4 Things To Do Right Now if You Want to Get to the Next Level
Today, I want to share four things you can start doing now to help you transition into becoming a full time professional. In every aspect of your life. If you add excellence to anything you do ranging from creative work to home life then you're pro status. A professional is an identity. It's someone you are no matter what you're doing. By the end of this episode you'll know tips for staying on the Pro’s path and learn how to objectively reflect on your progress each day.
In episode 15 we talked about the differences between an amateur and a professional. Now that we know how to turn pro, how can we adopt professional habits that last? There’s often a gap between hearing about something and mentally conceptualizing it then applying it to create actual change in our lives.
The good news?
What it takes to bridge that gap isn’t as daunting as you might think. Steven Pressfield shares, “Turning pro is free, but it's not easy. You don't need to take a course or buy a product. All you have to do is change your mind… When we turn pro, we give up a life with which we may have become extremely comfortable.” Turning Pro* (p. 5) You in?
Today, I want to share four things you can start doing now to help you transition into becoming a full time professional. In every aspect of your life. If you add excellence to anything you do ranging from creative work to home life then you're pro status. A professional is an identity. It's someone you are no matter what you're doing. By the end of this episode you'll know tips for staying on the Pro’s path and learn how to objectively reflect on your progress each day.
1. Mind yYur Mornings
Broken record coming through!
Having a solid morning routine is one of the best ways to create an environment that supports the habits of a professional.
With a morning routine, you start your day focused, aligned, and intentional. In Atomic Habits*, James Clear discusses the importance of creating an environment that supports the habits we want. A morning routine creates a solid daily foundation upon which we can layer all those game-changing professional habits. Did you know that the reason we buy certain brands and products has less to do with preference and more to do with where they’re placed in the store? It’s true.
Think about any in-store holiday shopping you’ve done in the past. I bet you found yourself nabbing a few unplanned items simply based on their proximity to your shopping path.
Point being: If you want professional habits, you need to create a physical and mental environment that fosters them and makes them as easy to reach for as possible.
A morning routine puts you in the right headspace and allows your intuition to sit front and center. It helps realign you with what’s most important and set an intention for the day ahead. If you're ready to create that environment for yourself, make sure to download my free morning routine guide. You’ll receive a summary of my routine, more resources and insights, and worksheets to guide you through making your own successful morning routine.
2. Adopt the Principle of Priority
In addition to starting each day with intention, professionals have also honed the ability to work despite boredom, distractions, and resistance. This comes, in part, from an understanding of what’s urgent vs. what’s important.
Steven Pressfield says, “I'm keenly aware of the Principle of Priority, which states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what's important first. What's important is the work. That's the game I have to suit up for. That's the field on which I have to leave everything I've got.”
Think about it this way…
When you're about to do anything in your day ask, "Is this task [INSERT TASK] urgent or important?" Is sitting your butt down to write 1,000 words a day for the novel you know you’re meant to write urgent or important? Is sharing on Instagram Stories that you’re about to sit your butt down to write 1,000 words for the novel you know you’re meant to write urgent or important? I'm gonna go with ‘important’ for the former, ‘urgent’ for the latter. Write first, share later.
The difference between an urgent task and an important one can be subtle, but your ability to turn Pro depends on your ability to accurately differentiate between the two. The Amateur is highly skilled in her ability to make urgent tasks seem important. Don’t let her fool you. When you sort through the demands on your time, categorizing them as either urgent or important (and choosing to follow through on only the important ones), you free yourself from the grips of Resistance. You also release the ego’s fear-based arguments about why you should stay within your comfort zone.
Resistance will forever be the ambitious creative’s supervillain.
The professional commits to habits that help her sidestep Resistance-based obstacles so that she can continue playing in the arena instead of standing on the sidelines. The goal is to know which tasks are important and commit to chipping away at them regardless of any naysayer emotions. The third thing you can start doing now to become a professional
3. Stick to the Schedule
Once you’ve discerned the urgent from the important, the next step is to consistently dedicate time to your most important work. This is why I'm a big supporter (and practicer) of blocking out my schedule ahead of time and batching work. If it’s not written down, you’re probably not going to do it.
Every Friday or Sunday, I look at the upcoming week and block out chunks of focused, distraction-free time to tackle my most important, soul-evolving work. This ensures I'm keeping pace with the projects that really, truly matter. (Spiritual side note: In addition to your most important work, block out time for moments of whimsy and inspiration, too. Scheduled downtime refuels you and realigns you with creative guidance from the Universe. ✨)
Bottom line: Professionals operate on a schedule. If something isn’t written down, it’s probably not important.
The professional is deliberate with her time. If it’s scheduled, she knows it’s important, and so she sits her butt in her desk chair to do the work regardless of inspiration.
In The War of Art*, Steven Pressfield says: “Grandiose fantasies are a symptom of Resistance. They're the sign of an amateur. The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work. The professional concentrates on the work and allows rewards to come or not come, whatever they like.”
