Week 2: Choosing extraordinary
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If you missed week 2, click on the YouTube video to the right and catch up now!
The notes from the week are below and an outline of the homework is at the bottom of this page. If you just want to see what the homework is scroll straight to the bottom. If you are here for the course notes, then start reading from the top. Thank you for being part of the extraordinary Rebel gang. This week was split into 2 main parts. In Part 1 we talked about how to ask great questions and how to come up with lots of ideas. Then in part 2 we asked the magic wand question. Read on below for the full notes. |
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Part 1
Is it even possible?!
Is it even possible to build an extraordinary life? We were curious how you feel about this so in the pre-course survey we asked you how strongly you agree with the statement "It's not possible for someone like me to have the life I want" on a scale of 1-8.
19%, nearly 1 in 5, of you agree that it's not possible for you to have the life you want (by answering 6, 7 or 8). And that's people that have signed up to this course! What percentage of people in the "real world" believe it's impossible? I would guess it's a lot higher and you have to be careful because people will try and stop you from making steps to live the life you want so that they can protect you from the failure they think awaits you.
You have to get rid of the stories that are stopping you. Stay tuned for week 3 for more on this. Meanwhile, make a note of the stories that come up. Maybe it's something like "this won't work for me because of the way I was brought up" or "I'll never be fit and healthy because I don't like exercise"
You need to set the vision or goal anyway and figure out the how later.
19%, nearly 1 in 5, of you agree that it's not possible for you to have the life you want (by answering 6, 7 or 8). And that's people that have signed up to this course! What percentage of people in the "real world" believe it's impossible? I would guess it's a lot higher and you have to be careful because people will try and stop you from making steps to live the life you want so that they can protect you from the failure they think awaits you.
You have to get rid of the stories that are stopping you. Stay tuned for week 3 for more on this. Meanwhile, make a note of the stories that come up. Maybe it's something like "this won't work for me because of the way I was brought up" or "I'll never be fit and healthy because I don't like exercise"
You need to set the vision or goal anyway and figure out the how later.
We have enough evidence to prove, that it is possible, even achievable to create the life, I want to lead
Remember - An extraordinary life means living a life true to yourself, whatever that means to YOU
Who do you know that has created their version of an extraordinary life? If you don't know anyone in real life, surround yourself with people that have done this by reading books, listening to podcasts and going on courses. Or go out and find the people that have a life similar to what you want and ask them how they did it!
Who do you know that has created their version of an extraordinary life? If you don't know anyone in real life, surround yourself with people that have done this by reading books, listening to podcasts and going on courses. Or go out and find the people that have a life similar to what you want and ask them how they did it!
The quality of your question determines the quality of your answer
Or as Simon likes to say "ask better questions, get better answers". So many people have habitual questions that they ask themselves such as:
They ask questions that leads their brain to think about what they don't want rather than what they do want. They focus on the very thing they are trying to avoid. If there is one thing that Katie and I have learnt over the last few years, it is that you create what you fear most.
If you fear going bankrupt you invest in the wrong things to avoid loss which leads to loss. If you fear losing friends you end up picking a fight to get rid of them before they can get rid of you. You fear getting fat and old so you comfort eat to feel better which leads to the very thing you fear. No one does this consciously, but we see it time and time again. If you habitually ask negative questions you will get negative answers every single day.
If you ask positive questions you are more likely to get positive answers. If you ask different questions you will get different answers. If you always ask the same questions you will always get the same answers.
The key to making change is to start asking better questions repeatedly. In the first part of week two we took your key insights from the current reality exercise and turned them in to "how might I/we" questions to help us find new answers and ideas.
- What if I am not good enough?
- What if it all goes wrong?
- Why does this happen to me?
They ask questions that leads their brain to think about what they don't want rather than what they do want. They focus on the very thing they are trying to avoid. If there is one thing that Katie and I have learnt over the last few years, it is that you create what you fear most.
