Self-Performance Strategies Podcast

Welcome to the SPS Podcast

And a Performance Origin deep dive conversation with Aleya Harris

Aleya Harris is the spark for your spark™. A trailblazer in purpose-driven story crafting, she is a marketing executive, and the CEO of The Evolution Collective Inc. Aleya is an international award-winning speaker, the founder and lead trainer of Spark the Stage ™, and the host of the award-winning Flourishing Entrepreneur Podcast. She is also the bestselling author of Spark the Stage: Master the Art of Professional Speaking and Authentic Storytelling to Captivate, Inspire, and Transform Your Audience. 

Check all of Aleya's links below...

Websites Aleya Harris
www.aleyaharris.com

The Evolution Collective Inc.

www.evolutioncollective.com 

Social Media Links

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyaharris/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyaharris/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thealeyaharris 

Stephen links:

Get your Free Pattern//Breaker WorkBook:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/patternbreaker

Download the Pattern//Breaker Workbook + Email Coaching to Rebuild Identity & Take Focused Action in Under 90 Days

✅ Get clarity on your hidden resistance (with AI-powered prompts)
✅ Build a 90-day plan grounded in identity, not hustle
✅ Shift from “knowing” to “doing” in one afternoon

Visit the website:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/

Follow me here:

Twitter

LinkedIn

Big love,
ST

Welcome to the SPS Podcast.

Episode 72: The 4hr work day is a lie (or is it?)

Framing quotes for the episode:

"I set a timer and lock myself out of the internet for 90 minutes."

"For every 45 minutes of focusing on a screen, take a five-minute walk to get into panoramic vision."

- Andrew Huberman

Let's talk about... the 4-hour workday...

Is it real?

Yes and No.

You see… when I hear the phrase 4-hour work day what I hear is 4 hours of deep work done each day.

Because that’s what these gUrUs mean… 4 hours of impactful work. They don’t mean 4 hours of sitting at your desk doing repetitive or dumb sh*t tasks.

The thing is… I don’t think many entrepreneurs (except for super super super successful ones with more VAs than fingers) work only 4 hours a day.

In fact, many of them, including me, talk about doing 3 and even 4 (on a good day) sets of 90-minute sprints.

I’m not the best at math but even 3 sets of 90 minutes is 4.5 hours.

Now, any honest business owner, creator, or so called expert will tell you it takes at least 5 to 6 hours to do 4 hours of deep work.

Why?

Because you take breaks. The brain needs breaks. Even those on heavy doses of Adderall still need to get up once in a while and pee.

You know… no one on this giant ball of gas works for 4 hours straight without a few mini breaks or slips in concentration.

At best It’s a catchy slogan. At worst it's a straight-up lie.

But making sure you do 4 hours of impactful high-value/dollar work is a fact I can get behind.

Every day through Monday to Friday I use a 4-hour count-down clock (I drop it to 2 hours on the weekend

I then do deep work, play with ideas, or speak with clients (speaking with people who pay you money for your support is deep work for me)

Now… I’ve been using a timer for the last year in this way and it showed me it takes me around 6 to 8 hours to get 4 hours of deep work done.

Why?

Because that's how I like to run my days.

For example… I get up around 530 am and start working around 6 am.

I break at 7 am to make coffee and talk with my wife before she goes to work. I do another 30 minutes of work before 8 am. That's my first 90-minute sprint done.

After getting up, 90 minutes of deep work took me 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete.

I can tell you right now that’s fairly efficient.

I then do another 90-minute sprint until 10 am. This sprint is my best sprint for deep work. I’m alone in the house and have one single purpose… get sh*t done.

Now, I don’t want to bore you with my daily schedule, but I finish my 3 big deep work tasks each day around 2 pm.

Between going for walks, making food, and doing social media stuff, I don't get to my last 90-minute sprint until about 12:30 pm.(or later)

So, with all that said, my 4 hours of deep work can take me, on average, 6, 7 or even 8 hours to complete after getting up.

