In Fall 2017 I was a HOT mess.
I left behind all my friends in Japan and returned to Texas to finish my degree.
I had no internships or jobs lined up.
My loving grandma (who raised me) passed away.
Hurricane Harvey flooded my hometown and totaled my car.
Things couldn’t get worse…
Then I broke up with my girlfriend.
I was lonely, miserable, and desperate.
I spent most of the daylight napping through my issues and stayed up all night to watch FRIENDS while eating a bowl of cookies for dinner.
Then I would repeat the same cycle over and over until I had to take a trip to the grocery store for more cookie dough.🍪
I didn’t text anyone because I didn’t want them to know how bad it was.
but it was horrible.
It wasn’t until I had this ONE realization that SOLVED everything…
Suddenly, I started hanging out again, became fitter than ever, and even won a couple of academic honors.
A couple more things happened…
I graduated with honors, 2 degrees, and defended a thesis ( that eventually came true!)
I received a competitive internship with a congressional campaign.
I even got my dream role as a LeaderShape facilitator.
It was surreal.
but before I tell you my realization— we have to talk about what I did when I was at my “lowest” point.
So back to the story…
I did what any extremely desperate individual would do…
Listen to Tony Robbins on repeat!
I started consuming self-help guides like a kid in the candy aisle.
Books like Atomic Habits, Power of Now, and The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck started to pile up in my room.
It felt GREAT reading those inspiring words.
Then, I started journaling EVERYDAY.
Bullet journaling, 750 words, Passion Planner, Morning Pages… I tried all of them.
It felt GREAT writing consistently.
and after a couple months of “Self-Helping”…
I became the MASTER OF SELF-HELP.
I would show off my knowledge of habits, and always be “busy” working on myself.
Any time someone asked me what my weekend plans were…
I’d proudly respond, “OH I’M WORKING ON MYSELF.”
and I believed it too.
On the outside it seemed like I was making killer progress on my goals.
but when I wasn’t watching motivational Tony Robbins videos…
or when I wasn’t journaling…
I still felt lonely, miserable, and desperate.
In fact, I actually felt even more desperate because I thought I had to succeed MORE because I read these “life manuals”.
Wasn’t I suppose to succeed by now?
I was caught in the “Self-Help Trap”.
After filling my pity hole with productivity guides and Ali Abdaal videos I realized something…
I wasn’t doing jack sh*t by consuming these guides.
Instead…
I spent more time planning my 5 year goals and Ikigai than working on the projects due next week.
I spent more time watching ATHLEAN-X videos on maximizing muscle growth than I did working out in the gym…
Every time I finished a book I would immediately pick up the next one…
Maybe this will finally be the answers I need.
Until I ran out of books to fill the void.
So I made a rule…
Become An Execution Machine
I stopped becoming a self-help master, and started becoming an execution machine.
Why a machine?
Because a machine doesn’t think.
It just does the job.
If it doesn’t get the result intended it keeps on trying.
It is relentless.
It is on time.
It is unstoppable.
I separated my days into "planning days” and “slay the dragon days” ( to not burn out).
Instead of looking up guides to apply for an internship— I emailed them directly.
Instead of watching workout vids— I went straight to the gym.
My point:
Don’t be a self-help master. Be an execution machine.
Reading is great, but execution is always better.
Yours truly,
Brian “ execution machine” To
My favorite links this week:
My first “real” blog website. Check out my first 60 pieces of online writing ever!👈
Tinder but for Twitter. Find cool people to follow with a simple swipe. 👈
My FAVORITE tool to get into execution mode. Never leave a task undone! 👈
one more productivity guide Plz...
I've had really similar feelings around my 'action time vs planning time' balance. Looking back now, however, I feel that maybe it does make sense to front-load lots of effort into the planning side. You read the books, you try out 10 different types of knowledge management systems, 30 variations of to-do lists, dozens of exercise regimes, etc. It creates this database in your head of options and theory. I tend to believe that those who spend the extra time up front to understand the theory will end up going further than those who jump right in to the actions, eventually. A concrete example: Person A finds a well recommended exercise regime online and follows it religiously from day 1, without variation. Person B finds a dozen plans, and tries a few different things each time they're at the gym for the first few years. Person A will undoubtedly get bigger/stronger in those first few years, but fast-forward 10 years and I think Person B will have the more nuanced understanding of what exercises fit them best and will ultimately outpace Person A.