Marketing - Are you Feeling the Pain?

"If you want to be the best in the world make your world smaller." 

- Seth Godin

"Making money is easy - find someone with a problem

 and solve it for them."

- Steve Chandler

These two quotes have a lot in common and are the secret to great sales and marketing processes and programs.

Just take a look at your competitors' homepage and then your own. Do they all focus on the company? When the business was founded, great products, great services, etc?

(Hint: Do you have this problem? Do you fear your marketing is not working? I'm using the technique - find someone with a problem and solve it for them - to get those of you that do have this problem to watch the video below.)

Don't feel alone, but see this as the first warning sign that you have a weak message and a weak marketing process and program. No one cares about you - they care about themselves. What is their pain, fear, need or want?

There is a much better strategy, one that works and is unique in the marketplace. I did this 42 minute presentation a few years ago, pulled it out for a new client the other day and thought it would be helpful to others. It is chock full of the best practices from the great marketers' of your time.

It works and it will work for you because it is based on some universal truths, not BELIEFS, carried over from the last century about how to do marketing. The way I did it for 35 years in corporate America and the way 95% of companies still do it today. 

Man I wish I knew then what I know now. 

These concepts and techniques have worked for me and for my clients.

Click here for this 42 minute presentation  on how to kick start your marketing programs and processes.  Enjoy and begin to find problems (pains and fears) and then solve them uniquely for your "world". You'll make more money.

Recruit Top Talent By Being Proactive

"At most companies, people spend 2 percent of their time recruiting and 75 percent

 managing their recruiting mistakes."

- Richard Fairbanks, CEO of Capital One

The following blog post is from Joan Graci an expert in recruiting and building great teams. I have added a few things in italics. 

Recruit Top Talent By Being Proactive

By Joan Graci 

(Talent Coach for Visionary HR & Industry Leaders | Building Effective Teams and Enhancing Talent Brands)

I've been in the HR world for over 3 decades helping growing companies identify talent, so it's safe to say that I know what's up. And despite what you may think, it's not the quality of a company - and by "quality," I mean mastering one of these 3 items: 1) a cutting-edge product, 2) supreme customer service, or 3) the best prices in town - that decides the outcomes of a recruiting effort. It's actually how that company approaches the recruiting process altogether.

I've been fortunate to meet with many good, quality companies throughout my tenure, but great companies - those that have a leg up on the good ones - have a major common denominator: they all use a strategic, future-focused recruiting process. These all-star companies view talent recruitment like an exciting marketing campaign rather than a mundane HR exercise.

Beef up your talent initiative by following these steps:

1. Make recruiting a priority

The first mistake many "good companies" make is only recruiting when they need to fill a role. By implementing talent-focused marketing strategies into your everyday role, securing that perfect match when you need it most will be a walk in the park. Finding the right people reduces stress, increases profits, and positions your company for future growth.

2. Treat recruiting like a sales and marketing effort

Commit to a company narrative that everyone prescribes to and share it with active and passive job seekers in unconventional ways. While you should implement talent-friendly content on your website, there are other creative ways to gain exposure. For example, hosting an informational event or a tour of HQ that exposes your company to a new population.

3. Use technology to build your talent brand

Smart companies communicate with job seekers through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. to establish their reputation and start a conversation. This is not only a huge part of your brand's foundation, but it's also the best way to introduce your company to the talent pool. Use Monster Resume Search for a month to build up resumes of "Ideal Prospects" you can then begin to proactively contact many that have jobs now.

4. Generate leads

Usually, that phrase only comes to mind in reference to our sales funnel, not our recruitment strategy. Between networking events and association meetings, are we scouring the crowd for new clients or keeping our eyes out for a future employee? I have a client that has an organized list of potential employees he meets (including where he met them, the potential department he sees them fitting into, etc.). When our top candidates find out about this, they're beyond impressed.

5. Plant your talent seeds strategically (Build A Virtual Bench)

Always be recruiting but you don't have to hire. Most of you're A Player Prospects will have a job. They are not looking and they are not going to take another job if you don't offer them a job today. Let them know you will need them down the line and stay in contact with them. Then when you do need someone you have a bench of A Players ready to go into the game. Less stress, no panic, makes you a better coach knowing you have a great player on the bench.

6. Establish brand ambassadors

Implement all levels of your organization in the search for talent. Consider a building a rewards program that incentivizes employees to submit referrals, such as an added vacation day or a bonus increase. Talented people usually surround themselves with other talented people, so maximize your company's hiring potential by leveraging each of your employee's personal networks.

