “I’ll do that later” or “next time I’ll….” and then I don’t do it.

I flat out ignore my own promise to myself.

I’m sure this doesn’t happen to you, but in case it does, I came up with a little trick that works (some of the time).

I trick myself by just doing it right now. Whatever it is that I am about to promise myself I will do, I make myself do it right then.

Let me give you an example, using three Jake’s – Aspirational Jake (who wants to do the right thing) and Lazy Jake (who wants to do the easy thing) Realist Jake (who realizes that Lazy Jake will win out in the end):

Aspirational Jake: I’ll work out tonight after I finish a few other things.

Lazy Jake: Great idea. You are totally going to follow through on that.

Realist Jake: Yeah right. Go downstairs and get your lazy butt on the treadmill.

Brilliant, right?

Ok, maybe not, but I’d bet I’m not the only one this has ever happened to.

If this happens to you, tap into your inner realist. Make yourself get started. Or make it so it’s harder to be lazy later (put your workout clothes on). Just find a way to force yourself into getting it done.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off! You cannot make progress without making decisions." — Jim Rohn

The last part is what really gets me on this one. You cannot make progress without making decisions.

All progress is proceeded by a decision.

When we overanalyze and take too long to make a decision, we are delaying our own progress.

Are you feeling stuck on something?

Thinking about the same thing over and over again?

Make some kind of a decision. Pave the way for progress.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/kbE2YOYk5rc

This one is a bit of a slow tapper, but the message is good.

Never give up.

Never give in.

Never let a ray of doubt slip in.

You are worth it. If you are stuck on something, don’t give in.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you’ve signed up for a season, see it through. You don’t have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through." — Jim Rohn

Saw this on the FaceBox and thought it was good timing.

The first of the year is a time to sign up for new things. To begin a new season.

Jim’s reminder is that when you sign up for something, at least see it through one season.

At least see it through the first month of that new diet program.

At least see it through the first quarter with your new budget.

At least see it through January 21st with your new exercise plan.

Already fallen off the wagon? Quick! Get back on. See it through.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. – Oprah Winfrey

EB* – Never wear anything that panics the cat. – P. J. O’Rourke

JW* – We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

MS* – When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity. – Albert Einstein

The Oprah quote is a great reminder to be thankful for what we already have if we want more to be happy about.

Something that has worked for me in the past is to stop and make a list of 5 things I am thankful for.

Try it.

Now.

Have you tried it yet?

Just taking a moment to write down a few things you are thankful for puts you in a better mood and reminds you that things aren’t so bad after all.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same." — Carlos Castaneda

A simple and powerful reminder.

We choose.

Positive or negative.

Light or dark.

We must daily make the choice to focus on the positive.

Think happy and strong thoughts today.

They are your thoughts. Might as well make them good ones.

Make it a great day.

Jake

No one is youer than you. – Dr. Seuss

Today is Meaghan’s birthday.

I remember the line above from “The Birthday Book” on Meaghan’s birthday every year.

For some reason, God sent me Meaghan (I can’t wait to ask him how I got so lucky).

And no one is more Meaghan than Meaghan.

Each of us has someone in our lives that has come about at the right time or in the right way.

In the way that only they could.

Today, be thankful for those that have and continue to impact your life.

Be thankful for they were uniquely made.

Be thankful they are in your life.

I know I am.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – Happy Birthday, Meaghan!

“Sometimes falling flat on your face allows you to see things from a totally different perspective.” ~ Linda Poindexter

People often say that successful people are the ones who fail the most.

Maybe this quote explains why a little.

Maybe when you have failed and are looking from that perspective can you see the real way through.

When you have changed your perspective ideas and solutions come through that you couldn’t see before.

Feeling stuck with something?

Try failing.

Try making some mistakes.

Try something you know for sure won’t work.

Then take that new perspective and let it lead you through.

Make it a great day.

Jake