Habits 2 Goals: The Habit Factor® Podcast With Martin Grunburg | Goal Achievement, Productivity & Success Simplified

"Habit is a cobweb at first and a cable at last." ~Chinese Proverb Let's say you have a habit of doing push-ups every morning. At what point does a habit cease to become a habit? Well, it turns out that psychologist, Clark C. Hull introduced something he labeled "habit strength" many years ago. As Martin puts it, his "formula" was a little eccentric, perhaps too complicated and Martin set out to reintroduce HabitStrength™ but make it much easier to apply and understand. Just like a muscle, habit is strengthened with consistency over time. By following the P.A.R.R. methodology anyone is able to increase their HabitStrength™ Plan. Act. Record. Reassess. P.A.R.R. is The Habit Factor's proprietary methodology to help anyone develop habits and increase their HabitStrength™. After each successive 28 day period (4 weeks) the participant, if they've registered 85% or better against their targets can "raise the bar." The fact is HABIT DEVELOPMENT demands three core elements/ ingredients... Knowledge, Skill (capacity t

“Muddied waters left to stand become clear.” Lao Tzu What is STRESS really?  Martin and Henry explore stress diving deep into the topic at hand. The idea is simple; the better we can understand the subject the better we can address it. Henry starts the discussion recounting an entrepreneur group meeting led by Martin discussing the same topic and how his comments and that quote above have stuck with him ever since. Henry and Martin review discuss and analyze stress from various vantage points and review different mindsets and techniques to help manage stress. Later, Martin shares a F R E E Gift (unplanned) but realizes it's a great way for listeners to help manage stress. Please see resource link below - As a Man Thinketh. Since you can only hold one thought in your mind at a time, this beautiful, short and powerful little book helps you to guide your mind and “think right” in times of great challenge. Check it out and learn other great tips and find out how to get your free gift! -------------------------

"The successful person is just the average person focused.” This episode is chock-full of tips, tools and techniques to help you master your focus and to be more productive! Martin and Henry discuss focus in an age of high technology and perpetual distraction. Martin shares that the very reason The Habit Factor even exists is because of his inability to focus and how THF was the answer that helped him to write two books. Henry covers a few great tips like time blocking (hours at a time) and changing up his environment, sometimes even crashing nice hotels! A few KEYS covered include: deep breathing, knowing you energy patterns, setting minimum focus time and changing your environment! "A five watt light bulb can barely light up a closet but when focused can cut through steel." Resources mentioned: WriteRoom (app iOS) Headspace (app) Brain.FM Pomodoro technique Here's a video explaining P.A.R.R. and HabitStrength™ >> Meet BILL Thanks for checking out, sharing and subscribing to this podcast!   More Resources

“Before fear becomes fear, it’s pressure.” Martin and Henry dive deep into WHY we all seem to procrastinate more than we’d like. Spoiler alert: The biggest reason is resisting the possibility of future PAIN, FEAR and/or uncertainty. Then they delve into the various mindsets and strategies they use to address and overcome procrastination. Talk of "The Pressure Paradox™" comes up as it must! How do you “refract” PRESSURE? Just like light refracts through a prism Martin proposes that each of us refract pressure and procrastination is just a negative form of refraction based again upon fear, uncertainty and the concern for future pain. Check this one out!  Thanks for checking out, sharing and subscribing to this podcast!   More Resources (FREE! The Habit Factor's Tracking Template) The Habit Factor® (website: BLOG, tips, tools and other resources) The Habit Factor® Book (Amazon Kindle) The Pressure Paradox® Book (Amazon Kindle) The Habit Factor app (iOS, Android) The Habit Factor's Facebook (Private) Accountabili

After Martin and Henry bust out their GTRs (Good Things Report) they tackle the power of accountability. Henry calls out MG on his confession about tracking just 50% with his accountability group. Then, Martin shares the significance of TRACKING + ACCOUNTABILITY and the mindset that helped him to stay motivated! Questions to ponder: What are you comparing yourself against? How much better are you doing just by the act of tracking in the first place? Martin shares that The Habit Factor's Facebook Accountability Page has been critical to help him push through stagnation and how fun it is to see others progress and how everyone encourages each other! They even review the fundamental components of habit development (the absolute requirements PLUS the best method for habit development; P.A.R.R. ) and examples of working with others who’ve realized a great ancillary benefits even if and when they were tracking the wrong habit and chasing the wrong goal!   The Habit Factor Facebook Accountability Group (application