7. People will come to you

Like the Container Store, if you build a team of A Players who are skilled, have the will to grow and are engaged at work you will attract great people. You won't have to continually be seeking them - they will come to you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppYh28BMUe8 5 minute interview

The Most Successful Team

"Researchers found it actually doesn't matter what your core values are. What matters is that you have them and you align the entire organization around them; and you're willing to hire and fire people based on having nothing to do with their actual job performance."

- Tony Hsieth, Zappos

Most of us are not in tune with Rugby but the All Black's are the best in the world and have been for 100 years.

I saw this article and thought it was a great example of Core Values and how, when defined, embraced, communicated and lived every day can ensure a great company with competent, committed and engaged employees.

When England faces the All Blacks on Saturday, they will line up against statistically the most successful sporting team in human history. New Zealand's win-rate over the last 100 years is over 75 per cent. It's a phenomenal record, and an achievement matched by no other elite team, in any code.

But back in 2004, something was wrong. The 2003 World Cup had gone badly, and by the start of the following year senior All Blacks were threatening to leave. Discipline was drunk and disorderly, and to make things worse, the All Blacks were losing.

In response, a new management team under Graham Henry began to rebuild the world's most successful sporting team from the inside out. They wanted a fresh culture that placed emphasis on individual character and personal leadership. Their mantra? 'Better People Make Better All Blacks'. The result? An incredible win-rate of just over 86pc, and a Rugby World Cup.

In early 2010, I had the privilege of going deep inside the All Blacks camp for five weeks alongside photojournalist Nick Danziger. It was a unique opportunity to study the way the best in the world stay on top of their game.

Here are five lessons in leadership I learnt.

The All Blacks Values

 

1. Sweep the sheds (My input: Sounds like 2 Second LEAN to me!)

 Before leaving the dressing room at the end of the game, some of the most famous names in world rugby - including Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Mils Muliana - stop and tidy up after themselves. They literally and figuratively 'sweep the sheds'.

 

Former All Black Andrew Mehrtens describes it as an example of personal humility, a cardinal All Blacks value.

 

Though it might seem strange for a team of imperious dominance, humility is core to their culture. The All Blacks believe that it's impossible to achieve stratospheric success without having your feet planted firmly on the ground.

Dan Carter kicking for goal

2. Follow the spearhead (My input: Hire and fire for values, not competence alone.)

In Maori, whanau means 'extended family'. It's symbolised by the spearhead.

Though a spearhead has three tips, to be effective all of its force must move in one direction. Hence the All Blacks mantra 'No D***heads' (loosely translated No one gets in that is uncommitted, disengaged, that don't "fit in"), a term shamelessly stolen from the Sydney Swans.

The All Blacks select on character as well as talent, which means some of New Zealand's most promising players never pull on the black jersey - considered d*******s, their inclusion would be detrimental to the whanau.

3. Champions do extra (My input: Committed to improving you and everything around you.)

Former All Black Brad Thorn's mantra, 'Champions Do Extra', helped him become one of the single most successful players in rugby history.

The philosophy simply means finding incremental ways to do more - in the gym, on the field, or for the team. It is much like the philosophy of marginal gains used by Team Sky.

A focus on continual improvement, the creation of a continual learning environment, and a willingness to spill blood for the jersey was at the core of Graham Henry's All Black culture.

Brad Thorn

4. Keep a blue head (My input: Keep focused on the Rocks, the right things and executing them, not putting out fires and reacting all day.)

Following their arguably premature exit at the 2003 World Cup, the All Blacks worked with forensic psychiatrist Ceri Evans to understand how the brain works under pressure. They wanted to overcome their habit of choking.

'Red Head' is an unresourceful state in which you are off task, panicked and ineffective. 'Blue Head', on the other hand, is an optimal state in which you are on task and performing to your best ability.

The All Blacks use triggers to switch from Red to Blue. Richie McCaw stamps his feet, literally grounding himself, while Kieran Read stares at the farthest point of the stadium, searching for the bigger picture.

Using these triggers, the players aim to achieve clarity and accuracy, so they can perform under pressure.

Richie McCaw

5. Leave the jersey in a better place (My input: Core purpose)

The All Blacks have long had a saying: 'leave the jersey in a better place'. Their task is to represent all those who have come before them - from George Nepia to Colin Meads, Michael Jones to Jonah Lomu, and all those who follow suit. An All Black is, by definition, a role model to schoolchildren across New Zealand.

