Happy Saturday, friend!

We’re back again with another edition of Productivity + Habits + Fun

😃 Fun Fact of the Week

Competitive art used to be an Olympic sport.

Between 1912 and 1948, artists could win medals in the following categories:

• Painting

• Music

• Sculpture

• Architecture

Should we bring this back, or should the Olympics stay more “action focused?”

🐦 Tweet of the Week

This post isn’t as scary as it my sound.

It’s a reminder that we have choices each day.

We can keep our good habits going, or…

We can slip up.

To help yourself with the grind, try this:

1. Plan your day the night before - identify the 3 big things you need to do

2. Schedule time in the day to do those things

3. Track your progress - mark a calendar, check off the tasks as you complete them

Bonus: Check in daily with an accountability buddy to keep yourself consistent.

And if you do slip up…

It’s ok. Forgive yourself, take notes of why it happened, plan to avoid that slip in the future.

You’ve got this!

💪 Featured Productivity Tip

Say no.

This is super simple, but it can be quite challenging.

In fact, it’s something I struggle with sometimes.

There are so many distractions out there:

• Shows

• Social media

• Social gatherings

I know I’m sounding like a hermit, but hear me out!

Usually, these things are accompanied by requests from friends and family.

They genuinely want to spend time with you, and that’s awesome.

Spend time with them!

My suggestion is to place some boundaries by saying “no thank you” on occasion.

If you’re clear on your goals and your “why” behind them, you’ll have an easier time making this happen.

Find a balance between your goals and the equally worthy pastime with friends and family.

👀 Hidden Messages In Company Logos

Click the link if you’re curious!

🧓 Retirement Age By Country And Gender

From the source article (linked in photo):

• The current retirement age is the age at which individuals can retire without penalty to pension after completing a full career starting from age 22.

• The effective retirement age refers to the average age of exit from the labor force for workers aged 40 years or more.

🤔 Decision-making Idea

Naïve Realism: we tend to believe that only we can see objective reality - other people’s perspectives are biased, misinformed, and subjective.

Example: You see a red apple. Someone else thinks it looks a bit orange. That can’t possibly be right because you see the apple as quite plainly red. The only explanation is that the other person needs to get their eyes checked. There’s no way they’re right.

Take this as a lesson that all parties are somewhat subjective in their views and opinions.

Instead of getting defensive over a slight disagreement, acknowledge that it ultimately doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of the discussion.

🧠 Quote of the Week

What I think:

All of us have fears.

It can be darkness, critters, or big things like poverty and homelessness.

Actual exposure therapy may be an option for some fears.

For example, someone afraid of spiders could do this:

• Find a spider and observe it from a distance

• Then observe it more closely

• Visit a pet store and observe a tarantula

• Eventually be able to calmly hold that tarantula (They’re really fuzzy, by the way.)

For fear of poverty and homelessness, maybe you can safely camp outside and deny yourself entry to your house for a weekend.

A much safer option is to journal on these fears. (This is what I’m recommending!)

Ask yourself:

• Where did I get this fear?

• What am I feeling when I think about this?

• What does the worst case scenario look like?

• How likely is this to actually happen?

• What can I do daily, weekly, monthly to make sure this doesn’t happen?

Start there, and over time, you’ll notice a better comfort with the fear.

Eventually, it will leave you, and you’ll have a sense of freedom.

What’s something you’re afraid of?

Thank you so much for spending some of you precious time with me. 🙂

I’m always looking to improve, so hit “reply” and let me know what you think!

Have an awesome week.

Sincerely,

Steven Sanders

PS - I hope to see you on Twitter and Instagram!