FOLLOWING on from last week’s 15 thoughts worth exploring I’ve got part two for you. Wrap your head around these.

16. The Two-Minute Rule – If it takes you less than two minutes to perform any given task, do it there and then. Close any open loops instead of letting them take up mental bandwidth if the action that resolves it takes under two minutes.

17. Spend more time being uncomfortable. Do things that take you outside of your comfort zone, personally and professionally. That is the cheat code to growth.

18. We overestimate what we can do in one year but underestimate what we can do in ten. Play the long game. So many people give up on their journeys toward big ambitious goals because they aren’t making ‘enough’ progress. But if they just stayed the course, and let the compound effect of repetition over time, they wouldn’t only achieve the goals but quite often surpass their own expectations of what is possible.

19. Figure out your strengths and build on them. This isn’t to say that if you have a glaring weakness in any given area you ignore it. By all means, work on your weaknesses until they don’t hold you back but if you have an area in which you excel then double down on it and lean into that natural advantage.

20. Failure is a comma, not a full stop. We only truly fail when we quit. No one likes failing but it doesn’t mean we should shy away from it. Every failure is a learning opportunity that should help us develop the knowledge and skill set so that we don’t repeat the steps which made us fail in the first place.

21. The idea that the future is unpredictable is undermined every day with the ease with which the past is explained. We are creatures of habit. Our work schedule, training routine and day-to-day food intake don’t vary an awful lot. We tend to spend a lot of time second-guessing the future when in reality, outside of unpredictable events, tomorrow will just be a slightly different version of yesterday. Don’t waste your energy on things you can’t control and focus on what you can do to impact the outcomes of your days.

22. There are no ‘Joneses’. You do not need to keep up with them. In a world where social media is part of our everyday life, the comparison trap is something which is very easy to fall into. Stop it. Stop trying to compete against someone else’s highlight reel. They are at an unfair advantage and because you are the only person you can truly see the daily battles you face you can never win against someone who only shows their success.

23. Burn the boats. In the early 1500s when the Spanish were attempting to colonise central America, they kept getting pushed back to their boats by the natives and returning home with their tails between their legs in failure. This went on for a number of years until on arrival in Panama, Hernan Cortes, the admiral of the fleet, told his men to burn the boats. “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win! We now have no choice—we win, or we perish!” He removed the safety net that the previous Armada’s would retreat to when things got tough on land. What safety nets can you remove to stop you retreating back to your old habits and force you to overcome the challenges you’re facing?

24. Choose to evolve, don’t wait until you’re forced. Hanging onto an old identity is one of the quickest ways of stopping yourself enjoying who you could be.

25. Experiences with loved ones is what you’ll remember on your deathbed, not the ‘stuff’ you’ve accumulated over the years.

26. Have difficult conversations. They’re rarely as difficult as you think they’re going to be, but that doesn’t mean they’re not absolutely necessary.

27. Don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice off.

28. If you’re authentically you, you’re winning. Don’t worry about fitting in, the people who truly matter to you will accept you as you are.

29. Value timekeeping. Time is one of the only commodities that once it is used up we can never get back. Don’t waste it.

30. Don’t just consume. In a world of information overload, it’s easy to get swept away with waves of ‘good ideas’. Over the last two weeks, I’ve provided you with 30. The people that find true success in their lives are the ones who can pick out the information which most applies to them and do something with it. So instead of nodding to yourself that some of these points make sense, think about how you can apply them to your day-to-day actions and behaviours.