TODAY, IN 3 MINUTES OR LESS, YOU’LL LEARN:

1. The #1 skill to dial up your creative output and give you a huge edge over others in your industry.
2. The ‘snacks’ to intersperse throughout your day for mega health benefits.
3. How taking one simple action can help you reclaim up to 12.8 years of your life.

When it comes to improving your life, there’s no such thing as a magic wand…

…Or is there?

What if I told you that there are a few habits that are so powerful, they feel almost magical in their impact?

The 5 habits I’m going to share with you today are often underestimated — perhaps because they don’t seem ‘fancy’ or complicated. 

But the thing is, more often than not, it’s the simple, straightforward practices that create the most profound shifts in life. The catch, of course, is that you actually have to *do* them.

There’s good news on that front too, because these 5 underrated habits are all easy to implement in your daily routine — even if you feel short on time.

Here they are…

Habit #1 – Focus

Focus is a power-skill — it can improve your efficiency, radically increase your creative output, and propel you towards your goals.

Focus is what’s known as a force amplifier: whatever you’re doing, if you simply bring some extra focus to it, you can amplify your results — often exponentially. 

Even better, because so many people don’t prioritize this skill, if you can improve your focus by even just a smidgen, you’re going to have a huge competitive advantage over your peers. 

If focus is something you struggle with, start with the basics: find a quiet place to work, put your phone on silent and out of sight, and close any extra tabs in your browser — including your inbox!

Habit #2 – Microdose Your Movement

You’ve probably heard the words “exercise is good for you” a *million* times before.

But as far as ‘magic’ habits go, you can’t get much better than this one, so it would be remiss of me to not sing the praises of daily movement.

That said, to ensure that this advice is still as useful as possible (because my goal with these emails is for them to be the most genuinely useful thing you read all week), I’m going to offer some unconventional advice about exercising: start ‘snacking’.

Recent studies show that interspersing short bursts of physical activity — known as ‘exercise snacks’ — throughout your day can lead to significant improvements in metabolic health, endurance, stamina, as well as counteracting many of the negative effects of being a keyboard warrior (a.k.a. sitting on your tush for hours on end!).

Nick is awesome at doing ‘exercise snacks’. 

While he has proper, designated ‘workout time’ scheduled every day, he’s also amazing at fitting in microdoses of movement wherever he can — say, 20 push-ups after a recording session, a set of squats while on a meeting, or a bunch of chest presses whenever he walks past his exercise bands.

A rock is as good a spot as any for some microdosed movement!
This is Nick getting in some ‘snacks’ at Byron Bay.

Habit #3 – Create Before You Consume

Be honest: when you wake up each day, do you reach for your phone and immediately start scrolling?

If you’re nodding your head right now, you’re not alone.

But unfortunately, starting the day by consuming information — be it news, emails, or social media — can leave us feeling overwhelmed and directionless.

To counteract this, one of the best hacks for an exceptional life (and for making massive headway towards your goals) is to wake up every morning and create before you consume.

This means doing your most important work — whatever that means for you — BEFORE you start filling your brain up with other people’s ideas.

When you prioritize creating over consuming, you set a proactive tone for the day. This not only boosts your output and sense of accomplishment, it also ensures you’re not merely reacting to external stimuli.

Habit #4 – Actively Prioritize Your Sleep

Our culture often glamorizes sleep deprivation, equating it with hard work or dedication. 

In reality, consistently skimping on sleep can be detrimental to your health, performance, wellbeing, mood and more.

In our household, we protect our sleep like it’s a precious resource — because it is.

For us, this means: we don’t watch or own a TV, we don’t consume caffeine or alcohol, we dim the lights and wear blue blockers as soon as the sun goes down, we have a set time when we go to sleep and wake up, we treat our bedroom like a sanctuary… and that’s just for starters!

Me in my blue-blockers.
You can check out all my fave sleep tools here.

Hot tip: If you’re going through a life phase right now where uninterrupted sleep is a distant dream — perhaps because you’re a parent or caregiver — please know: I see you, and that’s so tough. My tips for you are: Be extra gentle on yourself. Nourish yourself in whatever ways you can, big or small. And take action on the aspects of sleep hygiene that you *can* control (for example, choosing not to scroll right before bed, or avoiding caffeine after midday). This season will pass, my darling. You’ve got this.  

Habit #5 – Limit Your Phone Usage

This final hack is so close to magic, it’s basically straight out of Hogwarts.

Consider this: the average person spends 12.8 years of their life on their phone.

Imagine if you could reclaim even just a fraction of that time to invest in activities you love — whether it’s reading, writing, crafting, dancing, or simply spending quality time with family and friends. Doing so will immediately make your life feel richer.

And if you reclaimed the full 12.8 years of living that gets spent on your phone? 

Well, imagine the mega-impact you could make on the world then!

The most effective strategy I’ve ever used to curb phone usage is to set a timer for how long you use it.

For iPhone users, the Screen Time app lets you set boundaries on both overall usage and specific apps. For Android users, the Digital Wellbeing app does a similar thing. 

Once you reach your set limit, a warning will pop up, reminding you to reconnect with the real world and refocus on your life’s priorities.

Hot tip: If you want more high-impact strategies to reclaim hours of your life each day, I highly recommend reading Time Magic, the book I co-wrote with Nick. You can check it out here.

The Key Takeaway

By mastering these 5 underrated habits — focus, microdosed movement, creating before consuming, prioritizing sleep, and mindfully using technology — you’re laying down the foundation for an exceptional life, one day at a time.

Add consistency (by repeating these habits day after day), and the results you’ll see? 

Well, Beautiful: they’ll be just like magic. ✨

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Press Play & Slay

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Til next time, sending so much love,