Understanding this responsibility creates a compelling sense of higher purpose. It's a good lesson for us all: if we play a bigger game, we play a more effective game.

Better people make better All Blacks - but they also make better doctors and lawyers, bankers and businessmen, fathers, brothers, and friends.

James Kerr is the author of Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life. 

15 Lessons In Leadership (Published by Constable £12.99)

The Most Expensive Thing You Can Own

"The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge."

- Elbert Hubbard

Beliefs, common knowledge, fears, opinions are powerful forces in our lives. The problem with them all is we think they are facts and truths. We make decisions, choices, plans, actions, excuses, as if they are all facts. The secret? They are not all true and you have to start today to question them. 

Beliefs are ingrained in our minds from the day we are born. Let's take one belief that I think is one of the most damaging ones - pleasing people. We grew up being taught to please people. Our parents and all adults - be polite, do what you're told and you get a pat on the head and "good boy/girl".

As we grow we are supposed to please teachers, employers, customers, family, friends, co workers, etc.

It is probably the most damaging belief there is. Pleasing people robs us of time and energy and results in failure most of the time. So what is the alternative?

SERVING PEOPLE

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. Secret : Serving people is one key to success." 

- Steve Chandler

Serving is powerful. Serving is truly helping people. It is lasting and remembered and it will free you up tremendously.

Here are some examples:

Sales

Pleasing 

This the good 'ole boy approach. Get them to like me, take them to lunch, build a relationship through saying and doing what they like and want. Being more likable than the competitor. People buy from people they like right? No, they buy from people they trust.

Serving 

This is listening to their story, their pains and problems, and then focusing on those like a laser and solving them with the best solution (not necessarily the one they think they want). Serving is focusing on the problems. Yes you have to be personable, but the focus should be on serving by solving their problems, not on getting the person to like you.

Time

Whether you own a business or work for someone else we all "don't have enough time" to get everything on our plate done. We are accountable for being busy - not getting results. Why?

Pleasing

We cannot manage time, we can only manage what we do with our time. Thus, we must quit trying to please everyone - by always saying YES to everyone's requests. Everyone - customers, employees, coworkers, the school, invitations to events, clubs, charity, etc.

We only have so much time you cannot do it all with focus and quality.

Serving

"Saying no may be uncomfortable for a few minutes or maybe an hour but saying yes can affect you for weeks, months and sometimes years."

- Dave Allen

       

To do your best work, to get the results you need and want, and to live the life you want, you must learn to serve by saying NO. Say no to things you do not have time to do right and that steal time away from allowing you to reach your goals (both personal and work related).  Learn to say no politely and start to serve yourself and others by saying yes to those things that you can focus on and do correctly, and that will further your career and life.

"Management" /Ownership

Pleasing

You cannot manage people but we have always been told we should and could. Managing is making sure everyone is comfortable and stable. Please them by providing guidance on the job, what you want them to do next, what they need to do now, and keeping things stable and consistent. Reacting all day long, putting out fires for the team, taking the hard jobs on, reacting all day in support of the company. Don't let them in on the numbers and strategy - they don't care and won't understand. Money is the main motivator that will please them. Don't give them personal goals - they will reject it. Give them a review once a year.

By answering questions for everyone - you are not serving them. They learn nothing and never develop their skills or how to make decisions. Serving them by having them come to you with their solution will, over time mean they interrupt you less and less and they will get better at what they do, and happier and more fulfilled doing it. 

Serving

Be a coach. Think and act like an NFL coach. Engage them with the why we do what we do.  The core values, team goals, personal goals - practice to get better, share everything. People want and crave feedback so give it freely in weekly one on one coaching conversations (practice). Make sure you have the best people in every slot , A Players want to work with other A Players. Having C Players on your team is poison and your good people will leave if they see you not addressing the issues.

Serving by coaching will build trust and a great team that is engaged and happy to come to work.

I challenge you to begin today. Question all your beliefs as you make decisions, plan, choose, make an excuse, etc - are they true?

"The most expensive thing a person can own is a closed mind."

- Don Hutton

Top 10 Takeaways from Brain-a-thon

Science is unlocking and bringing more credibility to what philosophers and highly successful people have been telling us for ages. Here is a blog post from Dave Sjolin from the 4th Annual Brain-A-Thon.

Dale Carnegie said it so well:

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.
If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it.
Go out and get busy."

The following is from Dave Sjolin (please note: items in italic are my comments):

A week has passed since the awesome 4th annual Brain-a-thon where we were offered much in the way of new and actionable information. These are my top ten takeaways from the event, and the six brain and mindset experts that presented.

