The Longevity Factor

Written by a human, for humans, always.

Most people know about planning...

And they do try to plan well.

But...

If you look at the results that most people get...

They fail.

That is the reality.

Why is that, though?

How is it that so many people fail so consistently...

Despite all the "knowledge" that exists on the topic?

The answer is...

They fail to understand how their plans work in reality.

They come up with a theoretical plan...

And they cannot manage to actually accomplish it in reality.

It looks great on paper...

Even perfect...

And life comes at the plan and is immediately imperfect and chaotic.

So, how do we plan differently?

Many people have heard about time blocking...

And there is value in that...

But it is the wrong place to start.

Even before you get to planning out the time on your calendar...

You need to consider the Longevity Factor.

It is not just about whether you "can" get something on the calendar...

Rather, it is about how long you can consistently do something to get real results with it...

Or "if" you can do that thing consistently to get real results.

What so many people fail to consider...

Is how the plans they are making fail...

Because there was no real way they could accomplish them for a long period of time...

And it has to do with a few factors.

When I even consider planning something, IVET it.

This is a four-part consideration and acronym that allows me to see if the plan will meet the Longevity Factor...

Or if it is a lost cause before I even begin to waste energy, time, and resources on it.

So...

What does IVET stand for?

The I is for Identity...

Does the plan that I am considering work with the Identities that I have?

Who are you currently?

Who are you seeking to become?

Do the plans correlate with the Identities that you have at all?

I see this one with many people who want to lose weight.

They "know" they are supposed to lose weight for their health, for their energy, even for better work performance...

But none of those connect with any Identities that they hold as strong or valuable.

The result...

Is that there is no psychophysiological buy-in.

Even if you go through the motions to accomplish the goal...

You are not invested...

You are not driven to succeed...

And the result is that you fail to put in the necessary effort to get to the goal.

Instead...

You need to either connect the plan to an important identity that you hold...

Or drop the plans.

If you cannot find a way that the plan connects with who you are...

There is no need to pursue it any further.

You're doomed to fail it, so save yourself the pain and look for a plan that actually works with who you truly are.

Next is V for Values...

Does the plan that I am considering work with the Values I seek to live?

I see this as a large problem in entrepreneurial circles.

There are so many "strategies" that exist for success...

But the truth is that many, if not the majority, of them are scummy.

Perhaps some people lack morals...

But most people at least intend to do good in the world and seek to be ethical.

So...

If they find a strategy that is "supposed to work"...

But it does not work well with the values they hold...

There is a tension created where, subconsciously, your psychophysiology will be working against you.

Self-sabotage.

You begin to feel "icky", and that is because you are failing to "live" the values you want to express.

That results in one of two things...

Either the plans fail, and you stop doing what does not match your values in the best-case scenario...

Or, vastly worse...

You compromise yourself so completely that you begin to live by different values that destroy you from the inside...

Where even if you "reach" the goal, you feel like a failure because of how you did it.

That is not a way to live, and it certainly is not a good use of your time.

From here, we have E for Energy (Mg-ATP)...

Do you have the physical energy (Mg-ATP) to actually accomplish the plan?

Look...

If we had unlimited time and energy, then we could accomplish any great plan...

But we live in reality.

We have a limited amount of time...

And importantly...

We have a limited amount of physical energy (Mg-ATP).

Your body only has the capacity to produce so much energy at any given time...

And that is assuming you have not destroyed your Mitochondrial Capacity to use different types of energy.

(Most people have damaged their body's ability to use Fats for fuel to turn into Mg-ATP. The result is that they are forced to overconsume Carbs, but what is not used immediately is stored as Fats in the body. But because the body's ability to use Fats for fuel is destroyed, the Fats accumulate with no way for the body to use them. The needed fix here is to restore Mitochondrial Capacity, but that topic is a different article elsewhere.)

If you do not have enough energy (Mg-ATP)...

Then the plan will fail.

Worse...

Especially in today's world...

If you are already running at a chronic energy deficit...

Which is what 80% of the workforce is currently doing in various stages of burnout...

Then "adding" any more plans on top of that deficit makes things dramatically worse.

If you do not have the energy (Mg-ATP)...

Then you either need to remove things that are consuming energy...

Figure out how to produce more energy (there are a variety of things that can be done for this, but not the focus of today's daily article)...

Or simply give up the currently considered plan...

At least for the time being.

(Sometimes, the answer to a plan is not "never", but simply "not right now", and if that is the case, you need a different plan to get into a position where the plan being considered can occur.)

This brings us to the final part of IVET...

If your plan connects with at least one of your important Identities (but better if it connects with multiple)...

If your plan connects with the Values that you want to be living...

If your plan can be accomplished with the current Energy (Mg-ATP) that you have available...

Then you can move into T for Timing.

This is where Time Blocking can begin...

But it is more than just Time Blocking.

You need to actually consider the Longevity Factor within Timing.

It is not just about whether you can fit the plan on "this week's" schedule...

Or even "this month's" schedule.

Successful plans occur over long periods of time...

Multiple months, if not years.

Can the plan you are undertaking be done...

Continuously...

Successfully...

Under any potential unforeseen circumstances...

Consistently...

Over months to a year?

So many people make sacrifices with Timing to get "faster" results...

But the reality is that they end up compromising the previous factors...

Their Identities, their Values, and/or their Energy to try to force this new plan to work faster...

But that is not how life works...

And they reach a point where they discover they cannot meet the Timing consideration...

So they fail to enact the plan...

Then fail again...

And again...

And they can only do this so many times before they feel like they are failures...

Which is when our psychophysiology begins to undermine us and what we are trying to accomplish.

Timing has to be considered over long periods of time before you start them...

Otherwise, you are planning to fail...

Often at costs that are higher than you realize.

If IVET a plan and it does not meet the requirements...

Then I drop the plan because I know that I would be wasting my time pursuing it.

But...

If IVET a plan, and it matches everything...

Then, and only then, do I begin to put the effort into it.

There is one important thing to consider, though...

Every plan will fail to work in reality.

Now, if IVET first, then the failures generally are significantly smaller and easier to resolve to gain successes...

But the truth is that no matter how intelligent, wise, or anything else we may be...

We fail to have perfect insight into everything that could possibly happen.

No one is that good.

But the plan not working perfectly needs to be considered part of the process...

And part of the Longevity Factor.

Things need to change and adapt according to reality...

Not based on a theory that never was placed against unforeseeable factors.

The theory could be great...

But it will always need to change according to what happens in the world.

If you do all of these things...

Truly considering the Longevity Factor...

You will begin to see much more success in the plans you make.

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