The speaker argues that most people fail to achieve their goals because they obsess over outcomes, which leads to daily frustration and eventual quitting. Instead, they advocate focusing on inputs—actions within one’s control. The process involves four steps: first, define actionable steps like walking 10,000 steps or studying three hours daily, rather than vague goals like "get fit." Second, track these inputs using tools like habit trackers or apps, such as MyFitnessPal for diet and phone pedometers for steps. Third, detach from immediate results, comparing the process to investing, where returns take time and cannot be rushed. Fourth, reflect and adjust inputs if results stagnate; for example, if weight loss stalls despite diet and exercise, consider adding swimming or cardio. The core benefit is reduced anxiety and sustained motivation, as daily small wins build momentum and help you fall in love with the process. Pro tips include using leading indicators (e.g., qualified prospects for business revenue) rather than lagging ones (e.g., cash collected), and automating inputs through technology to minimize effort. Ultimately, the speaker emphasizes that your future self is built by today’s consistent actions, not ideas, and focusing on inputs fosters clarity, confidence, and consistency, ensuring you stay engaged until the goal is reached.
Most of you watching this, the reason you haven't hit your goals is because you've sent your entire life focused on the goal. And when you focus on the goal, every day you don't hit the goal, you feel worse about yourself. So, how do we focus on inputs? One, define actionable steps. Okay, here's an example. Instead of saying, I'm going to get fit, commit to walking 10,000 steps a day, or going the gym three times a week. And so we're going to define what are the actionable steps that we can take that are under our control. I cannot control if my body loses a pound today. But I can control if I walk 10,000 steps, if I hit the gym, and if I eat these macros. Now, the next piece of that is that we want to track our inputs. The example of that is like using a habit tracker or a checklist, basically something that can monitor your daily tasks. Something easy that I use when I was losing 100 pounds is I use my fitness pal. I just tracked in there every day what I ate. Not to mention that, but I also use my phone to track on my steps I took. The third piece is we want to detach from immediate results. An example of this, if you invest a set amount into savings each month, you will grow wealth over the years, even if growth seems slow at first. But here's the thing, if you invest in something and you're like, why am I not getting money tomorrow? If you're too attached to the results, then it's like you feel like you're failing. And so we need to detach from the results. And instead we focus on the inputs and we know the outputs will eventually get there. It's just like investing. When you invest your money into something, you might not get a return for a year or two years. But we know no amount of like wishing it would go faster is going to get it there. You just got to let time do its thing. The same goes for anything that you're setting for yourself as a goal. And then the last step is reflect and adjust. Okay, so for example, if you say my inputs are I study three hours a day, but you're still struggling with the thing that you're studying, then maybe we want to adjust what our input is. Another example, I'm walking 10,000 steps a day. I'm eating 1500 calories a day. And it's been two weeks and I haven't lost weight. Should I swim instead of walk? Should I add some cardio? So basically what I'm doing is I'm reflecting on the results that I've gotten. And then I'm just saying objectively, should I change my inputs to see if this result can be achieved? The main point of focusing on inputs, not outputs, is so that you reduce the anxiety you detach from the results. And you don't get discouraged and quit. The reason must people don't hit their goals is because they quit. And they quit because they're so attached to the outcome. The reason that focusing on inputs helps is because it allows you to stay in the game. Because you're seeing that you're getting these tiny little wins on a daily basis. And that feels good. And so then what happens is you fall in love with the process. And then eventually you hit the goal. Now here's some pro tips. One, we want to use leading indicators, not lagging indicators as inputs. So we want to use actions that predict success rather than measure failure. In business, if your goal is to increase revenue, we want to track how many qualified prospects we're getting, not how much cash we're collecting. If our goal is to lose weight, we want to track how many days of the week we stick to our meal plan, not how many days of the week we've lost weight. The second pro tip is that we want to automate inputs. Like I said, I used my fitness pal, I used my phone to track my steps. I didn't have to think about my phone. As long as I kept it in my pocket, that was going to track my steps for me. For my fitness pal, it saved all my most frequently eaten meals. So that the moment that I ate something, I could just swipe and it would add it to my diary. And so as much as we can, we want to figure out how can we automate something. Your future self is built by today's actions, not today's ideas. When you focus on inputs, you get really clear on what it takes. And then that clarity creates confidence. And that confidence creates consistency.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Focusing on goals, not inputs, leads to discouragement because daily results are not guaranteed.
Track inputs using tools like habit trackers or apps (e.g., MyFitnessPal).
Detach from immediate results; trust that consistent inputs lead to long-term outputs.
Reflect and adjust inputs if results are not achieved, rather than quitting.
Use leading indicators (e.g., number of prospects) instead of lagging indicators (e.g., revenue).
Automate inputs to reduce effort and build consistency.
Focusing on inputs creates clarity, confidence, and consistency, helping you stay in the game.
Summary:
The speaker argues that most people fail to achieve their goals because they obsess over outcomes, which leads to daily frustration and eventual quitting. Instead, they advocate focusing on inputs—actions within one’s control. " Second, track these inputs using tools like habit trackers or apps, such as MyFitnessPal for diet and phone pedometers for steps.
Third, detach from immediate results, comparing the process to investing, where returns take time and cannot be rushed. Fourth, reflect and adjust inputs if results stagnate; for example, if weight loss stalls despite diet and exercise, consider adding swimming or cardio. The core benefit is reduced anxiety and sustained motivation, as daily small wins build momentum and help you fall in love with the process.
, cash collected), and automating inputs through technology to minimize effort. Ultimately, the speaker emphasizes that your future self is built by today’s consistent actions, not ideas, and focusing on inputs fosters clarity, confidence, and consistency, ensuring you stay engaged until the goal is reached.
FAQs
People fail because they focus on the goal itself, which makes them feel worse daily when not achieved, leading to quitting due to attachment to outcomes.
Define actionable steps under your control, like committing to walking 10,000 steps a day instead of just saying 'get fit'.
Use a habit tracker or checklist, such as MyFitnessPal for food or a phone for steps, to monitor daily tasks.
Detaching prevents discouragement because results take time, like investing, where growth is slow initially but builds over years.
Adjust your inputs, like switching from walking to swimming if weight loss stalls, to see if different actions achieve the desired result.
It reduces anxiety, prevents quitting, and helps you fall in love with the process by celebrating daily small wins.
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