Increasing productivity has always been a burning desire of mine.. Ever since the seed grew roots in my mind many years ago.

I was not satisfied with where I was at in life and knew there was more to it than what society deemed to be the status quo.

I never subscribed to the common advice:

• Study hard

• Get good grades

• Get a 9-5 job that pays well

• Need I go on? You've heard it all before..

Include a wife, some kids, house with a mortgage and a couple pets in the mix and you're sorted. Congratulations you can now enjoy your comfortable existence until the day you die.

No thanks.

I will live life on my own terms or die trying.

I needed to know how to be effective and move the right levers (the ones that would level me up on my entrepreneurial journey)

This led to obsessively studying many topics: performance, habit, business, lifestyle design, consciousness, spirituality and more.

I was on a mission - hunting answers to this question:

How can I optimize my life experience via (systemized and trackable) habit formation process?

The framework I was seeking needed to: deliver lasting results, and long term exponential growth.

Why is this so important to me?

Because what I was doing was not working. It was un structured, disorganized and none of the habits I built seemed to last..

• I knew I was capable of more and did not want to settle

• Conscious life style design is the highest priority

• Conquer life. Don’t end up wondering “what if?”

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle

Because your habits make you (lead to the good life) or break you (chain you to mediocrity).

Scientific studies show that our brain is operating on autopilot nearly half the time (46.9% to be exact).

Essentially we are the sum total of our habits.

Failing to develop ones that will serve us is the express lane to mediocrity.

More than anything I feared:

• Being controlled by bad habits on auto pilot

• Aimlessly wandering in life without a clear plan

• Not reflecting and learning from the past

• Neglecting to create an effective future plan

It was time for me to cut out as many bad habits (instant gratification) as possible. Then substitute them with their counterpart - good habits (delayed gratification).

Before we dive into strategies we can use to develop our habits - let's take a moment to dissect a habit.

Habits are a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

There are distinct stages that all habits go through. This is observed on the timeline, and subsequently - loop phase once the craving is formed.

Habit Formation 101

James Clear published a book in 2018. You may have heard of it - Atomic Habits. (To date it has sold over 10 million copies).

I believe this book's popularity speaks volumes to the desire of conscious habit building in our lives.

It's filled with some of the best and most helpful information on habits and behavioural psychology out there.

Website linked for your reference (well worth a visit): https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits

With that said I have consolidated a few big ideas from James' work - which you may recognize sprinkled throughout this next section.

1. Adopt The Identity

• Want to workout more? You are an athlete.

• Stop smoking? You are not a smoker.

• Read more? You are a reader.

• Lead people? You are a leader.

• And so on and so forth..

On the surface this may sound silly and cliché. It isn't. You must believe before you can achieve anything. This is a fundamental law of nature.

You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights. - Brian Tracy

Like habit, there are entire books dedicated to the power of belief - for more recommended reading check out:

• Psycho-Cybernetics - Maxwell Maltz

• The Magic of Thinking BIG - David Schwartz

Understanding this paradigm shift is the foundation.

Only then can we build behavioural change and effective habit formation that actually lasts.

2. Massive Action VS 1% Improvements

Massive success does not happen all at once. Ditch the fantasy and forget about any quantum leaps in that direction.

Instead focus all your attention on the tiny tasks, that when repeated consistently over a long enough timeframe, will carry you towards your goal.

Let's have a look at the math over a year:

Understand that this process does not follow a linear progression but a compound one. So be patient and stay the course - your breakthrough depends on it.

3. Goals VS Systems

Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress - James Clear

A goal is the ‘what’ that you want to accomplish. The system is the process that will lead to the result.

Contrary to popular belief - you are more likely to achieve your goal by ignoring it and focusing on the system.

• Winners and losers share the same goals - the goal itself does not differentiate them

• Achieving a goal only lasts for that moment in time

• Goals can create an either or conflict (while ignoring progress) - ie either you succeed or you're a failure

• Once you have achieved a goal you're far more likely to slip back into old routines

4. Four Laws Of Behaviour Change

💡 Make it Obvious.

Clarity is crucial when aiming to develop a new habit. Time and location are common cues that will help you achieve your goals. Use the following formula: ‘I will [behaviour] at [time] in [this location]’.

• Design your environment to support behaviours you want to do and cut out those you do not.

• Mindfully place or remove objects in our environment (related to the specific habit) we wish to influence.

💡 Make it Attractive.

The more rewarding the habit is perceived to be the more action we will take. Use ‘temptation bundling’ by pairing a habit we need to do (workout) with a reward such as (watch Netflix).

Highlight benefits of habit rather than downsides. Doing this reprograms your mind to make it seem more appealing. For example:

• Fitness = health and wellbeing. Not fatigue.

• Saving money = future financial freedom. Not sacrifice.

Note - this equation can easily be inverted for bad habits to make them unappealing to continue.

💡 Make it Easy. 