However, by 2 pm (most days) my day is all mine. I could work a little faster, but I have no reason to and I'm tactically lazy.

Now… some performance “experts” will push back on this… but they’re full of poop.

I can hear them now: "You can do four hours straight with a mini 20-minute break in between."

So it's the 4:20 work day... you might be high bruv...

My advice... find a way to get your deep work done that works with your lifestyle and identity.

Obviously… the average business owner has a family, responsibilities, team members, and meetings to attend.

So, to accomplish 4 hours of deep impactful work and live the 4-hour work day, give yourself at least 6 hours to do it.

Remember… don’t be bamboozled by fancy slogans.

Stephen links:

Get your Free Pattern//Breaker WorkBook:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/patternbreaker

Download the Pattern//Breaker Workbook + Email Coaching to Rebuild Identity & Take Focused Action in Under 90 Days

✅ Get clarity on your hidden resistance (with AI-powered prompts)
✅ Build a 90-day plan grounded in identity, not hustle
✅ Shift from “knowing” to “doing” in one afternoon

Visit the website:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/

Follow me here:

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Big love,
ST

Welcome to the SPS Podcast.

Episode 71 Performance Origins Deep Dive with Andi Jarvis

Andi Jarvis runs Eximo Marketing, which is based in the UK and Ireland.

They focus on delivering customer-inspired marketing strategies for their clients. Andi helps his clients profit from marketing by focusing primarily on companies launching new products or entering new markets.

He’s an in-demand professional speaker and hosts the Strategy Sessions podcast.

Check out his links here:

Twitter: Andi Jarvis

LinkedIn: Andi Jarvis

Instagram/Threads: Andi Jarvis

Podcast: Strategy Sessions

Website: Eximo

Stephen links:

Get your Free Pattern//Breaker WorkBook:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/patternbreaker

Download the Pattern//Breaker Workbook + Email Coaching to Rebuild Identity & Take Focused Action in Under 90 Days

✅ Get clarity on your hidden resistance (with AI-powered prompts)
✅ Build a 90-day plan grounded in identity, not hustle
✅ Shift from “knowing” to “doing” in one afternoon

Visit the website:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/

Follow me here:

Twitter

LinkedIn

Big love,
ST

"The deepest rivers make the least noise."
- Richard Hooker

Let's talk about removing nagging noise...

Back in my wilder days… I spent a lot of time in loud nightclubs or listening to banging house music... as I practised my bedroom DJ skills.

Often… after a night out or an extra-long DJ session… I would have this ringing in my ears… it would go away a few hours later.

Then… later in my early 30’s (I was still trying to become a full-time DJ)

I returned from a night of DJing at a friend’s art show... that turned into a late-night party… and the ringing stuck around for a week.

Concerned I had tinnitus… 

I went to the doctor... explained I had a dull noise in my ear that wouldn’t go away. Got a few tests. Even got special earplugs that professional DJs use.

Thankfully…

I did not have permanent ear damage… the ringing stopped… I stopped DJing out as much... and pulled back from being in clubs most weekends…

The loud music and lack of ear protection were causing the pain… so I solved the problem… the pain went away.

Can you see where I’m going with this story?

The thing I noticed with this brush with tinnitus… if you don’t deal with dull noise in your life… your pain gets worse. And at some point, that pain might be irreversible.

I’ve experienced this mentally, emotionally, and physically in life and business.

And I’ve seen it with 100% of the clients I’ve helped over the last 3 years.

Everyone has some type of dull noise in their life that won’t go away and you need to deal with it.

That noise could be…

→ Knowing you’re not spending enough time with your kids.

→ Frustration building as you neglect your health to work longer hours

→ Awareness you’re spending too much of your time in your business on low-value busy work

But that noise is nagging you every day… it’s like a mental or emotional version of tinnitus.

How do you resolve the pain? 
How do you remove the noise?

Sorry to say this… you deal with it...

You transform your mental or emotional pain into peak performance.

For example…

My recent client, Rick, had a lot of noise in his life that he wanted relief from.

