SET YOURSELF UP FOR WINDFALL SUCCESS

Windfall (n): An unexpected, unearned, or sudden gain or advantage

How We Think Life Works

Basic cause and effect says that when X happens, Y follows. Most causes have an immediate and obvious effect. Touch a hot stove, and your skin burns. Throw a rock in the air, and it falls back down. Sing too loudly in the shower, and everyone else will leave the house with their hands over their ears.

There are, however, exceptions to this rule. The effect can be delayed and unevenly distributed, and that can really throw us off.

The natural assumption: work, result, work, result, work, result

How it often happens: work, work, work, work, work, work, windfall result

Here are a few personal examples.

In middle school, I had excessive acne and loved it. It was embarrassing. I developed social anxiety as a result, which varied in intensity in the following years. Fast forward to just four years ago: I had the biggest breakdown of my life, which led to crippling general anxiety (feeling nervous for no reason even when alone), and that worsened my social anxiety. 

Over these last four years, I've worked hard to increase my comfort level in general and in social situations. To be specific, I've developed better habits, have been more active, and put myself in more social situations (there's no replacement for practice). But the really odd thing is how and when I saw results.

Fairly recently, it felt like a switch was flipped in my brain, and since then, I've felt completely comfortable and relaxed in social situations. Some of my progress over the last four years was gradual, but this was a huge leap that seemingly happened overnight. It was a true windfall after years of effort. I think it's super strange to happen like this, but I've been enjoying it!

I also had a windfall with this blog. After 2.5 years, I only had 440 subscribers. Over the next six months, it exploded with 4,000 more subscribers. Today, there are almost 12,000 Deep Existence subscribers.

Mini Habits has been extremely successful by any metric, and the idea came as a windfall. I had been analyzing personal growth for 10 years with various ideas; one day I bumped my shin on this new strategy that's been a game changer. It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been focused on personal growth for a decade!

When I look back on the good things in my life, many of them were windfall gains after sustained hard work with minimal gains. 

Potential Windfall Areas

Businesses: A new product takes off, an older product takes off, you have a new idea or creative breakthrough that changes everything. It will only happen if you have a business (you're in the game).

Fitness: After not seeing much of a difference in the mirror, you notice a pretty big difference one day. Or after plateauing on the bench press for some time, you're suddenly able to do more. It will only happen if you're exercising (you're in the game).

Weight loss: I'm not talking about unhealthy rapid weight loss strategies. If you do it the right way, you might not notice a difference immediately or gradually. You might notice waves of improvement. It will only happen if you're actively pursuing a healthier lifestyle (you're in the game).

Skill development: Have you ever tried learning a new song on guitar or piano, and after seemingly making little progress try after try, suddenly it clicks? It will only happen if you practice (you're in the game).

Investing: You could invest in a stock that returns an outsized gain. If you had invested just a little bit of money in Microsoft in the 90s, you would have gotten a ridiculous return. I bought an Apple option about 8 years ago that returned 1000%. In order for this to be possible, of course, you must invest (you're in the game).

Why This Matters

First, I find it very exciting. Windfall results are a so much fun when they happen. It's a pleasant surprise.

Second, it can be encouraging to know about the potential of windfall gains when you're putting in the work and not getting satisfactory results right away. If you're not aware of the windfall effect and you don't see early results, you're going to be very tempted to quit. It seems logical to quit if you believe results always come in an orderly manner and you aren't getting any early results, as that suggests that the results will never come.

One More Story of a Windfall Gain

The formula for windfall gains is consistency, persistence, and focusing your energy on fewer pursuits. Here's a story of a struggling artist whose work culminated in a windfall event.

"John Dolan had been living on the streets 20 years when he met the London gallery owner and art-tour organizer who would change his fortune. Dolan's life had spiraled into poverty and crime when he traded a can of beer for George, a Staffordshire bull terrier.

Sketching pictures of his beloved pet brought him comfort.

Soon, he was sketching scenes from around town, capturing London cityscapes and selling his works for whatever he could get for them on the street.

That is, until he met Richard Howard-Griffin.

The gallery owner arranged the first showing of Dolan's work, and the rest, as they say, is history. Dolan has since been featured on Ellen's blog and is now selling his sketches for $5,000 or more apiece. He's also written a book and had more shows in London and Los Angeles."

~ Larry Kim via inc.com

This concept is not to be confused with "go big or go home" or always aiming for the home run hit. There are times to try for the big win, but in my experience, those times will present themselves after you've practiced getting small wins.

John Dolan didn't do anything besides dabble in artwork and show up to see if he could sell it. He wasn't trying to get on Ellen's blog. He certainly wasn't initially selling his art for $5,000 per sketch. John was fortunate to get a windfall opportunity, but those who consider these windfalls to be sheer luck are missing the point—in order to get a "lucky" windfall, you must be in the game. It's not "the lucky people" who get windfalls, it's the persistent people who get lucky. 

