One year, 365 days. Is that enough time to change an entire life? Depending on the level one has ascended to this answer could be a yes or a no. For example it is unlikely someone as accomplished as Donald Trump is going to change his life in a year meanwhile it’d be easy as shit for a broke bum to change his life is a years time. However with this being said I believe everyone can have a radically different life a year from now then what they are living now. However like everything else I talk about, this will only come through dedication as well as working both smart and hard.
The quality of your life a malleable and can be changed through your own effort. Change is possible, both the good kind and the bad. However the vast majority of people simply stay the same or decay from year to year. Their body ages one year and their mind stays stagnant. Most people you could not see for five years and return to find them exactly the same mentally and spiritually, plus a little worse physically. Whereas I grow from month to month. I am different every month because I dedicate myself to growth. I don’t say this to brag. Anything, and I mean anything, I can do you can do as well and probably at a higher level.
Dedication To Change
Change, success, and growth aren’t necessarily hard, hard meaning exerting great effort such as fighting the last round of a boxing match or grinding out a new PR on the deadlift. Rather change, success, and growth come from doing things over and over again. One balls to the wall workout a week won’t do as much for you as three medium effort workouts a week will. Think of it like this a stream can overpower a rock not through an extreme blast of energy but rather through slowly eroding it through consistent pressure. That is how you change your life.
It doesn’t come from some rah-rah seminar or a burst of emotion. Rather it comes from you dedicating yourself to what is needed to give you success. Consistent action taken day in and day out. Be the stream not the rock for the change that you want. Put in the work and the rewards will come…down the line. Like blogging. Sit down and write out your knowledge that could help others, repeat about 1,000+ times, and then you can start wondering about making a living off your blog. Work first, reward later.
So What Do I Do?
There are many ways to go about growing. The Primer has a dedicated plan designed to change your life and help you become the man you always wanted to be. In this article I’m going to lay out a method I have used as well as been recommended by many successful people I know and have listened to. It’s going to sound simple and that’s because it is, the trick is sticking too it. Alright so first things first change is predicated on new knowledge being introduced that challenges or changes your beliefs that then results in your actions changing.
Remember this new knowledge comes before growth. You can’t grow without change of a positive kind. And the greatest source of knowledge is books (not experience). So here is the plan to completely change your life in the next year. You are going to read one non-fiction book a week for the next year and then write a synopsis of what you learned from the book. It could be in the form of a blog post, a book review, or a journal entry. Simply write out the key takeaways from the book. Then you are going to write out three ways to are going to take action from what you learned in the book, and then do them.
52 Books In 52 Weeks
For others who will tell you that this won’t work I guarantee one of two things. One they never did it in the first place or two they’re idiots. Seriously, you can learn so damn much in a year and change yourself to such a great degree it’ll blow your mind. But you have to actually do it. Look you can’t get around this fact that you have to read to get what you want in life. Just like selling is essential to thrive in business reading is essential to thrive in life. Knowledge truly is power.
Of course then you get the whole “Only if you act on that knowledge is it power”. No kidding. And honestly to more you know about something the easier it is to take action on it. Even the most timid person if they knew enough about a subject would take action on it. Lack of knowledge causes lack of confidence. Of course you should also develop boldness as well, but that’s a topic for another time. My point is knowledge leads to action, the more you know about something the easier it is to take action. This applies to boxing, women, business, and everything else in life. Of course you should still combine this knowledge with a bold attitude.
Summary
You can have a completely different life a year from now then you do now. It’s possible and if you take the actions outlined here not only is it possible but it’s probable. Knowledge is power and the more you know about something the easier it is to take action. If you know where all the landmines are it makes walking across the minefield a whole lot easier. Even the most timid would go across a minefield if he knew where 95% of the mines were and everything he ever wanted was on the other side.
So I want you to cultivate the knowledge to know where 95% of the mines are while having the balls to walk out knowing where 0% of them are. Combine knowledge with boldness and you have a potent catalyst for change. So get reading. Choose the subject you’re weakest at and will have the biggest impact on your life and start there.
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it. You can follow me on Twitter here.
-Charles Sledge
Hunter over at The Family Alpha is running a series of challenges through the month of March. Here’s the link to Day 1: https://thefamilyalpha.com/2017/03/01/day-1-creating-the-men-of-march/
I think a combination of your approach and his would make for powerful men.
Will check that out.
I find that the more I read the more my taste in reading changes.
I started reading fiction. Action fiction, zombie books, and shit like that.
Then I got into broader fiction, classical fiction and the like.
Now I prefer autobiographies, technical books, and training books on sales, marketing, writing, business, etc. Fiction is a rare read for me these days.
Have you noticed anything like that in your reading habits?
Another great way to change your life, by the way, is to just hold your head up and look at where you’re walking.
Yeah same here went from mostly fiction (though to be fair I wanted to make my living writing fiction) to self-improvement type books (working out, game, mindset stuff of that nature) to now pretty much all business/sales/marketing related books. And that’s a god idea.