Hey there..

My daughter, Mimah, is currently writing an 80,000 word novel.

She has the plot down...

Total personality analysis for each character done...

And a number of other things I wouldn't bore you with...done.

All that done before she even started writing the book..

She's 13 by the way...

Yesterday I had a pretty interesting conversation with her...

The conversation went something like this:

Mimah: Daddy I want you to do something for me.

Me: What's that?

Mimah: I want you to sit with me and question my story arch the same way you question your students.

Me: Ok...are you sure? You know I won't be holding back right? It might hurt.

Mimah: I know. But like you taught me, just because I don't like what I'm hearing doesn't mean you don't love me. I'll cry but I'll get over it.

Me thinking to myself: It's official...your work here is done!

It was a very proud daddy moment for me.

With my girls (I have 3) there's a game I play...

Everyday when I talk with them...

I ask "what future problems did you prevent today?"

It started with answers like...

I gave Tope sweets today so that tomorrow if I ask her she'll give me too..

Or my personal favorite...

I helped my teacher today so that if she wants to punish me it'll hurt her inside too..

#smh

These days the answers are a lot more complex...

But the lesson is simple:

Plan in advance to avoid bad things happening and when bad things don't happen...celebrate that!

I think one of the big issues with us as human beings is that...

We fail to appreciate when bad things don’t happen.

Think about that for a moment.

Think about the excitement...

Appreciation...

Joy and relief that comes...

When we dig ourselves out of a hole.

When we pay off our debt...

Fight off sickness...

Escape legal trouble...

Now think about this:

How often do we celebrate the times that we never got in a hole in the first place?

We celebrate our friends who gain and lose weight...

But...

We typically don't celebrate those never gained excessive weight to begin with.

Getting rescued feels more rewarding than avoiding trouble.

“Look at what I did for you” is a lot sexier (and easier to sell)..

Than “Look what I helped you avoid”.

Obviously this a very basic incentive problem...

It’s difficult to observe and appreciate non-action.

The guy who risks his life to save a child in a fire is considered a hero...

But nobody talks about the guy that makes sure no fires will ever take place...

That guy is hardly ever celebrated.

Here's the thing...

If we continue to reward the putting out of fires...

And effectively ignore the prevention of them...

Something terrifying happens:

Attention, award seeking humans are incentivized to put out fires instead

of preventing them.

Nobody is properly incentivized to prevent the fire in the first place.

#eshockyou

.

In fact...

There is an incentive to start a fire just put it out...

Or dig a hole just to climb out and claim victory!

We create a situation where our formula for success becomes...

Dig a hole → climb out → celebrate. Do it again.

You don't need to be a genius to understand that this formula is a whole

bunch of “wins” that require a ton of effort and result in staying in the

same exact place.

Fighting hard and winning just to wake up in the same place every day is a

circle of hell I’d like to avoid.

If we can learn to celebrate when bad things don’t happen...

Focus on making ongoing progress..

Having a positive impact and enjoying life...

Instead of seeking the episodic joy of digging ourselves out of the same hole (again)...

We can do truly extraordinary things.

This is the very crux of getting out of your own way and rigging the game in your favor...

At Start the Year Right...

I'll be sharing with you ...

Tools built to keep us out of the our own way and rig the game in our favor.

When you apply these tools...

You'll experience a fundamental shift towards appreciating when bad things don’t happen...

Learning how to accurately measure, manage and appreciate the things that matter.

In working with high level thinkers and spending lots of time with business executives and some of the most talented and powerful people in Africa...

I've learned one major thing...

Nobody wins a race they don't want to be in.

Tomorrow we'll talk about how the level of success you enjoy depends largely on how focused you are on being in alignment with yourself.

You have a right to be you.

Life is too big a game for you to choose to face it without the advantage of being clear about what you're about..

You're going to love it.

Till tomorrow

Get out of your own way.

CTM

BTW: Wanna spend 5 days with me thinking through 2023 at Start The Year Right...hit reply and lets talk. The investment is just N50000.