If you fear going bankrupt you invest in the wrong things to avoid loss which leads to loss. If you fear losing friends you end up picking a fight to get rid of them before they can get rid of you. You fear getting fat and old so you comfort eat to feel better which leads to the very thing you fear. No one does this consciously, but we see it time and time again. If you habitually ask negative questions you will get negative answers every single day.
If you ask positive questions you are more likely to get positive answers. If you ask different questions you will get different answers. If you always ask the same questions you will always get the same answers.
The key to making change is to start asking better questions repeatedly. In the first part of week two we took your key insights from the current reality exercise and turned them in to "how might I/we" questions to help us find new answers and ideas.
Step 1: Ask better questions
You need to take the insights you identified in week 1 and turn them into juicy questions!
You have to hold back on coming up with answers and solutions until you have asked a juicy enough question. Often, we are so keen to jump to the answer that we rush past the stage of asking an awesome question. In order to get better answers, resist this urge to jump to the answers! Hold off! Hold your horses! If you don't, you'll probably come up with the same old ideas you've had for years and you'll miss out on the ones that could change your life!
How do you ask a juicy question? Well, firstly the question word is absolutely key. If you ask "why" questions you'll get a list of blame and reasons. If you ask "what" questions you'll get a list of stuff that isn't particularly inspiring.
But if you ask "how might I...", it has a completely different energy and immediately gets your brain thinking about possibilities and ideas!
Secondly, you have to keep it broad enough in the question. If you ask very specific questions you miss out on the range of possible answers. So don't ask "How might I live in Milton Keynes, spend time with my kids, work my job in Boots the pharmacy and have a lot of joy in my life?". You've put a lot of constraints in the question. A better question might be "How might I feel more joy, excitement and enthusiasm for my life?" The more emotive words and adjectives used in the question the better. It all adds to the juiciness!
And finally, watch out for assuming the answer in the question. We have a friend who's a software engineer. He always thinks the answer to any problem is an app. So he ends up asking questions like "how might we build an app to make sure we eat healthily".
You have to hold back on coming up with answers and solutions until you have asked a juicy enough question. Often, we are so keen to jump to the answer that we rush past the stage of asking an awesome question. In order to get better answers, resist this urge to jump to the answers! Hold off! Hold your horses! If you don't, you'll probably come up with the same old ideas you've had for years and you'll miss out on the ones that could change your life!
How do you ask a juicy question? Well, firstly the question word is absolutely key. If you ask "why" questions you'll get a list of blame and reasons. If you ask "what" questions you'll get a list of stuff that isn't particularly inspiring.
But if you ask "how might I...", it has a completely different energy and immediately gets your brain thinking about possibilities and ideas!
Secondly, you have to keep it broad enough in the question. If you ask very specific questions you miss out on the range of possible answers. So don't ask "How might I live in Milton Keynes, spend time with my kids, work my job in Boots the pharmacy and have a lot of joy in my life?". You've put a lot of constraints in the question. A better question might be "How might I feel more joy, excitement and enthusiasm for my life?" The more emotive words and adjectives used in the question the better. It all adds to the juiciness!
And finally, watch out for assuming the answer in the question. We have a friend who's a software engineer. He always thinks the answer to any problem is an app. So he ends up asking questions like "how might we build an app to make sure we eat healthily".
Step 2: Generate ideas
How do you kill ideas?! Some of you are highly skilled at this! You look for what won't work in an idea rather than building on it.
Avoid big buts and instead play the "yes and" game in your head.
Corporate life is partly to blame for this - it is imperative to avoid mistakes. But if you want to live an extraordinary life, you must reverse this training and embrace making mistakes as a natural part of the process!
So stop censoring yourself, stop being reasonable and let's dream! How do you do this?! We use the Disney Creative Strategy... keep reading on to find out how to do this!
Avoid big buts and instead play the "yes and" game in your head.
