Whoa, what a month!
Obviously in our crazy world, but also what I’ve been up to.
I took time away from writing you so I could step back.
What came out of it was an Upgrade Cycle that I’ve called August Man.
I’ve never written about Upgrade Cycles before, but it’s a process I run once, sometimes twice a year.
It’s deep work that often takes me to another place for a few weeks, but this year I did in NYC.
Like the caterpillar crawling in the chrysalis, the intent isn’t just change or improving, but transformation.
3 types of change
There are three types of change that I’m focused on.
The first is Continuous Change, which is what you’re doing every day to keep getting better.
This comes back to many of my Masterclasses which are built for daily evolution, systematically honing your mind and actions each and every day.
A second type is Change Work.
This is the hard stuff, but it’s mostly one and done.
Meaning, if someone is stuck taking action, or has a terrible PTSD type memory, or is say stuck in deep depression…
Change Work is like a carpenter showing up at a job site, with every tool you might need to get the job done.
Now it’s not to say Change Work is always one and done, because we’re talking some real hard stuff here, but the intent is to equip people with methods that enables the change to stick forever.
And then you have Upgrade Cycles.
Is this sounding a little out there?
Like I’ve made up my own little terms and game that I every day play with myself and others 🙂
I get how this can sound abstract, but ultimately it’s incredibly practical, which might be clearer with a physical example.
In the context of getting in great physical shape, Continuous Change is every day carefully watching what you eat and how you exercise.
Change Work might be “installing the trigger,” such as I’ve done for clients over the years, getting their brain into a skinny person mindset, so the good eating and exercise happen more automatically.
And then, in this context, an Upgrade Cycle would be say training for a marathon, or losing a massive amount of weight, or otherwise taking it to an entirely new level.
So hopefully you see, even though we’re talking about a more abstract context of you and your life, that these three types of change map perfectly to how you might already think about change.
Onto August Man
You might remember this letter I shared with you about Navy SEAL Goggins.
As I wrote inside, the thing that most compels me in Goggins’ story isn’t all of his grit and accomplishments.
It’s how a 300 pound man with a dead-end future made a different choice.
See, look, this is the real nuance of human change, isn’t it?
Not all that bluster about positive thinking or habits or whatnot, but being very clear and specific about how us humans actually change.
Seemingly, Goggins was able to flick a switch.
It was likely less binary, yet the overweight David Goggins made the choice that over years would forge him into the unstoppable Goggins.
Over time I’ve shared with you lots of intel for doing this, such as becoming the Hulk.
And this too fits the notion of the movie Limitless, and my method for Building Your Limitless Mind.
Yet, what I haven’t done is even talk about this notion of an Upgrade Cycle.
Defining your Upgrade Cycle
Over the course of a lifetime baggage stacks up, doesn’t it?
Treated a certain way as a kid you might lack the confidence you now need.
Or programmed with fear and small thinking, you might find it hard to keep chasing massive goals.
Many people simply choose to live their life as the person they were conditioned to be, whereas an Upgrade Cycle is all about who you are now choosing to be.
What are some things that have stacked up in your head (or body) that you would want to remove?
What about your life?
How clear are you on those things you want to remove, and how you might do it?
The same is true for adds.
Most of my Upgrade Cycles these days aren’t about removing things, but adding them.
Conditioning new ways of thinking and feeling.
Upgrading your will and skill for taking better and better actions.
Developing better business strategies to keep driving growth.
If you were to decide to upgrade your computer, you get to make all sorts of choices on memory, speed, and so on, don’t you?
And this here is about making the same choices for you.
Who are you choosing to be?
Who is your August Man or Woman?
Is this the person you dream to be? Are there things you want to upgrade?
Stuff to remove? Add?
Would you like to have a method for actually doing it?
Of course I have deep skills around this that I can’t simply download into you like The Matrix, but I can share with you what I’ve been doing building August Man that you can use for yourself.
There are three core topics I went deep into that I’ll share more with you on in coming weeks—
- Activity Is Not Achievement: This is getting ABSOLUTELY clear on what truly matters—deleting, adding, restructuring the day, etc.
- Mastering Your Domain: Here I went deep into the current state of the world and how you choose to navigate it.
- The Switch: How, specifically, do you keep “triggering” yourself into your best you? I installed The Switch.
All in I’d say, this was the most transformational Upgrade Cycle I’ve done this year 🙂
The state of the world has challenged us all to a new level, and what came out of it will help me better navigate this tricky time.
Even relative to where I started the month all over these topics, I’m happier, more focused, more productive, and, ultimately, better in every way.
That’s who I’m choosing to be—August Man.
Who are you choosing to be?