In this, the first episode of the new season Martin welcomes Henry Evans of "Hour a Day Entrepreneur" fame and "Get Clear Marketing" as the season’s new co-host and they get right into the topic du jour, “Theme Days”. When you think about the most successful organizations they do one thing well: they are consistent! Consistency of behavior is achieved via a rhythmic, habit-pattern sort of scheduling that takes advantage of the natural rhythms in nature. Hence, we have a calendar and a clock. So, for instance, management teams will meet on Mondays. Or your gardener always shows up on a Tuesday and Church is always on Sunday. etc. Consider how you can employ the same idea to your productivity! The key question becomes, how are YOU going to establish a rhythm of behavior (habits) that support your or your organizations goals. Rhythmic behavior is a great way to SOLVE problems ensuring that problem areas get routine, systematic attention and treatment. For more on the topic you can read Martin's post Here's a

BONUS: Just for checking in on this episode, Martin is giving away one of his most powerful and now, just for YOU (F R E E) tools—the Personal Evaluation Toolkit! (P.E.T.) A gift just for listening, subscribing, reviewing and helping to ensure an EPIC launch for Season III. All you have to do is listen to this show and follow the simple guidelines below... This is “The Bridge” episode! Titled such because it bridges Season II and the all new, exciting, upcoming release Season III. Season III is set to premiere 2/21 with a new Co-host and Cover Art! Just listen to the show, subscribe and write a quick review when Season III debuts (between Feb 20 - 28) and you will be sent the powerful P.E.T.! Personal Evaluation Toolkit! A fantastic way to ensure that YOUR 2017 is off to the best start possible. It’s that simple. Thanks! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe

"Wisdom is equal measure experience plus reflection." ~Aristotle With 2016 almost entirely in the rear view mirror, now is the time to REFLECT and add some growth and wisdom to our lives as we look toward 2017! Martin reviews a few essential questions and exercises that have helped him immeasurably and covers some bigger concepts like wellness, happiness and the essence of habit and goal achievement. This episode is designed to help us identify where we are and where we want to go in 2017 and of course, how to get there. At the end of this show Martin shares a similarly themed blog post (yr end post) that links to a much more in-depth document— a P.E.T. (a Personal Evaluation Toolkit) approx 40 pages... which is totally FREE. Just visit: http://thehabitfactor.com/2016 Thanks for listening and be sure to use all these great ideas and tools to make 2017 your best year ever. Also, be sure to subscribe and share the Habits 2 Goals podcast and blog with your friends! Happy New Year! This is a public episode. If

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Episode 100 is short, sweet and powerful. Yes! There is even a GIFT! A Free eBook, As a Man Thinketh! This very quick, powerful read is one of Martin's favorite books and he shares exactly WHY (plus, the link to get your special edition).  “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~Martin Luther King This episode is the perfect reminder on this Thanksgiving Day! While most people will tell you to be grateful for the fact that you are alive, have clean air and water and live (hopefully) in a FREE country. Martin changes the discussion pointing to an essential gift that is often overlooked. What we ought to be thankful for is our UNIQUE capacity to choose our thoughts! To direct our attention, intention and focus. If we "feel whatever we focus upon" then the question to ask is, "WHO is holding your flashlight?" One more time: "WHO is holding your flashlight?" Who decides what you will focus upon at any moment? This Than

A short episode designed for new listeners. MG recaps some of the most popular episodes — helps any new listener/subscriber get up to speed before season III begins. Download this episodes — Mindsets & Philosophies: - MBM02 - Responsibility - The Physics of Personal Productivity - Making the Time to Relax - 7 Reasons Self Help Does Not Suck - Silence and Concentration - Success in Common Hours - MBM 21- "Be Like Water" - The Eighth Wind Habits - What does Ben Franklin and a Hindu Priest have in common - 3 Habit Busting Tips - What makes  a good habit? - The Habit of Asking Questions - How Long Does it Really Take to Develop a Habit - What is the law of cosmic habit force! Goals - Why SMART goals aren’t so smart - Vision: Everything is Created Twice - Got Leverage - Persistence is more valuable than - Super-conscious connectivity - MBM 18: “Getting to” - The Eight That Separate A few Interviews to start with: - Jon Carder -  Super Entrepreneur - Eric Kaufmann  (Virtues of Leadership) - Henry Evans - The

