If you’re pursuing success, there are many things that are outside your control. These unexpected consequences of pursuing success show up in the form of obstacles, pitfalls, incorrect assumptions, unexpected delays, higher expenses, recessions or other economic downturns, people who don’t deliver, etc.

But there is one thing that is completely within your control and if you convert that one thing into a habit, it will give you a measure of control over your life and an edge over your competition.

What if I told you that that singular 22 minute a day habit could:

• Extend your life
• Improve memory
• Increase your IQ
• Reduce disease
• Improve mental health
• Improve brain health and
• Reduce stress

With all of those benefits, would you say that it was a habit worth having?

The answer is obviously yes.

A recent study by The Journal of the American Medical Association found that 150 minutes a week of aerobic exercise, just under 22 minutes a day, produced those benefits listed above.

A study by the University of British Columbia also found that daily aerobic exercise boosts the size of the hippocampus, the brain area involved in verbal memory and learning.

Other studies have linked daily aerobic exercise to reduced stress, decreasing the production of cordial (stress hormone) and, thus, the risk factors associated with cancer, Type II Diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Is 22 minutes a day too much to ask for a better brain and a longer, healthier, happier life?

It’s your life. Take control of what you can control.

Wealth comes in many shapes and sizes. In my Rich Habits research, I discovered that there were essentially three paths individuals took in order to intentionally become rich:

1. Save & Invest
2. Become a Virtuoso
3. Pursue a Dream

Save & Invest
Less than 22% of the rich people in my Rich Habits study fell into this category. The Savers/Investors in my study took an average of thirty-two years to accumulate an average of $3.4 million. They had zero debt and the passive income generated by their wealth was enough to meet or exceed their standard of living.

Under this strategy, you would need to save a minimum of 10% of your income and invest those savings prudently.

In order to save, however, you must first figure out a way to live below your means. The figuring out part is actually pretty easy – you reduce your standard of living so the costs to live are 90% of your income.

This is easy when you are 22 years of age and single. It’s a much harder thing to do, however, if you are in you mid-40’s and have three kids to support. As any parent with kids knows, kids cost money. And that need for money, often comes out of the blue and only grows over time – think collge.

What makes this path so purposeful is that it is within the reach of just about everyone. Unlike the two other paths (Becoming a Virtuoso or Pursuing a Dream), it does not require any special skills, innate talents, excessive risk or some outrageous work ethic. The only requirements are saving at least 10% of your income and prudently investing those savings. In short, it requires discipline.

Become a Virtuoso
Approximately 27% of the rich people in my study were Virtuosos in their career, industry or profession. They were among the best at what they did. These individuals either worked for large, publicly-held corporations, in which a significant portion of their compensation was stock-based compensation or they ran small businesses that were highly profitable. It took the average Virtuoso in my Rich Habits study about 20 years to accumulate an average of $4 million.

A Virtuoso is someone who has unique, advanced skills and/or knowledge. Society will pay a premium to Virtuosos because they perceive the product or service Virtuosos provide to be superior, adding more value to their lives.

So, how do you become a Virtuoso?

Virtuosos do the following things:

• Knowledge-based Virtuosos constantly maintain or acquire knowledge. They do this primarily by reading but also employ other means to acquire knowledge (listening to audiobooks/podcasts, watching videos to learn something, seeking feedback, etc).
• Skill-based Virtuosos engage in deliberate and analytical practice on a daily basis. Deliberate practice requires that you practice several hours a day to improve and perfect a skill. Analytical practice requires that you dissect and analyze every component of the actions involved in a particular skill. Analytical practice typically requires third party feedback, such as from a coach or mentor.
• Virtuosos communicate what they know either by writing articles, books or blogs or by standing in front of people and sharing their knowledge as a speaker. This communication forces them to better understand what they know.

Pursue a Dream
Approximately 51% of the rich people in my study were individuals who pursued some big dream and were able to turn that dream into a reality. Their dream eventually provided them with an enormous amount of income, profit or gain. Dreamers, in my study, accumulated the most wealth in the shortest period of time – an average of $7.4 million over and average of 12 years

Pursuing a dream was the hardest path to riches, according to my data. The beginning part in the pursuit of any dream requires an enormous investment in time, meaning you have to put in long hours. It was also the path that required the most risk. This risk was in both time and money. In the pursuit of a dream there is no guarantee that the time and money invested will pay any dividends down the road.

The point in all this is that there is more than one way to skin a cat. If you’re risk averse, it does not disqualify you from becoming rich. If you have no dream or you’re not interested in saving your way to wealth, become a virtuoso in what you do for a living. If you are not a saver or a virtuoso, pursue some dream that makes your heart sing.

If you want to be rich, the only important thing is to pick one path and stick with it for many years. The one common denominator all paths towards wealth share, is time. It takes many years to become rich.

