However, I’d say most accomplishments don’t fall into this category. I’ve set many goals that I don’t even know where to start. I recently set a new income goal for this website, to earn $3000 per month, on average. The problem is, that if I knew exactly how to earn $3000 per month, I’d already be doing it.

The problem with uncertain goals twofold. First, you need to apply effort in order to reach your goal. Even if I had all the answers for business success, I would need to work hard to grow this website. Second, you also lack knowledge. This compounds the first problem because how can you apply effort when you don’t know where to start?

Two Ways to Fail

In the past, I’ve tried two approaches to handling these uncertain goals:

The first is to try everything. A few years ago, when my goal was to build a new social circle in a new city, I took this approach. I went to bars, I joined groups, I tried many different things to meet interesting people.

The problem with this approach is that you end up flailing around. Instead of pursuing any one option well, you waste a lot of time and energy trying everything. You can burn yourself out trying to do too many things at once. Worse, with all this energy expended, it can be even more frustrating when you fail to make any progress.

The second approach is to do only one thing. I had used this strategy before with this website. I knew that many people had created a full-time income from AdSense advertisements, so my goal was to simply build enough traffic for this website to earn a full-time income.

The problem with this approach is frequently the one approach you use won’t work. I’ve never had a month where I’ve earned more than $300 with AdSense in over three years of running this blog. Many people got it to work, but if I was expecting Google to be my savior, I’d be waiting decades, perhaps forever, for it to create a sustainable business.

Doing everything is a bad strategy. So is taking one approach, to the exclusion of everything else. What’s left?

Project Experiments and Hypothesis Testing

Now, I’ve found a better strategy for handling uncertain goals. In essence it combines the best of the two strategies above. You end up pursuing multiple courses of action, so you don’t hit any dead ends. But at the same time, you remain carefully focused on each course of action so you don’t burn yourself out, flailing around wildly.

The approach is simple:

1. For any goal, devise a project you believe can move you closer to that goal.
2. The project should test one hypothesis about success towards that goal.
3. Never do more than 2-3 projects at a time.

With this approach, every project is a mini-experiment. The purpose of each project isn’t just to move you forward to your goal. It’s also to give you answers to at least one hypothesis you have about what it takes to succeed in your field. Taking this approach allows you to maintain a laser-focus while still juggling the multitude of possibilities for success.

For example, two years ago, I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to sell a product. I was testing the hypothesis that selling products would be a more effective business strategy than advertisements. I wrote How to Change a Habit, and my hypothesis was proven correct.

Later, I wanted to increase my income once more. I came up with the idea to write an expanded guide on holistic learning. For this project, I had a few hypotheses:

1. Could AdWords be used to create sales?
2. Would creating a larger guide at a higher price be more effective?
3. Was it worth developing an affiliate program?

The first hypothesis was incorrect, but the other two worked out great. With each project I was mapping out the knowledge required to reach my goal. I may not have known where to start, but each step was a calculated effort to find the answers I needed.

Many of my projects were failures. I wrote an e-book for another publishing group that flopped. I also compiled a “Best Of” book that didn’t gather much attention. But they weren’t failures for me because my purpose in starting each project was to test a hypothesis. After they were completed I had something valuable: I learned what wouldn’t work.

Only 2-3 Projects at a Time

By only testing one or two projects at a time, you can focus on doing them well. Too many projects results in the flopping around problem I mentioned previously. I’ve tried taking on many projects and the result is always that either some of them fail or all of them fail. Focus on one or two and really test those hypotheses.

Mapping Out Your Knowledge

With any complex goals, I think being able to map out your knowledge is at least as important as the application of effort. If I knew exactly how to become a six-figure blogger, I would be earning that much money already. But since I don’t, I need to map out the knowledge I have and target projects to shine a light on gaps in my understanding.

“Congrats on another good post. Now check your OWN archives. You started at between 16 and 22 posts a month for the first 2 years. The average this year has been 12. …

You ARE a smart young man and I applaud your work. I even follow [you] on a RSS feed. So expect me to call you out whenever I see anything that resembles, ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’”

Actually, my posting rate has been consistent with only one or two exceptions both this year and when I began.

