Bulletproof Motivation-Resource Cheat Sheet

Motivation is the fuel that powers all your productivity, and all of your forward progress. Whether you want to improve your health, your fitness, your relationships, your finances, or anything else – motivation is what is going to help drive you there.

But the problem is that motivation is finite. It’s also a skill that is tough to learn and even tougher to master. Unless you’re a Navy SEAL, you likely haven’t been required to call upon your deepest reservoirs of motivation.

This resource sheet will help you to dig deep and find the courage, by providing books, tools, and more to get you where you need to be.

Books

Unbeatable Mind: Forge Resiliency and Mental Toughness to Succeed at an Elite Level by Mark Divine and Brock Armstrong

This book is one of many on the topic of mental resilience and toughness, but it also happens to be one of the best. With lots of practical advice, drawing on a number of case studies and theories to provide a list of useful steps.

Navy Seal Mental Toughness: Develop Steel Nerves, Grit, Leadership, Ownership, Mindset, and Self-Discipline by Donovan Ekstrom and Joe Wosik

If there is one group of people that exhibits true mental toughness, it is the Navy SEALs. The training these guys go through alone is enough to break most people, and in fact the vast majority of people never complete the BUD/S.

So, with that in mind, this is a great book to draw on if you need inspiration and actionable tips.

Happy by Derren Brown

This might not sound like a book on grit and determination, but in fact… it is! Happy is a book that discusses some of the myths surrounding happiness – that you need to visualize a perfect life, or strive for one.

Rather, Brown recommends the use of Stoicism and other philosophies in order to become more used to toughness and dealing with the surprises life throws at you.

The World’s Fittest Book by Ross Edgely

Want to talk about motivation? How about being the first guy to swim around the entire United Kingdom? That’s Ross Edgely. He’s also a guy who has run a marathon dragging a car behind him, and who has climbed the height of mount Everest in ropes! He’s an extremely impressive specimen, but his real knack is for not quitting. And a quick read of his book will quickly demonstrate that this is his real area of interest too. You can learn an awful lot from this one.

Deep Work by Cal Newport

Motivation and focus are not the same, but they have very close links. In this book, you learn how to develop invincible focus for work and for productivity. You’ll be able to get your head down to write an essay or complete some work and then stay focussed for hours on end. Newport agues that this is something every office should seek to cultivate, and that can even be close to an

Tools

Headspace

(www.headspace.com)

Headspace is a website and app that you can use to gain access to guided meditations. The first ten are free, and you can choose from there whether to pay for the rest. Either way, this will train you to alter your focus, and to this way rise above pain, frustration, fear, and other emotions that might otherwise be holding you back.

Neurosky Mindwave

The Neurosky Mindwave is a headset that is designed to train your ability to focus and meditate. It does this by using an EEG to measure brain signals – monitoring activity in specific regions of the brain. That information can then be used to show whether you are in a calm, relaxed, or vigilant state of mind.

The objective? To use this information to become better at finding calm and staying focussed. There are even games that help to make this process more fun – providing a visual feedback to reflect your skill in staying focussed.

Diary

One of the best tools for staying focussed is a diary, or a bullet journal. In here, you can write down your goals. At the same time though, you can also report on the day’s events and use this as a kind of debrief.

What went well? Where did you slip up? And what could you do differently next time.

Garmin Vivoactive

The Vivoactive series of sports watches have a neat feature built-in: a breathe mode. This shows an image on the display, that encourages you to breathe in a manner similar to the 4-by-4 for four method described in the book. The on-screen guide and the biofeedback make this more effective than attempting the same process on your own.

The Pomodoro Technique

(http://pomodorotechnique.com/)

This is a great example of how you can change your mindset and approach in order to get more done. This technique challenges you to break an activity down into short periods of productive work – much like the segregation method used by Navy SEALs. It also happens to be an extremely useful way to keep your vigilance high when working. The website provides a timer you can use.

Kraken

Kraken is a pre-workout that you can take before going to the gym. It works by stimulating the release of adrenaline, cortisol, and numerous other hormones and neurotransmitters that increase energy, strength, and fortitude.

If you are looking for motivation in the gym specifically, then a pre- workout can be an effective way to get it! Just make sure you don’t take this stuff too close to bed time.

Motivating Quotes

Even the longest journey must start with a single step. – Chinese Proverb

Nobody can prevent you from choosing to be exceptional. - Mark Sanborn

Every man is the architect of his own fortune. - Sallust

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. - Paul Valery

Life isn’t what you want it to be, it’s what you make it become. - Anthony Ryan

The true power of dreams is built on defeats. - Honda motto The power of imagination makes us infinite. - John Muir