1. Fear is the #1 block to our success. Evolution has programmed our brain for fear. We are designed to worry, feel anxiety and believe in scarcity. In the past, we had to worry about that movement in the grass. If it was a Sabre Tooth Tiger, we were going to have a bad day unless we reacted immediately to that potential threat. Today, we get much the same response when we go to make a sales call. (Fear is in the future -  Action will melt the fear.)
    
2. The fear center in the brain controls our motivation. When we feel fear, it stops our motivation. On the other hand when we feel hope, our motivation is rekindled. (Again, Action will melt the fear.)
    
3. 95% of our behavior is driven by our subconscious thoughts, beliefs and habits. We like to think that our conscious brain is in control but most of our behavior is directed by our subconscious. What we are willing and able to do is controlled by fears and limiting beliefs.  (Question your beliefs and take action.)
    
4. We all have a money story. A Money Story is our entire relationship with money. It's the unconscious tale we continually tell ourselves about what money means to us, and what money says about us to others. It defines how much we deserve, how much we think we are worth, and how much we are capable of earning. It's about what would happen if we had more and what would happen if we had less.
    
5. Most of us tend to repeat the same money story and not surprisingly we achieve the same results over and over again. We repeat this money story because it's safe and predictable. Our comfort zone may be limiting and uncomfortable, but at least it's familiar.
    
6. Due to neuroscience's recent discovery of Neuroplasticity, we now know that our brains can change. We are not stuck with the brain we were born with. We are not hard wired at birth nor does our brain stop changing at some point in our childhood. Our brain continues to grow and change based on life experiences and the positive inputs we provide such as the "Innercise™" offered in Winning the Game of Money.
    
7. To create a new money story we need to recognize that we are writing our story now and that we can write a more satisfying one if we choose. We need to own our story and realize that we are in control.
    
8. Commitment is the first step in achieving our goals. We have to ask ourselves, am I interested or am I committed? If we are interested, we will do whatever is convenient. If we are Committed, we will do whatever it takes. That commitment gives us the drive to overcome all blocks that our subconscious throws in our way.
    
9. To change our money story and live an exceptional life, we need absolute clarity on what we want and why we want it (our BIG WHY). First, we need a target for our brain to focus on so we can notice all the information, people and opportunities that can help us achieve our goals. We also need a big why to motivate us to do what whatever is necessary to achieve the goal. If we don't have a big enough why, we won't expend the effort when things get tough.
    
10. Finally, to achieve our goals, we need to daily prime our brains to adopt the new beliefs and create the new habits that we will need to become the person that can achieve the goals we have set. Part of this will come through our brain retraining audios and part from visualizing our goals with emotion. 

Skill, Will and Thrill

Please take 5 minutes and watch this interview with the founder of the Container Store. He explains, quite simply, the key to 37 years of compounded 24% growth...People. He is the poster child of 'A' Players that cost 50% more but produce up to 3 times the average player. 

Then read on how you can evaluate, coach and topgrade your own team. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppYh28BMUe8

"Don't send your ducks to eagle school."

- Jim Rohn

What is a duck? What is a 'C' Player? What's an 'A' Player? How do I know? Well, I just finished a great book by Peter Roe called "The People Puzzle". I took the liberty and pulled the following concepts from his book, while adding a few thoughts of my own to the mix. I highly recommend the book. Read on to answer the questions above and more.

Survey after survey consistently shows that US employees fall into one of these 3 categories:

1. 20% are Engaged Employees - They are committed to doing the right things, right. They are engaged with the purpose, values and goals of the leader and the group. They want to work for the common good of the enterprise, they enjoy coming to work and the work they do.
2. 20% are Actively Disengaged - These people are committed to doing the right things only when it furthers their own goals. When it comes to working for the common good they are totally uncommitted. They usually reject any attempt to engage in group purpose, values and goals and are quite prepared to do things against the common good if that gets them what they want.
3. 60% are Turning Up and Going Through the Motions - They have a lower level of competence and are not motivated to become highly competent. They also have lower levels of commitment due to lower levels of energy, self-confidence or ambition; don't or won't identify with group purpose or values.

How does your team sort out?

Here are the 3 main components we recommend accessing when sorting out your team:

1. Competence - (skill) having the ability to perform the tasks, actions and functions to achieve the desired results.
2. Commitment- (will) having the willingness to learn and improve and meet their own standards as well as the team's. It is a product of an individual belief system and values.
3. Engagement - (thrill) is the response to an invitation to care about someone else's goals, values and purpose. It is seeking an experience and making a contribution beyond oneself. It is a matter of thrill.

