🚀 Are your good habits secretly holding you back?

What has got you this far may not continue!

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Are your "good" habits secretly holding you back?
Not many people expected this...

Imagine you're on the treadmill, running as fast as you can. The finish line is just a few meters ahead of you. You're sweating, gasping for breath, but you're not moving an inch. You were taught that the harder you run, the faster you finish, right?🏃🏼

But what if I told you that it's not about running faster, it's about finally getting off the treadmill and walking to the finish line?

What if the habits you think are driving you forward are actually pushing you further and further away from your goals? 😳

What got you this far may not get you further!

But before we dive in, let's see... 👀

🚀 How's the challenge going?

🌘 BookBase 3.0

We are working hard to take BookBase to the next level! The last 1 year has been about learning and experience for Us. Last year we grew too fast to say the least, in a few months we grew 7x in revenue and 5x in users. 🚀

However, we were not fully prepared for this, neither knowledge-wise nor system-wise. So, this year was all about creating stability and laying new foundations!

BookBase 3.0 will be the "cornerstone" of this! 🌟

The foundation of the new system:

• Personalization

• Simplicity

• And flexibility

• Flexibility and simplicity.

This is what the guys and I are working on day and night! 🌚🌝

🚨 I have posted new notifications

The big surprise is coming, based on the personalization mentioned above.

So, the guys and I thought how cool it would be if you could choose the style of your notifications. Maybe Duolingo has one, like Aggressive or Disillusioned, etc.😉

I've written 20 varieties for Streaks, I'll paste a few:

Oh no!

Streaked is going to sleep it off! Help me! 😱

Where are you?

We don't play hide and seek at BookBase! 🫣

Enough social media!

Take some time for your own development! 💪🏼

We've got General, Funny, Disillusioned and Passive-Aggressive. 😂

So, you'll be able to choose!

👋🏼 Tomorrow I'm giving a presentation in Pest

I'm invited by Speakeasy to give a talk at Pluto Sky Lounge. 🎤

Expect a roundtable discussion, the topics are not told to me yet, but one thing is for sure, we won't be bored! It's going to be a question-and-answer kind of thing.

About 70 people, all like-minded like you. 🧠

There will also be Kinga, Edu, Kokesz, Geri and Bögszi, so you'll be able to talk to them too!

📍 Pluto Sky Lounge (Budapest, Fő u. 10, 1011)
🗓️ Saturday 28 October - 17:00
🎟️ 3.500 HUF ticket - You can buy it here

See you there! 👋🏼

Now we can start...

🪤 The trap of habits

It was 2 years ago that my business development simply stalled. I wasn't getting anywhere; I was working hard but the results still weren't coming.

I was confused. 😵‍💫

Somehow, I couldn't get my head around it.

It worked before, what happened now?! 🤔

Many people ask themselves this question...

We mistakenly think that we owe our results only to our good qualities.

But this is rarely the case! 😳

I was sobered by this sentence:

"Many people excel despite certain habits, not because of them." ~ Marshall Goldsmith

It is easy to get stuck at one level, waiting for the miracle that our old habits will help us move on.

But this is not always the case! It took the above quote and a few sobering slaps in the face for me to realize it.

Those habits were good... up to a point, but they may not help after that! 😲

I'll give you some examples so you can easily understand!

💭 Those "good" habits were holding me back!

💡 Side note: I wrote good because they are not specifically bad habits, in fact they are the qualities that got me to the level I am at now. The problem is, once you get to that level, you need something else. And they don't help you, they just hold you back.

1. You needed the whole cake 🎂

So, 100% of the company.

Which helped because I did everything myself, so I had low overheads and my cashflow and safety margin grew quickly.

Because of this I thought I could only make a large fortune if I owned the whole business. 🤓

Hormozi made me realize that:

"It's not how big your piece of the pie is, it's how big the whole pie is."

If I told you right now you get 100% of OM or 1% of Facebook, you'd better choose Facebook! Because it's worth so much more! 😎

2. I wanted it all for myself 💪🏼

Which helped because I got to see a lot of things and know what works.

I also learned how to write copy, edit videos and edit pictures.

Then I realized that if I work with people who understand these things, I don't have to learn them. Plus, they do it better! 😉

So not only do I save hundreds of hours, I also improve the quality. 🔥

And here comes the bonus point:

"If more people share in the pie, it's in more people's interest to make that pie bigger."

Maybe that was the biggest insight!

3. Quantity > Quality 💩

This has helped me to grow faster and get more people to meet the Brand.

It used to be 2 Insta posts a day, 2 TikTok a day, 2 YouTube videos a week. 😮‍💨

But I realized that with this quality I can only go so far, exactly where I am now! The follower numbers and views have stopped. Stagnation has set in!

That's how I knew something had to change! 🧐

Geri made me realize that we need to take a step up in Quality.

Then came the Documentaries. True, we don't have 100,000 views yet, but the funny thing is that 1 video a month is getting the same results as 8 a month. 🎞️

That's how I know we're on the right track! 🧭

In hindsight, Hormozi confirmed this too:

"You may have to put in 10x as much work to be that much 🤏🏼 better than the best, but if you're that much better, you'll be the best from here on out. And in today's world... first takes all!"

