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

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." Henry David Thoreau In this episode Martin revisits this quote by the famous essayist — a quote that sent him on a journey of personal discovery and analysis about the enigma that is "success". In this famous quote Henry David Thoreau points out with great assurance that, "he WILL meet with a success in common hours". Notice that HDT doesn't say he "might" or that he "could" but that he "WILL"! After years of analysis and reaffirming this statement, Martin has settled on much the same truth. That success is not a destination but a realization along the journey and is experienced as one pursues their ideal future confidently. It seems that it is only when one advances confidently toward their dreams and works hard realize the life that they have imaged that the improbable happens — that they are met with the feeling of success in "common" h

"As long as you are above ground, these are ALL things you 'Get to do!'" How we talk to ourselves determines a vast majority of what we do and do not do. The language that we use often creates resistance. So, then what happens? Well, we know what we need to do but still don't do it. What are the chances that some of that resistance is simply tied to the language that we use? In this episode Martin begins by asking you to imagine you both work at the same company and he get to "tell you what you have to do". Doesn't sound too pleasant does it? Yet, many of use will go through each day saying that exact statement to ourselves, things like; "I have to pay my bills". "I have to go to the gym." "I have to get the car washed." "I have to go to school" etc. A subtle and significant shift takes place when we revisit our language and change the way we talk to ourselves. Simply saying, "I get to pay my bills." "I get to go to the gym" etc. will reduced our reluctance to do them! What are you telling yourself "you have

"There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why.” ~Albert Einstein What is the difference between the superconscious and the subconscious? When a problem is well defined it seems that when we are relaxed, and in a subconscious, habitual state that we make that "leap in consciousness" that Einstein talks about. Einstein calls it a "leap" in consciousness and many theorize that is exactly what it is. But the "how" and the "why" may in fact be related to the subconscious and in particular HABIT. Many personal development greats like Brian Tracy and Napoleon Hill (video link below) have also termed this the "God-Mind" and "Infinite Intelligence". Whatever you call it, it's a powerful aspect to one's creativity and it appears to be most often fostered when we are performing habitual activities such as; brushing our teeth, showering, shaving, driving, etc. In this episode Martin uses the "three-layer cake" analogy and shares his exper

A diamond in the rough doesn't look like a diamond and that's an important point to remember. In this episode Martin revisits a timeless classic from the personal development archives, "Acres of Diamonds" by Russell Conwell. Russell Conwell shares the story of an African farmer who becomes excited about the prospect of finding a fortune of diamonds elsewhere. He hurriedly sells his farmland and heads out to seek his treasure. After years of searching, dejected, despondent and alone, he ultimately kills drowns himself. The moral to the story is timeless, that our real fortunes lie within. That we already have a fortune within our selves as long as we are willing to take the time to refine our skills and character. Check out this episode and be sure to share this Mind Bullet Wednesday!   BTW: It's easy to SUBSCRIBE and to have each episode sent to you automatically. ***NEW Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book. Either email the review screen

"The key is tricking yourself to move quadrant two items to quadrant one whenever possible." This episode Martin revisits Stephen Covey's classic Effectiveness or Time Management Grid. Many of us become great at "getting stuff done" (GTD) the only challenge is that often it's NOT the the important stuff that, in the long run, will make us feel content, accomplished and like we've lived a life that was worth living. All too often that "stuff" resides in quadrant one as Dr. Covey points out yet, it's quadrant #2 as Covey defines it, where things the important but not urgent items are that have the most value to us. What sort of things can be found in quadrant #2? -Planning and strategy -Setting a vision -Exercising -Reading to your children -Vocation -Prevention -Long-Term Goals Martin explores this idea that within his latest book, The Pressure Paradox™ one of the underlying themes was the importance to creating a sense of urgency (pressure) and how a key to being more effective is moving the those long-term g