He had this constant noise of frustration in his days. He wasn’t getting to the important pillars of his life. And he started to resent his daily loop.

Now, he enjoyed his work… but he held a few activities in higher regard he wasn’t finding time for…

→ Spending time with his kids 
→ Spending time on his health 
→ Spending time on his investments

All of his mental and emotional noise traced back to a lack of structure... and far too many open projects sucking up his time.

So we created some life pillars and a roadmap… 

Within weeks of working together… we had turned negative noise into positive performance.

We found the source of the mental and emotional tinnitus... We dealt with the source of that pain.

So... do you have a dull noise in your life and business that won't disappear? 

Your first step might be to check your structure and make sure you're working in alignment with your identity and standards. 

Stephen links:

Get your Free Pattern//Breaker WorkBook:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/patternbreaker

Download the Pattern//Breaker Workbook + Email Coaching to Rebuild Identity & Take Focused Action in Under 90 Days

✅ Get clarity on your hidden resistance (with AI-powered prompts)
✅ Build a 90-day plan grounded in identity, not hustle
✅ Shift from “knowing” to “doing” in one afternoon

Visit the website:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/

Follow me here:

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LinkedIn

Big love,
ST

"Problems are not the problem; coping is the problem."

- Virginia Satir

It’s 7:43 pm. You decide you should spend an hour cleaning up some emails... getting through some basic tasks to get a head start on tomorrow…

Walking by the kitchen, you grab a beer and think… “I might as well make it fun.”

When you get to your home office… you decide to pop on some sports highlights and think… “I can do 2 or 3 things at once.”

One hour passes…
One beer turned into two...
Only a handful of emails got sorted...
Sports highlights became the main focus.

You get frustrated and decide to just watch sports and enjoy the night before going to bed.

Have you been there?
Do you do this often?

Say you will do a quick 30-minute to an hour’s worth of night work… but end up spending hours doing nothing.

The beer might be a white wine… and the sports might be K-drama.

But often… you combine your stress-coping mechanisms with your work. This is dangerous on two fronts…

First… you don’t get any work done, which increases your mental and emotional pain.

Second… you don’t get any rest because of split attention. And your coping mechanisms are not the healthiest.

I’ve seen this story play in many ways with many different clients…

It’s not always drink and TV. It’s any time you mix work with an activity you usually do to relax. I’ve even had a client try to do busy work while hanging out with his kids. You can guess how that went… not great.

This pattern is so common… it’s one the first things I go hunting for when I start working with a client.

Why?

Because far too many smart business owners trap themselves in their own actions.

And I don’t see many other coaches in the performance space... directly targeting these bad habits or mental open loops that far too many tolerate.

Here’s a blunt truth…

In the last 5 years… I’ve hired one-to-one coaches (a few times). I’ve been in many cohorts and communities. I’ve bought many programs and books about business and performance.

And 95%+ of these all focused on...
-> Creating new systems
-> Starting new projects or habits
-> Or following a cookie-cutter process that is not that related to your current pain.

It kinda pisses me off… to be fair.

You see…

My mission is to provide business owners with the best path forward to improving their results and energy... so that they spend more time doing the things they love about their lives.

And the easiest way to do that is… remove the dumb sh*t that is slowing you down.

The kicker here…

Understanding which of your habits and coping mechanisms are sabotaging you…

Is the “easy button” to improve your performance.

Remove those... you will improve...

And the fastest way to do that is to have a coach in your corner... who is more concerned about your development than their process.

If you’re tired of sabotaging your focus and performance with your own actions... let’s talk.

Stephen links:

Get your Free Pattern//Breaker WorkBook:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/patternbreaker

Download the Pattern//Breaker Workbook + Email Coaching to Rebuild Identity & Take Focused Action in Under 90 Days

✅ Get clarity on your hidden resistance (with AI-powered prompts)
✅ Build a 90-day plan grounded in identity, not hustle
✅ Shift from “knowing” to “doing” in one afternoon

Visit the website:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/

Follow me here:

Twitter

LinkedIn

Big love,
ST

The wisest counsel is often offered to others, not ourselves.

