Hello Everyone,

This week's email covers a few ideas that I've been thinking about a bit recently. I think they can helpful - so let's get into it.

We're going to cover a military maxim, low hanging fruit, and investing in recovery.

Prioritise & Execute.

Prioritise & Execute is a maxim that comes from the military. During a battle, when (as per Murphy's Law) everything starts going wrong at once, a commander has a duty to deal with it.

If they get overwhelmed, a battle - and likely lives - will be lost. The solution is to use the maxim. They order the problems, prioritise them, and execute immediately on those with the highest priority.

Most of us aren't going to be in battle - but we NEED to keep this maxim in mind. It provides a cure for being overwhelmed - a cure that has been tested in the toughest environments in the world.

I've used this maxim over this week. In the middle of an exam period, I've balanced the burden of exams with my existing habits (while adding new ones) and projects.

I do this by using a simple 5x3 index card, and noting down my five focused tasks for the day (additional tasks and reminders go on the back). I cannot go to sleep until all five items are complete.

I have 1 Major Task (a task that I need to allocate a one to three hour block of time towards). 1 Meaning To Do Task (a task that isn't urgent but is important to me, i.e., I've been. "meaning to do it." and 3 Getting Things Done tasks (tasks that are important / urgent - or just urgent).

This forces me to prioritise which tasks that I'm going to give my attention and focus too - and helps me prevent getting overwhelmed.

Low Hanging Fruit.

For a long time, I've been addicted to finding the perfect self-improvement hack. Those things that allow me to optimise one area through doing something small.

The problem is, I realised how much I've left on the table by not focusing on the "Low Hanging Fruit" - simple actions that provide the most impact.

For example, I know that eating almonds and drinking chamomile tea before bed can help people fall asleep but a small margin. But, getting up early (at the same time daily), working out during the day, and reading before bed are three actions that can make a huge difference in helping you fall asleep - in fact, you'll probably collapse into bed after a long day.

Sure, the second set of options may seem more difficult, but they're still simple and much more effective. Instead of trying to optimise for the smaller first set of options - or similar ones - we should focus on the Low Hanging Fruit first.

Another great example of this is investing. If you have $500 invested, an insane 50% return over a year, would only net you $250.

Meanwhile, if you invested $500 into learning a profitable skill or building a side hustle - you could easily out earn that $250, and reap the added rewards for much longer.

Ask Yourself: What Low Hanging Fruit am I ignoring?

Invest in Recovery.

There's a thread common amongst nearly every high performing person that I learn or read about. They're willing to invest in recovery.

This could be through stillness, physical recovery, or any other method that allows them to rest and reset.

If you want to push yourself to your limits, you're going to have to be willing to invest in your recovery.

This will allow you to perform at your best over longer periods - and motivate you to keep going, and push your limits.

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That's all for this week.

I hope you'll think on these ideas - and use them in your own life.

Until next time,

Zachariah