I hope this raises your awareness to the very real possibility of windfall successes. Windfalls aren't guaranteed to come, but they're practically guaranteed not to come if you remain passive. Let's continue to show up every day and make ourselves available to receive them if we are so fortunate. 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and yours! 

Cheers,

Stephen Guise

CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY FOR EMOTIONAL HEALTH (mini habits)

A human life is filled with highs and lows, triumphs and tragedies, and unpredictable swings from one to the next. One moment, you feel on top of the world, the next moment, you feel like a sewer rat. (Sewer rats probably feel bad, but I can't confirm this.)

Anyone can perform in ideal circumstances. Our performance in emotional extremes is what counts.

Why The Extremes Challenge Us Most

When things are really good, it's tempting to press pause on what got you there and celebrate.

When things are really bad, it's tempting to console and pamper yourself or even give up.

The ultimate challenge in life isn't how much you can do in a given day, it's whether or not you can keep going in emotional extremes. Consistency is the gold standard of good living because it means you're unstoppable: regardless of what's going on and how you feel, you're going to show up.

Anyone can have a single great day in any area, but what's the point of one good day surrounded by dozens of bad or mediocre days?

Where Most People Get It Wrong

If you truly, deeply believe that consistency matters more than anything else in the world, then when you're emotionally devastated, a part of you is going to say, "Yes, I feel like a sewer rat right now, but this is an opportunity to prove that I can still make progress in my life despite what I'm going through. This is my chance to prove I'm consistent." 

The typical person doesn't value consistency like this. They see life as a fluid and varying journey, which is true, but they willingly match their behavior to the extreme emotions they feel. Varying progress is normal, but it's not a good reason to give up even for a day. Many people will allow zero progress days if they feel a certain way.

In a very scientific experiment in college, I found that 2 hours of sleep is MUCH better than zero hours of sleep. In the same way, a small progress day is MUCH better than a zero progress day for your habits and your mental health.

When life seems perfect, it will get worse, because perfection is a ceiling. When life seems like a nightmare, it will get better, because real life nightmares are a floor. When life shifts from great to worse or vice versa, consistency shines! Here's why.

When Good Turns Bad

Imagine that you're having the best day(s) of your life. You're in a loving relationship. You're making money. You're in great physical condition. Everything is as it should be. Nice.

Since life is so peachy, you decide skip some days at the gym to celebrate. You drink and eat like a king. Your income and job situation are phenomenal, so you figure you can relax a bit at your work and skill-building. You decide to "coast" with your significant other rather than pursue because your relationship is strong.

This continues for some time, but then the hammer drops. You lose your job, your relationship falls apart, and you haven't touched a weight in months. Now, on top of your fall from grace, you've lost the very things that put you in that great position. This is how a temporary fall becomes a prolonged descent. You've got nothing!

Here's an alternative possibility.

What if instead, you had continued your core tasks through the good times? In this case, maybe you've lost your love and your job, but your exercise habit remains and your skillset is stronger than ever. This prevents the meteoric drop from the first scenario. You know you're still growing as a person, and that you're likely to rebound swiftly. Your skills, emotional stability, and good habits make you quite employable and datable. 

When things go poorly, our habits are our safety net. This is not just something I'm saying, it's our biological response. Studies show that the natural human behavioral response to stress is to rely on habitual behaviors over cognitive behaviors. 

I understand that habits aren't sexy. But unlike the exciting things like romance, power, prestige, reputation, and money, your habits are reliable enough to be a foundation, an emotional foundation to pick you back up when life slams you to the ground.

When Bad Turns Good

In the flip scenario, imagine that you're having the worst day(s) of your life. You're all alone. You're broke. You're out of shape. You feel like a sewer rat. This is a common excuse to get out the ice cream and watch TV... for a week straight. 

Self loathing cycles with self-destructive behaviors. People don't choose to do this as a "solution." They do it to cope. They do it to ease emotional pain.

The alternative to destructive coping is constructive coping. Like ice cream, good daily habits can pull your focus away from the pain in your life. Unlike unhealthy coping (which brings further guilt), good habits will remind you of your potential and they won't let you admit complete defeat. Habits are deservedly touted for their ability to drive success, but their impact doesn't end there.

Much of the power in consistency is psychological. It's difficult to get into too deep of a rut when you KNOW you're making progress every day in high-value areas. This consistent forward march is the healthy fallback you need when times are tough. 

When life is bleak, your habits will sink you lower or lead your turnaround.

