The Manifestor's Manifesto

Change your environment, change your habits

Habits are tied to your environment. To change a habit or create a new one, create the environment to support it. 

Pavlov’s dog

You know the story of Pavlov’s dog. Pavlov rang a bell every time he fed his dog. Eventually, when Pavlov rang the bell, it made his dog’s mouth water, even when there was no food. His dog linked the ringing bell to food.

Is that the same thing as environment? 

Yes.

 Your environment just means the conditions when a behavior takes place. That can refer to a physical location, but it can also refer to the sights, sounds or even how you’re dressed.

(If you don’t think how you dress affects your behavior, think about the last time you wore a nice outfit. How did people respond to you and how did this affect your behavior)?

“Environment” just refers to all the ways you experience your surroundings through...

Patience + process = success

For this habit hack, I want to get a little philosophical. 

But I’ll keep it simple. 

Here it goes...

Be patient.

But wait there’s more.

Be patient...and stick to the process.

When you do both of these things, you will see results. Whether it’s in your personal life or your business or your health. Be patient with yourself, stick to the process that you’ve made for yourself, and you will see results. 

How is this a hack?

I can hear what you’re saying, isn’t a hack supposed to make something faster and easier? 

Well, yes and no. Any habit hack is different. Some are practical methods to get things done faster for sure. 

But mostly a habit hack is just a way of hacking your brain to get results. That means hacking your way past typical human behaviors that can trip you up. 

And one of the behaviors that you...

Start your day with less stress.

This 5 minute rule is simple.

Here it is: If it takes 5 minutes (or less), do it now.

You always have something to do. Whether it’s things to do at home or at work. It could be responding to that email or putting up a new shower curtain that’s still sitting in the shopping bag. If you can do it in five minutes, go ahead and get it done.

That’s it. 

Like I said, it’s simple. 

What’s the big deal?

Why is it important? Because it makes you more productive. This truly is a “habit hack” because it doesn’t involve a big idea or a change of perspective. 

Just “do this → get more done.”

This works off what I call the Empty Brain is an Efficient Brain Principle. 

What does that mean?

Because your brain’s job is to make you happy, it avoids things that make you unhappy. This includes anxiety and...

A stress free way to get through hard tasks

This is a great rule for perfectionists, and it’s another way to deal with procrastination. 

If you have a task that you don’t want to do, just commit to working on it for five minutes. If you’re procrastinating for whatever reason - whether it’s just something you don’t like doing or you don’t know how to start. Commit to at least five minutes of work.

Here’s the thing. Zero guilt if you don’t want to continue after five minutes. Just commit to five minutes. That’s it. 

Zero guilt

If the inertia is enough to get you over the hump, then keep going and get it done. If the task is still causing frustration for whatever reason, walk away.

This is a simple, low-stress habit hack that can help you leap the hurdles that get in the way of important tasks. 

For this to work, commit to the concept. If you’re not feeling it...

Focus Mindset = more effective than the Work/Life Balance

First off let me say this: this habit hack may not be for everybody. 

That’s true of all habit hacks in general - take what you think makes sense to you - but this one is for overachievers only.

I know this might seem like a cheap, catchy headline, but this really is the sort of habit hack that will only appeal to the entrepreneurial mindset. 

To be happy and more productive, create a Focus Mindset. Think of your work in terms of periods or seasons of focus. Some periods require more focus and some require less focus. Shift between periods of more and less focus and be more happy and productive. 

Focus...and forget about the myth of the work/life balance.

Let me define what I mean.

Why not the work/life balance?

The myth of the work/life balance is the idea that a person’s work shouldn’t overwhelm their life. A person should be able to have a rewarding...

Reward yourself and get more done

Recently, I showed you how to retrain your brain to form new habits with something called Pattern Interrupts. 

This habit hack is different, but it’s based on the same principle. What is that principle? The idea that you can make yourself far more productive by changing your habits at the brain-based level. 

When you understand how habits are formed in the brain,  you'll be in control of your habits and your identity.

How the brain works

So, let’s talk about the brain. Your brain is a powerful machine that wants to keep you alive and happy. Your conscious mind represents your everyday decision making and awareness, but most of your habits and behavior are driven by your subconscious mind. 

Your subconscious is powerful. It gets the job done. Otherwise...you wouldn’t be here. And one of your subconscious mind’s goals is to keep you happy. It’s so important to...

Pattern Interrupts

I want to teach you a practical technique that you can use whenever an old habit rears its ugly head.

You can make all the plans in the world, but sometimes old habits have a way of reasserting themselves in your life. It’s frustrating. Even if you have all the right frameworks and attitude in place, old habits can still challenge you.

That’s why it’s good to have techniques in place that you can use to tackle them on the spot. 

Hey, there’s a reason why they say “old habits die hard.”  

But old habits can die, and if you use this technique, it doesn’t even have to be that hard. 

What are habits?

First, let’s define what a habit is. When you understand habits, you can demystify them and take away their power. 

So what exactly is a habit? 

The simplest definition is this: a habit is a brain-based response to an external...

Check yourself before you wreck yourself

If you want a shortcut to creating change, start being accountable to others.

For this habit hack, I want to make a simple and direct point. And this one is so powerful that there’s no need to go in depth. 

Do you want change? 

If the answer is yes, then define that change. Be specific. Visualize and define what it is that you want. 

Once you’ve done that, articulate what behaviors need to change for you to reach that goal. Define them clearly so that anyone can measure them.

Then (and this is hard)...tell someone you’re going to make that change.

It’s really as simple as that. 

I’ve repeatedly said that change has to happen on the level of IDENTITY. I call this the BE - DO - HAVE model. 

BE - DO - HAVE

Be the identity you want. The identity that makes you do what you need to do in order to have the things you...

What’s the MOST important thing you need to accomplish today?

You might be noticing a pattern in a lot of the habit hacks that I’ve been throwing at you. 

Get rid of stress and get more done. 

Is life more complicated than that?

Sure.

But simple truths work. I don’t care how complex this life is.

And you’ll be successful when you inject this simple truth into everything. 

Remember: your brain wants your success. But your brain hates stress. 

Less stress = more success

Your brain creates strategies at the subconscious to make you happy. When you visualize your success in concrete terms, your brain creates the road map to get you there. 

But stress gets in the way. Nobody likes stress. You don’t like it. Your brain doesn’t like it. Stress takes energy. 

And guess what? Your brain needs energy. 

Remember, your brain isn’t some...

The grandfather of productivity hacks

Here’s a simple thing you can do to increase your productivity. 

• Take 15 minutes at the end of the day

• Think of the 6 most important tasks you need to do tomorrow

• Write them down in the order of importance 

• The next day work on each task in that order and don't move on until each task is completed 

• Unfinished tasks receive top priority the next day

Rinse. Repeat.  

This will make your productivity soar. It's not sexy. It may not be all that interesting. 

But it works. 

There’s nothing for you to “buy into.”  You’ll just see the results when it does.

How do I know it works?

Because it has for over 100 years. 

It’s called the Ivy Lee Method, and it was created by a man named Ivy Lee in 1918. (His full name was Ivy Ledbetter Lee, which is a pretty badass middle name if you...