Corporate life is partly to blame for this - it is imperative to avoid mistakes. But if you want to live an extraordinary life, you must reverse this training and embrace making mistakes as a natural part of the process!
So stop censoring yourself, stop being reasonable and let's dream! How do you do this?! We use the Disney Creative Strategy... keep reading on to find out how to do this!
The Disney Creative Strategy
You are born creative. You have all the creativity that you need however this is beaten out of us by right and wrong at school, by corporate life, by being told there is a right answer. Sometimes we need a little bit of help to get back to our creative essence.
One of the things that I (Alan) have found that makes the most difference for me and the people around me is to use the Disney Creative Strategy. Disney figured out many years ago that there are three distinct phases in creativity and if you try and do them all at once then the whole process melts down and fails.
He set up three individual rooms or spaces for each phase and would move between then never allowing the three phases to cross. One of the reasons I believe that corporate organisations struggle to come up with new ideas is that they try to do all the three phases in one meeting. Someone comes up with an idea, someone tries to work out how it might work and then another person is tearing it to pieces before we even know if it is possible or not!
Here are the three phases of the Disney Creative strategy
One of the things that I (Alan) have found that makes the most difference for me and the people around me is to use the Disney Creative Strategy. Disney figured out many years ago that there are three distinct phases in creativity and if you try and do them all at once then the whole process melts down and fails.
He set up three individual rooms or spaces for each phase and would move between then never allowing the three phases to cross. One of the reasons I believe that corporate organisations struggle to come up with new ideas is that they try to do all the three phases in one meeting. Someone comes up with an idea, someone tries to work out how it might work and then another person is tearing it to pieces before we even know if it is possible or not!
Here are the three phases of the Disney Creative strategy
1. Dreamer - the first stage in the Disney Creative strategy is the dreamer. Coming up with the ideas and the vision of what might be. We need to set aside reality and dream about what could be, the possibilities and the vision. This can be a hard one for some people to get into because they haven't done it for some time, but that doesn't mean they can do it. Everyone can dream, they might just have forgotten how!
For Disney they would chat, sit, move around discussing all the possibilities, talking mice, pink castles in the sky and more. They would combine ideas, dream of exactly how they wanted things to be and come up with the ideas.
They would purposefully not discuss how something becomes real or the problems with it. They would just ideate, dream and think about possibility.
For Disney they would chat, sit, move around discussing all the possibilities, talking mice, pink castles in the sky and more. They would combine ideas, dream of exactly how they wanted things to be and come up with the ideas.
They would purposefully not discuss how something becomes real or the problems with it. They would just ideate, dream and think about possibility.
2. Realist - this is the how to phase. The realist takes the dream and starts to think how could we make this happen? What are the practical steps to making this dream real. They DO NOT judge the idea, think about the problems or how it might go wrong they just try and figure out how we can make this crazy idea reality.
This is the second phase of the strategy, and it is all about strengthening the idea. We are taking the idea from the dreamer phase that we most love and we are working to see if we can come up with a way of making it real. Imagine you were tasked with creating a floating castle in the sky, how would you make it happen.
If your dream is to become FI then this is the phase of working out how it is possible. If your dream is to travel the world with your friends, then this is the phase of working out how you might be able to do that.
No criticism (that is the next phase) just pure how to and making that dream come true.
This is the second phase of the strategy, and it is all about strengthening the idea. We are taking the idea from the dreamer phase that we most love and we are working to see if we can come up with a way of making it real. Imagine you were tasked with creating a floating castle in the sky, how would you make it happen.
If your dream is to become FI then this is the phase of working out how it is possible. If your dream is to travel the world with your friends, then this is the phase of working out how you might be able to do that.
No criticism (that is the next phase) just pure how to and making that dream come true.
3. Critic - by the time we have come up with the dream and spent some good time thinking about how it might be possible the dream has grown enough, is strong enough to be handed to the critic. The critic will take the idea and pull it to pieces and examine it. The critic is one of the most important phases in the strategy however if it is done too soon before the idea has matured it will KILL the idea.