During habit formation - a behaviour becomes increasingly automatic as it is repeated. The Law Of Least Effort states habits are more likely to occur when they require less energy (reducing friction).

• Find ways to make your good habits more convenient and you are much more likely to stick to them.

• The 2 minute rule - scale down your habit by setting the target of reading a page (two minutes) instead of a chapter (half an hour)

💡 Make it Satisfying.

To get a habit to stick we must feel successful after taking action. The feeling of success is a signal that your habit paid off and the work was worth the effort.

• Create a visual aid to monitor your progress - a reward in of itself. In the next section we will explore my favourite method of doing so!

Habit Tracker

This is the first piece of the High Performance Pyramid (HPP) framework.

A Habit Tracker tool gives the user real world data they can review and tweak to measure/improve their results.

Write the habits you wish to track in the left hand column - tick them off at the end of each day once completed.

Click the link to download your HPP Habit Tracker HPP - Habit Tracker.pdf

Two day rule.

Something that has really helped me along my journey is what I like to call the two day rule.

We are human and life sometimes gets in the way. When it does, and you inevitably skip a day - your habit won’t break and the world doesn't end.

Even high performers slip up along the way.

As long as you are able to re position yourself back on the habit formation pathway by recovering the following day you will be just fine.

Journal writing, when it becomes a ritual for transformation, is not only life-changing but life-expanding. - Jen Williamson

Weekly journaling is the like the glue in a carpenters tool kit - it holds everything together and solidifies the process over time.

Journaling has so many benefits of its on. Every time you journal it is sharpening your mind by distilling and organizing your thoughts down on paper.

5 Benefits of journaling

• Improves mental health

• Helps with achieving and tracking goals

• Increases self confidence

• Boosts creativity

• Strengthens communication and writing skills

Tracking your metrics for success and highlights throughout the week is engaging.

There is accountability when reviewing your Habit Tracker during a weekly journal entry.

This dynamic forces you to see your progress (or lack of).

Think of yourself a scientist studying your life. Learn through self experimentation. Your own direct experience is the only truth.

Weekly Journaling

When it comes down to the journaling method - I like to keep it basic and focus on what occurred throughout my week.

There are a few lead questions included. This helps guide you through the process and reflect on important areas of development.

I enjoy writing mine the old school way. Many studies suggest that there are lots benefits of writing by hand that you can’t get from typing on a keyboard.

Let’s face it, you spend too much time in-front of a screen anyways.

Click the link to download your HPP Weekly Journal HPP - WEEKLY JOURNAL.pdf

Year Compass

Failing to plan is planning to fail - Benjamin Franklin

This last tool in our HPP toolkit has two parts - a past component (reflection/introspection) and future section (planning/vision)

This enables deep insights on what is and is not working in your life.

It points to things that can close the gap from where you are - to where you want to be.

Nothing worth having comes easy.

I won't bullshit you: work (sometimes hard and lots of it) is required along the way.

With that said it can also happen quicker than you would think - because things get easier the more reps we put in and as momentum develops.

Adopt the right framework that allows for systemization, and stay the course - greatness awaits my friend.

Click the link to download your 2022 | 2023 Year Compass en-GB-YearCompass-booklet-A4-printable.pdf 

It is also available in different languages, formats and sizes on their website: https://yearcompass.com/gb/

Rome was not built in a day

Meaning: nothing great comes without hard work, dedication and time.

This is my dad’s favourite idiom, he would tell me this whenever the opportunity presented itself.

It is useful to picture a builder. He has:

• Blueprint - Architects Plan (Year Compass)

• Sub trades - Business' reporting to him (Journaling)

• Laborers - Carry out the manual work (Habit Tracking)

Within this dynamic there is synergy at play (1 + 1 = 3) because all the moving parts come together to create a greater whole.

High Performance Pyramid - HPP

• Use Daily Habit Tracker (tracks progress & builds routine)

• Use Weekly Journaling (provides feedback & course correction)

• Fill out Year Compass (BIG picture overview of past events & future plans)

Continue repeating the process and experience exponential year-over-year growth.

In the world of boxing a 1-2-3 combo forces your opponent to respect all three punches. The result: making it harder for them to mount an effective counterattack.

I am no boxing coach. None the less want you to arm yourself with this framework and use it against the obstacles that come your way within the ring that is your life.

On their own these tools are powerful, and if used consistently will have an impact.

But if you want to change your life and defeat mediocrity? Stack them all using the High Performance Pyramid framework. Have no doubt, you will become an unstoppable force!

What’s Next?

Download all the free resources linked within this article.

Print them out and use them as prescribed.

Still not convinced? You've nothing to loose and everything to gain.

Watch what you can achieve as days become weeks, weeks to months, and months turn to years.

If you enjoyed this read, sign up to Knauer Weekly so you don’t miss out on future impactful info..I’ll look forward to seeing you there my friends!

-Jason Knauer