In this edition of the Peak Performance newsletter, we will be discussing:

• The #1 reason why you can’t stay consistent

• Why momentum is key

• Why do we have these ADHD tendencies?

• What to do with these ADHD tendencies (How to stop flipping around)

But first,

Respect to you for choosing to read long form educational content like this one instead of all of the short, clickbait, self improvement content that you see online.

I bet you have a top 1% attention span by choosing to invest your time in this form of content that isn’t entertaining enough for the masses.

I’m not trying to give you cheap dopamine, but actual lessons that will change your life.

So if you’ve clicked on this email, I’m assuming your here to apply what you’ve learnt and take action right away.

You’re not to learn about some easy “tactics” that helps you cope with being lazy, you want actual results. If that’s you, then feel free to subscribe to the Peak Performance newsletter to receive high quality emails like this one every week, it’s a win-win for both of us.

If not, feel free to unsubscribe and find another creator that will tell you what you already want to hear instead.

Just a bit of background info,

And lastly,

And in this post, my promise to guide you through how I was able to clear these ADHD tendencies, increase your productivity, and how to stay consistent in your pursuits.

the #1 reason why you can’t stay consistent

First, let me tell you a story.

It is was roughly 3 years ago when I first went on my self improvement journey. I was heartbroken, lost, felt directionless, but I knew that I had to do something.

I’ve dived deep into the self improvement culture and learnt about sunlight exposure, journaling, meditation, etc.

But the one thing that really stuck for me was weightlifting, and for the longest time, that was the only “true” thing that I was genuinely consistent in.

This acted as the cornerstone for my self improvement journey, and I started to research ways that I can further optimize my day for maximum productivity and efficiency.

But I ran into one problem.

Whatever routine or habit I would build, I would find myself constantly keep switching the type of variation for that particular action.

Say for example, I would be super invested into weightlifting for 1 month, then really into calisthenics style training for 3 weeks, and then I wanted to do hybrid style training where I combined both calisthenics and weight training, and I ended up getting zero progress in either of them.

And It wasn’t only about my training style either, but I would keep constantly switching my routine, changing the time slots for different habits, adding random habits, removing random habits, and it left me in a state of turmoil that I wasn’t able to progress in anything because I kept changing my mind.

Now for some people who are just getting into their self improvement journey, it might seem like I’m overexaggerating or being picky, but this is the silent killer that I see with myself and a lot of other guys who are trying to improve their own lives as well.

Not only does it kill your productivity, but it also leads to you making bullshit decisions that you weren’t even conscious of in the first place, and completely changes the trajectory of your own self improvement journey.

Because how can you expect to get results if you’re constantly switching and changing your routine and habits.

Looking back at all of the early mistakes when I was just getting started, I just wished that I was able to stay grounded in my own decisions because I lost so much progress in being indecisive and constantly changing my decisions.

This is why momentum is key for maintaining consistency in your self improvement journey.

(Nuance)

Now there is definitely nuance in this subject, as I’m not saying that change is necessarily bad for your self improvement journey. I think that change that is well thought out is good while unconscious change is bad because it comes from an irrational source. But in this case, change that comes from these ADHD tendencies don’t come from a rational place but rather a irrational desire for momentum.  

Why momentum is key

Momentum is key for ensuring that you don’t deviate from your initial goals because it keeps you motivated to stay consistent in that particular habit.

So in case you don’t know what momentum actually is, momentum is basically the driving force behind consistency.

Whenever you are consistent in a specific habit, it is usually because you have a ton of momentum behind it.

Let’s use the gym again as an easy example.

When you’re going to the gym for the first time, you have a ton of resistance with actually staying consistent because this habit is quite unfamiliar to you right now.

You’ve haven’t made much progress in it so the likelihood of you coming back is pretty low.

But lets say that you’ve been going to the gym for over 3+ YEARS now. You’re way more experienced, just going through the motions, and there is a high level of comfort and security in this habit.

Momentum is going to be a high driving motivator behind it because you’ve have been readily stacking up the gradual wins over time so it’s going to stick better in comparison to a newcomer who hasn’t even started yet.

Here’s an analogy that I think will work well for this situation.

Having momentum often kills this ADHD tendency to flip around because you’re riding “the wave” of progress. You’ve been very consistent in this habit so it’s going to be more exciting for you to keep progressing in it.

Now imagine that for just one day, two days, three days, you skip the habit for those days.

And now that you try to go back to it, it is going to be so much harder since all of that built up momentum (“the wave”) is lost, and now you’re just kind of cruising at a slower rate.

I think that it is those times where you’ve “fallen” off the habit where those ADHD tendencies really start to take control over your decisions.

You start flipping around, jumping from one idea to the next, not because it actually a rational decision, but because you want to feel that same rush that you’ve used to.

Now obviously there is some nuance to this, because the guy that has been going to the gym for 10+ isn’t suddenly going to stop if he missed a day or two, of course not.