"Worrying is like paying interest on a loan that may never come due." But, is there really no value in worrying? It's a great question and one worth considering. What is the value of worry? Why have we been given this capacity to worry?   It turns out that worry can be damaging and a great waste of time and energy. However, there are many instances where worry serves a tremendous purpose; to get us off our butts— to take action! So how do you know which type of worrying is beneficial? There are essentially two types of worry; things you can influence and control and things that you can not. To worry about the weather next week is likely a waste of time and energy. However, when you worry about things that you can influence and it forces you to think and act resourcefully then the worry provides great value. Examine your own worry patterns; when and where you place your time, energy and attention particularly when it comes to things beyond your sphere of influence. The subject than reminds Martin about the o

"Comfort is the great enemy of success." ~Brian Tracy In this episode Martin explores the upside and the downside of becoming conditioned. In any environment over time (humans) become conditioned but it isn't just the environment that we become conditioned to. We are conditioned to our diets, to the amount of money we earn, to our friendship, professional and social circle. In fact, we are conditioned to our thinking (habituated) about things like how much money we can make, how strong we are, what we are good and bad at (our self-concept), etc. The relationship between being "conditioned" and habit is hard to avoid and in psychology it's directly tied to habit formation; think Pavlov's dog, stimulus and response. It's difficult to imagine any person who is habituated to a "thing" and not at the same time conditioned to it. The key is knowing that conditioning (all forms) can serve us as much as harm us— to use the power of conditioning to get stronger— physically, mentally and even emotionally. Therefore it'

"Creativity takes courage." ~Henri Matisss This episode may be the perfect follow-up to last Friday's Frequently Asked Friday (FAF), "What if I fail?" With the thought of "failure" comes a lot of resistance that prevents many of us from ever getting started. Similarly, when a person is considering taking on any creative endeavor, they often will unknowingly seek permission to begin— as though someone is going to grant them that ability. What happens when you give yourself permission to: -Take the first step -Start that company -Write that book -Develop that app -Start that blog -Fail (at anything), etc. Martin explores this idea that we (YOU) don't need permission from anyone to begin your creative project/endeavor NOW and recognizes that had he sought permission to write The Habit Factor® or The Pressure Paradox™ or develop his apps, he could have been waiting a lifetime. The interesting thing is not only was nobody going to grant him permission but the impact that the book and app have had on thousands of p

Martin begins this episode by talking about his 13 year old daughter and her recent run for student council president. His first thought... "Oh no! What if she loses!" And, then he silently figures he'd better prepare a consolation speech for her. The encounter got him thinking though about a few things. First, how brave she was (only two other candidates -girls- were willing to run) and that somewhere in her mind (perhaps) she had to be accepting of the idea of failure— not winning the election.    Considering the value of being willing to fail further, Martin mentions that in a prior episode he spoke about the idea, what would you do if you knew you could NOT fail. However, now, thinking about this event, he recognizes that there may be even more power in accepting the possibility of failure and proceeding anyway.  In fact, it's the acceptance of failure not the rejection that helps to remove the resistance and may actually facilitate getting on started on ANY journey— knowing that they might fail but doi

"Being listened to feels so much like being loved people can hardly tell the difference." ~David Augsberg "I never learned anything while I was talking." ~Larry King The real value of listening may be beyond measure. Countless proverbs proclaim the value of this virtue but how many of us can say we are good listeners? How many of us can say we've developed the listening habit? Martin shares his struggles with the art of listening and how it was the "listening is like love" quote referenced above that led him on his journey to "revisit" the art and try to become a better listener. Martin recalls an entrepreneur using The Habit Factor app as a as a way to strengthen his listening habit and recommends you give it a try if this episode resonates with you. Check out this episode and be sure to share this Mind Bullet Wednesday! ***NEW Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book. Either email the review screenshot or add your twitter handle and we'll fi

