Jan 31, 2025 7 min read

How To Outpace Everyone (in 7 Days)

Leave nothing on the table.

Ever wondered how some people can achieve so much in life, whereas others barely scratch the surface of their potential?

Have you ever thought how much you could achieve in 6 or 12 months if you maximised your inputs every single day?

It’s genuinely possible to make more progress in one week than some people can in one year. That’s because most people live their lives on autopilot every single week.

Most people don’t make any real progress each week.

Think about it for a second, we’ve all been guilty of this.

If you said before that you wanted to lose weight, in the preceding 7 days, how much actual time did you actually dedicate to losing weight?.. Not thinking, not researching, I’m talking about doing.

How much time did you spend in the kitchen doing meal prep and making healthy meals?

How many hours did you spend running?

How many hours did you spend in the gym?

People literately don’t change.

They say things like "I’m going to write a book or start that business" but nothing really materialises in the end.

So if you want to avoid repeating the same monotonous 12 month cycle of your life for the next 50 years, then this article for you.

Principle 1. Consciousness

What do I mean by consciousness?..

You need to become more conscious about yourself. You need to become self aware.

Because if you do this and you are honest with yourself, you can actually realise what it is that you want.

So to start with you need to create some space for yourself.

And by this I mean carve out a couple of hours, go for a walk, sit on a bench and grab your notepad and pen and just write.

You need to reflect on where your life is lacking right now and what you want to change.

Is it your physical health?
Is it your financial situation or net worth?
Is it your career trajectory?
Is it your relationships?

Whatever it is, just write down your thoughts onto the paper, and contemplate.

Let your thoughts pour out onto the page.

Most people are just being reactive to what is happening in their life.

They’re never give themselves the chances of getting into a flow state. It’s a surface level life.

And because of that they are not becoming the person they want to be or doing the things they want to do.

And that’s why reflection is so important.

Just set aside just 5 minutes at the start and end of each day to reflect.

Reflection gives you valuable insights into your life, the challenges you’re facing, and areas for growth.

It's a big part of the planning process and it can really help you to make better decisions going forward.

Another useful question to ask yourself is what are you spending your time on?

Do a time audit for a day - track everything you’re doing for 24 hours.

How much time are you spending on instagram?

How much time are you working, exercising, sleeping or eating?

This can be really important for finding out what needs to change and finding the things that you want to stop doing or things you want to keep on doing.

And by doing this you can give yourself more time towards creating your ideal future.

Principle 2: Gain clarity

The most successful people have a vision of their lives that they work towards every day - they go to work on their lives, and they’re not just in their lives.

If you don’t have a clear picture on how you want to live your life - how can you actually begin to live it?

Clarity gives us focus, it helps us to take action and it gives us energy.

If you don’t have clarity, you’ll probably be stressed. You’ll have a tendency towards inaction and you’ll lack direction in life.

You’ll just go through the motions.

This was me not too long ago.

My mind was scattered. I struggled to focus on one task or goal.

Everything felt overwhelming. I was constantly busy but never productive.

I felt lost, drifting without purpose.

But then I found clarity.

I defined my vision.

I set clear goals and I took deliberate actions.

Now, my life has direction.

My stress has decreased.

My productivity has gone up.

Clarity changed everything.

It’s so so important.

So how do you actually gain clarity? You need a vision. A vision for your future.

Ask yourself this: who do you want to be in 10 years time? What do you value most? What kind of life do you want? How do you want to be physically? How do you want to be mentally? How do you want to be financially or spiritually? How do you want your friendships to be like?

Condense these aspects into three overarching domains: health, wealth, and relationships.

Keep this vision front and centre in your mind. It reminds you of who you’re striving to become.

It tells you why you are doing the work.

Let it dominate your mind.

Let it guide your daily actions.

Let it fuel your motivation.

Let it shape your decisions.

A clear vision brings focus.

A clear vision provides purpose.