Clarity Brings Consistency
Take time to get clear on when/how/where you’re going to get something done. That is the springboard for motivation.
In The Motivation Manifesto*, Brendon Burchard writes, “But freedom and greatness belong to those who master their day… Their days mean something to them because they know each day gathers force toward a particular destiny.”
Block out daily time for your most important work, and don’t deviate from those appointments.
The fourth thing to do is...
4. Objective Daily Reflection
Another crucial and often overlooked habit of a professional is objective daily reflection.
Objective daily reflection keeps you accountable for the results you’re creating. Being honest about the actions you take day in and day out (without judgment or woe-is-me emotional drama) allows you to clearly discern whether or not you’re truly moving the needle forward.
My favorite way to objectively reflect is with the High-Performance Habits Journal*, which allows you to mark your progress, using a Likert scale, in six different categories:
Clarity: I knew my “why” and lived intentionally today.
Productivity: I worked on things that mattered the most today.
Energy: I managed my mental and physical energy well.
Influence: I guided or treated others well today.
Necessity: I felt it was necessary to be my best and made success a “must”.
Courage: I shared my real self, thoughts, and feelings today.
At the end of each day, you rate each category from 1 to 5. This straightforward, objective way of measuring progress takes the guesswork and emotional drama out of the equation. A professional using objective daily reflection is like a pilot using a navigation device to fly a plane. The pilot must be aware of the entire trajectory of the flight path so she can course correct as needed to make it to the intended destination. Otherwise, the plane could end up in a whole other country.
A Few Real Life Examples of How Some of these Tips Work in Actual Life
One day, I caught myself not being specific enough about my important work and realized the effects of that. In my calendar, at the top of the column for that day, it said “Write” but not how many words or how long. And so I didn’t write. The lack of clarity gave the ego and instant gratification monkey more power to do whatever the heck they wanted. That moment proved to me that being specific matters. So now, I block out the actual hours for writing and hardly miss a day.
There was also a time I felt overwhelmed coming back from a vacation and felt like I was jumping back into the chaos. My habits are what keep me centered, focused, and grounded and I hadn't done any of them for the full week. So I found myself wanting to lay on the couch all day and try again another day. But I knew the ego and amateur in me would continue to win if I didn't at least start my morning routine again.
And so I got up, did my morning routine which filled me with peace and renewed energy, then reviewed my schedule for the week to see where I was heading, took note of what the most important work was, and then naturally wanted to get to work.
Habits are funny that way. When you start one, a snowball effect happens and you get the momentum you need. So exert the effort to at least start one habit and see what happens from there. Once you start your morning routine there's pretty much no stopping you from there.
Btw, I didn't do my morning routine or review my schedule with the expectation I would do anything after. I gave myself a low barrier of entry. If I did my routine then did nothing after I would be content. Why not just see what I have planned that week? Why not do my morning routine? The act of curiosity then inspired me to keep going.
Now, when I take a vacation I commit to doing my anchor habits but adjust them rather than scrapping them altogether. I make sure to always always meditate every day and fill out my HPX journal. That way I still am aligning to God/Universe's presence and staying connected to daily self reflection. My habits are my way of life. They allow me to feel supported and secure no matter where I am or what my circumstances look like. I don't see them as a task or something I start and stop when I feel like it. It's to the point where they're a positive part of who I am. My body does it as automatically as brushing my teeth. Plus, they connect me to God/Universe, they keep me consistent and aligned. I wouldn't want to go back to not doing them anymore.
Part of being a pro is having that ability and space to check in with your spirit to see if anything is amiss or misaligned in your life. Even though I often feel the push of resistance, I’ve decided to turn pro. This decision has helped me push onward even when I don’t want to. It makes other decisions a non-option.
This morning as I meditated and wrote my daily pages, I asked my spirit if there’s anything I needed to release.
Later, when I sat at my desk to review copywriting work, and felt resistance, I asked my spirit if there are certain types of work I needed to say ‘No’ to more.
So although I push through and do the work even when I don’t feel inspired, I still want to leave room to understand when it’s resistance versus something that’s truly an intuitive mismatch.
Using the principles and tips above helps keep the resistance and my Instant Gratification Monkey in check and discern what’s truly important. They help me to stay in the lane of the professional. I hope they help you, too!
Affirmation
I am excited and ready to act with excellence in my life. As a professional I do my most important work and love what I do.
Do This Today
Pick one of the tips mentioned in today's episode and commit. Commit for two weeks to trying it out and see how it changes things.
Writing Prompt
In what ways have you been holding yourself back from turning pro? Be as honest and non judgmental as possible as you write one page stream of consciousness.
Resources
Download my free morning routine guide
Atomic Habits* by James Clear
The Motivation Manifesto* by Brendon Burchard
The War of Art* by Steven Pressfield
Turning Pro* by Steven Pressfield
High-Performance Habits Journal*
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