I think a lot of people mistake what I am saying in my courses thinking that I am saying that the critic is bad or evil in some way and that is not what I am saying. I am saying that this is all a timing issue. If the critic comes in to early and tells you why things won't work, they kill the initial ideas and dry up the flow of ideas stopping us from ever getting to the most innovative and creative thoughts.
If the critic is held off until the idea has been formed properly, developed in the how to phase then when they come in at this stage, they help strengthen the idea, they spot floors that can be fixed, and they develop the idea past where we have got to. They are SUPER VALUAVBLE.
What we need to do is hold of the critic until the idea is developed enough to withstand their critique.
I think a lot of people mistake what I am saying in my courses thinking that I am saying that the critic is bad or evil in some way and that is not what I am saying. I am saying that this is all a timing issue. If the critic comes in to early and tells you why things won't work, they kill the initial ideas and dry up the flow of ideas stopping us from ever getting to the most innovative and creative thoughts.
If the critic is held off until the idea has been formed properly, developed in the how to phase then when they come in at this stage, they help strengthen the idea, they spot floors that can be fixed, and they develop the idea past where we have got to. They are SUPER VALUAVBLE.
What we need to do is hold of the critic until the idea is developed enough to withstand their critique.
How to use this strategy
When we are working through this process and coming up with idea of "how might we........." we need to hold off the critic in the early ideation phase. We need to focus on the ideas first and coming up with as many as we can. The only way we are going to unlock ourselves is to come up with as many ideas as we can before the realist and the critic get involved.
If you are doing this exercise with other people remember that you need to train them to think about possibility not how it works to start with. If it is you that is the critic and is killing all the ideas you need to put those thoughts to one side whilst coming up with your ideas.
When we are working through this process and coming up with idea of "how might we........." we need to hold off the critic in the early ideation phase. We need to focus on the ideas first and coming up with as many as we can. The only way we are going to unlock ourselves is to come up with as many ideas as we can before the realist and the critic get involved.
If you are doing this exercise with other people remember that you need to train them to think about possibility not how it works to start with. If it is you that is the critic and is killing all the ideas you need to put those thoughts to one side whilst coming up with your ideas.
What's the quickest way to have a good idea?
Have a metric SHIT tonne of ideas! The first idea you come up with is unlikely to be a great idea, it'll be the same ideas you've been having for years!
Need help on ideas? Why not ask in the Facebook group?
The slide to the right gives you an idea of how to format your question for the Facebook group and how to respond. What we are looking for is volume of ideas and creativity not judgement and questioning!
Let's help each and every one of us make progress!
Have a metric SHIT tonne of ideas! The first idea you come up with is unlikely to be a great idea, it'll be the same ideas you've been having for years!
Need help on ideas? Why not ask in the Facebook group?
The slide to the right gives you an idea of how to format your question for the Facebook group and how to respond. What we are looking for is volume of ideas and creativity not judgement and questioning!
Let's help each and every one of us make progress!
Remember - first you do the divergent thinking (coming up with lots of ideas) and then do the convergent thinking (choosing which ones you're going to do something about), which leads us on to step 3...
Step 3: Choose a couple of ideas and do some mini-experiments
A mini experiment is where you take one of the ideas and test it out. We use the word experiment on purpose because in an experiment you aren't looking to succeed you are just looking for feedback and information to inform your next move. We don't care if it works or not (well maybe we care a little!)
What we are looking to do is to test out an idea, to see if it works for us and then to decide if we want to keep doing it or not.
The key to turning your dreams into reality is how quickly you can move from ideas to running a mini-experiment and testing things out.
What we are looking to do is to test out an idea, to see if it works for us and then to decide if we want to keep doing it or not.
The key to turning your dreams into reality is how quickly you can move from ideas to running a mini-experiment and testing things out.