The first two are inherent in the person. The latter is your responsibility as a leader to create the circumstances for Engagement.

Let's look at the various combinations and how we Coach/Lead and, yes, maybe, Top grade each:

Continue to Full Article

Habits - Small and Easy - Part 3

The 3rd in the series on achieving goals via building habits.

How to Achieve Your Goals (This Simple Trick Makes Progress Easy)

By James Clear

In the last 6 months, I've experimented with a simple strategy that has improved my work and my health.

Using this one basic idea, I have made consistent progress on my goals every single week without incredible doses of willpower or remarkable motivation.

Today, I want to share how I use this strategy and how you can apply it to your own life to improve your health and your work.

The Problem with How We Usually Set Goals

If you're anything like the typical human, then you have dreams and goals in your life. In fact, there are probably many things - large and small - that you would like to accomplish.

That's great, but there is one common mistake we often make when it comes to setting goals. (I know I've committed this error many times myself.)

The problem is this: we set a deadline, but not a schedule.

We focus on the end goal that we want to achieve and the deadline we want to do it by. We say things like, "I want to lose 20 pounds by the summer" or "I want to add 50 pounds to my bench press in the next 12 weeks."

The problem with this is that if we don't magically hit the arbitrary timeline that we set in the beginning, then we feel like a failure ... even if we are better off than we were at the start. The end result, sadly, is that we often give up if we don't reach our goal by the initial deadline.

I've mentioned this idea multiple times before. For example, in making the mistake of putting performance goals before your identity or in choosing life-changing transformations over daily lifestyle choices.

Here's the good news: there's a better way and it's simple.

The Power of Setting a Schedule, Not a Deadline

In my experience, a better way to approach your goals is to set a schedule to operate by rather than a deadline to perform by.

Instead of giving yourself a deadline to accomplish a particular goal by (and then feeling like a failure if you don't achieve it), you should choose a goal that is important to you and then set a schedule to work towards it consistently.

That might not sound like a big shift, but it is.

How to Achieve Your Goals: The Idea in Practice

Most of the time, I try to be a practitioner of my ideas and not just someone who shares their opinion, so allow me to explain this strategy by using two real examples from my own life.

Example 1: Writing

As you know, I publish a new article every Monday and Thursday. Since my first article on November 12, 2012, I've never missed a scheduled date. Sometimes the article is shorter than expected, sometimes it's not as compelling as I had hoped, and sometimes it's not as useful as it could be ... but it gets out to the world and into your inbox.

The results of this simple schedule have been amazing. Our little community has grown, seemingly without effort. We now have over 1,100 people (welcome friends!) who are committed to living a healthy life and who are actively supporting one another. Onwards to 5,000 strong!

Related: If you're a new reader, you can find out what it's all about and join us for free here.

Imagine if I had set a deadline for myself instead, like "get 1,000 subscribers in 12 weeks." There's no way I would have written every Monday and Thursday and if I didn't reach my goal, then I would have felt like a failure.

Instead, we are slowly building one of the most incredible communities online. (By the way, thank you for all of the emails, tweets, and messages on fat loss, lifting weights, living longer, and forming better habits. Keep them coming! I'm always happy to get your questions and I'll do my best to help however I can.)

Example 2: Exercise

Back in August, I decided that I wanted to do 100 pushups in a row with strict form. When I tried it the first time, I only got 36.

In the past, I might have set a deadline for myself: "Do 100 pushups by December 31st."

Instead, I decided to set a schedule for my workouts. I started doing pushup workouts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So far, the only workouts I've missed were on long travel days from this trip in Istanbul and this trip in San Francisco.

I have no total pushup goal for any single workout. The goal is simply to do the workout. Just like I have no goal for any single article that I write. The goal is to publish the article.

The result, of course, is that after doing 77 pushup workouts I've made a lot of progress. If you're interested, you can  see every workout here.

Focus on the Practice, Not the Performance

Do you see how the two examples above are different than most goals we set for ourselves?

In both cases (writing and exercise), I made consistent progress towards my goals not by setting a deadline for my performance, but by sticking to a schedule.

Productive and successful people practice the things that are important to them on a consistent basis. The best weightlifters are in the gym at the same time every week. The best writers are sitting down at the keyboard every day. And this same principle applies to the best leaders, parents, managers, musicians, and doctors.

