#57 - Using Accountability Partners with Vikrant Shaurya

In this episode of the Morning Upgrade podcast I talk with Vikrant Shaurya about his morning routine, accountability partners, the definition of happiness, building systems and more. 

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Ryan  

Hey guys, it's Ryan real quick. So my mission with the Morning Upgrade blog and podcast is to raise the awareness of morning routines and personal development. And I now have two products that are also helped me with this mission. The first product helps you start a 20 minute morning routine. And the second product is a book that outlines how to use personal development to upgrade your life and business. You can get full details on both products over at morning upgrade.com. Thanks for letting me share. And now on to the show.

Announcer 

Welcome to the Morning Upgrade podcast with Ryan Cote where we feature casual conversations with entrepreneurs about personal development and growth.

Ryan 

Vikrant, welcome to the Morning Upgrade podcast. How are you?

Vikrant 

Ryan? I'm doing good. Thanks for having me.

Ryan 

Excited to speak with you. I've got some questions for you. But let's start off with you telling everyone you know who you are, what you do for a living, and maybe one or two hobbies.

Vikrant  

Sure, talking about my profession. I help entrepreneurs, coaches, experts, thought leaders who have amazing ideas, stories, and messages to share with the world in the form of a book. They are planning to write a book, but really don't have the time or skill set to write a book. So what I do my company, we offer a done for you book Writing, Publishing marketing services through which we help them write, publish, market the book and make it a bestseller in just six months. So this is what the video talks about my personal life and about my hobbies. So my hobbies basically change a lot. But nowadays for the last few years, I'm very much into martial arts. I'm doing Taekwondo. And of course, I also do some self-defense as well. So yeah, currently, I'm very much passionate about martial arts and Taekwondo these days.

Ryan  

Very cool. I used to do martial arts myself. So actually, I do I'm turning my daughters into it. So far, only one is taken to it. She's taken taekwondo as well. And she loves it. So yeah, I'm a big fan of martial arts. Let's talk about it so you get up in the morning. Your routine? What does that look like? How do you start your day off on a good?

Vikrant 

So if you're talking about my morning routine, I wake up at 5 am and get prepared, within half an hour, like I do my morning stuff. And at 530 to 630. I have a martial arts class. Nowadays in lockdown, we have an online class that there is a personal trainer, like who trains me, before the logged on before the COVID thing, the trainer used to come to my home, or like there's a really great place in my society itself, like there used to be used to train. So 5:30 to 6:30, as I train for martial arts, or else also do some kind of a workout or exercise. Once I do that, then take about and after seven to from seven to 8:30 am I spend some time with my wife. At the same time, I also have my morning, breakfast in the morning breakfast I mostly like from in the morning till 12 pm I'm just on fruits means I just take juice, I just take all kinds of fruits like at least I take around 750 grams of fruits, all kinds of fruits like bananas, mangoes, pineapples, and different papayas. And once I do that then comes from 830 to 12:30 pm. Like I work, like four hours I work on my business. And then, of course, this how like my morning starts in this kind of morning routine I have talking about my hair like exactly what do how I able to make sure that I'm able to take care of all of these things. So several years ago, I got to know like, of course, after so many trials and errors, I got to know that. First of all, making a bet five fam is really important for me. Because I've seen that when I'm waking up at 5 am I'm able to achieve more, I'm able to work more productively. So yep, no matter how when I'm sleeping, when I'm going to hit the bed, whether it is 1 am as well or 2 am as well, I have to wake up at 5 am. Now, what's the hack? The hack is simply the thing is, especially if you're an entrepreneur or a business owner, we are not accountable to anyone. And this is one of the reasons which actually true is that we procrastinate a lot. Maybe for two days or three days. We wake up or maybe we go to the gym, maybe we do meditation, maybe we do some kind of a habit which we want to build. But then after some time the motivation or the willpower completely builds off and then, of course, we are not able to follow that habit. So for that to really overcome that, I've seen that having an accountability partner can really overcome that problem. And for me, waking up at 5 am Like what I've done is I'm paying, of course, premium price for that personal trainer, who comes to my home, train me, and now I don't have any excuse, right, he's coming over here at my home or my place, I don't have any excuse that, hey, like, I'm not in the mood to do the martial arts or exercise today, there is no option for me, I have to no matter what I have to wake up at 5 am Get ready in half an hour, and then I have to be there on the ground. Once I do that, this is one accountability over here. I'm paying him for that. So of course, I can maybe do some practice myself, I can go to some kind of an academy where I can just pay just a fraction amount of money, or fees over there. And I can learn over there with so many people. But part of the reason why I'm doing it is that it is now forcing me to wake up, right. So this is one thing, once I do the workout or martial arts, after, like for one and a half hours, like of course I spend time with my wife and have breakfast as well. Now, when I work, right for four hours, I of course, maybe you have heard about Pomodoro. But one thing which I do, there's a tool out there called Focusmate.com, I guess eight or nine months ago, I discovered this tool, this tool, what it does is basically is kind of a website or a platform where there will be a webcam on and there'll be so many people out there, you will be connected to one person, and then this person is going to tell you what's their goal for the next 15 minutes. You tell them what's your goal. And then for 15 minutes, you will simply work on that specific task. And then the thing is like, again, we are having this kind of an accountability thing over here, we have mentioned this thing that like this is what we do this what we have to achieve, after 15 minutes, like of course, we both tell each other that whether we were able to achieve that certain goal or not how productive we were. And then we take rest for 10 minutes. And then again, there's another session with another person. So this is the kind of a hack, which is allowing me to stay intact with my morning rituals. Now I don't have any option, I have to make a 5 am I have made myself commitment that whenever I'll be working, I'm going to be working with this tool called Focus, mate. And when I'm doing it, I'm not getting distracted. I'm just working on maybe one or two tasks maximum, which is allowing me to stay focused and which is helping me Tenex my productivity. So these are the hacks which I'm using.

