The Manifestor's Manifesto

Why grayscale works and how to do it

Control your phone use and be more productive.

(Notice it’s “control” your phone use - not “limit”…there is a difference).  

You can control your screen time by putting your phone into grayscale. 

Keep reading to see why this works and how to do it. 

We phones

Phones. 

We love ‘em. We hate ‘em. We know we’re addicted, but we also need them. 

Phones are cool. 

When people talk about phone use, it’s always about how we use them too much. 

That creates guilt. 

And let’s be honest - phones aren’t going away. 

We use our phones too much. But phones are awesome technology.

Both of these statements are true. And it’s okay to admit that. 

That’s why it’s important to focus on controlling your phone time instead of...

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...

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...

Don’t fight emotions - use them 

You’re an emotional animal. As much as we think of ourselves as rational, thinking creatures, the truth is that our emotions drive a large part of our behavior. But we don’t like to admit that. When we act emotional, we think we’ve done something wrong. We often try to think of ways to overcome our emotions through reason.

That wastes energy. It doesn’t work. And in the end...why not just use the power that emotions have to create the habits and success that you want?

Don’t fight your emotions. Leverage the power of your emotions to create the habits you want.

Identify the emotion

Think of the habit that you want to form and identify the emotion that you would feel if that habit were already automatic and easy. When you do this, you’re telling your subconscious, “I want to feel this way” and your subconscious will develop a plan to make that happen.

...

Why guarding your attention is so important

Guard your attention if you want to get more done and achieve success. 

The role your attention plays in success is simple. But if you want this habit hack to put you above the rest, then read further to understand how attention is so crucial to the subconscious.

In this article you’ll learn about three things: 

-The importance of removing distractions

-Why willpower is not enough

-The role of attention and the subconscious.

Remove distractions

Remove distractions in order to get things done. Distractions can mean pointless things like surfing the internet or meaningful tasks that are important but aren’t relevant to what you’re doing now (like checking email when you need to be working on your budget). 

Focus on one thing at a time. You have lots to do every day. When you focus on one task at a time, your brain is more efficient and you’ll move through...

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...