6 Steps On How To Own Your Day's Productivity

“You can build a dream in just 15 minutes.” – Craig Ballantyne

Imagine owning your day.
Imagine your dream life.
Imagine always hitting your goals.
Imagine never getting sucked into the vortex of excuses.
Imagine no complaints.
Imagine no drama ruining your productivity.
Imagine banishing all the avoidable reasons you use for why you are not living their dreams.

What would it feel like?
Look like?
Taste like?
Sound like?

Well, you don’t need to just imagine, you can actually craft your Perfect Day Formula and learn how to use it everyday to build your dream life.

The above quote is just one of the many nuggets that I took away from my latest interview with Craig Ballantyne, productivity guru, editor of Early to Rise and Fitnesspreneur, when he came on The Fitnesspreneur’s Life Show podcast and after reading his book, The Perfect Day Formula.

I’ve been a fan of Craig’s since I started reading his Online Super Profits newsletter. I highly recommend it if you’re in the online space.

When I was reading his newsletter last month, and he quoted Pearl Jam as a business lesson, I knew I had to get him on the show and thanks to the power of networking, good buddy, Scott Rawcliffe made some introductions and we had a chance to spend an hour together.

When Craig was on, it was as much an interview as it was my hands scribbling notes as fast as I could.

As an owner of several Fit Body Boot Camps, editor at Early to Rise, online fitness business owner with multiple products online, you could say that Craig OWNS his day because he knows that every minute counts and he has a system for ensuring it goes down that way.

It’s quite the opposite of many people. Most people let life happen randomly, or by happenstance, wishing and hoping to hit their dreams. Not Craig.

One might say that Craig was just born productive - it’s as easy as that.  That’s the furthest thing from the truth.

Growing up in the farm world, Craig attributes his work ethic to the farm life his parents raised him in, similar to how I attribute it to the immigrant life my parents raised us in.

He calls it the farm edge- I call it the immigrant edge. Whatever we call it- it’s really the same thing!  

His parents worked hard from sunset to sundown just like mine.  They knew that hard work equaled success and that taking action beat talent any day. They knew that to have the ability to change your life, work, not complain, not make excuses was a privilege.

A privilege I believe many people take for granted today.

But, not you.

You’re a member of the Fitnesspreneur Nation!

So, let’s get cracking on sharing some of the Perfect Day Formula and show you how to tap into this powerful system.

Got your pens ready?

It’s time to start auditing your day and get your dreams down on paper and then some!

Don’t say you “don’t have time.”

We all seem to have time to scroll the Facebook newsfeeds, but don’t have time to build our dreams.  What’s up with that?!

If you want to have the future you desire, you’ll make the time now.

Plus, I have your attention now and this is going to be time well spent.  

I say again and again that I wish the immigrant work ethic would come back to today’s society and be taught to the youth in schools, but I can wish all I want... or do something about it.

That’s why I tapped Craig’s shoulder.

People like Craig are what we need- people who are willing to push us through our boundaries and who are willing to mentor us towards owning our days too!

Now, tell me if this story sounds familiar.

While Craig’s origins in fitness were like many of ours as a personal trainer and kinesiologist, he quickly learned that he only had a small radius of people that he could reach that way and his mission to help millions wasn’t going to served just by doing that.

He knew he needed scale.

 That’s where the online world comes in handy because it allows you to scale the unscalable.

I may sound like a broken record, but digitizing your media, marketing, content, stories and offers is where I believe (I know) the market is going.

You have to have some aspect of your business and marketing there or it’s going to get fricking ugly for you in the next few years.

But, here’s where Craig’s story gets interesting because at one point in his life. Craig suffered from a debilitating bouts of anxiety that made interactions unpleasant for him.

In a lesser mind, that would’ve meant, I use “anxiety” as an excuse.

But, Craig believes in controlling your mind through daily sharpening of it’s saw so he studied some of the greatest minds, in particular Epictetus, the scholar who taught some of the greatest Roman minds.

From years of study, work ethic, and trial and error, he turned his anxiety excuse (or any for that matter) down and his success philosophy up.

He even wrote a book and kit called “The Perfect Day Formula” to ensure that we don’t ever have to feel that way.

Let’s break this thing down because in plain sight, he’s got some golden rules of life and success that can guarantee your dreams are real.

First up, what’s the problem so many people say?

“My day ends before it even begins.”
“I don’t have the time.”
“My day just got away from me.”
“I don’t feel like I got anything productive done today.”

Why are these excuses so prevalent in today’s society?

Why are people so bogged down with unproductive work and achieve-tron family obligations, that they often wake up feeling stressed and more tired than when they went to sleep?  Or they feel like they are on the hamster wheel of life?

The #1 reason is people don’t script their days.

Instead, they live chasing tail in a world of random acts of diffusion as I like to call it.

Craig teaches us how to deal with random and instead turn it into focus.

