Jeff Haden

And so I'm very much an effort kind of a person. And so... That actually works really well because I don't think you get motivation from like this. I'm sitting around one day and suddenly I have the lightning bolt that says I want to be a famous writer or whatever it is you want to be. That doesn't work. I don't think that kind of motivation. I don't know anybody that has that.

All you really need is to say, I'm interested in writing. Let me get started in some fashion. And through effort, if you work hard at it, you improve, because we always get better at things we work hard at. It is a natural thing. It's just like taxes. It's a law of the universe. And whenever you get a little better, that feels good.

And so effort equals a little bit of achievement, which feels good, which creates motivation for you to take a little more effort, which means you'll improve a little more, which feels good. And so there's this really cool virtuous cycle of effort, achievement, fulfillment, happiness, motivation that you can spend forever and ever and ever if you focus on doing it that way.

So process really is everything with anything that you want to do. So you do need a big goal, I think. But your goal, your big goal is just there to help you design the process that you would use in order to get there. So if I... This is a terrible, well, it's not a terrible example, but it's an easy example. Say you want to run a marathon and you've never run before.

If all you care about is this big end result, It's demoralizing and defeating and you have to rely on willpower alone and none of us have enough willpower to do that. But if you just get that cycle started, there it is. So to me, motivation doesn't come first, effort comes first.

So running the marathon is your big goal. But as you said, if that's all you focus on is being able to run 26 miles and you can only run one, you're going to quit because it's too far. And you feel bad after that one mile, you're never going to get there.

Running a marathon, though, you can back it up and say, OK, what are the steps and stages that I'm going to have to go through in order to build up the endurance and stamina and speed and all that other stuff that will allow me to get there? And there are plenty of people in the world who can lay that program out for you. So you know what to do. So the goal informs the process.

Then you just say, okay, I've got a, whatever it is, six-month plan. What's tomorrow? Tomorrow is I'm going to go run a mile and a half. Cool. When you run the mile and a half, you can check it off.

You get to feel good about yourself because you did what you set out to do that day, which if you think about it at the end of the day, the days you feel best about yourself are when you got done the things that you said you wanted to do. Where you feel bad is when you didn't. So you get to feel good about it. You checked it off. You had a successful day.

So process really is everything with anything that you want to do. So you do need a big goal, I think. But your goal, your big goal is just there to help you design the process that you would use in order to get there. So if I... This is a terrible, well, it's not a terrible example, but it's an easy example. Say you want to run a marathon and you've never run before.

That will give you enough motivation to tomorrow go, OK, what's tomorrow? Whatever it is, that's all you have to do. You just have to do whatever it is that you have to do today. And if you focus on that, you get to be successful every day. You get to feel good about yourself every day.

So running the marathon is your big goal. But as you said, if that's all you focus on is being able to run 26 miles and you can only run one, you're going to quit because it's too far. And you feel bad after that one mile, you're never going to get there.

And you will stack up enough of those days that every once in a while you will pop your head up and say, wow, I just did a 10 mile run. Who thought I could do that? But before you get too excited and go, oh, what about the 26? You got to put your head back down because you're not there yet. And then you say, cool, I can run 10 miles. That's awesome. What's tomorrow?

Running a marathon, though, you can back it up and say, OK, what are the steps and stages that I'm going to have to go through in order to build up the endurance and stamina and speed and all that other stuff that will allow me to get there? And there are plenty of people in the world who can lay that program out for you. So you know what to do. So the goal informs the process.

Tomorrow may only be a three mile run because that's part of your process of recovery and whatever else it may be. Whatever it is, if you're doing what you set out to do that day and if that goal is or if that process is designed so that it will basically guarantee that if you put in the effort, you will succeed. Mm hmm. You're good to go. So the goal informs the process.

Then you just say, okay, I've got a, whatever it is, six-month plan. What's tomorrow? Tomorrow is I'm going to go run a mile and a half. Cool. When you run the mile and a half, you can check it off.

And then all you worry about is, am I doing what I need to do each step of the way? You didn't start a side hustle and end up with 35 people working for you by one day just saying, you know, that's what I want to do. You knew you wanted to create a marketing agency and a podcast. You knew what you wanted to do. But you broke it down into, okay, but what can I do right now?

You get to feel good about yourself because you did what you set out to do that day, which if you think about it at the end of the day, the days you feel best about yourself are when you got done the things that you said you wanted to do. Where you feel bad is when you didn't. So you get to feel good about it. You checked it off. You had a successful day.

That will give you enough motivation to tomorrow go, okay, what's tomorrow? Whatever it is, that's all you have to do. You just have to do whatever it is that you have to do today. And if you focus on that, you get to be successful every day. You get to feel good about yourself every day.

What am I doing each day to get there? And then all of those wins stacked up on themselves and probably made it a little bit easier for you to keep working that hard because you saw a path to where you were going to go.

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