The strange thing is that for top performers, it's not about the performance, it's about the continual practice.

The focus is on doing the action, not on achieving X goal by a certain date.

The schedule is your friend. You can't predict when you'll have a stroke of genius and write a moving story, paint a beautiful portrait, or make an incredible picture, but the schedule can make sure that you're working when that stroke of genius happens.

You can't predict when your body feels like setting a new personal record, but the schedule can make sure that you're in the gym whether you feel like it or not.

It's about practicing the craft, not performing at a certain level. (We're talking about practice. Not a game, not a game. Practice.)

If you want to be the type of person who accomplishes things on a consistent basis, then give yourself a schedule to follow, not a deadline to race towards. 

Small and Easy

Habits,  routine - the second in a series of 3 from James Clear on building habits successfully.

How to Build a New Habit: This is Your Strategy Guide

By James Clear

According to researchers at Duke University, habits account for about 40 percent of our behaviors on any given day.

Understanding how to build new habits (and how your current ones work) is essential for making progress in your health, your happiness, and your life in general.

But there can be a lot of information out there and most of it isn't very simple to digest. To solve this problem and break things down in a very simple manner, I have created this strategy guide for building new habits that actually stick.

Even more detailed information is available in my free guide,  Transform Your Habits, but the basic principles mentioned in this article will be more than enough to get you going.

1. Start with an incredibly small habit.

Make it so easy you can't say no.

-Leo Babauta

When most people struggle to stick with a new habit, they say something like, "I just need more motivation." Or, "I wish I had as much willpower as you do."

This is the wrong approach. Research shows that willpower is like a muscle. It gets fatigued as you use it throughout the day. Another way to think of this is that your motivation ebbs and flows. It rises and falls. Stanford professor BJ Fogg calls this the "motivation wave."

Solve this problem by picking a new habit that is easy enough that you don't need motivation to do it. Rather than starting with 50 push ups per day, start with 5 push ups per day. Rather than trying to meditate for 10 minutes per day, start by meditating for one minute per day. Make it easy enough that you can get it done without motivation.

Further reading: Identity-Based Habits: How to Actually Stick to Your Goals

2. Increase your habit in very small ways.

Success is a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.

-Jim Rohn

One percent improvements add up surprisingly fast. So do one percent declines.

Rather than trying to do something amazing from the beginning, start small and gradually improve. Along the way, your willpower and motivation will increase, which will make it easier to stick to your habit for good.

Further reading: This Coach Improved Every Tiny Thing by 1 Percent and Here's What Happened

3. As you build up, break habits into chunks.

If you continue adding one percent each day, then you'll find yourself increasing very quickly within two or three months. It is important to keep each habit reasonable, so that you can maintain momentum and make the behavior as easy as possible to accomplish.

Building up to 20 minutes of meditation? Split it into two segments of 10 minutes at first.

Trying to do 50 push ups per day? Five sets of 10 might be much easier as you make your way there.

Further reading: I'm Using These 3 Simple Steps to Actually Stick with Good Habits

4. When you slip, get back on track quickly.

The best way to improve your self-control is to see how and why you lose control.

-Kelly McGonigal

Top performers make mistakes, commit errors, and get off track just like everyone else. The difference is that they get back on track as quickly as possible.

Research has shown that missing your habit once, no matter when it occurs, has no measurable impact on your long-term progress. Rather than trying to be perfect, abandon your all-or-nothing mentality.

You shouldn't expect to fail, but you should plan for failure. Take some time to consider what will prevent your habit from happening. What are some things that are likely to get in your way? What are some daily emergencies that are likely to pull you off course? How can you plan to work around these issues? Or, at least, how you can bounce back quickly from them and get back on track?

You just need to be consistent, not perfect. Focus on building the identity of someone who never misses a habit twice.

Further reading: How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the Seinfeld Strategy.

5. Be patient. Stick to a pace you can sustain.

Learning to be patient is perhaps the most critical skill of all. You can make incredible progress if you are consistent and patient.

If you are adding weight in the gym, you should probably go slower than you think. If you are adding daily sales calls to your business strategy, you should probably start with fewer than you expect to handle. Patience is everything.  Do things you can sustain.

New habits should feel easy, especially in the beginning. If you stay consistent and continue increasing your habit it will get hard enough, fast enough. It always does.

Bonus: If you are interested in more strategies for increasing your willpower and sticking to better habits, I explain all sorts of techniques and the science behind them in my Habits Seminar.