Hi guys, and welcome back to another episode of your Brains Coach podcast. My name is Angela Shurina, I'm your host, I'm your Brains Coach and also an executive coach with 15 years of experience, body mindset, productivity, systems and habits. That's what I'm about, what my work is about and what I'm about here to share with you, learn with you, put in practice, share real life cases of my clients, of myself, the most fascinating books, research. So all of that with a purpose, with a solo goal of helping yourself and helping myself to take better control of your thoughts, of your emotions and, most importantly, of your actions, to the kind of life that gives you maximum fulfillment in all areas, the kind of life that you absolutely love living. Guys, happy Monday. It is Monday on my side of the microphone and there is a new tenant on the wardrobe door in my bedroom A white sheet of paper with rows of empty checkboxes Exactly 100 of them and at the top it says 100 days, meaning business. It's my 100-day challenge.
Speaker 1Guys, do you have a habit of running challenges? You know what challenges are designed to do. They actually are designed to test your limits. When you do a challenge, when you commit to a challenge, you say to yourself challenge when you commit to a challenge, you say to yourself here's a set of behaviors or a goal that I commit to and I'm not gonna quit until it's done. I'm not gonna stop when I feel I'm not going to stop when I feel it's what I can give. I'm going to stop when it's done. And yes, in the process, with all the challenges. That's why there are challenges With all the challenges.
Speaker 1It's a lot of mess. You're not going to get it perfect. You're going to fail and stumble a lot. You're not going to get it perfect. You're going to fail and stumble a lot. And in the process, if you're truly committed to the challenge, you're going to figure things out, you're going to learn, you're going to grow, you're going to improve and you're going to create new limits of yourself. You're going to accomplish things that you've never accomplished before and perhaps some part of you, or a big part of you, thought it was impossible. But the whole meaning, the whole purpose of the challenge, guys, I think this challenge, this word, is thrown away like some junk food. But a challenge is something that tests your limits and when you go through a challenge, it's supposed to be designed that way that you do the things that you previously have not done before and that are outside of your current comfort zone, and things you've accomplished already. So there is a new tenant on the wardrobe door in my bedroom and those 100 unchecked boxes because the challenge starts today represent the days that I'm going to be committed to my business owner habits, prioritizing business generating activities on my calendar. Prioritizing business generating activities on my calendar because last year's results did not meet my standards, aspirations, expectations. So now, because I know that any goal is a set of new habits, routines, skills that I need to develop. Now that I know that routines, skills that I need to develop. Now that I know that because the last year's results were not satisfactory to my standards, now I know that I got to develop new habits, to learn new skills, to then get different results by the end of 2025.
Speaker 1Building new habits is never easy, guys. I've been in coaching for more than 15 years and it's still hard because the process of habit building is laying new tracks in your brain. Quite literally, you create new neural connections, tell your thoughts and then your neural signals, your actions, could travel along, and it's like laying tracks for a train to travel along. There are no tracks, nothing going to travel. But to build new tracks it takes effort. And until you have a solid set of tracks for the travel of thoughts and actions and neural signals to travel along, until you have solid tracks, the train will not travel that easy.
Speaker 1And I think a better metaphor would be have you experienced a morning walking in the morning outside after a night of heavy snowfall? Now, if you experience that or if you tried running in that you understand that walking, just walking in that new snow a lot of it after a heavy snowfall it's hard, it feels like a workout just walking there. But the more you travel along that path, the more other people travel along that path. In the case of this snow path, the bigger it gets, the more solid it gets and it gets easier and easier to walk along it and after a while it doesn't feel any different than just walking. So habits is exactly the same. It's actually a very good metaphor for that.
Speaker 1So the first time it feels like workout and the second it feels hard. And many times it feels hard and also you've got to learn new set of skills and things that you haven't done before and everything feels awkward and everything feels unnatural and it's not like yourself and you feel like a beginner, like a dumbass, like you are an adult, but you must be doing something wrong because you're not great at it. And, as an adult, most of the things actually you're quite good at. That's why how you got here right, you've been learning all these skills to deal with life. But that's how new habits feel every time when you do them, no matter how old you get. And so this year I've learned. Last year and for the past I think, decade of my life, what I learned is just thinking that this time I'm going to do things differently, because I thought so. It doesn't work, not even for a coach who has 15 years of experience. So this year, instead of following the insanity principle you know, einstein said insanity doing the same thing over and over and over again, expecting different results. So, instead of following an insanity principle, I'm following science, science of behavior change, and let me give you a five-step blueprint. That's been working for hundreds of people across the globe. This is how you build new habits, if you are committed to actually building them, instead of trying them out and like, oh, it doesn't work. Well, it doesn't work because you don't work in the right way what to do when, where, like.