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Alan and Simon did an entire episode of the Rebel Entrepreneur podcast about mini experiments. It might be business and start-up focused but it will give you the key concepts of mini-experiments and how to run them.
If you need more then have a listen to this podcast. if not then just pick one of the MANY ideas you have come up with that you want to test, work out how you will test it and then what time frame you will give the experiment. Then finally how you will know if the experiment fails or not. Then just start! |
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Live case study: Anita and Dan
Anita and Dan came on live and kindly shared their top 3 insights with us. We then came up with a bunch of ideas for them as a group. You can see how the energy gets going and you build on each other's ideas to come up with so many more and different ideas!
COMING SOON! If you had a similar insight and would like to see the list of ideas that we generated together, we captured them for you and we will be publishing them shortly!
COMING SOON! If you had a similar insight and would like to see the list of ideas that we generated together, we captured them for you and we will be publishing them shortly!
Part 2
The Magic wand question
In the second part of week 2 Simon posed the Magic Wand questions. (Simon we are still waiting for the picture of you in a tutu with a wand for the slides please. If you would like to see this please tweet Simon abuse until he does it.)
This question is designed to unlock your thinking and inspire you to think differently about your life and the progress you want to make. The question is:
If I waved a magic wand and you woke up tomorrow morning realising life was EXACTLY as you wanted it how would you know?
When you think of the different areas of life what do you think of?
In health and wellness what comes to mind? What would you see in the mirror if your health was exactly as you wanted it? What would you smell if health and wellness had magically become what you wanted? What would you feel each day? What would you experience each day? Who would be around you? What evidence would you have that life was exactly as you wanted it?
The idea is to set a vision for your areas of life and start to work towards them. As you answer this question we don't need to know the how. The how we are going to do this is unimportant at this stage. The important part is to first have the vision of where we are going and then we can figure out the how later.
When answering this question it is so easy to go negative and start to think "oh if health was perfect I would feel full of energy" and then to immediately add "but I would never be able to do that" and kill or squish your own thoughts or ideas. We are at times our own worst enemies. Yes other people might tell us to be reasonable, try and help us avoid rejection by not trying but this is with the ideas we have let out! We have probably already killed most of them in our own head already!
The key here is to use the Dreamer phase of the Disney creative strategy listed above. We need to hold back the realist and the critic and dream of how we want life to be without restrictions. First we need a vision of how we want life to be and then we can go about figuring out how to achieve this. First vision or goal, second how.
This question is designed to unlock your thinking and inspire you to think differently about your life and the progress you want to make. The question is:
If I waved a magic wand and you woke up tomorrow morning realising life was EXACTLY as you wanted it how would you know?
When you think of the different areas of life what do you think of?
In health and wellness what comes to mind? What would you see in the mirror if your health was exactly as you wanted it? What would you smell if health and wellness had magically become what you wanted? What would you feel each day? What would you experience each day? Who would be around you? What evidence would you have that life was exactly as you wanted it?
The idea is to set a vision for your areas of life and start to work towards them. As you answer this question we don't need to know the how. The how we are going to do this is unimportant at this stage. The important part is to first have the vision of where we are going and then we can figure out the how later.
When answering this question it is so easy to go negative and start to think "oh if health was perfect I would feel full of energy" and then to immediately add "but I would never be able to do that" and kill or squish your own thoughts or ideas. We are at times our own worst enemies. Yes other people might tell us to be reasonable, try and help us avoid rejection by not trying but this is with the ideas we have let out! We have probably already killed most of them in our own head already!
The key here is to use the Dreamer phase of the Disney creative strategy listed above. We need to hold back the realist and the critic and dream of how we want life to be without restrictions. First we need a vision of how we want life to be and then we can go about figuring out how to achieve this. First vision or goal, second how.
Examples
Here are some examples from our lives to help give you some ideas.
Simon's vision for health
I would make healthy food choices all the time, I'd be two stone lighter, stronger and in better shape. I would do Yoga regularly and effortlessly drink lots of water.
