Winning The Day

Photo: Andy Frisella of MFCEO Project

I’ve been listening to a lot of Andy Firsella’s Podcast “The MFCEO Project” as of late. I was turned onto it by my very good friend Drew Dillon. One of the major themes that always pops up is the concept of winning the day. He did an amazing podcast on this topic a while back, and the theme has carried on through much of his podcasts since.

When he first introduces the idea he’s basically saying that to accomplish your goals, you have to start doing the work today. And then you need to build momentum. Consistency. If I can win the day today, then I am moving forward. Then I win tomorrow. Then if I win 5 or 6 days in a word, now I have won the week. And if I win a few weeks, I begin to win the month, and so on. But it starts with today.

He quantifies “winning the day” by what he refers to as his Power List. He writes down 5 crucial tasks each morning. If he completes all 5 tasks that day, he wins the day, no matter what else he does. If he wins that day, he writes a big ass “W” on the paper and circles it. If he doesn’t complete all 5 tasks, he lost the day.. again no matter what else he accomplished. If he loses a day, he writes a big ass “L” to let it soak in. The next day, he begins the same exact way. You chase the W’s and loathe the L’s… that is the important part. You begin stockpiling those W’s and before you know it, you’re really progressing.

It’s a very simple concept. I began using it a few weeks back and I can tell you it’s made a massive difference in the way I get work done. What I love most about how Andy approaches the list is that he makes it a point to use the list to build habits. Essentially, his list each day looks similar to the day before. There may be one or two differences, but by having 2 or 3 of the same crucial tasks everyday, you begin to build habits and really create that consistency. Consistency is key.

The other major point to consider is that the entire power list does not need to be dedicated to your work. Andy used his power list to help him clean up his diet and begin a consistently working out, which led to him losing a shit ton of weight. Caring for yourself is crucial and can carry over into all other aspects of life.

To give you an idea, the very first day I did this my list looked like this:

• perform ROMWOD
• e-mail 3 members to see how they are and get feedback on the gym
• read a book to my kids
• write an article
• don’t drink beer

3 of the 5 are in place to help me better my life outside of work. ROMWOD was going to help me get back into caring for my body to recover from the abuse I put it through. Reading to my kids everyday is insanely important to me and I had been slacking off on it. I don’t drink often, but it’s easy to fall into a beer here and there. By stating to not drink that beer, it keeps me accountable. I allow that to come off the list once a week and this is helping me make weight for up coming competitions.

The other two are to help me better serve the people that trust in me. By writing more I can consistently share ideas, which help me to gain feedback, learn and also share that knowledge to those interested. By reaching out to my members consistently, I can better keep in touch with what is working and what is not working. I can get feedback on ways we can better care for them.

I can tell you, just by having these physically written down, I have stuck to them near religiously. There have been a few nights where it was 10pm and I realized I hadn’t written an article or done my ROMWOD and I would park my ass and get it done. It helps build accountability.

It’s great to have huge goals. These goals can steer where your path goes and what moves you make, but it begins with winning today.

I encourage you to check out the MFCEO Project and give the power list a try. Five things and five things only. They do not have to be big crazy things. Just things that you can begin to create habits with. Things that will chip away at the core of what will keep you progressing forward. Stick to it. Chase the Wins and loathe the Losses. It all starts one day at a time.

Be good, train hard, one love.

-aaron