Focus and productivity all start with the night before.

Planning plus hard work is how to get to that change, so let’s get moving.

The system that Craig puts forth, his Perfect Day Formula, is a framework that can get anyone to work on their top priority project.

Here’s the cliff note version:

1- Start the Night Before… and then Keep Going

This isn’t one that we hear often, but after getting Craig’s Perfect Day Formula Kit (which I highly recommend over just the book), I can honestly say that this one was a game changer for me.

I used to take the first few minutes of the day and plan my script for the day.

Just flipping to taking 15-20 minutes the night before to script the morning, versus waiting to do it in the AM has increased my own productivity. Thanks Craig!

Here’s what you do.

At the end of every workday, Craig does a brain dump.  

He writes down everything that he needs to do the next day.  

Then, he prioritizes his list so that he doesn’t spend the precious moments of the next day wasting time.  

Then, he spends the first fifteen minutes of every day focused on his top priority- nothing else.

For example: If he wants to write a book he spends the first fifteen minutes writing that book. That’s how a bucket list project can get done in just fifteen minutes a day.

Try it.

Think about how productive you could be if you stopped wasting just that first fifteen minutes of your day- you could build your dream!

Then, stop thinking, and start doing!

2- Control your Life. Set up Rules.

The very idea that the son of Italian immigrants who opened up a restaurant can sit down and talk about life strategies with the son of Canadian farmers is a testament to controlling your life.

Think about it. Every detail of your life is pretty much a choice.

From the time you wake up, to what you do with your mornings, even your daily habits are all things that you dictate.

Every day, you have choices! Are you in control of them?  

The people you interact with, the actions you take in your business, and ultimately the impact you make on the world are all things you can control.

Unfortunately, most people don’t believe this.

They have the goals and the dreams, but they don’t want to put in the hard work to create their rules of life, or their habits of success.

Craig shares in his book that when we take the time to create our own Rules of Life, we gain control of our days and life.

Here’s an easy example and how I recently put what Craig means by “creating rules of life” into action.

I was recently in Italy, Slovenia and Croatia for a two-and-half week vacation. This is the 3rd year in a row that my wife and I have done this and it’s the perfect way we reward ourselves for the year of consistent, relentless action we take all year.

This year, we met up with my best-friend, Amir and his wife, Zahra.

We had so much fun with them, seeing new parts of the world, so we simply said:

“Every year from now on in August, we will meet for a European vacation together to enjoy the moments in a short life and celebrate busting ass all year.”

That’s our new Rule of Life.

Rule #1: “Every year from now on in August, we meet for a European vacation together to enjoy the moments in a short life and celebrate busting ass all year.”

And we are in control of it.

We can do the work to make that happen and to live it.

By focusing on what you want your life to be like, you can control the outcomes.

Little by little, you can set Rules of Life that encompass all the things you value.

You want more health?

Create rules of life that control your health like, “I won’t eat 3 hours before bed.”

You want more wealth?

Create a rule of life that says, “I will spend 15 minutes every morning working my top priority.”

Just taking the time to think about what you value most, and creating rules of life and you will find yourself gaining control of your choices.

You can dictate the life you want, not by luck, but by choice.

Believe that you can control your life and then take action.

3 – Push Past Your Comfort Zone

As an avid football fan, I loved where Craig took this next lesson when he said: “You can’t just stop at the 1-yard line.”

If you follow football, you know that when you’re down on the 1-yard line, so close to the goal that you would imagine things are easier, is actually when the defense gets tougher.

The field is shorter, you have less options, the bodies are all tightly packed together, condensing the field down, making every play critical, and you have to push outside your comfort zone to punch the ball in the end zone.

It’s the perfect metaphor as you enter the red zone of your success and business.

If you’re okay with where you are, then stay in that comfort zone, but wouldn’t you prefer to consistently run the ball into the end zone rather than stay at the 1-yard line of life?

Whether it’s physical work, like losing weight, or creating your brand, success all happens all in the mind.

It’s going to require you to move beyond your normal routine and find out what you’re made of.

The best speakers, the greatest athletes, the most intense actors, they all worked by moving beyond the safe space of their own comfort, and here’s the beautiful thing- your comfort zone moves with you.

What may seem like a big stretch today will soon be your comfort zone tomorrow. It’s all a matter of practice and it’s all a matter of getting accustomed to the new you.

You become more comfortable with being uncomfortable by developing your skills, getting a coach, and putting yourself in the environment of winners and a team that is looking to win championships.

Are you on that team?
Are you working your skills?
Getting a coach?

Funny how Craig shared the very same lesson I always share when people ask, “What mistake would you have corrected faster?”

We both agree, “I would’ve gotten a coach a lot faster.”

4 – Put Your Ego Aside

Pushing that comfort zone means you need to be able to take criticism.  

In fact, you should search for it.