Have you ever experienced this?

When a friend asks you for advice about their business... you suddenly become Rick Rubin or Mark Cuban...

And drop some sage advice...

But when you think about your own business and performance...

Your ideas are poor... and your actions are limited.

You often think to yourself... "I'm smarter than this... why do I repeat the same mistakes and don't take my own advice."

This describes the psychological phenomenon called Solomon's Paradox.

In short... it works like this...

We're excellent at giving helpful and rational advice to others. But terrible at giving the same helpful and rational advice to ourselves.

Solomon's Paradox is why:

• Coaches struggle to coach themselves
• Writers struggle to edit their own books
• Therapists often need therapy themselves

This happens because...

You're too close to you and your whole story... you know too much about yourself...

When you think about yourself, you don't listen to one piece of information... you reference your whole wiki page... all the pain... all the limiting beliefs... and what Billy, the school bully, said to you during Math class in October 1986.

But... when it comes to someone else's problem...

You don't reference their full personal wiki page... you focus on the facts of the situation they are describing... without all the emotional junk they associate with it.

Here's the truth...

Most of your challenges aren't all that difficult... you know there are people not as smart as you... who have solved more difficult challenges than you're facing right now.

The thing is...

They figured out a way to get help outside of their own head... followed steps that worked... and put in the work.

When you don't do that...

You remain stuck in the paradox... you can't avoid it... you can't outthink yourself.

You end up...

-> Frustrated... you think... "Why is this so difficult?"

-> Stuck in a loop... "I've run my business for years... why am I still making this mistake?"

-> Wasting time and energy... "Why does every project drain me so much?"

You overthink. You overcomplicate. You torture yourself with nothing positive to show for it.

I know from helping over 30 business owners over the last 3 years...

This is what keeps many of you stuck... you vs you... and you keep beating you.

My friend and coach, Torrey Dawley, introduced me to this paradox. (I have 100% stole it from him as a coaching tool)

He explains that Salomon's Paradox is also... what separates people who get what they want from people who don't.

In his words...

"You don't trust yourself to actually pull off the great thing you want to do. So you'd rather keep it a secret and pluck away at it slowly in a "safe" place."

If you understand this paradox... you start to realize why...

-> Unwritten books stay unwritten for an entire lifetime.

-> Business ideas that would make you millions never launch.

-> Life-changing relationships never blossom because you're scared to open up to people.

In short...

Solomon's Paradox is the destroyer of dreams.

And... yet... it's the easiest mental roadblock to remove.

You only need to do one thing...

Ask for help from someone you trust... then do what they say.

I've worked with some of the top coaches in the field of performance and every one of them had a coach...

Why?

They understood the importance of feedback and outside perspectives. It's the only way to defeat Solomon's Paradox.

They invested in great coaches... proven systems... and powerful programs.

If you do these same things. If you can believe in yourself enough. If you back yourself to win...

You'll untangle the massive ball of mental yarn you're trapped in.

You'll start to see a clearer path forward... and transform that mental and emotional pain into peak performance.

Sounds good... right?

Stephen links:

Get your Free Pattern//Breaker WorkBook:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/patternbreaker

Download the Pattern//Breaker Workbook + Email Coaching to Rebuild Identity & Take Focused Action in Under 90 Days

✅ Get clarity on your hidden resistance (with AI-powered prompts)
✅ Build a 90-day plan grounded in identity, not hustle
✅ Shift from “knowing” to “doing” in one afternoon

Visit the website:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/

Follow me here:

Twitter

LinkedIn

Big love,
ST

"What got you here.... won't get you there."

— Unknown

After 12+ years of focusing on self-improvement and 3+ years of coaching clients one-on-one…

I know this is the foundation of all lasting change.

What is it?

Future Identity First.

And why is that?

All your visions, goals, and standards are downstream of knowing who you want to be and where you want to go.

