As you start a new year or have a new health goal, it’s easy to start imagining all the possibilities for your life.

Sexy Goals are great! I want you to have Sexy Goals that pull you towards progress, but over the years I’ve found the best way to get there is through UnSexy Habits.

It’s this mindset that Sexy Goals need UnSexy Habits in order to come to fruition that will actually get you to stick to New Year’s Resolutions. How you get New Year’s Resolutions to stick is by having habits that are small, easy to perform, and impossible to forget.

My UnSexy Habits have changed over the years, but here are 4 that I’m currently using to straighten my path to my Sexy Goals.

My 4 UnSexy Habits:
1. Create Everyday: Write for at least one hour every day. Set a time to create. The night before, know what time is blocked out for creating the next day.
2. Minimize and Organize: Sell & Donate anything we haven’t used in the past year. Declutter our spaces and keep up with kid’s stuff/clothes especially. Organize and give things an intentional space to live.
3. Track Distractions: Limit time spent on certain apps. Set a timer limit for use of Instagram and Facebook at 20 minutes per day. Use social media and don’t let it use me.
4. Live by the list: Create a “power list” each week and each day. Visit it before bed to make sure I have an intention for the next day. Focus on the important things and not just urgent things.

In reverse order, let’s talk about why these habits are so important to me.

The list really is everything. Keeping things on a list and out of my head helps me immensely. Putting events on my calendar and being able to “forget” about them clears a lot of needed mental space.

The “power list” focuses on your most important tasks. The ones that will move your business forward the most or mean the most to your loved ones. Focus on getting these done first. Then you can retire for the day or go onto the less important tasks. (I hesitate to say you can play with your family or go on a date with your wife once your “power list” is done, because they can and 100% should be a part of your power list. Put play time, workouts, dates, all on your must-do list.)

It’s a little odd to post on social media how you’re going to use social media less. I realize the irony when this message goes on my social. But my goal this year with social media is to turn what is traditionally a passive act, to a very active use where I’m constantly providing value out to others.

Instead of saying, “I’ll use social media less.” I’ve put in two systems to make sure I use it less. The first is changing the settings on my phone so that it shuts off my apps when I reach the 20 minute mark (combined use). I’ve learned to create more stuff offline then simply post it to the social channels, rather than spending time on the app. You can go past the limit if needed but at least it’s giving you honest feedback about how much time you’re spending on social.

I also moved social media apps to a folder on the fourth screen on my phone. This is crazy how this one little tactic can drastically change how you use your phone. Just changing the place apps live will change your use with them. It’s impossible to mindlessly open an app when your brain doesn’t subconsciously know where it lies. Make your brain think to pull up the apps you want to use less of. Here’s a current picture of my homescreen. I say current because I change it to reflect the behaviors I want to have.

It’s like the old saying, “show me your checkbook and I’ll show you your priorities” or “show me your calendar and I’ll show you what’s important to you”. The phone home screen is today’s “priority list”. We have to be intentional about our priorities and organizing our phone is one big way to do that.

I’ve also turned off notifications for all of the apps except for text messages and slack, which we use for messaging between our team at the gym. My phone is always on vibrate mode unless I’m expecting an important call, because my phone is available to my brain whenever it needs it, not the other way around.

To help declutter my technology world further, I’m unsubscribing from 2-3 emails every day (except for any FitTown ones). Do this until you feel like “nobody ever sends me anything”. That’s when you know you’ve reached a healthy point with your email. There are services that can help filter out spam for you like unroll.me if you feel like you’ve lost control of your inbox and don’t want to just start a new email altogether.

I’ve already stopped watching the mainstream news, but would still watch CNBC to know what the markets are doing. Even that I’ve watched so much less of. There’s so much noise and propaganda out there in today’s world. You have to be vigilant with who you give your attention to and the giving away of your valuable mental real estate.

I’ve definitely bought into the minimization movement and paying attention to which things in my house bring me joy. I’ve found that the less I have in my house, the more I’m able to appreciate each thing that remains. Also, if I haven’t used something in over a year, I most likely won’t use it in the next year, and it can serve a much greater purpose given to others. Sell/Donate/Trash then organize what’s left.

I find that an organized space leads to an organized mind. Stress and “busy-ness” are often self-inflicted wounds that are caused by busy and stressed environments. If you can take time to clear your space, you’ll see how much your mind can clear as well.

Further clearing my physical spaces in my home will help me create needed mental space and become more creative now and in the future.

I’ve also realized in order to be creative, I need disciplined times and places to release creativity. It won’t be easy at first because it may feel restrictive but I believe in the “discipline equals freedom” model, especially when it comes to freedom equaling new ideas.

What are your unsexy habits?
Post them and tag me.

-Coach Tony