Last June, I was writing four articles each week. One for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which would usually come online at exactly 10am. In addition, I wrote one set of Friday Links, every Friday.

After sustaining that posting rate for close to eight months, I polled readers on my posting frequency. At the time, the majority response was to post less frequently. I have longer articles, so 4x per week was too much volume for most of my readers to read.

So, for the last 11 months, I’ve been writing two articles per week. Either on Monday/Wednesday with Friday Links or Tuesday/Thursday. Once again, usually posted at exactly 10am.

Consistency and Strategy Change

I’m not writing this article simply to rebut a critique of my blog. I think the comment also reveals an important point. The importance to regularly review your strategy, and at times, to be deliberately inconsistent.

My switch to a lower posting rate was prompted by readers. But even it hadn’t been, I don’t see switching to a different posting schedule as failing to show up. Switching to a lower posting rate was a good decision on my part, because it allowed me more time to write longer e-books, products, and with an archive of over 700 posts, 80% of readers still had more articles than they would ever read.

When I started working out in the gym, I would lift weights 4-6 times per week. I did so consistently without injury or problems for over a year. Recently, I’ve switched to a slightly lower volume at roughly 3x per week, after doing more research.

You Control the Days You Show Up

More important than strict consistency, is controlling the days you show up. If you show up to the gym once per week, every week, because this is the volume of work you’ve decided is best for you, go right ahead. Same if you’ve decided to exercise for two hours, seven days per week.

I often experiment with different workout routines, blogging styles and eating habits. The difference is between people who control their routine strategically, and people who drop off or give up out of laziness.

Consistency is Good, Stagnation is Bad

If you’re doing the same thing every day, you probably aren’t improving as fast as if you experimented. Don’t get me wrong, I believe as a minimum, you should build the habit of showing up every day in some form or another. However, once you’ve built that habit, you should experiment with different strategies to find a style that best suits your goals.

Currently, I’m doing almost entirely anaerobic exercise (to go along with my weight goal). But in the past, I’ve ran everyday while lifting weights less frequently. Or I’ve played soccer or swam. I aim to show up almost every day, but what showing up means changes as I rethink my fitness routine.

I’ve just finished writing a month’s worth of posts all timestamped, to appear twice per week for the month of July during my trip. I may not be able to write for a month, but I’ve made sure my articles will still show up, 10am every Monday and Wednesday.

I’m trying to work as little as possible while I’m traveling, so I don’t know how frequently I’ll be able to answer emails or moderate blog comments. However, I have already written a month’s worth of blog articles to go up on the website while I’m gone, so the website will continue to deliver new articles, at least twice per week.

This is my first time leaving North America (I’m from Canada, and I’ve travelled to the US and Mexico), so wish me luck!

Because, in the moments of stagnation some people give up, and some people keep showing up day after day. And even though they aren’t making progress in the moment, the latter group are more likely to succeed.

Why the Gym is Crowded in January

The first few weeks of January are an interesting time. The gym is bloated with people who have just bought new year-long memberships. But, by February, most of those people have left and it’s just the regulars who go every day.

The people who bought year-long memberships, only to use them for a few weeks are typically people who are looking for moments of progress. Once they stop tasting improvement, they give up.

The people who go every day will keep going even when they don’t make progress for months, or even years. While it may not be as glamorous as losing 30 lbs in a month, or building muscle in a few weeks, they are more likely to succeed.

Why Dead Columns Bloat the Blogosphere

I’ve started reading blogs that I became excited about. They were producing great content and showing new ideas. But after six months, the posting rate went from a few new articles per week, to less than one per month.

If you count email subscribers and regular visitors who don’t use RSS, this website has about 10,000 readers. I think the biggest reason for this is that I’ve been posting consistently for over three years. Many other blogs with fantastic writers have eclipsed this one, but I think the website has sustained a moderate size because I show up to write nearly every day.

I may not be the best writer in the world, but I show up. I’ve seen many blogs which have, in my opinion, better writing than my website, but the author stopped showing up after a few months.