And the bonus to that is…

Knowing your future identity makes it easier to shift your behaviours. Allowing you to become the best version of yourself today or at least sooner. And allowing you to fall in love with your life again. 

Think of Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness... his character, Chris, went from lost and broke to finding success... all because he saw the type of person he wanted to be and pursued it with passion.

Imagine this…

You spend most of your days chasing your tail. You wake up and you slide straight into distractions. From social media noise to hour-long meetings that should’ve been 15 minutes or an email. You often think to yourself…

There’s gotta be a better way.

But frustratingly this reactive loop continues daily.

You’re plagued by mistakes and missed opportunities of the past.

You’re constantly weighed down with the feeling you know you could be performing at higher levels.

You stop making changes because you think…

What's the point?

I get it… I’ve been there...

Every new pivot you take…
Every new system you try… 
Every surge of momentum on a Monday...

Turns into a slow trudge through the same old mental and emotional BS by Wednesday.

And this is where future identity first comes in.

It’s the foundation for more direction, flow, and momentum.

How and why?

As I mentioned earlier… all your plans… energy… and wins… are downstream of a clear future identity.

It has to come first if you want to make lasting changes.

When you get your identity dialled in... it allows you:

→ To build performance plans to get clear on your highest priorities

→ To remove the fog of uncertainty from your daily and weekly actions

→ To get clear on activities aligned with your direction and which ones are not (you can drop those fast)

It’s like a shortcut to improved performance while also being the best way to do it.

The results of putting Identity first?

My clients have told me this has helped them: 
→ Spend more time with family 
→ Improve business profits and revenue 
→ Remove mental and emotional pain holding them back

For me personally…

Being clear on my identity helps me align with the best version of who I want to be daily. It helps me drop the mental and emotional noise that used to lead to destructive habits. It helps me zone in and get into flow more often.

I’ve never encountered another system, hack, or optimization strategy... that is more effective than creating a powerful future identity and working back from it.

Life-changing would be an understatement.

Stephen links:

Get your Free Pattern//Breaker WorkBook:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/patternbreaker

Download the Pattern//Breaker Workbook + Email Coaching to Rebuild Identity & Take Focused Action in Under 90 Days

✅ Get clarity on your hidden resistance (with AI-powered prompts)
✅ Build a 90-day plan grounded in identity, not hustle
✅ Shift from “knowing” to “doing” in one afternoon

Visit the website:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/

Follow me here:

Twitter

LinkedIn

Big love,
ST

Welcome to the SPS Podcast

“If you build that foundation, both the moral and the ethical foundation, as well as the business foundation, and the experience foundation, then the building won’t crumble.”

— Henry Kravis

-----

How do you have a good week?

You start by focusing on good days.

Nope....wrong.

It doesn’t work like that.

That’s like trying to hit a dart with the dart board from 8 feet away.

It’s entirely backwards.

But this is the advice on X or LinkedIn.

I see it almost daily.

ChatGPT productivity posts filled with shallow ideas on having good days and weeks. Stuffed with more platitudes than fortune cookies on steroids.

All the same ideas you’ve read 100 times before…

Prioritize your tasks. Use time management. Stay positive. Set goals. Have balance. Stack habits.

Sure…these things help…but they are tactics that only work if you have the right strategy.

So…what does work?

You have to think well beyond your days and weeks to have good days and weeks.

You need to think months…if not a year or more out.

You build good weeks by working backwards from your future goals.

Is this revolutionary? No.

But it sure as heck gives you a more reliable chance of success than reading some dumb sh*t post like…

Give me 7 minutes, and I’ll give you 7 productivity hacks that made me 7K in my first 7 days running a business online as a 7-year-old.

I think we’ve all been there.

I know I have been.

Focusing on the mirco without even thinking about the macro.

12+ years ago, when I first got into personal development, I fell into the trap of hacks and shallow ideas.

I had the morning routine. I was fasting. I was taking mini-breaks to recharge. I was getting good sleep. Drinking water. Going for walks. Eating healthy. Tracking my hours. Using a gratitude journal. Taking cold showers. Getting up at 5 am. Reciting affirmations.