Alan's note: Simon really struggles to drink water when we are running courses. He gets dehydrated and we have to buy him water and constantly hand it to him to get him to drink. This is a critical area and I LOVE Simon's vision in this area. I would LOVE to support him doing it.
Katie's vision for Personal Growth and Development
I walk confidently with my head held high. I am certain about who I am, what is important to me and what I believe. I know I am worthy and loved for just existing
Alan note: I would do and give anything to help my wife feel confident, loved and happy. This is what I want for her as well. The people around you want you to be happy, they want you to feel good. Let's set a cool vision and allow the people around us to help us.
Alan's health vision
I stand tall and strong each day. My body is strong and muscular and provides me with the energy I need to do extraordinary things. I am in harmony with my body giving it the fuel it needs to thrive, caring for it and in return it supports me with crackling energy, vitality and juice that powers me sustainably through the day. I run, bounce and move with easy enjoying using my body and enjoying all the challenges life throws at me. My brain focuses relentlessly on the positive, my energy crackles and I make extraordinary things happen.
Alan Note: This has been an area I have been up and down in. Sometimes I am super fit, sometimes I end up super fat. This is a huge area of incongruency for me and one I am developing at the moment. I am working on an even better version of my vision in this area which I will share with you when I am ready to.
Simon's vision for health
I would make healthy food choices all the time, I'd be two stone lighter, stronger and in better shape. I would do Yoga regularly and effortlessly drink lots of water.
Alan's note: Simon really struggles to drink water when we are running courses. He gets dehydrated and we have to buy him water and constantly hand it to him to get him to drink. This is a critical area and I LOVE Simon's vision in this area. I would LOVE to support him doing it.
Katie's vision for Personal Growth and Development
I walk confidently with my head held high. I am certain about who I am, what is important to me and what I believe. I know I am worthy and loved for just existing
Alan note: I would do and give anything to help my wife feel confident, loved and happy. This is what I want for her as well. The people around you want you to be happy, they want you to feel good. Let's set a cool vision and allow the people around us to help us.
Alan's health vision
I stand tall and strong each day. My body is strong and muscular and provides me with the energy I need to do extraordinary things. I am in harmony with my body giving it the fuel it needs to thrive, caring for it and in return it supports me with crackling energy, vitality and juice that powers me sustainably through the day. I run, bounce and move with easy enjoying using my body and enjoying all the challenges life throws at me. My brain focuses relentlessly on the positive, my energy crackles and I make extraordinary things happen.
Alan Note: This has been an area I have been up and down in. Sometimes I am super fit, sometimes I end up super fat. This is a huge area of incongruency for me and one I am developing at the moment. I am working on an even better version of my vision in this area which I will share with you when I am ready to.
Exercise guidelines
- Think Big - allow the dreamer out, think about how life would really be if that magic wand had been waved. You are only limited by the ideas you have
- Forget the how for now - we just need to focus on the dream. We (humans) never knew how to fly to the moon when we set the vision. We set the vision and figured it out afterwards. Set the vision and then let's figure out the how together
- Watch out for stories - this is the exercise when stories might come up. Watch out for them and note them down when they do. For example you might be thinking about losing weight and then say to yourself "I could set a v Vision of losing weight but that is not possible, no one has ever lost weight sustainably before." Notice the story and then let's work on that in week 3.
- Free flow - we just need to get out of our own way and write. If you catch yourself saying "I don't know what to write" stop and then write "if I did know what to write I would say ………" We need to get out of our own way and just write. It doesn't need to be perfect it just needs to happen
- Creating new connections - as you write about your new vision you will stretch your mind to think in new ways. It might never have seen you as you are portraying yourself in your vision before! Let's start to stretch our minds, think differently and create a vision that makes us feel excited, pumped, ready to begin finding a way to make it happen.