Ryan 

First of all, Focus Mate. I've never heard that before. That is that is genius. I'm a big fan of tools. So you've got my endorphins just like going crazy right now like fireworks. And so basically, it's someone that you team up with, through video to hold each other accountable on a specific task as genius focus mate will include those include that in the show notes, and give that a try. Yeah, I also like to get accountability. It's huge. I mean, like, push, you could get like a black belt comes into your house. You don't wanna say no to him or her, you know. But yeah, accountability is a huge thing, like masterminds. That's how I do it, we have a mastermind that I belong to, and we get together weekly. And, you know, I set certain goals and certain tasks that want to get accomplished. And you know, you don't want to show up every week with nothing being done. So it forces you to take action. So that's a pretty intense morning routine. It sounds like it goes bad and numbers up, it's a few hours, what do you do, when you go on vacation? Do you have a slimmed-down version that you did that you default to?

Vikrant 

So I'm not very much inclined to only one kind of vacation or mode. So I'm kind of a beach person. Although I'm the place where I'm living like it is surrounded by mountains and rivers like it's a really beautiful place. Throughout the year. We are having the same kind of weather not so hot, not so cold. So I really love that. This is one of the reasons why they shifted to this place three years ago, because of this weather and because of the surrounding. But whenever I go on any vacation, like for example, a recent vacation was to a place in India, like I'm from India, it was in Goa, it's kind of again beach. Before COVID. We went to me and my wife went to the Maldives, before that we went to Bali. So all of these places, most of these places we visit like it is kind of a beach. And it really helps me freshen up. But if you talk about the vacation, like I don't see vacation as that had maybe five or six days in six months. What I do is like I try to create kind of a vacation mode every day. So for example, when I'm working for four hours, I'm just working afterward, when my laptop is off. I'm not working at all right on my phone. There's no app means like, Of course, I have a smartphone but at the same time there are no social media. There's no YouTube. There's the app block in almost everything which I do There's nothing which I can use, I just use my phone just for a normal phone call. Nothing else means now my phone doesn't distract me. I use my phone, just to receive calls and call someone else. That's it, nothing else. So if you talk about the vacation, like, for me, it is spending time with my lovely wife going out. That's it like, and of course, I enjoy that time. For me, that's the vacation I really enjoy every day.

Ryan 

That's a great answer. So that yeah, it's actually a great segue into one of the questions I want to ask you based on what you just said there? What do you think the meaning of life is in your opinion?

