Multitasking is a myth. It is physically impossible to perform two conscious acts at one time.  Neurologically, the human brain is only capable of performing one conscious task at a time. When you switch to another task, one set of neurons turns off and a new set of neurons are are turned on. When you continuously switch from one set of neurons to the another set of neurons, you lose efficiency and tax your brain. So-called “multitasking”, consumes too much brain fuel (oxygen and glucose) and wears out your brain. Those who pride themselves as great at multitasking are actually burning much more brain fuel and making inefficient use of brain function.

Don’t believe me? Here’s a little exercise to prove that those who multitask are far more inefficient than those who focus on one task at a time:

EXERCISE #1

1. Take out a piece of paper and draw a horizontal line across the middle of the page. On the top portion of the page I will ask you to write the words: I AM A GREAT MULTITASKER.
2. On the bottom portion of the page I will ask you to write the numbers 1 through 20. Example, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.
3. I am going to ask you to time yourself while you perform each task and write down your time for each task.

Start EXERCISE #1

It should have taken you about 15 seconds to write out the words: I AM A GREAT MULTITASKER.

It should have taken you about 45 seconds to write out the numbers 1 through 20.

EXERCISE #2

Now, I would like you to turn the page over and draw the same horizontal line across the middle of the page. This time I would like you to time yourself as you perform both tasks simultaneously (at the same time). For example, write the letter I and then write the number 1. Then write the letter A and write the number 2. Then write the letter M and write the number 3. Keep doing this until you have completed the words: I AM A GREAT MULTITASKER and you have completed writing all of the numbers from 1 through 20.

Start EXERCISE #2

It should have taken you about two minutes, or twice as long, to perform EXERCISE #2  as it did to perform EXERCISE #1.

Self-made millionaires do not multitask. They focus like a laser on completing one task at a time. Focusing on one task at a time, until you complete the task, is a Rich Habit. Multitasking is a Poverty Habit. If you want to be successful in life, you must walk in the footsteps of the wealthy and the yellow brick road self-made millionaires walk is paved with Rich Habits.

Entitlement Thinking is a Poverty Habit that creates dependence, “I am a victim” thinking and is a slippery slope that leads to a negative mental outlook. Successful individuals avoid Entitlement Thinking. Instead, they replace Entitlement Thinking with Practiced Gratitude. Being grateful for everything you have eliminates Entitlement Thinking and fosters a positive mental outlook. Entitlement Thinking is a cancer that will program your mind for poverty. Avoid it at all costs.

Guess what? Habit change only works in baby steps. If you try to make massive habit changes immediately you’re going to fail.  Your new habits will only last a few weeks and your brain will force you back into old habit patterns. Creating new habits is a brain energy hog. It sucks up a lot of the glucose and oxygen (brain fuel) that the brain desperately needs for other tasks. Eventually your brain will send a directive to the basal ganglia (habit command and control center and energy efficiency manager for the brain) that this new massive habit change is consuming too much brain fuel and the basal ganglia than goes on high alert, seeking out triggers for old habits, because old habits consume less brain fuel. The key is to prevent the brain from putting the basal ganglia on high alert. You’ve got to keep your habit change below the radar, so to speak.

The Rule of 1 is the solution. This rule is very simple: you add one good habit and subtract one bad habit for one month. Pre-populate your to-do list with these new habits for a month so they automatically show up on that list every day for 30 days. The brain will hardly notice. Over the course of 12 months you’ll have changed 24 habits. It is massive habit change, just not immediate, massive habit change.

For example, if you want to do more self-education reading and exercise more (Rich Habits) and you also want to cut back on watching T.V. and smoking cigarettes (Poverty Habits), start out by reading 15 minutes each day and cutting back on T.V. 15 minutes, each day, for the first month. In month two, add to your to-do list 15 minutes of aerobic exercise and one less cigarette a day. In months 3-12, use the Rule of 1 for all the other habits habits you’d like to change.

Try it for a month. Start with small habit changes first. That will build up your confidence and create momentum for more complicated habit changes down the road.

In my study on the habits of the rich and poor, I learned that three things about mentors:

#1 Mentors are hard to come by – only 24% of the wealthy had a mentor in life.

#2 Finding a mentor is the fast track to accumulating wealth – Those 24% who found mentors also happened to accumulate their wealth at a younger age than the rest of the millionaires.

#3 Having a mentor produces the greatest accumulation of wealth – Almost all of the millionaires in my study who had a mentor, also happened to have accumulated the most wealth.