Why Burnout Champions Fail Their Classes

In university I see many students who coast through their classes, and tackle epic studying sessions a week before the exam. They might invest 12-hour days studying right before a final. While I haven’t conducted a study to compare their results, anecdotally I’ve seen many of them are disappointed by their grades.

Compare that to the people that study consistently for a few hours each day and avoid the cram sessions. Not glamorous or intense, but they show up, every day. These are also the people with enviable GPAs.

The One Decision Life Boils Down To

I’ve found that a good portion of life boils down to one decision: to show up or do nothing. You can’t do everything, but you can pick a few things you give a damn about and show up for them every day.

• He’s been gainfully unemployed for over a decade, earning his income online.
• His goal is to travel to every country in the world. He has already reached 111 out of 197.
• He’s written a manifesto on world domination.

Chris’s website is The Art of Nonconformity, and it’s a must-read resource for anyone who wants to live an unconventional life. I got a chance to chat with Chris recently, and I wanted to share some of the great insights he offered me.

The First Steps to Unconventional Living

“I think the quarterlife crisis is a good thing,” Chris explained, “it means you’re actually thinking about what your motivations are in life.” If you’re in your twenties and unsure what you want to do in life, Chris suggests that this is an opportunity to do something unconventional. Even if you’re later in life, he points out, “it’s never too late to start.”

One reason I was drawn to The Art of Nonconformity is the lack of self-inflated hype. While many other writers have exaggerated claims in a vain attempt to motivate their audience, Chris often does the opposite. He makes his advice genuine and practical.

“Small steps are good, sometimes people feel intimidated to make changes.” This philosophy is reflected in his writing. For example, in his great guide, The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself, he focuses on allowing readers to create a micro-business that can earn $200 per month. Not an empire, a first step.

“If you’re interested in travel, for example, you don’t have to go completely broke traveling around the world. You can take a smaller trips.” AONC is, in many ways, about taking that first step.

The Short List of Deadly Countries

As he is an extensive world-traveler, I asked Chris how he felt about going to places that aren’t typical tourist destinations. Including many places in Africa and the Middle East that North Americans might see as being dangerous and unfriendly. Chris argues that, “there are a few places around the world that are dangerous, but that’s a very short list.”

Chris advocates not letting overblown fears get in the way of your life. “Sometimes people equate the unknown with the dangerous. But really, 95% of the people I’ve met have been friendly.” An unconventional life might be different, but isn’t necessarily riskier than following the masses.

Lifestyle Design and Tradeoffs

The Art of Nonconformity does paint the upside of living an unconventional life. Of course, Chris is that upside, as he’s been able to build a unique lifestyle without regular employment. However, Chris is realistic in that he recognizes tradeoffs that need to be made in order to do something unique.

“I know people that are more successful than me.” Chris explains that he has had plenty of opportunities to expand various businesses, but turned them down to focus on his goals of personal freedom and becoming a full-time writer. Life is always going to have tradeoffs, AONC does a great job of teaching you how to minimize those tradeoffs and choose them wisely.

Unconventional Products

In addition to his blog, which is updated frequently with high-quality articles, Chris also maintains a great store with guides on travel, work and money. Chris has a natural ability for combining the higher-level ideas with the practical tricks needed to get started, so I’ve enjoyed all of his guides that I have read.

In the past, I did a review of The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself, which is my favorite guide on AONC, and it has great advice for anyone interested in starting a microbusiness.

Nonconformity

If you’d like to read more about Chris, check out his website here. Also, you can check out some of his best articles:

• A Brief Guide to World Domination
• 28 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Traveling
• Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel the World

Free Hugs and Escaping Your Comfort Zone - Vlad posts a brief entry about how he broke from his comfort zone. If you aren’t regularly doing something that embarrasses you or scares you shitless, you aren’t living life.

Graduate School, 2.0 - Be interesting and change the world.

Define Your Fears - Great video from Tim Ferriss on why defining your worst-case fears is more important than goal-setting.

Does Living Abroad Make You More Creative? - Correlation isn’t causation, but considering I’m living in France next year, I found this piece intriguing.