Because of this, I now focus on quality over quantity everywhere!

📕 Book recommendations: "Crushing it" by Gary Vee can help you get started. It inspired me to start producing content too! You can find it in BookBase! 🎧

4. I was too flexible ⏰

My days were completely random because I hated having a framework. Which helped me to always go with what I felt like doing. So, I didn't burn out despite all the work!

However, this is not sustainable at a higher level. 😕

Yes, you do need a daily routine, a weekly plan and a system to follow.

Because if you lose your motivation, these systems will save you. 🙏🏻

📕 Book Recommendation: James Clear's "Atomic Habits", a totally basic book, if you haven't read/listened to this, make it your first thing! It's also up in BookBase!

James Clear has a famous saying:

"You do not rise to the greatness of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems."

💡Side note: Here's the living example, I really didn't feel like writing this Post this morning. Somehow, I didn't feel the urge. Bad weather, tired, etc. But it's on my calendar for the whole day, which means I have to push myself and do it. Plus, thousands of people are expecting a little 🚀 on Friday, so I can't let them down!

💡 Side note: It was hard just to start anyway, after that the flow takes you!

To sum it up, kicking these habits got me to where I am now! 👣

You could see that none of them were too bad, they all had their advantages at that level. I just had to realize that they no longer serve me at the level I am at now. 🔍

But progress does not stop, there are obstacles at every level. 🚧

At the end of this post, I'll show you what I'm "struggling" with lately...

---

But first an interesting fact:

Did you know that: For every person you send the Blog to who subscribes, you will receive gifts! And quite valuable ones at that:

1️⃣ invited - 🧭 Guideline Targeting Ebook
3️⃣ invited - 📙 Exclusive Workbook with Practical Tasks (with the most useful books I've read)
🔟 Invited - 🎥 Self Confidence Course with 11 videos (showing you specifically how to be more confident in business, meeting people and making friends)

Thank you! 🧡

---

🧐 Strategies for moving forward

You can see when your life is stagnating and you're not moving forward. 👁️

However, it is much harder to see what is causing this!

That's the tricky part. I don't know the magic cure for this either, but I'll tell you what has helped me. 🔮

Step 1: Find your role models 😎

Start by analyzing the people you look up to.

• What do they do differently?

• Why are they where they are?

Try to find out as much as you can! 📝

🔥 Pro Tip: Don't rely on one person's path; it may not match yours and lead you astray. If you see the same pattern in several people, it's a sign of where to go.

⚙️ Example: There’re the Documentary style videos, I first saw it with James Jani, then Iman Gadzhi started doing them, then I discovered this style with Luke Belmar. That's when I knew it really COULD be our direction!

Step 2: Get advice from the more successful 🧠

People who are a few steps ahead of you have the clearest view of the path you're on. They can give you the most relevant advice because they've recently been through similar challenges. 👁️

💡 Side note: If you're at level 1, don't seek advice from someone who is at level 10. They may offer some wisdom, but it will not be the practical guidance you need right now to get to level 2.

⚙️ Example: I had a more successful friend help me with how to organize my tasks. She's not much ahead of me, just a few steps ahead, which is why she was able to give me good advice!

Step 3: Test your ideas 🧪

You've collected examples and you can also give advice. Now it's time to experiment. Test these insights in small ways.

Otherwise, how would you know they work?! 🤨

Check it out:

• How can I test it on a small scale?

• How would I know if it worked?

  • What will you measure as a result? Because you need something to benchmark against!

This will help you to identify what you need to change. It's time to show you what obstacles I am facing at this level. 🔥

💪🏼 My current challenges: The hard truth

Fortunately, I have identified the things that hold me back, now I just need to work on them! Which is the hard part of the equation.

1. Getting started and doing it 🥊

This is a typical trait of mine, wanting everything right away. I consider myself a head against the wall person. Which has helped me a lot in overcoming procrastination, but at this level it's holding me back.

My speed, often, has turned into recklessness. 😵‍💫

⚙️ Example: when we were developing the first Onboarding for BookBase, I was just pushing the boys to get going. "It'll be fine that way"... In the end, we had to redo the whole thing 2 months later because it was so awful.

What I need to transform it into:

"Let's do it once, but do it well!"

📕 Book Recommendation: "Ready, fire, aim" by Michael Masters is a huge help in starting a business, because it sticks you with exactly that "Let's get started, let's do it" mentality! Which is a huge help at that level, you'll just need to reframe it later! 11 minutes at BookBase! 🎧

2. Work hard vs. Work smart 🧠

It follows from the previous one that I like to grind down my tasks instead of thinking them through.

There's often an easier way that I don't see because I'm so focused on solving the task. ❌

⚙️ Example: At OM Merch I had to collate order details from 3 places because the phone number, email and product ordered were in different places. It was a complete mess. And instead of using an automation to put it all together into 1, I instead took 2 hours (with Kinga's help) and manually collected the data. It was absolute nonsense...

Which I need to transform it into:

"Find the easiest way first and start on that."

Abraham Lincoln has a fitting quote here:

"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my axe."