In my book, Change Your Habits Change Your Life, I introduced my readers to one of the tools successful entrepreneurs in my Rich Habits Study used that helped transform them from ordinary individuals into self-made millionaires. This tool is something called Dream-Setting.

Dream-Setting is a process in which you:

1. Define your ideal, future life, via a script of 1,000 words or more. In this script, you go out into the future five or more years and paint a picture with words of every facet of your ideal, future life. The home you own, the neighborhood you live in, the income you earn, the money you accumulate, the car you drive, the amazing people who are your closest friends, the places in the world you travel to, etc.
2. Bullet point each dream within your script.
3. Build goals around each dream.
4. Pursue each goal until it is achieved.

As you realize each dream, you climb your individual Dream Ladder. When you reach the top of your ladder, only then are you living the life of your dreams.

Clearly, the hardest part of this Dream-Setting process is pursuing and achieving the goals behind your dream, or the Goal Pursuit & Achievement Process (step #4), imbedded within this Dream-Setting Process.

Step #4’s Goal Pursuit & Achievement Process is the hardest part because it requires that you:

1. Develop the knowledge and skills which enable you to pursue each goal and
2. Take action on each goal.

Each of these two Goal Pursuit & Achievement Processes, requires effort. Effort = Time. Somehow, you must find the time to pursue and achieve the goals behind your dreams.

What makes devoting time to your goals so hard, is that many who are pursuing their dreams and the goals behind their dreams, have jobs which limit how much time they have to engage in this Goal Pursuit and Achievement Process.

So, what do you do?

You must create a daily routine in which you block off time, every day, to dedicate to this Goal Pursuit & Achievement Process.

This routine can be as little as one hour a day. What makes this routine so effective, is when you habitualize it, meaning, when you transform it into a daily habit. You need to create a daily habitual routine in which you, day after day, go at each one of your goals.

Your daily routine = the scheduling system that transforms each of your dreams, and the goals behind your dreams, into reality.

This is why I harp so much on habits. Daily habits, built around your goals, make success possible.

Your daily routine is nothing more than a series of daily habits you engage in every day that enable you to achieve each one of your goals and ultimately, each one of your dreams.

Let me give you a real-life example.

When I began my Rich Habits Study in early 2004, I had just taken over as CEO of my company. I had responsibility for eight employees and close to one thousand clients. This new job required an enormous commitment of my time, meaning long hours. I also had three young children and a spouse I desperately wanted to spend time with.

So, I found the only time available – 4:30 am – 6am on workdays and 4:30am – 8am on weekends. For nearly four years, my daily routine was waking up at 4:30am and devoting time to my Rich Habits Study. Because I only had that limited time, the study took four years. But, after four years, it was done.

Since then, I continued to employ this daily morning routine to help me write five books over a seven year period. Like so many of the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study, a simple daily routine helped transform me from a nobody into a world-wide bestselling author, in a relatively short period of time.

If you are pursuing a dream and time is your enemy, you must create a routine and then you must habitualize that routine – schedule it every day. This is what successful high achieving dreamers do. That is what the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study did. They created and followed a consistent schedule, or daily routine.

Consistency transforms dreams into reality. The tool to create consistency, is your daily routine.

In my book Rich Habits, I shared one of the many Rich Habits that related to the relationships we keep:

I Will Surround Myself With Positive, Upbeat, Success-Minded Individuals.

According to my Rich Habits Study, the basis of the research behind my book, 93% of the 177 self-made millionaires in my study said they intentionally surrounded themselves with success-minded people. Even more interesting, 90% of those 177 millionaires said they avoided associating with toxic people.

Toxic people are typically those with a negative outlook on life. They are pessimistic, negative types who possess bad habits, limiting beliefs, they gossip and create havoc with their relationships.

Jim Rohn has a famous quote related to this: “’You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

The point Rohn was making is that those who surround you, your inner circle, influence the circumstances of your life in ways you may not fully comprehend.

Everyone has an Inner Circle. Inside this circle are family members, friends, colleagues at work, and other significant others who you interact with frequently.

You Inner Circle is something that has evolved over time, meaning it was not something you intentionally created. As a result, individuals who have slipped into your Inner Circle may not necessarily share your dreams, goals, ambitions, desires, beliefs, habits, thinking, work ethic, etc.

In fact, some of those residing in your Inner Circle may actually be toxic, meaning they can negatively impact the pursuit of your dreams and goals. They can infect you with their negative beliefs, bad habits, poor work ethic, etc. They can de-motivate you.

In short, these toxic Inner Circle members can de-rail your pursuit of success. And, because they will drag you down and de-motivate you, these toxic Inner Circle members should never be privy to your dreams, goals or aspirations.

The only people who you should share your dreams, goals and aspirations with are individuals who are the opposite of toxic. Individuals who can actually help you in the pursuit of success.

For this very reason, it is critical for you to intentionally build another Inner Circle, or rather a Winner Circle.