But all that energy was going into 9 to 5 roles with imitations.

It took me years to start something on the side that I could grow.

It took me years to align all these tactics with a long-term strategy.

Without a long-term strategy...these hacks are like running in waste-high water.

A lot of effort for a little distance covered.

The thing is…

When you discover personal development or high performance…

It’s like seeing an iceberg for the first time. You focus on the ice above the water. You’re in awe of this magnificent white island floating in the sea. But then you notice how deep and far down the ice goes.

And if you want to have good weeks and days.

You have to go that deep with your strategy.

When I did…I made giant leaps forward. I transformed my life.

I went from a frustrating plateau of hacks and short-term systems to tapping into perpetual momentum.

So grab your deep-sea scuba gear…. get a bigger boat…

And let’s look at the 4 key steps you would do to improve your days and weeks.

Step 1: Reflect And Review:

Most people start with actions.

You should start by collecting data. Finding your trends. Stacking your wins. And creating a vision.

Why?

It builds momentum and lets you know your current situation and direction.

You don’t create great weeks without the right foundations and vision.

Step 2: Plan And Act:

Now you plan your actions.

You need to plan your next 90 days to have excellent days and weeks.

You need to highlight your high-value and high-dollar activities and structure your days, weeks, and months around those.

You need to select power moves that force you to take action.

Like hiring a coach, joining a community, or onboarding help.

Step 3: Build And Test:

You need to connect your macro goals with micro daily actions.

Too often, I see people with big goals but no actions or vice versa…lots of daily actions but no specific direction.

This will take work.

You will have to adapt.

The actions you think will help you win…might not help you win.

Test the plans you built and get it right.

This will lead to amazing weeks.

Step 4: Review And Improve:

You need feedback loops.

Weekly and monthly systems.

From journaling to business analytics. You should be collecting your data.

With data, you can make more informed decisions. Rather than knee-jerk reactions to the wind changing direction.

When you flip-flop with your micro-actions, you never reach any macro goals.

This is why...

90% of the productivity advice online for business owners sucks.

It goes straight to tactics and ignores the foundations…data…and vision you need for those tactics to work.

If you want to have great days and weeks.

You have to look way beyond the tip of the iceberg…you gotta get deep.

The question I have for you today...

How deep are you going with your foundations?

Stephen links:

Get your Free Pattern//Breaker WorkBook:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/patternbreaker

Download the Pattern//Breaker Workbook + Email Coaching to Rebuild Identity & Take Focused Action in Under 90 Days

✅ Get clarity on your hidden resistance (with AI-powered prompts)
✅ Build a 90-day plan grounded in identity, not hustle
✅ Shift from “knowing” to “doing” in one afternoon

Visit the website:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/

Follow me here:

Twitter

LinkedIn

Big love,
ST

“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” 

—Andrew Carnegie

Goals are far more important than you think. 
And it’s not just about hitting future targets. 

Goals shape your life. 
By setting clear goals…you gain a filter to sift through the myriad of choices and distractions that flood your daily life. 

You can ask yourself: “Will this action help me progress toward my goals?” 

If the answer is no.
It’s time to drop it and move on to something that matters.

Imagine you’re a chef preparing a delectable dish. 

Your goals act as the recipe…providing clear instructions for each step. 

When you have a goal in mind…it becomes easier to break it down into manageable actions. 

By taking these bite-sized steps. You make progress toward your objectives. Building momentum along the way.  

Picture this….

Most business owners…creators…or solopreneurs are lost in a maze of tasks.

Within this daily maze goals act like a helpful signpost. They show you the way. They act as a filter.

You leave behind the dead-ends of unproductive actions. You avoid the pitfalls of wasted time and effort. 

Goals guide you through the business wilderness with a cheeky smile…saying….

“Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”

Using goals as a filter helps you create the future you want. 

People have asked me...

“How do you build the discipline to show up each day?”

The funny thing is...