Vikrant  

For every one, I guess the meaning of life is going to be completely different. For me as well, like I have seen that the meaning of life is changing gradually, like maybe after, if you'd asked me this question, maybe five years ago, or 10 years ago, the answer would be completely different. For me, at this point, what I have realized that the most priority thing for me is health, my health, because of course, no matter how much money you will be making, if you don't have health, it doesn't make sense, no matter how great relationships you will be having, if you are not healthy from within, then you will not be happy with that person, you will not be able to provide to that person. And that person will also not be happy with you. So the primary root, the root of everything, or your root of a happy life is going to be held. And if I talk about health, it is not only physical health, it is also mental health. So physical health, of course, like this is one of the reasons like I whenever I'm working, of course, like whenever I'm every day when I'm waking up, I'm having just one hour, right one hour, like I'm having an intense training, and then I'm fine, right? Like I am completely vegan, right means no dairy products, no non-vegetarian foods, nothing else. Like I'm a very simple guy. I just enjoy fruits, and most of my like 70% of the foods I take like it is raw. So it really helps me like currently, it is 9 pm over here. But I'm full of energy, I have calls to 11 pm 12am as well, sometimes 1 am as well. Till that as well. Like I'm really feeling really with full of energy. Even when I'm sometimes when I'm not able to take an afternoon nap. I'm feeling really positive, really energetic throughout the day. So for me, health is really, really important. And if we if you are physically healthy, then it also affects your mental health. And if you're healthy mentally as well, then it also affects your physical as well. So all of these things are interconnected. So for me, at this point in time, the meaning of life is going to be that, of course, I want to do everything in my life. Not only do I want to be healthy, but I also want to make so much money, I want to be in so many great relationships I want to enjoy, I want to spend time, I don't want to miss anything at all. Right? So for me, this is the meaning but the ground thing for me is health. So this, this is my answer.

Ryan  

Yeah, I love that. Health is such a foundational thing. I try to work out every single day. And so I 100% agree with you there. I want to talk about your business, the crowd will end on that. And then you can let everyone know how they can learn more about you. You run a successful business, what have you had the most success with? In growing it? Like what's been like your small hinge that swings the big door.

Vikrant  

One of the things which, of course, initially, when I started my business, of course, my first business failed and I made, I made a bunch of mistakes over there. I learned so many things from their betas helping me in this business. Since the beginning, I had this skill set, which was I didn't know exactly how to name it. Now, of course, I'm seeing so many people talking about it. But since the beginning, I was really good at systems and processes. So I've always since the beginning, I was really good at making really complex things very, very easy, like look really easy. And, this is my expertise from the beginning. And initially, I was not knowing that this is my strength. But it was getting really reflected in almost everything which I used to do. When I wrote my first book, I was able to write my first book within just 21 days, just because of that expertise. And I had no idea that this is what I do this what my expertise is, with the help of systems and processes, I was able to create a book outline within just one day. And then I was able to write the entire book in just the next 20 days. And then I was able to publish that book. So this was my expertise. Now, in my dismay, currently, we have around more than 40 people on the payroll. We have around more than 1000s of write book writers editors in our influence. And we are able to manage all of these things because the systems and processes now the thing is that Of course, initially, maybe you don't need so much of systems, so much of processes, so much of documentations. But after some time, if you really want to scale your business, or if you really want to take your business to the next level, or even if you're, if you want to enjoy your time, even if you want to achieve more by spending less time, you need systems and of course, to support the system you need a team. So what I have learned is that having a great team, which is going to be supported, which should support by great systems and processes can really take the business to the next level. And of course, this is what I have seen. I've seen results from that. When anyone reached out to me if someone is at a certain level in the business, I highly recommend them to work on that scenario of their businesses.

Ryan

Are there any books on that topic systems and processes that come to mind for you that you can leave us with as your recommendation?

