The Manifestor's Manifesto

Use this knowledge for change

The habits you have - good and bad - fit your identity. 

Just like your clothes fit your body, your habits fit who you are now. 

Change your identity to change your habits.

Think about it. You want to look sexy on the beach this summer. What has to change first, your body or your swimsuit? 

If you want to lose weight, you can’t just buy a smaller pair of pants and expect to solve the problem.

Believe me, I’ve tried. 

If you want to look sexier or lose weight, you have to start with your body first. You have to get in shape and solve the underlying issue. Then you find the clothes that fit.

It’s the same with habits. People try to change their habits first, but that won’t work. 

Habits form around your identity. Just like the only clothes you can wear are the ones that fit your body. It’s the same with habits. Your habits...

How it works

Habit stacking is a great way to use the power of your old habits to create new ones. 

You might have heard of habit stacking. Or you may think you’ve heard of it because it…sounds kind of jargon-y and familiar?

Habit stacking is when you link a new habit with an old habit that you already do.

By linking a new habit with an old one, you’re “stacking” the new habit on top of your brain’s programming for the old habit. This reinforces the new habit with your brain’s pre-existing programming.

Why it works 

When you start with a habit that you already do regularly, you’ve got a built-in trigger to create the new habit. 

Create an association between the two and soon you’ll start adopting the new habit as well. 

And it’s all built on an old habit that you already had!

What old habits?

It doesn’t matter. Everyone has habits that...

"You’re not that guy."

When you find yourself tempted to fall into an old habit, one that you want to change, you MUST remind yourself that you’re not that person.

You’re not that woman. You’re not that man. Not anymore.

Tell yourself this consistently and consciously to stop a bad habit.

Habits must form on the level of your identity.

This is the Be - Do - Have model. You can read more about it here. 

You act out your identity. 

Your actions are a direct result of how you perceive yourself and how you think others perceive you.

This takes place on BOTH the conscious and the subconscious level.

You’re not happy when your actions are out of line with your identity.

And your brain wants to make you happy.

That’s why your brain will seek out habits that are in line with your identity.

Ever notice that you rationalize bad habits? Or that you find some comfort...

Redirect your trigger 

Here’s an easy way to redirect a bad habit into a good habit. 

As soon as you find yourself engaging in a bad habit, pivot immediately to a new, positive habit that you want to develop.

Don’t beat yourself up for doing it again. Don’t make yourself feel bad. Just start engaging in a new, positive habit.

When you do this, you're redirecting your trigger. Whatever triggered the old, negative habit will now be associated with the new, positive habit.

Here’s an example

Think of some bad habit that you want to stop. Biting your nails. Snacking to avoid work.  Checking your phone all the time.

This habit hack is meant for reflexive habits. The kind you do without thinking but you’d like to cut out of your life.

We all have them. Some little reflex that wastes time or we use to avoid things or is just plain unattractive.

Attacking these habits consciously...

What is shadowboxing?

Shadowboxing is boxing without an opponent. Moving your hands and feet. Throwing punches. Dance like a butterfly. Sting like a bee. 

But it’s just you. You’re not fighting anyone.

You go through the motions without an opponent. And you do this to get the motions down for when you DO fight an opponent. 

Fighters shadowbox so they can train their muscle memory. When they fight a real person, they won’t have to focus their attention on their own movements, because it’s second nature. 

Instead, they can focus all of their energy and attention on their opponent.

Okay…

What does this have to do with forming new habits, though? 

When you create a new habit, reduce as much friction as possible between your current behavior and the new habit you want to create.

One way to do this is shadowboxing. Shadowboxing is acting out a fight before a real fight. When you...

Change your environment, change your habits

Change where you work if you want to form new habits.

I call this “the nomad life.” 

Change your workspace. This can mean going to a different space each day or on a regular basis. Or it can just mean picking a new regular space from where you typically work right now. 

If you work from home, start working in coffee shops. Or a bookstore. Go to the library. 

If funds are tight, just set up work in a different room of the house then you normally use. 

The key here is that you start a new habit with a new environment. 

Why?

The reason is simple. Our habits are largely driven by stimulus-response. That just means when a certain stimulus in your environment happens, you act a certain way. 

If this -> then that. 

When you first sip that coffee in the morning, you’ve trained yourself to read your emails. 

When...

Sleep better and be more productive

Some things are simple. Sleep is one of those things. 

When you get good sleep - and enough of it - then you’ll improve your ability to get things done. Not to mention you’ll also be happier and healthier too. Because who doesn’t like to sleep?

But in terms of habit hacks, sleep is an easy way to improve your habits and be more effective in reaching your goals. 

If you want to improve your sleep, play binaural beats while you’re sleeping. (I’ve already talked about the importance of avoiding blue light and screens before sleeping here). 

What are binaural beats?

A binaural beat is a tone your brain produces when you hear two different tones in each ear. 

If you hear a tone at 100 Hertz (Hz) in your left ear and a tone of 120 Hz in your right ear, then your brain will make up the difference and “produce” a tone of 10 Hz. 

Your...

Stop waiting till you feel like it

You’ve heard of the 5-minute rule. Here’s the 5-second rule.

This is the 5-second rule: if there’s something you want to do, count to five (backward) and then start. 

That’s it.

5-4-3-2-1…start.

That’s why it’s called the 5-second rule. When you want to do something, you have to act NOW.

Hold on

Wait.

What if I’m not ready?

What if I don’t know how to do it?

What if I don’t quite…feel like it yet?

Doesn’t matter.

If you want to form new habits, then you have to act now. 

It doesn’t matter if you know what you’re doing.

It doesn’t matter if you feel like it.

It doesn’t even matter if you fail.

You have to act. 

Why this works

The 5-second rule sounds dumb. 

You literally just count down and start doing...

Change your beliefs, change your habits

Before you think about the new habits you want, think about the old beliefs you have now.

If you try to change a habit without checking your beliefs, then it will be much harder to make that change permanent. 

You might change a habit for a short time. You might get up in the morning and go to the gym for a week or two. 

You might start eating healthy for a little while, but if your underlying beliefs don’t change, then the new habit won’t last. 

Our habits always snap back into alignment with our beliefs.

Why?

That’s because our beliefs affect our habits. And our brains will always seek alignment between our beliefs and our habits.

Your subconscious will produce results in your life that are congruent with what you believe. In a weird way, it’s a way of keeping you happy, because our brains don’t like conflict.

Because your brain wants to...

An easy way to plan your day 

Multi-tasking does not work. If you want to be successful and accomplish your goals, then this is one myth that you need to let go of.

A lot of people think they can multitask, but that’s just a coping mechanism for our overworked, overscheduled world. But if you want to get more done, then start by accepting this truth.

That’s because concentration is one of the first rules of success. The more that you’re able to focus on and pay attention to one thing then the more you’ll be able to get the job done and do it well.

You’ve probably noticed, but this is one of the main points in a lot of habit hacks, you’re more productive when you’re able to eliminate unnecessary thoughts and emotions from the task at hand. 

Remember that your brain is an efficient machine. In order to help your brain be more productive, remove anything that drains energy or focus. 

...