Thread by @ArmaniTalks

Discipline yourself with a stopwatch and/or timer.

When you know that you have to get something done, just start the stopwatch.

Knowing that the seconds are piling on in the stopwatch makes you MUCH more mindful.

Your competitive spirit comes out

U must finish the task NOW

The competitive spirit is one hell of a force in human nature.

And it can't be killed. Just redirected.

'Redirected where?'

Towards self improvement.

Competition + Direction = Self will on steroids...👇

The competitive spirit was mandatory for our primal ancestors.

Without it, they would have been chop liver.

The competitive drive allowed them to stay alive for survival purposes

As humans evolved, a lot of the resources which were scarce then are abundant now.

We don't need to hunt down our food.

Don't need to find a new cave to sleep in

We have a lot that the past didn't have.

This requires a new mode of thinking

In certain fields, competition towards others is great.

Like combat sports.

But for other fields, competition towards is a time suck & drains your creativity

If you're starting a YouTube channel for example...

Competing against others is a waste of time.

All you'll keep doing is undermining your success.

Bc there will always be that one person with more subscribers than you

Itll also take away from your art

'So are you saying to kill my competitive spirit?'

Nah. Just redirect it

'Redirect where?'

To your prior day self.

That's where the stopwatch/timer come in handy.

It adds clarity to your brain.

And makes you MUCH more mindful of the task that you're doing.

Say you have a blog.

And you've been procrastinating.

Even when you do begin, you get distracted by 10 different things.

A blog that should take you 1 hour takes you 5 hours.

Those added 4 hours are time that you will never get back again.

'Oh shucks...'

But wait, theres more.

You also don't have the AWARENESS that you just wasted 4 hours

A part of you is going to actually feel proud for getting thru the blog.

Despite getting thru it after a bunch of unnecessary distractions.

You feel drained after all your 'work.'

And this gives you the false illusion of productivity.

History will just repeat itself

'Damn bro, I don't want to waste more hours!! What do I do?'

You do the stopwatch, timer combo.

The numbers give your brain clarity.

The numbers give your brain accountability.

'Got it. Do I start off with the stopwatch or timer?'

☆Start off with the stop watch.

Gather intel.

☆Then switch to the timer.

At this point you probably have minimal clue how long a productive task takes.

So run a stop watch the next time you're doing the task.

And gather a few sets of data.

Blog 1 took - 1 hour 7 minutes.

Blog 2 took - 58 minutes.

Blog 3 took - 1hour 2 minutes.

And so on...

After a while, you see the pattern.

A blog from start to finish takes you 1 hour ish..

NOW you can set the timer & begin.

After gaining Intel & doing the stopwatch/timer method, you begin doing something cool.

'What?'

You begin competing with yourself.

Nowadays, you strive for productivity with this blog because the time is ticking away.

And you're AWARE of it

Redirecting the competitive spirit within is a major creativity hack.

Very few people are unaware of this because they're too focused on someone else's lane.

And when you keep peeking at someone else's lane, you drive off course on yours

But when you stay focused on your lane & keep leveling up there, you have added energy.

Plus, you unlock new levels of innovation.

The divine side of you comes out to play

You don't need to become robotic tho.

No need to time every portion of your life too the tee.

But for skills that you're investing in?

I recommend that you do.

People who are serious show it thru their actions.

You don't see a professional body builder doing reps, checking his phone, doing reps & checking his phone again.

When he gets in his zone, he stays there.

That's what makes him great

Apply that mentality framework to the skillset of your choice.

☆Confidence = Skill building

☆Confidence = becoming best friends with yourself.

And you become best friends with yourself by declaring a friendly competition with yourself.

Counterintuitive, but it works.

Use that timer/stopwatch when you practice.

Bring awareness to your most precious resource: YOUR TIME.

Then begin with redirected competitiveness

That's money 💸

For more practical mindset tips, subscribe to my YouTube channel

👇👇

youtube.com/channel/UCom1I…