Speaker 1For my challenge, 100-day meaning business, it means by 1 pm, unless I have an unavoidable morning meeting, class or talk. By 1 pm I'm going to be doing 100 reach-outs to businesses. I'm going to be doing 100 reach-outs to businesses, to different partners, collaborators, reach-outs with the purpose to build up my business, whether that's directly to offer business or start the relationship that can lead to business, or partnering with some organizations, or working on delivering more talks, but basically getting in front of more of potential customers. 100, either entities or people, but 100 reach out by 1 pm. And to give you an idea, I wake up around 4 am and by 7, I'm done with my workouts and everything, and so 7, I start and 1 pm and by seven I'm done with my workouts and everything, and so seven I start and 1 pm I gotta be done. And also I have two hours of content creation in those six hours. So four hours, 100 reach outs, and if I'm not done I'm gonna spend more time on that day until I'm done. So make it clear what exactly you're going to do.
Speaker 1Then the second one is make it easy. By making it easy, I mean remove the obstacles from the way of you doing things until 1 pm every single day for 100 days, not scheduling anything there unless it's absolutely necessary and it's a client meeting that cannot be scheduled on any other way. But then what I do is I move that specific time block to later in the day, but I'm not letting myself off the hook until, for the next 100 days, 100 reach-outs are done. But making it easy is all about putting in place systems and also, for example, rehearsing the answer when people will ask to meet at that time and saying this year I'm committed to working on my priorities first, on my essential, absolutely must-do priorities till 1 pm. Is it possible that we schedule that meeting at that later time? Right? So making it easy meaning creating all of these rituals and systems and things that make commitment, the doing part, easy, doing them in advance.
Speaker 1So, number one make it clear what exactly is it, when, how. Make it easy, put systems in place so you don't then run around like a crazy person that you can't stick with your commitment because you, for example, did not clear your calendar and you can't really do it. Make it visible and that's where my new tenant comes in what's going to remind you to do the thing that you said you're going to do. And if you're trying to say that you're going to just remember it, you just totally don't understand how human brain works. You have so many thoughts and things happening to you every day and your brain has objectively limited capacity to keep things at the top of your mind. So make it visible. How are you going to remember?
Speaker 1For my clients, especially the ones who travel, I ask them okay, what is going to remind you to do that new behavior? Is it going to be something on your wall, on your mirror, on your luggage, literally on your luggage? So you open the luggage. If you travel a lot and you are in a hotel, you open the luggage. And here is your reminder something in your wallet. How are you going to see it every single day without a failure? How are you going to see it every single day without a failure? And this also reminder on my wardrobe door obviously serves as a tracker. So I see my progress, my commitment, and that in itself leads us to the point number four make it rewarding.
Speaker 1The feeling of progress towards your goals, for a human psyche is in itself rewarding, and seeing those squares with more and more check marks without a fail, every single day. That's a reward, progress, indication of progress on its own, and whenever you do any challenge that requires you to build new habits, you gotta have that. Famous writers, entrepreneurs, do some kind of thing like that to allow you again have many indicators of progress, because progress is one of the most rewarding things for a human brain and also lack of progress is the most common thing for people to quit. So you need to have those progress indicators, but also making it visible, a reminder what's going to trigger, what's going to remind you, what's going to keep it on the top of your mind, that thing that you said you're going to do. And then number five is making it desirable and by rewarding also not just progress but also giving yourself a feeling of win, of worthiness of your pursuit and overcoming hard things and celebrating yourself, telling yourself you're a growing girl or you're a growing man, you're doing a great job. Great job, john, angela. Celebrate yourself, celebrate commitment, celebrate showing up.
Speaker 1And here is a caveat you got to make it very, very fast. As soon as you tick the box, as soon as you realize, yes, I've done the action, as soon as you complete the action, make it as fast as possible, give yourself that feeling of reward, of accomplishment. But then you know, from time to time you can also give yourself like additional sauna session or something nice, something to put a smile on your face and like, yeah, I'm doing that right. Intermediate rewards, by the way, work a lot better for human brain Again, also science and research backed. So instead of doing something on schedule which then becomes routine, keep it novel, keep yourself surprised, keep it off the schedule. That actually works a lot better for a dopamine release and for the human brain. So it does feel like a rewarding behavior.
Speaker 1And then, number five, last but not least, make it desirable. And by desirable we mean not necessarily liking the hard work that you do. But what does it mean? What does this challenge, this routine, this habit mean in the bigger context of your life? So what we do with my clients, we put why statement on the wall to also accompany other triggers or trackers for their new behavior, their new habit. What does it mean? Well, I have $1 million consultancy and I also have this now 100-day challenge and all of that. What it means?
Speaker 1It says on this another piece of paper on my wall why it matters. It means I'm going to spend. I'll be able to spend more time with my family and support my family my parents, specifically, are very important to me. It's going to mean learning a lot from the best course creators, change agents, researchers, developing myself in the way that I want to develop instead of being limited by my financials, going to the events that I want to go with other change agents like really dialed in and excelling at their game. I also love things like learning to fly. I want to learn to fly an airplane. Or I love technology and I love having the latest tech, which I cannot afford if I don't make enough money consistently and then I have other priorities taken care of, but then also feeling like I help a lot more people and I serve a lot more people. That's what it all means. These are just a few examples from what's on my wall. It says why it matters. And then also the pain, and for me, the biggest pain is actually being stuck in mediocrity and feeling like I'm not living it to the fullest because I'm not making enough committed efforts, not taking enough committed action and I'm not growing what I want to grow. That is my biggest my business by business, and also I'm not hanging out with people who excel at their game because I'm not at that level, because I haven't committed to my action taken, which grows me into a person of excellence which then has the means to hang out with people who do awesome projects right.
