Coach Tony's UnSexy Habits of 2021

In 2021, we’re making the shift from Sexy Goals to UnSexy Habits.

Yesterday’s post talked about the difference between the two. Today I’m sharing with you my 4 UnSexy Habits for 2021. 

UnSexy Habits for 2021: 

1. Create Everyday: Write for at least one hour every day. Set a time to create. Know what time is blocked out for creating the day before. 
2. Minimize and Organize: Sell & Donate anything we haven’t used in the past year. Declutter our spaces and keep up with kid’s stuff/clothes especially. Organize and give things an intentional space to live. 
3. Track Distractions: Limit time spent on certain apps. Set a timer limit for use of Instagram and Facebook at 10 minutes per day. 
4. Live by the list: Create a “power list” each week and each day. Visit it before bed to make sure I have an intention for the next day. Focus on the important things and not just urgent things. 

I’ll work back up the list to shine a little light on each habit for this year. 

The list really is everything. Keeping things on a list and out of my head helps me immensely. Putting events on my calendar and being able to “forget” about them clears a lot of needed mental space. 

The “power list” focuses on your most important tasks. The ones that will move your business forward the most or mean the most to your loved ones. Focus on getting these done first. Then you can retire for the day or go onto the less important tasks. 

It’s a little odd to post on social media how you’re going to use social media less. I realize the irony here. But my goal this year with social media is to turn what is traditionally a passive act, to a very active use where I’m constantly providing value out to others. 

Instead of saying, “I’ll use social media less.” I’ve put in two systems to make sure I use it less. The first is changing the settings on my phone so that it shuts off my apps when I reach the 10 minute mark (combined use). Like Coach Austin, it tells me when I’ve reached halfway. So I get prompts at 5 min and 10 min, and can further use the apps if I choose to.

I also moved apps to a folder on the fourth screen on my phone. This is crazy how this one little tactic can drastically change how you use your phone. Just changing the place apps live will change your use with them. It’s impossible to mindlessly open an app when your brain doesn’t subconsciously know where it lies. Make your brain think to pull up the apps you want to use less of. Here’s a current picture of my homescreen. I say current because I change it to reflect the behaviors I want to have. 

It’s like the old saying, “show me your checkbook and I’ll show you your priorities” or “show me your calendar and I’ll show you what’s important to you”. The phone home screen is today’s “priority list”.  We have to be intentional about our priorities and organizing our phone is one big way to do that. 

I’ve also turned off notifications for all of the apps except for text messages and slack, which we use for messaging between our team at the gym. My phone is always on vibrate mode unless I’m expecting an important call, because my phone is available to my brain whenever it needs it, not the other way around.  

To help declutter my technology world further,  I’m unsubscribing from 2-3 emails every day (except for any FitTown ones). Do this until you feel like “nobody ever sends me anything”. That’s when you know you’ve reached a healthy point with your email. There are services that can help filter out spam for you like unroll.me if you feel like you’ve lost control of your inbox and don’t want to just start a new email altogether. 

I’ve already stopped watching the mainstream news, but would still watch CNBC to know what the markets are doing. Even that I want to watch less this year. There’s so much noise and propaganda out there in today’s world. You have to be vigilant with who you give your attention to and the giving away of your valuable mental real estate. 

I’ve definitely bought into the minimization movement and paying attention to which things in my house bring me joy. I’ve found that the less I have in my house, the more I’m able to appreciate each thing that remains. Also, if I haven’t used something in over a year, I most likely won’t use it in the next year, and it can serve a much greater purpose given to others. Sell/Donate/Trash then organize what’s left. 

I find that an organized space leads to an organized mind. Stress and “busy-ness” are often self-inflicted wounds that are caused by busy and stressed environments. If you can take time to clear your space, you’ll see how much your mind can clear as well. 

Further clearing my physical spaces in my home will help me create needed mental space and become more creative in 2021. I’m looking forward to sharing more of my creative works with you this year. 

I’ve also realized in order to be creative, I need disciplined times and places to release creativity. It won’t be easy at first because it may feel restrictive but I believe in the “discipline equals freedom” model, especially when it comes to freedom equaling new ideas. 

What are your unsexy habits for 2021? 

What do you want to accomplish this year and how can I help?

-Coach Tony