Vikrant  

This year itself, I read this book called System-ology, the author's name is Dave Jeans, I got that book, it helped me get more clarity on that process. At the same time, they also have a video course or something, I think, yeah, this year, I also enrolled in the video course, which was really, really worth the investment, they have a tool out there called system hub, it is I guess, $90 $99 per month or something. And which helps you document all of these things in one place means in entire operation can be in just one place. So basically, you can, first of all, I will highly recommend reading that book called system, Alhaji once you read it, maybe you can check out the video course if it is otherwise, of course, you can leave it or there's a podcast as well, from this author, they've just I guess, process simplified or something of business simplified with systems something, you can check out that podcast as well. At the same time, I would highly recommend investing in systems for a great investment for us.

Ryan

Great, lots of good advice. I also love the part you've mentioned, just going back a few minutes about how the meaning of life can change based on what stage of life you're in. I meant to comment that that was really, really good insight. So because there was so this is great. Oh, what's the best way that people can connect with you if they want to learn more?

Vikrant 

Sure, I'll talk about it in a while. But maybe I should also talk about one more hack, which I'm working on it for the last few months. And it is working really, really good for me to build on habits and break the bad habits. So of course, like those listeners who are listening to me, they can't see the watch on my hand. But this device, this is not a wash, there's no time in that. Maybe you have heard about this device, it is called Pavlok. What he does is if you are trying to break any bad habit, or if you are trying to build a new habit, and if you are not able to follow that this device gives you a shock. Or zap when you are not following that habit. And of course, like it's safe. But what it does is like we need to understand that our mind is on automation 24/7 We have the same kind of thought same kind of patterns of thoughts going on. But this device, for example, if you initially I used to just watch some kind of entertainment videos, I used to enjoy it during when I was watching the video. But when after half an hour or one hour, when I used to watch those videos, I was not at all happy. My mental piece was broken down. So I had to break the habit. So what I did is whenever for every video, I started giving one step, right. And from the last few weeks, I haven't watched any video at all, sir, it gives you kind of a snap, you can also set a percentage like initially, you can set up with 20% or 30%. If you're going to increase the intensity like I have set it on 100%. If it is 100% like you, you will get a zap till your shoulder or something. So it doesn't hurt a lot like it just forces you to come in the present moment. I've also noticed this thing that whenever I'm in kind of a negative thought pattern, I give this give a shot to myself. I again come back to the present moment. And now I'm not into that negative thought patterns anymore. So there's a kind of a habit tracker, which I maintain. Currently, I'm working on seven habits. For example, for every focus more mid-session, which I'm not doing I have to do no matter what I have to do four sessions every day. For every session, which I'm not doing. I'm giving one zap to myself. So no matter what I have to do it. So this is one of the advice, of course, maybe you can try it like there's a tool called Pavlok. The guy also went on Shark Tank or something. And although the investors were not liking the product, at the same time. The other day, there was one of the investors called Daymond John, like he is a user of this tool. So of course, I really love it. I'm using it for the last three months now. And it has completely changed. It has increased the weight, like how I'm initially it used to take me maybe several months to build a new habit because sometimes I used to follow it. Sometimes I used to not follow it. But now it has instantly, like, increased my speed of maintaining a new habit or leaving those habits, which I don't want to have. So just wanted to share this video, which is working really well for me of the tools.

Ryan 

I really appreciate it. What's your website, where can people learn more about you?

Vikrant 

So people can simply visit bestsellingbook.com if they want to invest in a professional company who can take up the entire book writing publishing marketing journey, they can schedule a call with one of our author strategists who is going to take you to the next step if they want to write or publish the book themselves. What I've done is I've created a checklist, which exactly shows everything from book writing to editing, publishing, marketing, all the steps substeps, they're in just one page. So they can simply go to Bestsellingbook.com/checklist, they can download this checklist, which also comes with a blueprint, which explains how to use this checklist. And they can download it, print it, and paste it on their wall or something where they are working on their book reading publishing journey, which is going to definitely make their entire journey very, very easy because they will be knowing exactly what to do next. So this is going to be my resource for your audience.

Ryan

Right, bestsellingbook.com We'll link that up in the show notes. Much needed service. I'm obviously a huge fan of content creation. So appreciate you sharing that. And yeah, thanks for coming on, because it was great. Lots of great advice and insight and hacks. Appreciate it. Have a great day. Thank you so much, Vikrant.

Ryan  

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