"There is never enough time to do everything and there is always enough time to do the most important things." ~Brian Tracy The Law of Forced Efficiency tells us that we can NEVER use the excuse that we don't have enough time to achieve our goals. Today's episode highlights a profound lesson and "law" shared by the great Brian Tracy in his Psychology of Achievement. By separating and prioritizing your habit list versus your To-Do list you focus on the habits (recurring behaviors) that will help you achieve your goal. Plan. Act. Record and Reassess. The P.A.R.R. methodology and The Habit Factor® are the perfect complement to The Law of Forced Efficiency. Subscribe and be sure to share this Mind Bullet Monday with a friend! ***NEW Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book. Either email the review screenshot or add your twitter handle and we'll find you that way! BTW: It's easy to SUBSCRIBE and to have each episode sent to you automatically. Subs

Motivation is often fleeting and while it's important not to wait for motivation to strike there are a few mindsets that help getting and staying motivated easier. In this episode, Martin reviews these strategies and shares his experience about what has helped when motivation was lacking. A precept is understanding the critical importance of getting started. In order to give yourself a shot you must begin... sounds obvious but many never take that first step. Next, making your vision as vivid and compelling as possible (prior episode) will help greatly! Another key idea is self-efficacy which is the ability to create a desired result which creates momentum. This is best achieved when one follows The Habit Factor's PARR methodology; Planning, Acting, Recording and Reassessing. It helps to regard achievement as a process rather than a single event. This facilitates the most essential ingredient and perhaps a surprise one to staying motivated, patience. Check out this short FAF episode... and SUBSCRIBE now to ge

Everything is created twice... Where there is no vision the people perish. ~Proverbs If success can be defined as "creating your ideal future" then it's essential to know what your ideal future looks like. Are you able to clearly articulate that vision. If you close your eyes now, can you envision what it might look like three or five years out? "Your imagination is your preview to life's coming attractions." Albert Einstein Unfortunately, out of one hundred people it's likely that less than ten will take the time to really think through and envision their ideal future. Fewer still will write it out! Martin suggests that you identify all the major categories of your life: professional, health, family, relationships, mind, spiritual, adventure, recreation and where you will live and detail each as a vivid and descriptive paragraph. A Chinese proverb says, "Vision without execution is a day dream and execution without vision is a nightmare." Once a compelling vision is crafted you'll be "pulled" by it as Steve

"I'm an overnight success, it just took twenty years." We tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in the short term and under estimate what we can achieve in the long run. Today's episode is about how long it takes to really make any entrepreneurial endeavor "stick". That is, whether it's a book, an app, a podcast or any business endeavor, if it's something you want to succeed you'd better be willing to invest years of time, effort and personal energy. To kick off the episode Martin first shares a quote by the late, great Steve Jobs regarding just how hard it is to create a successful company and ultimately why so many people quit. It's hard. It's very, very hard and you have to be persistent. Martin shares how he fully underestimated the amount of time it would take and now, 20+ years later, it is still an active company and partnership. When you think about it, the most successful companies have been around dozens and some even over a hundred years. It seems the most successful companies are even genera

Feeling stuck? The good news is everyone has felt this way before and it's not only common, it's a significant sign of pending growth. In this episode, Martin tackles a few key mindsets around the idea of feeling "stuck" and how one can best grapple with the feeling. A great starting point is releasing any resistance to the feeling and then enjoying and using the awareness to ask key questions like; "Where do I want to go? and, "What am I afraid of?" Knowing that all behavior is primarily driven by the desire to avoid fear or gain pleasure that question is likely to provide light on what should be your next steps and WHY you may not be taking them. Check out this short FAF episode now... and remember to SUBSCRIBE now to get these episodes automatically on your device! ________________ **NEW Weekly Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book. Either email the review screenshot or add your Twitter handle and we'll find you that way! BTW: Be sure to