It's no accident that so many of the clinically and even non-clinically diagnosed "sufferers" of ADD / ADHD symptoms seek out and recommend The Habit Factor. In this episode Martin shares how and why you ought to regard your ADD/ADHD as a terrific asset and not focus so much on the liability aspect in the Season II finale episode. As it turns out, The Habit Factor was birthed as a solution to Martin's own productivity and goal achievement challenges as chronicled in the bestseller, The Habit Factor (amazon) Choosing to focus on the positive symptoms of ADD, we see how for instance, "seeing connections others may miss" can be a powerful asset. In fact, this is a great illustration of how The Habit Factor originally identified and published the powerful habit alignment for goal-achievement or "Habits 2 Goals" methodology. And, at the same time exposed best practices like "SMART Goals" for leaving out habit entirely. Finally, Martin shares that it's time for him to dive head first into some big projects and move

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others." ~African Proverb Touching on a theme from a prior episode in season one, Teamwork Makes the Dream Work, Martin shares a couple #MBM worthy quotes, to help underscore the importance of working together. Citing how geese will fly up to 70% further when they fly as a group in their "V" formation, the analogy isn't to be lost when it comes to us, attempting to reach our own goals. The geese will even share leadership and responsibility which allows the other geese (particularly those who've worked the hardest) the ability to go to the back, draft, and conserve energy and refresh. The idea here is to reflect upon your life goals, identify the team you are building and working with and see if you can't learn from and model the success formula of the geese —teamwork! And the geese in the back of the formation have an important role too, honking the loudest and cheering the lead geese on who are working the hardest! Check out this episode and

It's hard to argue that water is not the ultimate solution... Particularly when you notice water's unique traits and how they can apply to our lives. As a follow-up to the recent Adaptability Episode (Mind Bullet), Martin shares how water proves to be a fantastic model for us to learn from. Not many elements change from gas to liquid and even become a solid with general ease. Further, water provides a powerful model for two other important concepts; mastery & character. Maybe it isn't a coincidence that our body as well as the earth itself, is comprised of approximately of 70% water? When it comes to our character, water provides an example of many important traits we'd be wise to assume; strength, transparency, resilience, cohesiveness, patience, flexibility, formlessness, self-balancing/correcting, smooth, soft, etc. These are the same traits any, would be, "master" must assume while, of course, refusing the "master" label. The master never reaches for the great, thus she achieves greatness. when she ru

"What gets measured gets done!" A great question and now after about thirteen years of tracking important behaviors/habits Martin shares that it's almost impossible to imagine achieving any goal without tracking those behaviors/habits that align with his goals. Martin sets the table be recounting how and where tracking first entered and influenced most of our lives; school! The teacher tracked our attendance and our grades. Why? So we would know (in real time) whether we were progressing or not. Then he touches on a quick anecdote about a great camp director on Catalina who used to warn that kids that the counselors were tracking their BMs (seriously). Then Martin shares how tracking behaviors or habits is time-tested and proven process to achieve goals and once again cites and refers listeners to a prior, "Be Like Ben" Mind Bullet Monday episode #11! So, if you haven't experienced and dedicated yourself to tracking (for a period of 28 days) please check out the P.A.R.R. methodology for habit development that

"It's not the strongest or the smartest of species that survives, but the one most adaptable to change." ~Charles Darwin In order to be "successful" you can bet you'll need to first survive— to be alive. Seems obvious enough and when considered in that context, one really cannot over-emphasis the importance of adaptability as it relates to not just survival but the attainment of success. In her bestseller Mindset (Amazon), Dr. Carol Dweck points to grit as a key predictor of success. Angela Duckworth (correction) is the author of GRIT (Amazon). Martin then shares his take on what a GRIT pyramid might look like and the visual (link here to related post) really underscores how both resilience and adaptability are essential. No adaptability— no grit. It seems we all know people who experience the same poor results and yet continue with the same behaviors. The inference is that if they could take the time to first reflect on the outcome they desire and then adapt their behaviors and habits they will improve thei