You Winner Circle will be comprised of individuals who are upbeat, highly motivated, enthusiastic and possess a positive mental outlook. These are can-do types who will become your biggest cheerleaders.

Your Winner Circle members will encourage you in the pursuit of your dream. They will help keep you motivated about the goals behind your dream. They will have good habits which infect you, helping your dreams and goals become a reality. They will lift you up and keep you going.

Your Winner Circle are the only people with whom you will share your dreams, goals and aspirations.

Be careful who you share your dreams, goals and aspirations with. Be very selective. 

The pursuit of success isn’t easy. It is filled with obstacles, pitfalls and problems. It requires relentless persistence. Many who pursue success, unfortunately fail and I believe it is, in large part, due to the fact that they are surrounded by too many people telling them to quit; to give up the fight.

You therefore need to surround yourself with people, your Winner Circle, who will help you navigate those obstacles and pitfalls and who can also help you find solutions to problems. You need to surround yourself with people who encourage you to keep fighting on and to never, ever quit.

If you are pursuing success, build a Winner Circle and only share with them your dreams, goals and aspirations. Never share your dreams, goals and aspirations with anyone who might discourage you from that pursuit.

In November, 2017, DHM Research released the findings of a study on 1,000 American adults. In this study, one-third had created a script, or blueprint of their ideal, perfect, future life. Two-thirds, did not follow any script or blueprint.

What happened?

The one-third who scripted out their lives went on to thrive and succeed. The two-thirds who did not follow any script or blueprint, struggled in life financially and otherwise.

When you create a blueprint of your ideal, future life, you toggle on all sorts of neural mechanisms within the subconscious: the Reticular Activating System, the Insula and the Thalamus.

According to researcher Gerd Gigerenzer (Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious), the unconscious brain (limbic system and brain stem) is far superior to the conscious brain (cortex). It has the ability to take in important information from the external environment that is unseen by the conscious mind.

This unseen information is extracted from the environment via the five senses. The Reticular Activating System (RAS), Insula and Thalamus then process portions of this information and allow it to be received by the cortex.

The unseen information taken in by the RAS, Insula or Thalamus, is information that they deem important. Information is considered important when it is tied to some dream, the goals behind a dream or a life plan (blueprint).

All other information, information not tied to dreams, goals or some blueprint, or not critical to survival, remains unseen – intentionally blocked by the RAS, Insula and Thalamus from entering the conscious mind (the cortex).

This is why having a blueprint is so important. It activates powerful areas of the subconscious mind and allows the subconscious mind and conscious mind to work together, helping you create the life you desire – the life defined by you in your blueprint.

Knowledge and learning are the foundation and springboard for success. It’s impossible to know everything. Therefore, you must focus your study on specific areas that will create the greatest return for the time you invest in learning.

What areas should you focus on?

• Job – Learn everything about your job.
• Company – Learn everything about your company.
• Industry – Learn everything about your industry.
• Business – Learn everything about the business you are in.
• Dreams – Learn everything about the dream you are pursuing.
• Niche – Become exert in your knowledge in one unique area.
• Valued Relationships – Learn everything about the people who are important to your life, career, business or dream.

Expanding your knowledge is a self-improvement activity that you must engage in on a daily basis. Successful people devote blocks of time to learning and gaining knowledge by studying subject matter that will improve them in some way.

This daily habit eventually transforms you into virtuoso in your job, company, industry, business or niche. Thirty minutes or more of focused learning, every day, creates the consistency you will need to gain virtuoso expertise.

40% or more of all of our daily activities are habits. Habits are unconscious behaviors, thinking, decisions and emotions that we engage in every day. Many habits are good, like showering every day, brushing your teeth, brushing your hair etc. But many are also bad like drinking to much alcohol, overeating, watching too much T.V.

Bad habits hold us back from living a successful life and good habits help move us forward to a successful life.

Due to our habits, we are either unconsciously moving towards success and a happy life or unconsciously moving towards failure and a miserable life.

The first step in changing your habits and your life, is to self-assess. For one week write down everything you do every day. Those activities that reoccur on a daily basis = daily habits.

With you list of daily habits, the next step is to grade those habits.

Good habits get a plus sign (+). Bad habits get a minus sign (-).

The next step is to invert your bad habits and replace them with a good habit.

Example

Bad Habit                           Good Habit

I don’t read to learn            I read to learn 20 minutes today

I watch too much TV          I watched less than one hour of TV today

I don’t exercise                  I exercised 20 minutes today

Create a checklist of your bad habits you wish to convert to good habits and use this checklist as your accountability partner.

Beliefs represent the acceptance of something without any proof to back up what we accept as fact.

They are inherited unconscious programming. We adopt the beliefs of our parents, family, mentors culture and our environment (neighborhood, town, city, state, country).

Watch this video as Tom and I chat about his 5 year study into the success beliefs of the rich.