3 Keys to Achieving Your Goals: Key 1 ~ Cognitive Bait (3 Part Series)

𝗪𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝗪𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐞?⁣

There’re a few key ways to doing this + all of them involve SIMPLYFYING your systems + routines.⁣

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝟏: 𝐂𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐭⁣⁣

In Psychology, it's the classic Cognitive Bait.⁣

Unlike setting your alarm clock ahead to make yourself think you're getting an extra ten minutes of sleep, using Cognitive Bait that actually deems a desired outcome is foundational to many leaders' success and sustainability.⁣

Cognitive Bait is giving your mind something it can chew on in order to tempt you to take a bite. It’s grandma at the door with fresh baked apple pie and a fan blowing the smell into the field to draw you in to eat. Cognitive Bait gets you to Show Up.⁣⁣

So, how can you create and incorporate Cognitive Bait into your routine to further your desires? To get you closer to achieving your goals?⁣

⁣Before you write this off thinking you already know it all, read through this and ask yourself where are you implementing this in your own processes.⁣

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲~ Your Life is the summation of all your daily behavior. Feelings comes first, thoughts come second, and that drives your behavior. (1) Feel. (2) Perceive. (3) Do.⁣

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I’ve had countless conversations with people + have felt these feelings myself. You know, the feelings of not being where you want to be, feeling like things aren’t happening fast enough, or maybe feeling like things aren’t happening at all. Feeling like you don’t have the time to do what you want to do to achieve the goals you want to achieve. Circumstances never seem to allow you enough time, enough energy, enough money, enough support of whatever kind to take action the way you want to take action. Yeah…those feelings. “Why am I still at this job working for someone not half as qualified as me?” “Another year and my resolutions haven’t changed”⁣

⁣How do you change your feelings in these situations and how do you simplify 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? ⁣

⁣When you are not where you think you should be, as far along as you feel you need to be, or in the body you’re supposed to be in, there is ALWAYS something there required to learn. ALWAYS. ⁣

First let’s look at some language used above: Should, Need, and Supposed to be. These words are words of control and manipulation. I don’t mean let me fool you manipulation although aren’t those words doing just that? I mean, when you morph + mold you manipulate. We don’t learn when we are in that state of mind. We can only learn when we are in Receptive Mode. Ehh hemm….Surrender, sound familiar? ⁣

Once we learn what we’re required to learn, we’re able to ascend to the next level. We Rise. That lesson may be as simple as learning how to navigate challenges smoothly, or learning critical skills that you may not even know you need, because you will be using them at that next level in your life. ⁣

𝗪𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧.⁣

⁣Now that you realize you choose how you feel about the current situation, let’s explore how those feelings connect to your thoughts and how that can drive your daily behavior.⁣

⁣Changing the way you feel doesn’t solve real-world dilemmas like lack of time + resources, does it? You don’t suddenly have a bank account overflowing to sign up for that gym membership or buy the new laptop and software, or hire the team that would make all this easier. Your kids don’t suddenly start getting out of bed, making their own breakfast, and getting their own ride to school in the mornings, do they?⁣

We spend a lot of time in our minds fretting over what is wrong, what we lack, what gives us passive stimulation to make up for not getting closer to achieving our desires and producing feelings of true fulfillment. ⁣

So, if you’re not producing the resources to make it easier to obtain, how can you simplify things?⁣

⁣Carving out time blocks to achieve whatever it is that you desire: a healthier body, a new business, a healthier relationship, more money, redecorate the guest room, clean out the garage… Something as simple as 10 minutes before bed, 1 hour a week, or 2 days a month---whatever amount of time seems doable + reasonable to you, can alleviate stress, stimulate peace + endurance, and allow you to not only narrow the gap between here and what you want, it rewrites the relationship you have with where you are right now. ⁣

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𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, + 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦; 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. ⁣

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Read that line again.⁣

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⁣𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐲: By breaking down your tasks to smaller, digestible bites, you are able to commit to these time blocks. Example: Psychologically it’s a lot harder to commit to doing 100 crunches a day to achieve that flat tummy you desire versus 5 crunches. If you block the time for just 5 crunches daily you will achieve your goal faster than a sporadic 100 crunches once every other month. Don’t overwhelm yourself, take smaller bites. Science tells us that most likely you’ll do more than the 5 crunches once you get on the floor by the way. Creating the laundry list of things to do can set you up for failure because you become so overwhelmed by the list, you barely begin-- if at all. ⁣

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⁣Hopefully after reading this you feel differently about where you are today and how can create a simple routine to narrow the gap.⁣

⁣𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: ⁣

⁣1. Identify what lessons you may be required to learn in this current state; where you are right now.⁣

2. Accept that lesson and begin the mastery of it; take pride in learning this skill. Shift the energy of your current state.⁣

3. How can you break down some smaller, digestible daily tasks to narrow the gap? What kind of Cognitive Bait can you incorporate in your daily routines?⁣

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𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏 𝐨𝐟 𝟑 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝟐 #3KeysToAchievingGoals⁣