The Unmatched Power of Mini Habits

Now, many of you already know about mini habits, having read the book or taken the video course. But even if you are familiar, this discussion shows a different angle of why mini habits are so powerful. In my book and course, I showed a chart demonstrating the mini habits difference in regards to willpower and motivation. See it below.

Caption: No motivation? No willpower? No problem if you've got mini habits.

That shows the doability of mini habits, in that a person struggling with low motivation and willpower in any moment can still get the job done.

In a human life of ups and downs, we also need a strategy that constantly generates positive emotions. As tough as many of us pretend to be on the outside, let's be real. We are emotionally fragile and volatile creatures. (This isn't an anti-emotion speech as our emotions are amazing gifts when they are positive.)

A mini habit is unlike any other strategy on earth in that it practically starts you in a position of success and gives you upward flexibility. Almost every other growth strategy you'll see starts you at failure and asks you to struggle your way to your success target (exactly what you can't do when emotionally devastated). Mini habits have a threshold for success too, but it's so low that it isn't a ceiling like most goals, it's actually a floor. Mini habits offer an unlimited bonus area (no ceiling) and varying levels of success. 

The chart below shows the emotional power of mini habits to create positivity in your life and keep it that way with consistency (the previous willpower chart above shows how you can be consistent with mini habits). 

Caption: For a specific example, imagine that the numbers on the left represent push-ups. When you make winning easier, you will win much more often. When you win consistently, you'll feel and act like a winner. This "success cycling" effect explains why mini habit progression is often exponential. If this picture is too small to see, there's a bigger version on the blog.

Mini habits are a constant positive force, keeping you out of the gutter or sparking you to higher highs. It's common sense that only positive actions can consistently make us feel positive, because everything else is just talk, potential, or hope. 

The best way to get over life struggles is to move forward.

The best way to continue a great life is to move forward.

Consistent forward movement improves your life while minimizing the likelihood and impact of going backward. The way to do it is equally simple: choose the most important areas in your life and minify them into small actions you can definitely do every day, with the option and hunger for more.

For the comprehensive explanation of how to do this (and what not to do), read Mini Habits or take thevideo course. Their industry-leading ratings are not a coincidence and they're not due to my eloquence as a writer or speaker. It's just a solution the world needs. 

If you're already familiar with mini habits, integrate this information into your understanding. Previously, I haven't talked much about the emotional support power of mini habits. As you can do them even on your worst day, mini habits are powerful enough to be the core of your emotional health and stability.

How My Habits Have Saved Me

Despite my chronically happy disposition, I probably would have spiralled into depression this year without my habits. I've moved three times in the last year. It has been brutal to start over in three new places where I haven't known anyone. It's been a lonely time trying to find a place on earth where I feel like I belong and that feels like home. And yet, somehow, I'm not (fully) insane and I'm not depressed. 

It's like I've been walking in a storm. Debris is airborne, swarming all around me. Dust saturates the air, and pelts my eyes when I dare to open them. I see massive tornado funnels wreaking havoc, threatening to uproot me. The wind is fierce, its sound deafening. Chaos! I don't know from one moment to the next what's going to happen. I'm constantly unsure of my direction, because I can't clearly see what's ahead. Every move I make feels like a guess. If I go this way, will a stray refrigerator crash into me? Nobody knows. Does the fridge have Chipotle leftovers inside of it? I can only hope.

The most perplexing part in of all of this scene? I'm smiling. It's not because I enjoy breathing in dust (I admit it is fun), it's because I somehow feel like a juggernaut in this harsh land. Despite being blind and vulnerable in this storm of confusion (which I think accurately describes a human life in many ways), I haven't stopped moving forward. I haven't stopped making progress. If I can move forward here, what can stop me?

I've forgotten about the dust. I've ignored the debris hitting my face. I can't control those, so I'm focused on moving forward, knowing each step brings me closer to a new destination. I don't know what the next destination holds, but I know that whatever it is, it will not stop me from making progress either. If my eyes are blinded, I'll feel my way through. If a wall is in front of me, I'll climb it. If my legs are broken, I'll crawl. I may not pick the best path forward, but that's okay.

In life, circumstances and results vary, and relying on them at all will result in pain and disappointment. Money, relationships, success, power, and pleasure can be taken from you in an instant. Instead, rely on your habits, which you control. Your habits can power you through life's worst storms and constantly move you toward the life you desire. If times are good, they can send you higher and catch you if you happen to fall. If times are bad, they'll be your rocket ship to a better place. 

This message will catch you all in different places. Some will be struggling. Some will be thriving. Some will be in the middle. Wherever you are, this is equally relevant and important for your future and I hope you never forget it.

You can do nothing better than to be consistent in areas that matter to you. 

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Consistently yours,

Stephen Guise

PS. Mini Habits and How to Be an Imperfectionist are now available for purchase on Google Play.