Speaker 1Make it desirable. Understand why you are doing this hard work. Hard work for hard work is not desirable, but hard work for the sake of bigger. Why that is desirable? Nietzsche said he who has a big enough why will bear anyhow. So that is what it's all about. Making it desirable. Understand why you want to do it in the first place. What's important to you, what's behind that challenge. To sum it up, to recap five-step blueprint to building new habits and to going through challenges that require you to committedly show up every day or with whatever frequency. So, number one make it clear what, exactly, when, how you're going to do it. Make it non-ambiguous. There shouldn't be a question in your head what you need to do.
Speaker 1Make it easy, but put systems in place to make the doing part as frictionless as possible, along the lines like well, if you want to eat very clean or healthy or whatever for the next 100 days, then remove all the junk from your apartment, leave it at the store, put all the good stuff ready to go, cut and fresh and ready to eat in your fridge. So that's what making it easy is about. So, when it comes to taking action, there is nothing in your way except for the action. Make it visible, like those commitment trackers on your wall not on your phone Then you have to then go into the app and then check. Make it super visible everywhere, so you have no choice but to see it every single day. Make it rewarding. Celebrate yourself when you do the action.
Speaker 1Give yourself a good feeling of accomplishment and also, once in a while, give yourself something nice, something that makes you feel good. Also, something that doesn't sabotage your goal. Right, like if you I don't know decide to do 100 days of workouts but then on the weekend, after, let's say, 20 workouts, you decided to go and drink and you said you're not gonna. Well, if you decided to drink and you got a whole bottle of wine and the next day you wake up and you have a headache and you don't want to work out, my voice is breaking out, need to drink some water. So you get the idea you drink a whole bottle of wine or whatever, and you wake up next day and you have a headache and now you don't want to work out, you sabotage yourself.
Speaker 1Challenge, so reward yourself in a way that doesn't go against what you're trying to create, and then making it desirable. Why? Why is it better? Why does it matter? What makes it rewarding for you? What makes it desirable? Why do you want to do it in the first place? Never forget makes it desirable. Why do you want to do it in the first place? Never forget. And it has to be very true to yourself, to your core, to your values, to who you are. Otherwise, hard things won't work for you. Our human brain just doesn't work that way. If you don't have big enough, why? Why is basically the word like, why you're doing it for or for what reason? What are you going to get on the other side of that challenge? If your brain doesn't understand this and it's not your core thing, then forget it. You're not going to go through it.
Speaker 1And then, when things don't go perfectly and that's what the challenge is all about Things will not go perfectly. If they were to go perfectly, you did not challenge yourself enough. So when things don't go perfectly, if they were to go perfectly. You did not challenge yourself enough. So when things don't go perfectly, you stop and you ask yourself what made it happen this way, which is less than desirable, and how can I do better next time? Not how can I get it perfect? Or why I'm so bad at it, or well, I'm doomed, I'm just never going to be able to do it. How can I do better? Let's say, this week you decided not to eat sugar and you ate, I don't know, two squares of chocolate on Tuesday. So the better going to be. Well, how can I maybe eat one square of chocolate next time? Right, not perfect, but better. And then the next time you do even better. And so when you allow yourself progress, not perfection, from day one, that's how you develop new skills and that's how challenge is going to transform you, versus making you feel miserable because you fall short on so many accounts.
Speaker 1Good challenge is designed to show you where you need to grow and to also give you ideas about how to grow there. So how can I do better next time? What systems, what habits, what reminders do I need to have? Maybe I need to buy a chocolate where each piece is in its separate container. So in order for me to get the second piece, I will have to unwrap another thing that actually works, because you create additional friction obstacle, and that's it. How can I do better next time? So, five-step blueprint make it clear, make it easy, make it visible, make it rewarding, make it desirable. If you don't understand some of that, reach out Angela at brainbreakthroughcoachcom. I'll explain a little bit more. Also, reach out on Instagram Angela Brain Body Coach. Angela Brain Body Coach. All one word.
Speaker 1If you found this podcast useful and you loved it, please, guys, help me to share it, to put it into more ears, so we all change into a better version of ourselves collectively. So more of us have a better blueprint and better framework, because just hoping to be different this time it just doesn't work for a human brain, and so let's help each other grow. Help me to help others. Spread this. Share it via WhatsApp or social media, whatever works for you Like. Share it and then do your own challenge better, because science works, and that's why I'm so grateful for researchers who dedicate their lifetimes sometimes to figure out how to make things work better. Share that would mean a world to me. Stay tuned for two more episodes this week Body, mindset, productivity, habits to grow our best self and train our brain to do just that. Share this podcast Until next time, guys, be absolutely awesome, keep growing and we'll chat very soon.