I don’t see myself as disciplined.
I set goals and then use those goals as a daily filter. My goals help me choose my actions.

Future ME needs today ME to do ABC to win.

So I go do the tasks that future ME needs me to do.
“But how do you do that?”

With a little bit of what I call Tactical Woo Woo:

Close your eyes and envision your dream business…your ultimate success scenario.

Now…take the time to write out what that looks like. How does an average day pan out? What does your health and relationships look like? 

You can get super deep and detailed with this.

Feel the surge of excitement and determination that comes from defining your goals...By tapping into these emotions and building a clear picture of what you want.

You’ll start to filter your actions to help you achieve your goals.  

When you align your daily tasks with your overarching goals. Each action becomes a stepping stone toward your dreams. 

Use this process to ignite your passion and let your goals fuel your drive to take the right actions today. 

Now…before we go… let’s challenge the status quo. 

Conventional wisdom tells us to do more. To fill every moment with hustle and grind. 

But you know I think that’s dumb sh*t. 

You need to flip the script….

You need to remove to improve.

By filtering your actions through the lens of your goals…you can cut out the noise and prioritize what matters. 

It’s about working smarter…not harder. 

Because…

Working harder limits your thinking.

You need space in your days to focus on your vision and impactful goals.

This is why goals are vital.

They shape your identity.
They tell you what actions to take.
They filter out the dumb sh*t and help save time.

Just don’t set goals.

Use them as tools in your life.

Stephen links:

Get your Free Pattern//Breaker WorkBook:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/patternbreaker

Download the Pattern//Breaker Workbook + Email Coaching to Rebuild Identity & Take Focused Action in Under 90 Days

✅ Get clarity on your hidden resistance (with AI-powered prompts)
✅ Build a 90-day plan grounded in identity, not hustle
✅ Shift from “knowing” to “doing” in one afternoon

Visit the website:

https://www.stephentimoney.com/

Follow me here:

Twitter

LinkedIn

Big love,
ST

 Welcome to the SPS Podcast

"If you remain stuck in the same roles and patterns, it doesn’t matter how much willpower you exert; your efforts will continue to be confined within the limiting context of your role. You’ll remain hostage to a context that you mistakenly believe to be fixed identity."

- Dr Benjamin Hardy

-----

Willpower doesn't work...

And shallow hacks won't fix your focus.

Boom...off to a big start this week.

For years I was on a mission to improve my willpower to help me improve my focus.

Building my willpower muscle was an important part of my early successes.

I'm sure if you're like me you've walked this path.

You've thought...

"Only if I could improve my willpower...I could do more?"

While I was on this willpower journey...I used as many systems and hacks as I could to get my sh*t done.

The sheer number of systems you can use is endless...

But...I still struggled to improve my willpower.

I began to wonder why. I even thought...is improving willpower a red herring...are you treating the symptoms of bad focus...not the cause?

This line of thinking led me to improve my energy and environments.

With willpower... you're asking a tired or distracted version of yourself to work harder or get focused.

With energy management...you're removing low energy from the equation.

I started to ignore willpower and energy management became a core focus of building my focus muscle...with better...

Sleep... diet...exercise...

I noticed I could focus for longer...did this solve my issues...had I found a replacement for willpower?

Yes and no.

Here's the thing...

While improving your sleep...diet...exercise...will improve your focus...

There's a deeper level that proves willpower doesn't work.

There's a deeper level that most people ignore...one I ignored for years...and one I'm sure you don't think about often.

What is it?

Your environments.

It's how you set your life up with your inner and external mental...emotional...and physical environments.

It took a deep rut in life to learn this lesson.

Let's take a look at it...

The shift in how I approached willpower and focus happened in 2016.

It was a crazy year...I worked in 3 different places and had 3 months off... all before the start of September.

As I've told you already...For years I was fighting myself to improve my willpower and focus...I got some wins with energy management.

But...I was not happy where I worked...I was angry at myself for waiting until my 30s to get my sh*t together...I was chasing job titles and income figures.

