Make Every Day Different

“I feel like every day is the same. I’m not lazy. I work hard. But I don’t feel like I’ve moved the needle very much these last few years. Am I focusing on the right stuff? What am I doing wrong?”

Something that took me a long time to understand is that ‘working hard’ and ‘true productivity’ are two different things.

And look— I’m not trying to knock down ‘hard work’. There’s an almost supernatural amount of drive and discipline required to work hard, day in and day out.

But I’ve found myself in cycles where my schedule is completely filled, I’m working on things, I’m being "productive”…

… but nothing changes. I’m still in the same situation.

I’m just filling my days with things that I THINK will help me progress in my career.

Every day, we’re bombarded with FOMO.

We see an Instagram Reel telling you to “make content every day”, “start doing this”, “start doing that”…

… AND WE DO IT. (or we don’t, and then feel bad about ourselves)

All because an “expert” said so.

But we don’t really know WHY we’re supposed to do it.

Even as I coach our students inside HCC, I don’t tell them exactly what they should do.

I don’t know their goals.

I don’t know what drives them.

Because I’m not them.

So instead of just telling them to do the same things that I’ve done in order to find success, I ask them this:

“Where do you want to go?”

If you can set a clear vision for what you want to accomplish, you’ll stop feeling like you’re wasting your days with fake productivity.

And you’ll start doing the things that’ll actually help you get there.

So, here are three steps to get you started:

1. Cut The Fat

While I think having a routine and schedule can help set you apart from the majority, it can sometimes be crippling.

If simply ‘completing’ your daily routine is your focus, you might find yourself in a ‘Groundhog Day’ scenario.

I was just recently talking with someone who works consistent 12 hour days, yet didn’t feel like he was getting anywhere.

So I told him he should take a Blue Sky Week.

No work, no social media–No distractions.

The goal was to help him take a step back from everything he was doing and really gain clarity on what he ACTUALLY wanted.

So he did just that.

He deleted Instagram and YouTube off his phone, took work off and spent more time in his thoughts writing, taking walks and going on drives.

The result was clarity of focus.

He realized he was spread way too thin and not really going anywhere because he was putting his time into too many things.

He cut the fat and put all his time and attention on the most fulfilling and exciting business model he knew he had the tenacity to make successful.

And now he’s actually making significant progress towards his goals.

It’s not always about eliminating the stuff that wastes your time.

Sometimes we just need to eliminate the ‘good’ stuff from our calendar and focus more on the ‘great’ stuff.

2. Embody Your New Identity

Now that you have clarity on where you’re going and how you spend your time, you need to embody that future version of you that is successfully living the life you want to live.

What mindset and characteristics do you need to take on to align with your future truth?

It’s not about being comfortable, it’s about enjoying the uncomfortable.

A lot of people want to live a life that’s extraordinary.

The problem is they don’t identify as someone who has achieved something extraordinary.

So between lack of identity and lack of action, they never achieve their goals.

There’s a reason why a good chunk of lottery winners go broke within 5 years of winning–They still identify as someone who is broke.

You have to work on your identity if you want to make a real change in your life.

I know this all might sound a little “out there” to some of you, but think about it.

Our identity has a direct correlation with the actions that we take.

And our actions have a direct correlation with the identity we take on.

They feed off each other.

Where you are right now is heavily influenced by the person you view yourself as.

Do you spend more time idolizing other successful people than you do working on yourself?

It’s great to have role models to look up to, but don’t let that consume you.

A great measure of your daily growth is asking yourself–Did my identity and confidence grow today?

Even if you feel like your day was a failure, as long as you committed and put in the work, you are one step closer to your goal.

Remember there’s no such thing as success without failures.

3. Be Unrealistically Optimistic

It’s been said that most successful people are unrealistically optimistic.

They have a ‘glass half full’ mentality.

They have completely sold themselves on their vision of what is possible and in turn, they sell that optimistic vision to those they hire to join their team.

A big, grand unrealistically optimistic vision is extremely powerful.

It can help get you through the bad days and the good days.

You may even have some people practically tell you that you’re a little crazy.

That they don’t see how this little business of yours is ever going to turn out.

That’s ok, you’ve already prepared yourself for this kind of feedback and decided long ago to not let it bother you.

It’s all a part of the journey.

And just to be clear, when I say to be unrealistically optimistic, I’m not telling you to be so stubborn that you refuse to pivot your business when necessary.

Every successful business is constantly pivoting and improving to stay relevant and top of mind for their customers.

So yes, be unrealistically optimistic, but don’t be an idiot😆

Alright guys, I hope this was helpful for you in some way.

You are so much closer to your goals than you think.

So stop pushing them further and further into your future, and take ownership of them right now.

You can literally be a whole new person in 6 months if you have the hunger, focus and clarity for where you are going.

You just need to put in the work.

Let’s do this 👊🏼

-Landon