From the Archives

Get More From Life - Some readers might not have realized that I actually have a free, pdf e-book containing the most popular articles from the website.

Or that you can get a book containing the best 80 articles as a paperback through Lulu. The book is sold at cost, so I don’t make any profits from it.

Friday Goals Update

For improving this website, I’ve completed writing the main pdf for my new guide Think Outside the Cubicle. As of right now, I’m estimating this is going to be my biggest release to date and will eclipse Learn More, Study Less in terms of content. From experience, I’ve found my e-books continue to sell years after they are written. So, I’m investing a lot of time and energy to make a detailed guide, rather than cheap, fluffy pieces I can churn out every few months.

For my fitness goal, I’m roughly halfway to my weight goal of 165 lbs. However, if I don’t reach it by the end of the month, I can still continue working on it. I’ve learned not to stress over deadlines for results-based goals.

For learning to speak French, I’ve started using some of the great audio content available at LingQ. The first time I saw the website I thought you had to pay to use the service, but you can actually access most of the audio content for free. The learning system feels natural and the dialogs are more interesting that typical language learning fluff.

I think, especially for people that are already somewhat introverted, setting ambitious goals can make them less social. People around them start to see them as being too serious, hardcore and less fun. Somehow early rising and following GTD productivity hacks doesn’t make them the life of the party.

Why Typical Advice on this Problem is Wrong

I suffered from this problem too, when I first got into personal development. My social skills weren’t polished, and that was compounded by my overly serious self-improvement efforts. I think I actually got the label “most serious” in one high school year book. Not exactly a crowning achievement, but looking back it was probably accurate.

Unfortunately, most the advice I heard from this problem made it worse. The advice was that you needed to express your personality fully in your social life. So if you were setting ambitious goals, you needed to express that. If you were working on changing your habits, you needed that to be reflected in your personality. And, if people didn’t support you, then ignore them.

While this advice is technically accurate, in application it results in a disaster. If you don’t have great social skills, following this advice blindly makes you appear unbearably serious and humorless. People can’t relate to your goals and your actions, so they appear extreme.

Don’t Be a One-Dimensional Person

The problem isn’t that you shouldn’t tell people about your goals. Or even that you should hide away whenever doing anything eccentric or unique. I’ve found this often makes the problem worse, because you’ve wiped away your true personality and become boring. Let people hate you for being interesting, not for being forgettably generic.

The problem is that, often in pursuing new, ambitious goals, you let those goals overwhelm your personality. Now instead of having them be just one aspect of a multifaceted person, you’re one dimensional. Instead of allowing yourself to be fun, relaxed and ambitious, you’ve let one adjective define you.

To Be At Once Serious and Self-Mocking

Ben Casnocha has a great entry that inspired this post. He talks about how many ambitious people are unbearable in conversations because they are too serious. This is a bad strategy, both for your life and your ambitions. Because you need other people to succeed, being too serious and one-dimensional hurts your chances of success. He suggests that you need to combine ambition with taking yourself lightly.

You need to be the kind of person who can work extremely hard for personal goals, but still have a sense of humor in private conversations.

How to be Ambitious and Fun, Simultaneously

Today, I feel I’ve learned to manage a balance between being highly ambitious and also fun and unserious in conversations. Although I tend to emphasize the first part of my personality on this website, I would say most of my friends know me for the latter.

The key to being both ambitious and fun was in two realizations for myself:

First, that just because you are light and self-mocking in person doesn’t mean you are any less committed to your goals. I think some people put on an extra serious front, as if having fun were somehow a sin that would prevent them from reaching their goals.

Being relaxed in casual conversation complements deeper ambitions. Being able to joke about yourself and be unserious shows people you’re a multidimensional person. It doesn’t mean you’re hiding your true ambitions.

Second, work to relate your ambitions and goals to other people. Part of the problem for me was that I didn’t have enough practice relating my motivations for pursuing these goals to other people. This takes practice because, if someone hasn’t had the same experiences as you, they may find it strange that you’re investing so much time into changing your habits, giving up drinking or learning to speak in public.

Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

Being highly motivated is just one state of mind. There are times when it has power, like in dragging yourself to the gym or getting you to work on a new project. But there are also times when it has costs. If you only have one state of mind to approach all situations you’ll either be unbearable in conversations or unproductive at work.

I now believe that this advice isn’t worthwhile, particularly for people under 30.

You Don’t Know Who You’ll Be in 10 Years

One important lesson I learned was that, if you’re investing a lot of energy into self-improvement, you’ll change a lot in a few years. And not just in a single dimension. Your beliefs, values and goals will shift as you engage in self-improvement. A goal that might appeal to you when you’re 18, might seem boring or even ridiculous when you’re 25.

Part of this change is from having new experiences. In the last five years I’ve made hundreds of new friends, lived in a different city, built a new business, started a university program, participated in international competitions and learned to salsa. Perhaps it’s a tired cliche, but new experiences change who you are and what you desire from life.

Part of this change is from improvement itself. Goals that were incredibly motivating can seem boring once you reach a certain level of progress. I briefly chatted with Steve Pavlina in an email and he mentioned how income goals were incredibly motivating to him when he was just starting his business, but now that he has earned a higher income, it no longer drives him.

If you aren’t the same person in five years, how can you set a goal that is supposed to last ten?

6-18 Month Goals Drive Action

The other problem I found with long-term goals is that they didn’t drive any action. The entire point of setting a detailed, written goal is to create a sense of urgency and motivation in the present moment.

That sense of motivation is often worth more than actually reaching your goal. While achieving a goal is rewarding only for a moment, the act of having written goals keeps you engaged and enthusiastic for months and years.

I don’t think goals set 5-10 years in advance drive action. It’s still worthwhile to have a bigger picture in mind when setting 6-18 month goals, but there isn’t much point setting a deadline for it.

Setting a shorter term goal drives action. A long-term goal for me is earning a full-time income as a writer and being able to live anywhere in the world running this business. That goal is appealing, but it doesn’t drive action. However, thinking about my upcoming book project pushes me to write a chapter today.

Find Your Big Picture, Not a Deadline

I’ve found it far more useful to define a big picture for my life, instead of a long-term goal. A big picture is the lifestyle I want to live and the accomplishments it contains. No deadline. No hammering out the details. Just a big picture I can set shorter goals towards.

My big picture right now is living a digital lifestyle. That means being able to support myself full-time from writing and running an online business. I intentionally keep this big picture vague. I don’t specify whether it needs to be from running this website or starting a different online business. I don’t specify the exact amount of money I want. I don’t specify where I want to live. I also don’t specify when I want to reach this goal.

I break most the rules of goal-setting when having a big picture, but in doing so, I think it serves me better. Because I know I’m going to change as a person, I keep the big picture purposefully vague. That way, instead of having 10 year goals that change every six months, I can keep the same big picture.

Having a deadline is useless because long-term goals don’t motivate action. I’d rather avoid the deadline completely and just be patient with my projects. As long as I’m working as hard as I can on shorter term goals and those goals are inline with my bigger picture, I’m going to reach that big picture as fast I could with any other method.

Embrace Uncertainty

More than just a method, I believe in embracing uncertainty. Instead of viewing constantly shifting long-term goals as a problem, I see it as a sign that I’m doing a good job. If my goals stay stagnant for a long period of time, it means that I’m not exposing myself to enough new opportunities.

I say that this approach is more important when you’re under 30, because that’s the time of your life with the most frequent change and flexibility. If you’re 35 with children, a stable career and a mortgage, you won’t have the same rate of change.

However, I know people who reinvented themselves late into their 30s and 40s. Colonel Sanders started Kentucky Fried Chicken when he was in his sixties. Even if you’ve already reached a stable point in your life, that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to embrace uncertainty.

Ben Casnocha, who has an excellent blog, writes that he feels he doesn’t need long-term goals to motivate himself. Although he places this as a personal idiosyncracy, I think it shows he embraces the long-term uncertainty life offers and uses it to his advantage.