I knew I needed a new approach.

First I changed jobs...but I brought my mental and emotional BS with me.

I moved from a general manager in luxury clothes to a sales guy in a luxury car dealership in February 2016.

While I made decent money...I was still not happy...I got frustrated and annoyed.

I was not drinking...I was going to bed early...I was eating well...I had goals...I was doing everything I thought I was supposed to be doing.

But yet here I was still in a rut.

It hit me hard....willpower is f**king useless against the weight of mental... emotional...and physical barriers.

I needed a break and quit the car sales job in June 2016.

I was burnt out...willpower...brute force...or let's say discipline doesn't work if you don't have the right foundations.

Let me explain...

While energy management and good habits can cover the cracks for a while...if you're not improving your core mental... emotional...physical worlds...you will hit a brick wall.

I know I did.

During the summer of 2016...I spent 3 months doing work on those 3 pillars.

Did I need to take 3 months to do this...no

But...I knew...whatever job I went back into I wanted to ensure I didn't fall into the same trap of relying on willpower to cover deeper barriers.

It took me until the end of August to find a new role...I transitioned from retail sales to work in insurance.

With the right inner and external mental... emotional...physical foundations built...I was promoted 3 times in 5 years while working in 7 different roles or projects.

In 2021 I left to start my coaching business.

This approach of ignoring willpower for improving focus is a core principle of my coaching.

Often...the business owners I work with are in the willpower trap.

Their energy management is off and their mental... emotional...physical foundations need repairing.

Frustrated and overwhelmed...they push themselves to get their sh*t done but never make a BIG dent in their work.

Days...weeks...months of stagnation go by in a flash.

It happens to the best of us.

It happened to me for a few years.

It might even be happening to you right now.

That's why we need to fix our environments.

Because...

Your internal and external environments are more important than willpower.

Let’s look at how you can start to fix your mental...emotional...physical pillars in more depth:

1) Mental Environment:

It’s a cliche but it all starts with your mindset.

How you show up mentally will determine your results.

If you think you can you will

If you think you can’t you won’t

If you think negatively your world will be

But what type of mental environment are you in right now?

Ask yourself what you are paying attention to:

• Are you focusing on the positive mentally?

• What ideas...goals...targets are you focused on?

• What books...podcasts...programs are you consuming?

Your inputs and thinking will impact you.

The biggest shift I had in this area...was becoming aware of the negative voice in my head.

90% of the time...it's not a useful voice to listen to.

2) Physical Environment:

If you want to succeed the physical world you live in needs to support you.

If you want to succeed you must treat your body in a way that supports you.

Living in a mess...never eating well...or never working out limits your success.

How can you change your physical world to support your success?

• Do you like your job...home...car?

• Do you exercise daily...weekly...never?

• How tidy are your working and living areas?

• What physical friction is there stopping you from achieving your goals?

Once I understood this to my core...I knew I had to leave certain jobs and walk away from certain relationships.

3) Emotional Environment:

Often overlooked or ignored by productivity gurus.

But it’s one of the most crucial elements of a successful life.

You must overcome the emotional junk holding you back from reaching your potential.

Shallow hacks and systems don't go this deep...and trying to use willpower while carrying a bunch of emotional junk is hard work.

How can you create positive emotional environments?

• Are you in any toxic relationships?

• Do your friends and family support your goals?

• What negative emotions are you holding on to?

• Are you journaling...meditating...or creating alone time?

• Are you chasing or desiring external markers of success?

If you want to improve your focus.... knowing your emotions matters.

Out of all the pillars...this was the one I did the most work with.

I was chasing. I was trying to catch up. I wanted success too much.

Because of this period I know...to grow we must let go.

Working these 3 pillars is vital...imo

You can complain about your lack of focus...you can try and build your willpower or...

You can fix your environments.

• Find the right people who support you.

• Be around bigger ideas and rewarding content.

• Create a frictionless and aesthetic world to live in.

Healthier inner and external environments make it easier to succeed.

Stephen links:

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ST