So I was sitting in a hospital bed this morning at 6 am, awaiting my long overdue arm surgery (another story), and I was wearing one of those hospital gowns that don’t have a backside on them. You know the ones.

I wouldn’t say I was comfortable in that room. The air conditioning was too high, but of course, I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to seem weak or whiny. Not that there’s any logic to that.

The nurse came in to put in the IV. All good so far, but still it was freaking cold in there. She put a blanket over my feet which helped a little, but I was still putting effort into masking my discomfort.

Then the nurse did something magical.

She started hunting around for the opening in my hospital gown.

(Wait, wait, wait. Get your mind out of the gutter. That’s not where I’m going with this story.)

The nurse located the opening and then grabbed a long hose, kinds of like a vacuum hose, and stuck it into my gown.

(I’m serious, get your mind out of the gutter.)

The vacuum hose was attached to my gown. She flipped a switch, and then…

Like some kind of fantasy belonging to someone who is really really cold, the gown filled up with warm, comfortable air.

The nurse gave me a remote to control how much heat I wanted to inject underneath my hospital gown.

My blood pressure, anxiety, and hard nipples dropped in a flash.

The nurse came back a few minutes later to check on me and all I could think to say was, “Do your worst,” because at that moment I felt ready for anything.

I’m back home 5 hours later, feeling a bit hung over from the drugs and anesthesia. I would love to take a nap, but I feel compelled to write you first.

Why?

Because I made a commitment to write every day for the next 90 days and I intend to keep that promise. I don’t plan on publishing every day. But I will write every day.

Why?

Because I want to get better.

How do you get better shooting free throws in basketball? More free throws.How do you get better at putting golf balls? More putts.How do you get better at swimming? More laps.How do you get better at public speaking? More speeches.

I’ve seen the amazing advantages of what an effective storyteller can do for my real estate clients, the agents I’m mentoring, for guests on my radio show, for my community with Impact Club, and in my family with how I teach and raise my kids.

I can’t always say I love to write. Some days it feels like a major drag because I have a million other things on my plate or I just feel exhausted.

But I do love the feeling of completing an important task. I love the feeling of stacking those wins.

Even though I don’t always love the creative process, I do love the feeling afterward.

In the book “The 1% Rule: How to Fall in Love with the Process and Achieve Your Wildest Dreams”, the author makes a compelling argument through many proven studies that show we as humans have the best chance at reaching our goals if we create a routine or process around getting them.

In other words, if you have a New Year’s resolution to lose 20 pounds this year, and you just tell yourself you need to go to the gym at least 3 times a week and eat healthier, you are relying on your personal willpower because you don’t have a clear enough process broken down into 90 day, monthly, weekly, and daily benchmarks or goals. You have no roadmap to get where you want to go. I’m guilty of this.

If you have an organized plan to reach your goals, you really increase your odds, but we still make a fundamental mistake at this point by OVER-committing. We don’t delete or change other time absorbing things in our life, so we just stack on to them and expect we can do it somehow if we just try harder. I’m guilty of this too.

But, the real life-changing experience happens when we plan with great detail, but with a plan that allows for wins each day. You make a plan that you know on your worst day, i.e. chock full of drugs from your surgery, or your busiest work day ever, you can still squeeze out the win.

The daily wins that I MUST accomplish every day for the next 90 days include at least 20 minutes of: writing, exercising, reading, helping Amanda with her business, and focused time with my kids.

I have bigger, more defined goals for the next 90 days, but these are my daily ones I’ve committed to never missing.

Just 20 minutes and I get the win. I of course could do a lot more than 20 minutes, but after 20 minutes I can check it off as a win.

Wins are important.

Think about the last time you made some real progress with fitness or weight loss. You noticed you can go a notch smaller on your belt. You realized you can run much farther than you thought possible. It could be progress with a relationship, or at work.

Whatever the progress point was in your life, how did that make you feel?

When I’m trying to lose weight or gain muscle and I see actual undeniable progress, it always motivates me to push harder and further.

Having personal wins consistently has proven to be humans’ best motivator. This is documented and outlined amazingly well in the book The 1% Rule and it’s why I’ve set up my daily wins to be so achievable.

That is how you fall in love with the process of achieving your goals. You set easy daily wins. Your wins keep fueling you through the grind of everyday life and drama.

After reading The 1% Rule I was forced to make a decision. Continue to rely on my willpower and fate that I would hopefully find time to work on my goals…

OR

…start identifying and organizing attainable wins daily, weekly, and quarterly for my business, my health, my relationships, and my life.

I made my choice. (Since I’ve announced it to all of you, I better follow through.)

Cheers,

Mike Turner

Co-Founder: Impact Club Boise
Host: Idaho Speakeasy
Collaborator: Value Drive Approach
Founder: Front Street Brokers
Author: Agent Entrepreneurs
Voice: 208-340-8399