Who is to blame when things go wrong? Yes... this is a Mind Bullet on a Wednesday. (you are not crazy). Martin starts this episode with a bit of a chuckle as the guest for this episode had to reschedule at the last minute leaving him with a Wednesday Mind Bullet (regular listeners know that Wednesdays are reserved for interviews). So this last minute shift in plans creates a learning moment. In life people will often drop the ball - not follow through, etc. It's very easy to fall into the blame-game trap. To point fingers and absolve oneself of responsibility. Martin shares a quick story about a Facebook post from an entrepreneur who was ranting about "people not doing the job right in the first place" and "wasting half my day fixing their mistakes." The question is; Who is really responsible? Who is really to blame? It turns out taking responsibility ends up providing a host of benefits including freedom and ultimately saves us from needlessly wasting energy. Check out this episode and be sure to share this

What is the value of emotion? How well do you listen to your emotions when it comes to all of your decisions— particularly when "logic" is saying one thing and your gut is saying another. In today's episode Martin asks the listener to reflect upon some of their most positive growth experiences and ask if they were "logic-based" decisions or if they followed their gut. Much of our decision making is done via habit and we'll even disguise our fear many times as "logic". While logic is a powerful gift we should leverage, refine and be grateful for, it can keep us bound, unsure and even afraid at times from taking action. "If I thought logically about that hike or the Catalina paddle there is no way either of them would've happened yet they were both priceless experiences!"  Martin speculates that great leaps of personal growth are often tied to these emotive decisions where logic was doing its best to steer us in a different direction. From this episode Martin wants to know... 1) Have you shared the same exper

This week's question comes to us via Quora.com and Martin reads/shares his response to the question and adds a little color commentary along the way. Consistent to theme, Martin shies away from the idea that there are just 3 Daily habits and redirects the quora.com user toward a better understanding of HABIT (singular). This way, the user is empowered to craft intentionally the habits that will help them achieve their goals and desires rather than being constrained by 2 or 3 habits that another person might prescribe! Knowing that the "answer" is about understanding the nature of HABIT is akin to "teaching a man to fish" vs. feeding him a fish. Check out this short FAF episode now... and remember to subscribe to get this shows automatically on your device! ________________ **NEW Weekly Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book. Either email the review screenshot or add your Twitter handle and we'll find you that way! BTW: Be sure to SUBSCRIBE a

"The word is out... gratitude has incredible benefits." ~Glenn Fox In this entertaining interview, Glenn covers his journey toward graduate school and beyond. Citing stories of getting his top-level mechanics degree and his love of cars and, how being a mechanic served much of his mindfulness development. His eclectic background combined with an element of chance ultimately leads Glenn to find a great mentor who recommendeds that he study an emerging field, "affective neuroscience". Glenn shares wonderful insights and studies related to neuroscience and gratitude and how for him he must "win the home field" — a great metaphor to help him remember it's really about having healthy, quality relationships —that foster success. Glenn R. Fox earned his PhD from USC’s Neuroscience Graduate Program and his extensive research regarding gratitude is widely published. Just some of what Martin and Glenn cover: -How across nearly all religions and philosophies Glenn has noticed that gratitude is a fundamental theme -How m

What does that French proverb mean to you? What is life that when it's half spent it becomes clear? Or, is it really just an observation that it takes us half our life to realize what is most important to us? Martin kicks off this episode sharing an observation about this great proverb via the lens of The Habit Factor but later observes it could be a number of things including the ephemerality of it all! WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEANS? Martin wraps up this quick mind bullet with that very question and asks you to chime in and share your thoughts on facebook.com/thehabitfactor or twitter @thehabitfactor.com If you had to guess what would you say? ***NEW Giveaway! Each week we select ONE, new iTunes review (good, bad or indifferent) and send a FREE signed book. Either email the review screenshot or add your twitter handle and we'll find you that way! BTW: It's easy to SUBSCRIBE and to have each episode sent to you automatically. Subscribe    Resources Napoleon Hill The Science of Personal Achievement Napoleon