If you have never done an exercise like this before then maybe start with one life area and just write one magic wand answer. If you have done this kind of thing before then maybe write answers for your top three priority areas of life. If you are a black belt in self-development and this stuff then go ahead and write a vision for each and every area of life!
Values congruence check
An important step in the process is just to pause and check against your values. We need to set ourselves up for the best chances of success by remaining congruent as we go forwards. We need to check that the vision we are setting is in line with our values.
The counter example to this is setting yourself up for incongruence. You set a vision of being a millionaire with finances to support your freedom, doing cool things and travelling the world, but money finances is not even on your list of values and maybe even you secretly believe money is the root of all evil. This is setting yourself up for torture, because you will want the goal but you will struggle to get going, struggle to stay consistent because of your underlying beliefs and values.
Take a moment now to check the vision or visions you have written for congruency with your values. Examples of good alignment would be:
The counter example to this is setting yourself up for incongruence. You set a vision of being a millionaire with finances to support your freedom, doing cool things and travelling the world, but money finances is not even on your list of values and maybe even you secretly believe money is the root of all evil. This is setting yourself up for torture, because you will want the goal but you will struggle to get going, struggle to stay consistent because of your underlying beliefs and values.
Take a moment now to check the vision or visions you have written for congruency with your values. Examples of good alignment would be:
- Your vision is time with your family, dinner round the giant kitchen table, laughing and playing and family is high up your list of values.
- Your vision in career and work is of writing a book and being a published author and you value creativity, contribution and work highly
- Your vision is of a healthy body that provides you with energy and wellness throughout the day and health and wellness is high up your value list
If everything is a priority then nothing is
One HUGE watch out at this stage is getting overwhelmed by what you are creating. You can do everything just not all at once. This is why we are talking about creating a vision in 1-3 areas to start with and taking small steps to get them moving.
Katie and I focused heavily on money for and finance for a long time which allowed us to learn about investing and put our finances on auto pilot. Now we have done that we have more time for other areas of life. We couldn't have done career, health, finance, friends, family and fun all at the same time. Something had to give. You might choose health as the first area to focus on and then we can get to finances down the line.
Katie and I focused heavily on money for and finance for a long time which allowed us to learn about investing and put our finances on auto pilot. Now we have done that we have more time for other areas of life. We couldn't have done career, health, finance, friends, family and fun all at the same time. Something had to give. You might choose health as the first area to focus on and then we can get to finances down the line.
Turning vision into action
This next step might come to life with the questions and creativity exercise you have done above. For arguments sake let's say you have set a great vision for health as it came up in your current reality exercise as a key focus point. You turned your insight into a question and then you came up with 30 ways to improve your health.
The process from here is:
The process from here is:
- Start where you are (where else are you going to start from? Lol) if you want to get a 6 pack but can't walk a mile then we start by walking or maybe 30 squats a day. If you want to write a book but have never written anything start by writing a short article. If you want to be Financially Independent but are DEEPLY in debt then start by watching the debt week from Rebel Finance School.
- How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! We just need to pick the first action to get going. Just a small goal, something you can start on now and make happen. Whatever it is. Use the list of ideas to pick from that were generated through your question above
- START! Nothing changes until you change. You just need to start and pick and action and make it happen. If you have chosen health and you are going to do some squats every day to change the way you feel then start now! Watch a YouTube video on good body weight squat form and do ten now! START
Homework
This course is a refrigerator course. If you don't put anything into it you don't get anything out of it. This is your homework. Spend ten minutes a night, find an hour at the weekend with the hot beverage of your choice, send the kids to bed early and enjoy working on your life.
No one else is going to create extraordinary for you. If you want it this is the work to build it.