A clear vision drives success.

Principle 3: Goals

Now you have clarity, you should condense your vision into achievable, 3 month goals.

What do you desperately want to achieve?

What really matters to you?

What is the end goal?

And the goals you set can’t just be “I want to lose weight” or “I want to look good”.

You need to be more specific. SMART goals are a good place to start and you’ve probably heard of these.

Also I phrase my goals as if they’ve already happened.

A better goal for example would be:" I will lose 5 kilos of body weight in the next 90 days."

So now you have your goal, the next bit is really important.

For each 3-month goal, you need to list 5 to 10 specific actions that will propel you forward.

For the example we’re using, your action steps could be to weigh yourself every day.

To be in a calorie deficit every day.
To exercise four times a week.
To count your calories.
To walk every day.

You get the point but it’s important because tangible steps make your aspirations more achievable.

Also with these action points you can use numbers and track everything which is really powerful because numbers are objective.

They don’t have feelings.

They will tell you whether or not you did what you say you would.

So reflect every single day and at the end of each week.

If you set out to do 5 workouts that week, but you only did 3, thats 60%.

If you only went for a walk 3 times times week that’s 43%,

It prevents you from developing excuses.

Think of it like a scoring system.

If you have weekly, monthly and quarterly goals set out and you track them along the way, it creates a sense of urgency that is lacking when you set a goal at the start of the new year.

And remember, stepping outside of your comfort zone is something that you’ll just have to square with if you set ambitious goals for yourself.

If you don’t have a strong enough why for your goals, you will probably avoid doing the hard tasks.

You will stick to the things that are easy.

I'm telling you this from experience.

To get what you want, or even close to it, you have to sacrifice your comfort.

Sitting in front of the camera and recording was so daunting at the start.

Honestly, I made every excuse under the sun not to record or post a video.

I told myself I wasn't ready. I convinced myself it wasn't the right time or that my videos would be rubbish. But then I realised something.

No one actually cares if I stumble or make mistakes.

People are too focused on their own lives. Perfection is not the goal; progress is.

I embraced the discomfort.

I pushed through the fear.

I recorded.

I posted.

Each step outside my comfort zone made me stronger.

Each effort brought me closer to my goals.

Discomfort became a sign of growth.

Now, recording feels a lot more natural. The fear has kinda faded.

So, step out of your comfort zone.

Set clear goals.

Embrace the challenge.

Find your why.

Let it drive you forward.

Principle 4. Execution

This is the part where you commit yourself fully to your goal.

You do the work and put all your energy into it.

The way you do this is by dedicating time every single day toward your outputs.

This is how you outpace the work people do in 12 months because most people are doing shallow, distracted work.

You need to eliminate the things that are outside of your goals. Remove distractions that are harming your progress and productivity.

You have to focus.

It may only be for an hour or two a day but dedicating blocks of uninterrupted time so you can really get into that focus-filled flow state.

If you’re struggling to stay focused for long periods of time I’ve done a video on this and it might help:

Also, try to eliminate the things that take up your time.

For example, you can try to delegate mundane tasks like food shopping by delivery services. You can automate repetitive things like paying bills or email responses.

Limit your social media usage to specific times of the day. Avoid unnecessary meetings that drain your energy and focus.

Think about it: the highest achieving or most successful people are probably not that available because they’re so dialled into the thing they’re working on.

Their focus is razor-sharp. Their time is protected. They prioritise their goals relentlessly and they cut out all the noise.

Their success is not accidental but it’s the result of deliberate execution, day in and day out.

They know that in order to achieve extraordinary things, they need to be an extraordinary person, they need to have the discipline for consistent effort.

They embrace the grind and show up every day.

They push through the discomfort.

This is the path to turning your vision into reality.

This is the key to achieving more in one week than most do in twelve months.

And don’t forget to accountable.

Have ownership and agency over your actions.

Apply the 4 principles and stay the course, no matter how hard it gets.