If you’re looking for non-stop praise and people to blow sunshine up your you-know-what, then you’re not looking to make a change.

Analyze what you’re doing, and be honest with yourself. It may not feel good, but it’s truly necessary.

Don’t surround yourself with people who want to make you feel good.  Instead, ask them to challenge you.  

Tell your closest friends and family that constructive criticism about you, your work, and your performance is always welcome. No, correction- it’s needed.

If you’re really brave, go beyond that.  Ask everyone you encounter how you can be better, do better, and serve better.

These are things that your mind and ego need to accept if you want to provide the top products and services to your clients.

Heck, if you want to be a better person, always listen to what others think of you and how you’re coming across, then make changes.

5 – Be Descriptive in Your Life Plan

Ambiguous goals get ambiguous results.

If you ask people what they want out of life, you’ll start to hear the same things over and over again… a big house, a nice car, a trip around the world, the list could go on.

When we make our dreams abstract like that, it gives us an excuse to not really go for it.

The people who turn their dreams into a reality make their goals as specific as possible.

They know what their house looks like and where it’s located. They know what kind of car they want, right down to the motor and rims.

Whatever the goal is, be specific and clear.  

Make sure you can smell it, feel it, and breathe it.  Then you are on the right path to making it a reality.

This way you know when you’ve actually attained that goal!!

You wouldn’t show up at Disneyland with your family and just wing it. No, you’d have a map and a plan (you’re crazy if you don’t have a plan, my friend. HA!). Your kids would know what they’d want to see and you and your spouse would know the things you have to see.

Why would life be any different?  Don’t be the crazy person that shows up to Disneyland without a plan.  Start showing up for your life with a plan!

The thing is that there is so much of life that you can’t control. Life will throw so many curveballs at you that just staying on your feet will be hard.

What you can control is your destination and the rewards that await you. Make those rewards as detailed as possible in order to keep you on the exact path that leads directly to them.

6- Live a Life by Design, Structure Creates Freedom.

We need more structure to have more freedom.

Some would think it’s the other way around.

But, it’s not.

It’s why as a society we have rules, laws and agreements we make with each other to give us all the opportunity for a safe, happy life.

It’s the lack of structure with our days and our plans for success that have led us to missing the mark in our lives.

Let’s look at this with a practical example from a mentor Craig and I share, Dan Kennedy.

Craig gave the example on the podcast of Dan Kennedy, who for many years of his life struggled with unhealthy eating.

One of his weaknesses was donuts.

So, what does Dan do now to put more structure in, so he can design more health into his life?

He drives out of his way to NOT pass a donut store because he knows that if the temptation is there, he can’t resist, so instead he finds himself taking the long way.

And the long way proves to be more successful.

It takes a strong mind to believe that. Do you?

The same concept applies to many people’s lack of design when it comes to their goals, wants, ambition, and aspirations.

Less structure makes productivity less likely.

Instead, if we are able to proactively design our days, we can structure them more, then we have more of a chance of being productive and successful!

Craig teaches this and that’s why he sets boundaries for himself that he knows he needs to follow.

He limits the time he spends on social media.
He limits himself to only looking at Facebook twice a week.

Say what?

Yes, listen to productive folks like Craig, being on FB isn’t about socializing, scrolling through the feed, and looking for posts to hit “like” on, or to tell people about everything he does throughout his day.

He’s there for one purpose to build his tribe and that means deliver content. And he uses his team, much like I do, to help manage the load, keep him focused on what he does best, write and create content, and delegate out the rest.

Why does this work for him?

It’s pretty simple.

He sets boundaries.
He creates structure.
He succeeds.

Structure creates more freedom,not less.

Alright, I get it. You are freaking out.  You are on social media at least two times in 30 minutes.  So let’s break it down for you if you run a lot of your business on social media.

Set time limits for how long you are on Facebook (or other social media forums).

Give yourself a start and end time. If you are not out by the end time, you are now wasting precious moments that should be spent on other parts of your business.  

Also, if you are just scrolling the feed mindlessly in that time frame you really have no interests in making your days productive.

I would limit yourself to social media 2-3 times a day and those times are spent wisely. Deal?

Okay, let’s move on to your day being killer productive.  

If you know that the afternoon is where you fall off the schedule, plan it down to the exact minute and don’t go astray.  

Avoid the temptations of social media, text messages, or anything else that might get in the way.

Nail this down and you got a straight shot aiming at your repeatable success.

Then you can stop living life by default and start designing your day!

You got the tools.

You have to think about the things in your life that are hindering your progress.

Analyze what distractions are zapping your focus and set boundaries so that the distractions are minimized.

Get proactive and have the structure in place as part of a system.

When you bring this Perfect Day Formula system into play you’re giving yourself the chance to work at high performance, not just occasionally, but consistently, and to make every day, Your Perfect Day!

Get after it FPL nation!