Set a big picture instead of ten year goals. Embrace uncertainty. Oh, and don’t let your life be written in advance.

I’m not an expert on language learning. Many of my readers are fluently multilingual, so chances are many of you have more experience than me. However, I’d like to share some of my discoveries over the last two months. I want to do this both for novice language learners and for other English speakers who are interested in leaving monolingualism behind.

1) You Aren’t Going to Be Fluent in a Week

In the beginning, I was very motivated to start learning French. I think this motivation caused me to underestimate the amount of work needed to fully comprehend and speak another language. It’s one thing to understand some basic words and expressions. It’s another thing entirely to have a complete vocabulary and speak effortlessly.

I’ve since adapted my goals to focus on smaller successes. I’m trying to set realistic goals to understand a little bit more spoken French, add a few more words to my vocabulary, and improving my verb conjugation.

Learning French has also given me tremendous respect for all the people who are learning English as a foreign language.

2) Languages are a Skill, Practice Before Study

In my brief experience, I’ve found that practicing the language is far more useful than studying it from a textbook. I completed a Teach Yourself French book earlier. While it was one of the more useful language tools I experimented with, it didn’t teach me to speak French. Actually conversing in French with French speakers is the only way I’ve made small improvements.

Some people have asked me whether I think holistic learning can be applied to language learning. Before, I refused to comment, as I didn’t know another language. Now I believe I can answer that: no, holistic learning won’t work with languages. As a skill, a language needs practice not conceptual understanding.

3) Slang is Often More Important than Correct Grammar

I suppose it depends on what your goals are. If you’re trying to learn a language so you can translate academic papers or give speeches, then slang isn’t that important. If you want to have a conversation, make friends or use the language naturally, the unofficial dictionary is often more important than the official one.

4) Access to Native Speakers is a Must

My current approach is that 90% of your studying time should be invested in conversations with native speakers. The other 10% should be studying the grammar and vocabulary. The only way this can happen is if you have access to native speakers of the language.

I’ve been lucky in this regard. My ex-girlfriend is French and lives in France, and she has provided me a victim to practice my French on. Also, I’ve been able to meet several exchange students who are just learning English, so I can be exposed to more French.

Instant messaging chat in French has been helpful. That way, if I get stuck with a word, I can use an online translator. The one downside is it doesn’t provide the pronunciation, which is a major factor in speaking a language. I consider it training wheels for eventual fluency.

Many people have warned me that the French tend to be critical of people trying to learn their language. Luckily, I haven’t found this to be the case as of yet. Or perhaps I have such a thick skin that I don’t notice it.

5) You Can’t Be Passive

Some of the advice I received was to just surround yourself with the language and, “eventually you’ll pick it up.” While there’s no doubt exposure is important, I haven’t found a passive stance to be effective in learning a language.

Be active, go out and talk with people who can’t speak your native language. Immersion and exposure definitely accelerate the process of learning, but only if you’re willing to invest the energy. Study a bit and practice a lot more. When you don’t understand something, get it translated to improve your vocabulary.

6) Accept that You’re Going to be Awful

My first approach was to spend time studying the language, and when I reached a basic level of fluency, try to speak it. Now I realize that this is backwards. You can’t improve unless you start speaking. And when you start speaking, you’re going to be awful.

I’m not good at French. I speak too slowly, use incorrect pronunciations, improper conjugations and my vocabulary is limited. Undoubtedly this will irritate a few native French speakers who would prefer I didn’t talk at all. However, if I want to improve I have to ignore them and continue hobbling through the “I suck” phase.

I know many English speakers that have little patience for people who can’t speak English properly. I can admit, sometimes I get frustrated trying to communicate with someone who doesn’t understand English. However, if you’re in the process of learning, you have to ignore people like me and continue practicing anyways.

Steve Kaufman, who is great for language learning tips, makes a similar suggestion in this post. He argues that a key to successful language learning is being able to handle uncertainty, and realize you won’t understand everything perfectly.

The same is true of almost any skill. If you have horrible social skills, an effort to improve them is probably going to be met with resistance. You need to push through all the assholes who criticize you for trying to improve.