"In times of change the learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." Eric Hoffer It seems we all know a few people who decided that learning should cease when with their schooling. Unfortunately, these people tend to be same ones who are unhappy and discontent with themselves and their lives. It's important to ask ourselves, "Is growth and learning a habit that I've incorporated into my life?" That is, do you routinely set aside time to learn new subjects and skills; to broaden your mind, to read and explore new and different environments daily. Better yet, do you track your learning process— the development of any new skill or habit. If not, you ought to consider it since greats like Benjamin Franklin did this regularly (see Be Like Ben episode) So, whether it’s tracking your attempt to become better in your vocation, learning a new skill or reading spiritual texts, the key idea is making your continued growth intentional and

Quitting is one of the easiest things to do. Hence, most people quit when the going gets tough. It's the rare person that forges ahead on not much more than faith and adapts and persists and then adapts some more. Hence, "success" seems rare. Unfortunately, it seems to be popular lately to encourage quitting, as though it was a virtue. In this episode Martin takes a different tact and recommends forging on... almost always, despite setbacks and using them to become more resourceful and adaptive. Having said all that, there are indeed times to quit. But here's a key distinction; it's typically when you've had various successes already and you know what a real failure looks like because you've experienced it. Recall that it's good judgement that comes from experience and experience that comes from bad judgement. So, there's great benefit to the continued pursuit of one's ideal outcome; character is forged, creativity is enhanced and resourcefulness grows despite the odds. Often the data that we're observing may

In this episode Martin recounts the classic parable about a Chinese Farmer. As you listen to the story it becomes easy to see how we, like the neighbors in the story, are intent on labeling events either "good" or "bad", "fortunate" or "unfortunate". The parable though teaches us to withhold immediate judgement and cautions us at the same time to allow events to play out further. Martin recalls a similar story when an entrepreneur within a group he was coaching/mentoring was ecstatic about finally making the perfect hire after months of frustration and struggle including dozens of interviews. Finally, the entrepreneur updated Martin with a text saying that he had made what he believed was the perfect hire! A month later though as the group reconvened, the entrepreneur shared that the new hire had only lasted a couple days and then quit. The question for us is, what events are transpiring in your life, at the moment, that appear unfavorable? And, like the wise Chinese farmer can you ask yourself if perhaps th

"Life shrinks or expands according to one's courage." Anais Nin If we're not growing we're probably slowly dying. Sounds like a painful cliche but there is ample truth to the statement. The root or foundation of growth in personal all development can be traced to what Aristotle deemed the "mother" of all virtues—courage.  We have reviewed courage many times on this podcast. And, it's important to remember that any virtue is simply a habit long sustained. Nobody is born virtuous and therefore we know that courage habit can be cultivated like any other habit and ultimately become a virtue. But how and where can we apply Anais' quote to our lives? Martin poses questions like this: If you learned a new skill would that make life expand or contract? Would that take courage? If you volunteered for a leadership position at work or at a local non-profit would that make life expand or shrink? Would that take courage? If you set and went after your big, improbably goal? Do you think life would expand? Would that take c

"We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are." ~Anais Nin When people talk about shifting their paradigm it might sound corny, or perhaps trendy, or both. The importance of shifting one's paradigm particularly when it comes to self-imposed limitations or limiting beliefs can not be overstated. In fact, Einstein once said you can't solve a problem using the same level of thinking that created the problem and that is precisely the value of a paradigm shift. Martin provides the example of how The Habit Factor, itself, by exploring the subject of HABIT very deeply helped to shift people's paradigms about habit. And in particular, how habit  helps to drive goal achievement. He even shares the example of Apple's "Think Different" campaign which was their way to underscore Apple's belief that a computer isn't a computer (as we know it) but rather an extension of our personality, how we work and even in many ways could be viewed as art. Martin also recounts a great story, originally shared by the late Dr. St