But I believe the point still stands, and this is especially true for beginners who are just starting in self improvement that having a large amount of momentum is going to be essential for consistency.

Why do we have these ADHD tendencies?

In reality, there can be a hundred, even a thousand different reasons why these ADHD tendencies keep appearing. But just solely for this post alone, I want to discuss my explanation and how it affected my own self improvement journey.

The tendency to switch from one idea/plan to another is because of a lack of momentum but most importantly, an increased desire for novelty.

Which novelty in this case, is just defined as a new experience or change.

And we as humans, naturally gravitate towards wanting more novelty, as it can manifest in a form of materialistic purchases like fancy clothes, watches, vacations, etc.

But in the realm of self improvement, novelty is going to be a constant temptation that you must resist from because it will substract from the progress that you’ve been making.

So if the momentum of a habit has died down, then we’ll yearn for that same momentum in the manifestation of novelty by flipping around.

What to do with these ADHD tendencies (how to stop flipping around)

So you’ve learnt that how consistency works, why momentum is so important, and why these ADHD tendencies occur.

Now you want to apply what you’ve actually learnt, and if you’ve sticked this far into the post, just know that you probably have better attention than 99% of the population. So just for a moment, go give yourself a pat on the back for being grateful for having a healthy, unfried brain.

So in this section, I’ll tell you the 3 actionable steps that you can take to clear these ADHD tendencies and start becoming more consistent in the direction that you actually want to stick to.

1. Meditation (Passive skill)

I think that meditation is probably one of the most important practices that you can invest your time in right now, and it wouldn’t even cost you more than just a few minutes every day.

Now I don’t want to bore you with the full, exact, autistic steps on how to meditate, since I broke it down in detail in my previous post discussing meditation.

But in short, there are 4 stages that you follow in the meditation cycle. The most important realization is that meditation is NOT when you are completely focused onto the breath, but it is actually when you return back to the breath after being distracted.

Meditation is the cycle of focusing on the breath, having a distracting thought, realizing that you are distracted, and then focusing on the breath again.

Meditation is really good for managing these ADHD tendencies because it is the skill of returning back to the present moment.

When you are more present, you are less likely to think irrationally and more likely to stick to your plans. Because more than half the time, this “flipping” is caused by an unconscious decision, not a conscious one.

So once you can get the hang of returning your mind to the present moment after being distracted by a provoking thought that tells you to switch ideas, you are able to realize that it is simply just a thought and be able to let it go.

2. Create a regimented routine with little to no variation

Perhaps I’ll make a separate post dedicated on how to create a sustainable routine and how it should look like. But for now, I’ll breakdown the importance behind why a routine is so helpful in reducing your ADHD tendencies.

The routine that you need to make is the one where it has barely to absolutely no variation in your schedule.

I see people in this self improvement space who preach about having a “flexible routine” and having freedom to do what you want.

And while that can be good for some people, I would say that if you are similar to me in your own ambitions and goals, then we can’t benefit from having a “flexible” routine since it usually does us more harm than good.

Most young men like you and me would want to be able to work hard by the time they wake up to when they go to bed without any deviation from the routine, because that gives us a great sense of progress and fulfilment.

So lets say that your friends invited you to randomly go out one day or to spend some time to visit some place. And, in a weird way, you would actually be happier if you’ve stayed home inside and worked instead than to go out and enjoy yourself.

Now I’m not saying to be a full time self improvement autist that doesn’t leave his room and has no friends, but men like us can’t live with ourselves if we constantly distract ourselves from our work and duties.

Like recently the other day, I was hanging out with a group of friends. And it was a good time, we were talking, laughing, but I just kept having this numbing desire, this constant itch, to just go work on my newsletter instead. Maybe that’s just me, but the pain of say missing out on work is far greater than missing out on any other pleasure that I’ve experienced.

And the best type of routine that you can possibly make, well at least for my experience, is going to be a timetable. Remember the time tables that we used to have in school? Your going to use the exact layout for your own routine, but rather fill in the times with the habits that you wanted to work on everyday.

This is going to keep you accountable with your habits because you will be able to allocate a dedicated amount of time to each one.

3. Make the environment work for you

Now this is going to be one of the most important factors that you’re going have to consider if you want to preform well in your productivity and consistency.

And now when I say your environment, I’m not really talking about all of the small superficial stuff like “oh make sure you’re water bottle is close to your desk to stay hydrated” and “make sure that you don’t have your phone close to you when you’re working”.

And that stuff can be really nice and sound advice, but I more want to discuss on the one factor will cause a more significant change in your consistency.

And that’s going to be switching environments.

I’m not saying switching environments as in moving your work environment from the office to the kitchen, but you literally moving to a different country or city to work at.

Now this seems very insignificant and you might be thinking “Yeah but that doesn’t matter to me since I stay at the same place all the time”.

But the reason why I’m bringing this up is because since its the summer, most people are going to be going on trips or vacations to other places, myself included. That’s why I’m trying to stack these posts ahead of time so that I won’t need to work overtime to get them out.