1. Juicy questions and ideas - this piece of homework builds on the current reality exercise from week 1. If you haven't done that yet then go back to week 1 and do that first!
a. Turn your 3 insights into questions. “How might I….” This is the key part. If the insight was my health is suffering then turn it into a juicy question that inspires you such as "how can I become ten years younger this year?
b. Brainstorm your own ideas - collect everything you can think of, look up articles to inspire you, find as many ideas as you can. This stage is about collecting as many ideas as possible before we decide which one we are going to work on
c. Ask for other people’s ideas - there are so many people out that they have already mastered the area of life you are working on. They won't have mastered all areas of life but they might have amazing advice and insight into health, wealth or business. Find people and ask them for their best advice.
d. Optional: Put your question in the Facebook group and ask for ideas. Crowd source ideas from the group about how you might, make new friends, work on your health or improve your finances. The group has all the answers we need within it
2. Answer the Magic Wand question for your top 3 life areas - the top three insights you had probably come from three different life areas. Have a look at those life areas and then answer the question:
If I waved a magic wand and you woke up tomorrow morning realising life was EXACTLY as you wanted it how would you know?
You could do this in a journal, with pictures on slides, on post it notes or in discussion with friends. The important thing is to capture your vision so we can focus on it each day and week. Where focus goes energy flows.
3. Choose an idea / goal and create a mini-experiment - from the above work choose one thing that you could start on right now. If health is your area then it might be 30 squats a day, if it is writing a book then start writing an article, if it is wealth then start on the first Rebel Finance School video. A mini-experiment is just a test of an idea. You chose the idea, decide to do it for a period of time and then see what happens. Test and measure. Listen to Alan and Simon talking about mini-experiments on this episode of the Rebel Entrepreneur podcast.
4. Decide the first action and TAKE IT this week - The key here is to go from ideas to action as quickly as possible. Let's start taking action now.
THANK YOU for coming on week 2 of the course and working on your version of extraordinary with us. It is an honour that you have allowed us to help you on your journey. Thank you for playing along with us.
No one else is going to create extraordinary for you. If you want it this is the work to build it.
1. Juicy questions and ideas - this piece of homework builds on the current reality exercise from week 1. If you haven't done that yet then go back to week 1 and do that first!
a. Turn your 3 insights into questions. “How might I….” This is the key part. If the insight was my health is suffering then turn it into a juicy question that inspires you such as "how can I become ten years younger this year?
b. Brainstorm your own ideas - collect everything you can think of, look up articles to inspire you, find as many ideas as you can. This stage is about collecting as many ideas as possible before we decide which one we are going to work on
c. Ask for other people’s ideas - there are so many people out that they have already mastered the area of life you are working on. They won't have mastered all areas of life but they might have amazing advice and insight into health, wealth or business. Find people and ask them for their best advice.
d. Optional: Put your question in the Facebook group and ask for ideas. Crowd source ideas from the group about how you might, make new friends, work on your health or improve your finances. The group has all the answers we need within it
2. Answer the Magic Wand question for your top 3 life areas - the top three insights you had probably come from three different life areas. Have a look at those life areas and then answer the question:
If I waved a magic wand and you woke up tomorrow morning realising life was EXACTLY as you wanted it how would you know?
You could do this in a journal, with pictures on slides, on post it notes or in discussion with friends. The important thing is to capture your vision so we can focus on it each day and week. Where focus goes energy flows.
3. Choose an idea / goal and create a mini-experiment - from the above work choose one thing that you could start on right now. If health is your area then it might be 30 squats a day, if it is writing a book then start writing an article, if it is wealth then start on the first Rebel Finance School video. A mini-experiment is just a test of an idea. You chose the idea, decide to do it for a period of time and then see what happens. Test and measure. Listen to Alan and Simon talking about mini-experiments on this episode of the Rebel Entrepreneur podcast.
4. Decide the first action and TAKE IT this week - The key here is to go from ideas to action as quickly as possible. Let's start taking action now.
THANK YOU for coming on week 2 of the course and working on your version of extraordinary with us. It is an honour that you have allowed us to help you on your journey. Thank you for playing along with us.
And finally, some map fun!
Did you tell us where you're logging in from? If you haven't already done so, please tell us and you can see the interactive map below!
