By always automating things you will make sure you have the mental energy to focus on what is truly important!
According to science, we have 50 – 80,000 thoughts per day and that is a crazy amount of thoughts to have. Luckily we are not actively aware of all of them as they are happening automatically, for good and for bad. Most of our thoughts, as you might know, are historical and repetitive and are therefore run on autopilot.
One of the absolute most important things to automate is your money, especially if you “have no interest in money and investing” (how that is even possible I don’t know, as money will be part of your life all your life). By committing to becoming aware, taking control and then automating, you make sure you and your family will be financially secure. Most likely you will never have to worry about money ever again! Unfortunately many seem to “be ok” stressing about money all their lives instead of deciding to take control and make sure their kids are provided for and grow up with a millionaire mindset (in contrary to one of scarcity)!
Why automating?
Simply put, our brain has a limited capacity in terms of how many decisions we can make per day. There are numerous factors impacting the decision-making skills of our frontal lobe. Science is clear that the more decisions we are making, the more tired our brain becomes. That’s why you always see Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) wearing a t-shirt every day. He doesn’t want to waste his decision-making skills on choosing different clothes every day, he has more important decisions to make and so do you!
We should consider automating as many of our non-important decisions as possible to make sure we have enough capacity available for the important decisions. By going through all the decisions you make every day and creating routines around them, they will “just happen”. You will eventually create a habit and they will just happen unconsciously, whilst your mind can be focused on something else.
I must stress that it is extremely important that you are in control of what gets automated and how. Most of us have habits which we can’t really say that we actively chose to be our habits. They have just become habits as we have done the same thing so many times over and over again. Like the route we take to work, what we eat for breakfast, what we do directly after waking up in the morning etc… If you go through these, I am sure there is a thing or two you would want to change for the better…
On top of these habitual changes that you want to be happening automatically but in a favorable way, you should also think about how you can eliminate some tasks and decisions. As an example, by having a good order at home you will always find what you are looking for so no time or energy is spent looking for stuff you can’t find. Buy your food online and have a list of the basics you always need so that you don’t have to walk around in the grocery store to find these items. Do a list of what you will eat for dinner during the whole week and make sure you buy the ingredients at the same time. Then when the evening comes, you won’t have to spend time figuring out what to eat and then finding out if you have the ingredients.
It’s about automating the things that can be automated in order to free up your time and decision-making capacity whilst at the same time making you run on an intentional autopilot to get the results you want instead of some random result since you didn’t spend the time to make those habits intentional.
Choose what you automate!
Our mornings are extremely important because the way we start our day is normally how our days will pan out. That is why I recommend everyone to have outstanding morning routines, not to leave the course of your day to chance (read my post on morning rituals)! Is it really a priority for you to choose which shirt you are going to wear tomorrow (if you have an office job)? Why not just have two colors and you will never have to think about that again, just take a different one every day and you will know how to match the tie and suit.
If you go through what and how you do things in the morning I am sure you find things you can modify. Again it is the most important part of the day as it sets you up for the day and determines the mood you’ll be in. Your clothes, your food, how you get the kids ready etc…
You want to make sure that when those important decisions are to be made, you have the capacity and clarity to do so! You don’t want to be exhausted because you have made loads of small irrelevant decisions during the day. Some areas are of course much more important than others and I would suggest you take some time to think about everything you do and then sit down and decide how you want and can automate them.
Always make sure that you automate the things that will have the most impact on yours and your family’s health and well-being! These might require both time and dedication but you have to do this! One great example is making sure you are in control over your finances and have set everything up according to your plans and goals. Initially you will have to spend some time on this, yes, but you can then set it up so that it happens automatically and you don’t have to constantly think about it.
In terms of priority, focus on the most important things first as well as the ones you find most boring (but you still have to do). Once you have them automated, you will feel great about yourself and you will soon both see and feel the results!
I hate seeing people who are stressed about money, especially when it has been going on for a long time. It takes both time and energy which affect their mood and this has an impact on the whole family in a negative way! Perhaps the worst thing is not the bad finances but the fact that they are imprinting a poor money mindset to the minds of their kids as well! These innocent kids will most likely grow up with a mindset of scarcity where they constantly feel the “lack of money” and it might follow them for the rest of their lives!
Don’t let this happen to you, your family or your kids. Decide right now that you will take control and then automate so that you don’t have to constantly think about it, nor be feeling stressed about it!
Some of the key things to be automating
- Your finances – The Bucket System – Automating your Finances
- Your mornings so that they start the way you want, every day!
- How you organize important documents and emails on your computer!
- What to wear…
- Shopping for food (or even clothes, just order same things online and in the right size!)
- What to eat and drink when you are going out (can still be varied but avoid fast food..)
- What you will be eating at home and who is doing the cooking
- Your chores at home (same day, same time, same order and use NET!!)
- Your exercise routines – just make them happen and use it as NET!
Actions to take:
- Set aside some time NOW to go through what you can automate and how
- Get ahead with No Extra Time (NET)
- Make Sure You Have Outstanding Morning Routines
- Try out meditation and implement it as one of your healthy routines – check out our post Meditation – why and how to get started
- Start Focusing On The Good Things In Life Using a Gratitude Journal
– Jakob
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