Every time you say you're going to do something but you don't end up doing it, you lower your confidence. In other words, you teach yourself to not trust yourself. This, in return, negatively impacts your energy, aura, presence, whatever you want to call it, and people around you can sense it—not consciously, but unconsciously. On the flip side, every time you say you're going to do something and you actually do it, you build your confidence. In other words, you teach yourself to trust yourself. This, in return, positively impacts your energy, aura, presence, whatever you want to call it, and people around you can sense it—not consciously, but unconsciously. So, with that in mind, let's assume you're a self-help junkie. You read all the bestsellers, listen to all the podcasts, watch all the YouTube videos. Now, nothing wrong with this per se, but now let's assume it's a new month and you're gearing up to make it the best month ever. For this new month, you decide you're going to take charge of your life and commit to the following habits: sleep

at 10 p.m. wake up at 5:00 a.m. meditate 20 minutes a day take 10K steps deep work 4 hours a day and breath 30 minutes great habits right you bet if you were to apply these habits consistently then there's no doubt that you'll be able to turn your life around and steer it in a more positive direction but the issue is most people including me at times say they're going to do X but then don't actually end up doing X this in return leaves them worse off than they would have been if they hadn't set these habits in the first place because they lose Aura to illustrate let's use the habit of waking up at 5:00 a.m. which is a great habit for sure but let's assume you commit to this habit and wake up at 5:00 a.m. on the first day but on the second day you don't get up at 5:00 a.m. instead you

snooze your way to 8:00 a.m. What happens? Well, if you're like most people, you'll wake up with the taste of defeat in your mouth, feeling lousy, miserable, and like the day is already wasted because you weren't able to get up early and used the quiet hours to move your life forward. This feeling, in return, will stay with you more or less for the entirety of the day and color everything you touch with it. The big consequence of this is you typically attract more of what you feel, so if you feel defeated, you'll attract more defeat. It's just how the game of life do so. Whereas otherwise you would have woken up at 8 and had the entire day to make magic happen, you now wake up with defeat and filter your entire day through this frame. This results in you not really getting anything done. This is one of the biggest problems with self-improvement. It fills your task list with positive habits and routines that are very impactful, but the

more you take in, the more you commit to, the more you commit to, the less you do, the less you do, the more Aura you lose, the more Aura you lose, the more ineffective you become. All because you become what you practice, and with self-improvement, what you're often practicing is defeat, AKA telling yourself you're going to do X but not doing it consistently. Such as the bitter pill most don't want to swallow, but it's a pill you must become conscious of so you can put it down and pick up something new instead. So, with above all noted, you're probably wondering, Okay, I see your point, Ted, but what's the solution? And when it comes to solutions, you can come up with the obvious ones that everybody talks about, such as bulldoze your way through, be relentless, practice many habits, do less, only commit if you're 100% sure you're going to follow through, otherwise the consequences are not worth the effort. And all these solutions are great, they work, but in my opinion, there's an even

better way for the vast majority. What's the better way, you ask? Instead of coming up with new habits and focusing on what you're going to do, scrap all that and focus instead on what you actually get done. In other words, put down the habit trackers and pick up a fresh new notebook instead. Inside this notebook, you want to date it each day and write down all the things you did that day to move your life forward. If you woke up at 5:00 a.m., write it down. If you put in 4 hours of deep work, write it down. If you studied copyrighting for 30 minutes, write it down. If you took 10K steps, write it down. If you meditated for 20 minutes, write it down. If you hit your nutrition goals, write it down. If you struck up a convo with a stranger, write it down. If you read your mindset folder three times a day, write it down. Get the point? If you do, then you'll realize that with each day, you wake up with blank

space from a position of power instead of being weighed down by all the [ __ ] you have to do, and your one and only mission is to fill up the day with quality inputs. This way, with every entry you make, you're building a real track record of actually pulling the required levers to move your life forward, and you have documented proof at Year's End. Even more importantly, you're no longer losing Aura because even on days you may not be able to wake up at 5:00 a.m., put in 4 hours to deep work, and read for 30 minutes because, well, life happens, you can still wake up at 8, put in 2 hours of deep work, and read 10 pages, or heck, wake up at 9, put in one hour of deep work, and read one page. This return makes a world of a difference because now you're building confidence day in and day out instead of losing confidence because even on your worst day, you can always do and write down at least one thing, no matter how small, to

move your life forward, and this, my friend, is what it actually takes. Because after all, not all days are going to be perfect, but it's tiny progress that leads to astronomical gains. Yippee! So if you're one to constantly fall on and off the wagon and feel like [ __ ] as a result, I encourage you to let go of the old way and try this way instead for the next month. In other words, commit to nothing but carrying a new notebook. Inside this notebook, you don't want to write a to-do list but a done list, meaning only write down what you get done to move your life forward. Even better, gamify it and see just how many quality levers you can stack inside each day for the month. Then at month's end, flip through your entries, see all that you got done, and experience the confidence and aura gains that come as a result. That's all for me. Thanks for watching, your friend Ted.

Self improvement is destroying your aura (do this instead)

Self improvement is destroying your aura (do this instead)