So, clearly the goal for everyone who wants to be rich should be to find a mentor. But what if it’s just not in the cards? Well, that was the case for 76% of the wealthy in my study, yet they still somehow were able to become rich. How did they do it?

They mentored themselves. In my study, I found that there are two ways to mentor yourself:

1. Reading – Reading to gain knowledge. Reading “How-To” books/articles about successful people in your field. Reading biographies about successful people.
2. The School of Hard Knocks – Starting a business and figuring it out. When you start a business, you will make mistakes and may even fail. These mistakes and failures teach you what works and what doesn’t work. Because they cost you time and money, they lessons they teach create emotional memories, the most powerful type of memory there is. Emotional memory is like scar tissue on the brain. It never goes away. The memory sticks forever.

Traveler of the world, expert musician, professional something or other, leader of many people, successful in x, y or z, etc. So many youthful dreams. What the hell happened? School happened, people happened, life happened, obstacles happened.

We are given this great capacity to dream. It’s coded into each one of us. It’s hard-wired into our DNA. Yet, somewhere along the way, we cast our dreams aside. School prepares us for the workplace. Our parents, family, family friends, our neighbors and our guidance counselors steer us along a path of practicality. Inch by inch we lose our capacity to pursue our dreams.

Fast forward 20 years later and we are all wondering where it went wrong. Why aren’t we happy? We wake, shower, dress and commute 45 minutes to a job we do not like and have no passion for. It’s not the life we imagined and we feel lost.

It’s never too late to dream. Grandma Moses began painting at age 80. Colonel Sanders was in his early 60’s when KFC was born. Ray Kroc was 55 when he founded McDonalds. The ability to pursue your dreams never dies. You are never too old to reinvent yourself. Take an hour out of your frustrating existence and script out your ideal life. In 1,000 words or less, paint a picture, with words, of the ideal, perfect life you desire. This exercise will rejuvenate you, inspire you and help you to dream again. Don’t let life pass you by without pursuing your dreams. We are infinitely greater than we ever imagined.

Successful individuals are copy cats. They seek to mimic or model themselves after other successful people they admire. Typically, these are individuals within their same industry. Doing so forces higher standards upon yourself. It makes you set the bar higher for yourself, which necessitates that you grow and improve to meet those standards. Not having someone to model yourself after can leave you drifting in the wind, making it harder to achieve success. If you want to increase your chances for success exponentially, find someone in your field who you admire to act as your benchmark. This will allow you to grow into the person you need to be in order for success to visit you. So, let me ask you, who is your benchmark?

“Success travels in the company of very hard work. There is no trick, no easy way.” John Wooden

Success requires relentless hard work, laser-like focus and a strong belief that what you’re doing will pay off down the road. You have to grind it out, doing things you don’t necessarily enjoy. That’s the grind part of success. Passion gives you the fuel to grind it out. Passion puts you in motion and keeps you in motion. It comforts you as you grind your way to success.

I was walking out of the gym early one morning and passed another early morning gym rat in the parking lot. He looked at me and said “gettin’ it done early – good job”. I immediately felt good about myself. My gym friend had reminded me that I was “gettin’ it done early.”

Over the past 7 years I’ve been “gettin’ it done early”, ever since I learned from my Rich Habits research that that’s what self-made millionaires do. They wake up 3 hours or more before they actually began their work day. I now look forward to “gettin’ it done early.” Robin Sharma, famous author, leadership expert and a mentor to Fortune 500 CEOs, likes to call it the “5am Club”.

It only took me 3 weeks to develop this daily habit and it’s changed my life. I’ve written 5 books, become a bestselling author and increased my income by 75% since I adopted this “gettin’ it done early” Rich Habit. If you want to succeed in life, you have to do what successful people do. “Gettin’ it done early” is what they do.

Dreams = The Starting Point For Creating the Blueprint For Your Life.

Goals = The Construction Workers That Build Your Ideal Life According to Your Dreams.

Habits = The Tools the Construction Workers Use. Good Construction Requires Good Tools.

I think it’s clear – Habits are the foundation for constructing the life of your dreams.

While it’s true that 86% of the self-made millionaires in my study either liked or loved what they did for a living, the more interesting statistic is how much of their work they were passionate about. It caught me by surprise, so I thought I’d share that stat with you. This 86% indicated that they were only passionate about 25% of their job. The other 75% of their job, was a grind. But the 25% of the job that they were passionate about, that they loved, enabled them to tolerate that 75% of the job they did not like. This is an important statistic because it shines a light on just how powerful passion can be. Having passion for what you do allows you to persist through other aspects of your job that are not that exciting and interesting. That 25% of passion makes it all worth while.