I struggled to work 4 hrs/day. Now I'm addicted to 10-12 hour days

I used to BARELY work 4 hours a day and get poor output. Here’s how I tweaked my mindset, goals, and diet to effortlessly and enjoyably work 10-12 hours, making crazy progress each day.

I know Andrew talks about Dopamine detox and it is HUGE. Special thanks to him for creating this community, have learned from the synthesizers I have met and already have made great relationships. Awesome to be here!

Working less can be great! It’s most entrepreneurs' goal to have time freedom, to spend time on their hobbies, bond with family, or focus on passions.

HOWEVER, if it’s just you working alone or you are just starting your business… it can be destructive.

-It kills positive momentum, drastically slowing down growth potential

-It usually leaves you with excess energy, which causes stress and anxiety

-You aren’t able to put the time in that you need to actually create growth, most likely you are maintaining if not declining

-Where you spend your time afterwards can be distracting from your biggest goals

-It becomes a dreaded portion of your day

-I was going for recurring revenue, but didn’t want recurring work, since I was new, clients weren’t happy

The truth is, in most cases it’s often a delusion that new entrepreneurs can quit a full time job and expect to work half the hours and get 10x pay. Eventually, yes, but starting out, you actually have to build something. If it was easy... everyone would be millionaires.

As embarrassing as it is, I let myself fall into this mindset for the first 9 months of my business.

I spent excess time playing video games, watching YouTube, going out to eat junk food, and while I might have “felt” great in those moments, my constant reality was suppressed depression.

I wasn’t building something I was proud of, I was doing just enough to survive and bring in barely the amount of income I needed and maybe a couple hundred more.

I had to look at the past 6 months, the past year, and look at the fact that I was wasting my life. I have goals, I want financial freedom, I want to spend time with my family. I was never gonna get there by just coasting. Something had to change.

November of 2023 I decided I was no longer going to waste my potential, I improved my MINDSET, DIET, GOALS, ENVIRONMENT, and HABITS.

Let me walk you through the areas I improved to ultimately triple my effective work capacity, while making it extremely enjoyable and impactful.

HABITS

Before, my day was scattered, waking up late, reacting to situations and doing whatever I felt like. I had not structure to be successful.

I started to implement habits, a morning routine. Starting waking up at 5 AM, EVEN WHEN IT SUCKED. I would shower, do a 10 min mediation, then get to work. I would get coffee after being awake 90 min(more effective then) and just focus on the tasks I needed to do.

I do 1 piece of content per day, 50 outreach per day, and then work toward my goals, Skool, building products (courses, deliverables, etc)

Then stopping working at 5 to eat and spend time with my wife before going to bed at 8 PM

I do the same thing every day.

It’s an absolute blast. I get better each day, I don’t get bored. You might be thinking “that sounds awful!” trust me, it is so much fun. By doing the same things, you create a foundation for growth and see yourself improve every day.

MINDSET

This is a huge piece, I had to take on the identity of the person who was already successful. The person that does what it takes, the person that has upmost confidence in their ability. The person that knows they are better and will do more than most are willing.

It felt unnatural at first, like it wasn’t “me”. I was more susceptible to slipping back in the beginning, but waking up at 5 and being an execution machine really started to validate my new killer, high performer identity. It started in my mind first with motivation, then became discipline, then habit.

I also had to work on my growth mindset, being in abundance, not scarcity. I could not judge myself by how much money was or wasn’t in my bank account, I just based myself on what I did, the momentum I was creating.

There were points where my bank account got down to $10… But I never felt more confident or abundant, because I knew I was doing what it took, and it was only a matter of time, which it was.

I also began to become passionate about the work I was doing, actually getting better, not coasting or declining, this actually made working sooooo much more enjoyable and actually addicting.

GOALS

I set my eyes on 3 goals: Successful business, better relationship, better physique. I cut everything else out of my life. Burnout is real, but “Work-life Balance” is also a sweetened lie.

I had to really want my goals, and to get them I had to get rid of distractions that would pull me in the opposite direction.

I could not expect to make millions of dollars by working half as long as a full time employee. At least not in the beginning.

I set clear goals and am working backwards to achieve them.

$30K months, 30K LinkedIn Followers, better relationship, down 20 pounds.

Then I had to think, IF I only could work 2 hours a day, what would I do to achieve these goals?

Do outreach, create content, create a community, be present with my wife, eat right and exercise.

Then I would just do more of these things and 5x-6x the output over 10-12 hour days.

ENVIRONMENT

Every time you get distracted, it takes on average 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on track.

The absolute biggest thing I did was turn off all of my phone notifications and permanently leave it on Do Not Disturb.

This no lie gave me at least 2 hours of time back every single day, and monumentally less distractions.

I also installed two extensions on my Google Chrome, NewsFeedEratdicator (which allow me to access LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. without showing distracting posts) and BlockSite (blocking the biggest time waster sites entirely)

I cleaned my office, organized my closet, drawers, and cleaned our home (with help from my wife) to reduce energy spent on making decisions or searching for things.

DIET

I fast for the first 4 hours I am awake, from 5 at least to 9, sometimes going longer. This allows be to stay incredibly focused, almost in a primal hunting state. No glucose spikes or crashes. It allows me to focus and do my best work.

I always eat 4 eggs to break the fast, so many good vitamins, macros, and no crash (research eating 4 eggs). Sometimes different styles.

Lunch is usually oatmeal or a protein shake.

Dinner is pretty much always fistful of steak, a veggie, and rice.

After dinner is a nice yogurt with honey, peanut butter and granola.

I eat practically the same thing every day. Sometimes changing up seasonings. As much non processed a possible, natural foods.

This is been beyond incredible for my mental clarity and physical health.

You get out what you put in. You are what you eat. Remember that.

Implementing these changes, seemed like a lot at first, but after ~21 days they started to become effortless.

The rewards I have been reaping have been insane.

-First $10K month

-Better mood and mental health

-Dialed physical condition

-Unstoppable drive and willpower

-Most fun I’ve had in years

I’ve only been doing this for BARELY 4 MONTHS, where I am at now is just scratching the surface.

There are new techniques and habits I am learning every single day, things just keep getting better and better.

If you continue to just work 4 hours a day and try to coast and make things easy, that’s what 99% of people are doing. Do they have the life you want? The money you want? The relationship or physique you want?

To build anything great, it takes sacrifice. Sacrificing creates discipline. Discipline is freedom.

Hope ya'll enjoyed, would love to have further conversations below and let me know if there's anything I am missing!

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