And maybe you don’t realize right now since you’ve been stationary in the same environment for a while, but you don’t even realize the level of productivity that you get to have when you’re in a “work environment” than it is to be in a “temporary environment”

When you’re in a work environment, either at your house or in your workplace, you get to control most of the variables in that place. You get to control the time you work, when you eat, the people you interact with, etc.

But in a temporary environment when you’re going somewhere or on vocation, then there’s going to be a lot of changing variables that you simply can’t control, like where you’re staying, where you’re eating out, does the AC even work, and all of the small other things that you don’t realize.

It sounds like I’m just complaining for no reason, but this is the stuff that most people don’t often talk since it seems so insignificant right now, but it does take a massive toll in your consistency and brain power.

And I don’t mean to shit on them or anything, but when I see people who try to work at a local coffee shop, at a hotel, or another public area. I just can’t help but think how much brain power is being sapped away from you going to a random place than just working at home.

Maybe I’m different, but when trying to work in a public environment, I end up just doing bullshit tasks that weren’t even essential or important. When I leave, I end up doing shallow work instead of having deep work sessions like the ones I usually have whenever I am in a controlled environment like at home.

A good indicator to determine if you’re doing deep work or not is just ask yourself if you were proud of the work tasks that you’ve completed.

No one would be proud and think to themselves “Yes! I switched tabs for an hour straight and reread the same sentence for another hour straight!”

Most often than not, its usually because people want novelty and change than it is to go do productive work. Because unfortunately, that is the true reason behind it in the end.

I’m not trying to discourage you from trying since I believe that there are some types of people who really prosper in that type of environment.

But if you’re someone like me who has been trying for a long time and it hasn’t worked for you, then I don’t see the point in trying again.

Though the main lesson that I wanted to give in this section was basically, “when in doubt, work at home”.

(Not related to self improvement but a new announcement that you may want to hear)

But first, let me tell you a story.

I think the time when I was able grasp this concept the most was when 3 weeks ago, when I was being extremely indecisive with what I wanted.

This self improvement newsletter was at an all time high after my recent success with the mental health post on reddit, and I was able to ride that wave for quite a while now.

I was getting 50 subs on average a day, and I was very proud of the growth I was getting on this newsletter.

But like any other newsletter, the subs started to die down. Not immediately, but gradually overtime.

At first I didn’t think much of it, but slowly I craved the momentum that this newsletter used to have. So in doing so, I started to post the same content that would have blown up my newsletter in the first place.

I craved novelty, and I was too impatient to take a step back and see that it was entirely normal for my sub count to hit a plateau for a while.

But I let my ADHD tendencies take control, and as a result, I ended up losing ¾ of the new subscribers that I was working so hard to get.

Not only that, but the subscribers that I did earn weren’t even high quality because I sacrificed my own values for the pursuit of novelty in the form of more subscribers.

I attracted the wrong audience, and it came back to bite me once I saw that more and more people were unsubscribing. Not my true readers, but the readers that were leaving because I didn’t give them enough quick easy tactics and systems.

Which is why for this period of time, I reflected for a while, and didn’t settle for any rash hasty decisions until I was confident with the direction that I was taking.

And that’s why I’m happy to announce that I am currently building a free online community that will be on reddit, where I’ll be discussing and hosting discussions on self improvement topics that you find in this newsletter.

Other than just discussions, there will be events, written newsletter summaries, and educational resources like free guides that I’ll be making that is exclusive to only the community, and other stuff along the way.

Don’t quote me on this, but my plan right now is to build the community gradually overtime, but for now I’ll host a pre-launch where a select few readers can hop in and join the community for a limited time.

Why am I making this?

Well honestly because I want to create a more interactive self improvement community since the newsletter comment section isn’t the most vibrant thing in the world. (Since who really comments on newsletters anymore?)

I want to be able to help you more directly through more personalized ways other than just through email posts like this one, so my hope is that we can get more young guys onto this movement and start improving their lives through self improvement.

There really isn’t a dedicated self improvement forum for young men, so I thought that this could be a good opportunity to cultivate that brotherhood that we’re all missing.

It will be gated for subscribers only at first, but overtime I’ll see when it’s right to continue expanding so that in the future, it can be a public community that’s still high quality and has actively engaging individuals in it.

So if that sounds interesting to you, then you may want to consider checking in once an a while throughout the next few weeks in order to get a placement for the prelaunch.

Author’s Notes:

That is all I have for you today. And as promised, I guided you through the steps on how to clear these ADHD tendencies, increase your productivity, and lastly how to become more consistent in your own direction on self improvement.

I hope this post was valuable. And if it is, feel free to share it to someone who might benefit from reading educational content like this one as well.

If you want to receive personalized feedback from me, comment below your current problems that you’re facing right now and I’ll give you a solution based off of my own experience.

Until next time, take care.

-Jason