📕 Book Recommendation: 'Smart cuts' by Shane Snow teaches this kind of thinking and helps you find a mousetail to your goals! Definitely worth a listen at BookBase!

3. Lone Wolf 🐺

Let's be honest I wasn't a very knowledgeable person in business. I just got away with my team and we worked together towards a goal. I wasn't open to anyone.

If someone reached out, I responded and built the relationship, but I didn't go after them on my own. I felt like it was a waste of time while I was meeting other people, because I wasn't working for my goals until then. 😕

I couldn't have been further from reality! 🤦🏽‍♂️

I missed out on so many opportunities because I was so stubborn.

⚙️ Example:2 years ago, I met Bence Babics, who helped me find Kokesz and Edu, 1 year later he also introduced me to Joci, with whom I organized the previous Offline meeting. It's like the "snowball effect", the more people you know, the more opportunities come your way!

Which I need to transform it into:

"To move into a medium where like-minded people can find you."

This way, I can not only expand my networking capital, but also improve my knowledge.

4. Perceptions vs. Data 📊

We measured data, but we never used it. We always made decisions based on hunches, which weren't bad, but they weren't explicitly good either.

I realized that the only way to improve the quality of my decisions was to back them up with concrete numbers. 🧮

This not only makes it easier for me to make decisions, it also allows me to make better quality decisions.

⚙️ Example: To this day, I can't tell you specifically how many subscribers each ad has generated. Which would be a totally basic. But the measurement is not well wired because we haven't spent enough time on it. So, I use 1-2 additional pieces of data to determine intuitively which ads are good and which are not (cost per download, click-through rate, etc.)

💡 Side note: Reading back over what I wrote, it's a wonder we're where we are! It fits perfectly with the saying I wrote at the beginning of this blog, "Many people excel in spite of certain habits, not because of them."

What I need to transform it into:

"I don't mind taking more time to make a decision if I know the quality of the decision will be better."

I'll be honest, this post was probably the hardest for me to write so far. It was a serious introspection for ME too. 🔍

Specifically, I came down knowing the topic, but not knowing what I was going to write about it. I thought it all through here. It was like writing a diary, but better worded. 🖋️

But I didn't forget the guide. Here's the next part...

✅ Specific plan: How to level up!

Here's a fool-proof 7 step plan that will take YOU to the next level in your life. 🚀

📍 Step 1: Self-Assessment

Take a look back at your last 6 months. Have you made progress in your life? If so, keep doing what you've been doing. If not, read on.

📍 Step 2: Compile a list of role models

Who are the people you look up to? Write down their names.

📍 Step 3: Recognize the patterns

What do your role models do differently? Look for similarities in their behavior or strategies.

📍 Step 4: Talk to a mentor (if you can)

If possible, ask for advice from someone who is a few steps ahead of you. They can point you in a more concrete direction. If not, stick with the insights from Step 3.

📍 Step 5: What's missing?

Compare your current habits with the habits of your role models that you described in Step 3. How do they differ?

📍 Step 6: Wish list of new habits

Make a list of the habits you would like to adopt from them. Then priorities them.

📍 Step 7: The big experiment

Think of it as a big experiment! Start at the top of your list and focus on changing one habit at a time.

Track the results for 1-2 months. Then ask yourself these questions:

• Do you feel better?

• Do you see improvement?

If so, keep it up! If not, drop it and move on to the next one on the list.

You can make as many mistakes as you want, the point is to find - and incorporate - the few habits that will take you to the next level.

🔥 Biggest obstacle

Juggling to maintain motivation and overcome fatigue. 🤹🏼‍♂️

For some reason I've been feeling mind-numbingly tired lately, even though I've been getting plenty of sleep and, according to my phone, quality sleep. But somehow, I'm still depressed.

No question of doing the things I have planned. 💪🏼

Fortunately, it's my perseverance and commitment that gets me here, not my motivation.

However, it does affect the quality of my work. 😔

No way around it, I need to get myself in order. I'm going to sleep in this afternoon and start taking iron to see if that will help me get out of this hole!

If you have any tips, they are welcome! ✏️

📖 What have I read now?

• Made to Stick - by Dan & Chip Heath, this was next on the list.

  • It explains perfectly how we can get our message across in a way that sticks.

  • A very practical book, I recommend it to anyone involved in content production! 📝

  • I got to the end of the first chapter pretty quickly, only then Kokesz recommended another book that piqued my interest!

• The Science of Self-Learning - by Peter Hollins

  • It's all about showing why learning on your own is better than learning in school. Plus, it gives a concrete guide on how we can learn more effectively. It will be up on BookBase soon! 📚

  • It's so brilliant that I read 20% of the book in one sitting. I only put it down because the BL game was starting and Real were playing and that is sacrosanct.

  • At this rate I'll finish it this week!

🎧 What have I just listened to?

• I decided to re-listen to one of Naval Ravikant's lessons every six months.

• He explains the wealth building process from the ground up. It's 4 hours long, so it doesn't take a training session to listen to it, but it's all the more useful.💰

✍🏼 Top quote

"What worked before will not take us any further." ~ Marshall Goldsmith

🧪 Question of the week