Book: "The only thing".

Domino effect

If you make a straight line of dominoes and knock down the first domino it pushes the next one down and so on but there is a curious thing about this phenomenon, each domino when falling is not only able to knock down a domino of the same size but it could also knock down a domino of 50% larger size; so if you start with a very small domino and each following domino is 50% larger than the previous one you have the potential to knock down a domino of considerable size. If the first tile were only 2 inches and it were possible to progressively increase its size, tile number 18 would be almost the size of the tower of Pisa, tile number 23 would be approximately 80 meters taller than the Eiffel tower and tile number 31 would be almost a kilometer taller than Mount Everest. The projection is so large that if the size of each tile continues to increase, number 57 would be almost as tall as the distance from the earth to the moon. The idea to be shown here is that a small cause such as knocking down a 2-inch domino has the potential to unleash large effects.

The question we are probably asking ourselves is: how do I apply this concept to my daily life? We can apply it by consistently carrying out small actions that contribute to your personal, professional and even financial development; for example: let's assume that every month we can save 50 euros, if we put that money in an investment fund that generates a small return of 5% effective annual return, after 20 years we will have approximately 20 thousand euros, if you only save them you will have only 12 thousand euros, but thanks to compound interest your money can multiply exponentially. Surely the first thing we think is that 20 years is a long time, besides this money in 20 years will be worth much less, factors such as inflation, currency devaluation, ... will make that amount have much less purchasing power and it is true. But we have not taken into account that if you take advantage of the time cultivating new skills you will have the possibility to generate more income and therefore your savings can be an amount even greater than 50 euros.

As we see small actions carried out consistently can generate very good results, not only in money matters but in all aspects of our life.

When we see someone who has a lot of knowledge it is because they have taken recurring actions over a long period of time; in conclusion, success is built sequentially by doing one thing at a time.

If you want to be successful you must dedicate yourself to one thing.

This is a concept that applies at both the personal and business level. Extraordinary companies only focus on being pioneers in a specific area or product, on a personal level it is also important to know that if you want to have really satisfactory results you cannot have two or three different businesses, you must focus 100% on just one; to do otherwise would be like pretending that an athlete who wins a half marathon also wins medals competing in the 100meter race. Look for that one quality that makes you different and competitive and start applying the ripple effect through small actions.

Six myths that keep you from getting the results you want

The myths are the following:

Believing that all the tasks we have to perform are equally important: if we remember the Pareto 80/20 principle and apply some of the ideas proposed by Stephen Covey in his book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", you should know that the question is not to be busy but to know in what things we are occupying our time. The book proposes to make a to-do list and from there select the most important activities to build a list of successes. We can simplify this list a little more if we ask ourselves the following question every day: what is that activity that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary? By answering this question, you will surely find that activity to which you need to give more attention.
Multitasking: we have to understand that our brain can only concentrate on one thing at a time, for example talking on the phone while driving causes 16% of traffic accidents, since a conversation on the phone takes approximately 40% of our attention. There are also studies that say that 28% of our time is wasted when we do several things simultaneously, let's think of it this way: a medical surgeon has to be 100% focused on his work since any distraction can be fatal. This same concept could be applied in other disciplines where time slots are established in which concentration is directed to a single task.

Discipline as a fundamental factor to achieve objectives: it is true that to build a positive habit you need discipline, but once a reasonable time has passed you will be able to maintain that habit with less effort; conventionally it is said that 21 days are enough to create a habit, but in this text it is stated that if we manage to do an activity for at least 66 continuous days, the performance of that activity from then on will not mean any effort for us and we will have formed a positive habit.

It is to think that our willpower is always available: in the book "Self-Control" by Kelly McGonil we are told that our willpower is like a muscle that weakens with the performance of activities, so we must find the hours where our energy levels are higher to perform the most important activities, because if in your most productive hours you spend your time on social networks or checking email most likely we will have more difficulties to complete these tasks that are essential to our day.

It is to think that we can achieve great goals and have a balanced life: when the reality is that there will be times in which your life will be more inclined to your work and at other times more inclined to share time with your family, the idea is that, although your priorities at some point are aimed at achieving a goal, for example, a promotion in your job, look for spaces to share with your family. Maybe now you cannot dedicate two hours a day to exercise, but you can run for half an hour, the key is to be aware that to achieve a major goal you will have to devote much more time to that activity, but the little time you have left should be invested in such a way that the other aspects of your life do not deteriorate.
The conception of thinking that having a very big success can be bad: because you think that you will acquire more responsibilities and maybe you will not have time for anything else, but this is only a myth because you can delegate many of your functions and dedicate your time to those activities that bring more value. Don't be afraid to achieve something great in your life, fear mediocrity.

Set goals for now

What he proposes in this book is that the first thing you have to do is to create a goal of great magnitude that you want to achieve someday, it can be to create a business that will produce a certain amount of money, lose weight, travel the world, write a book, anything you've always wanted to do but today still seems unattainable. We must ask ourselves what is that big goal we want to achieve someday? The answer based on the book is that this goal that is achievable in the next five years and that in turn is in line with that larger goal, so continue to break down your annual goals, monthly, daily, until you can ask yourself what is that activity that I have to do right now to meet that goal? We must remember the domino effect: an action carried out consistently can give us results that you would never have imagined.

The most important thing is to start from this very moment to take the necessary actions to change our life.

Having the ability to look at the big picture of your life.

It's about looking beyond material accomplishments, about establishing your purpose in life first. Sometimes we go chasing things that we don't even know why we are chasing them. There are people spending their lives with the sole obsession of accumulating and having more and more money, forgetting their true purpose. It is true that we need money to survive, but there comes a point when more money does not bring us more satisfaction. Many times we have the conception that a bigger house would make us happier, after we have it we look for a better car and in general we will always be looking for that new acquisition that will bring us more happiness; in general that is a game that we will never be able to win and this is due to hedonic adaptation, a psychological mechanism by which once a desire is satisfied another need takes its place and we return to the initial level of dissatisfaction.

We have to remember that the level of satisfaction and well-being in our life increases only when you give meaning and purpose to every action you do.

Four time thieves that are decreasing your productivity

• The inability to say NO: many times we may have many commitments and we find it quite difficult to say no to many of them, so we end up doing many things and being unproductive in all of them. We have to be aware that every time we say YES to something you are saying NO to other activities that may be more important to you. You have to have the ability to say NO to dedicate your time to something that you really consider valuable. Remember that the more things you do, the less successful and productive you will be in all of them.

• Fear of chaos: the idea is that because you can't be focusing on all the activities it is evident that there are going to be things left undone, for example: if you are dedicating a lot of time to your work, you are not going to have enough time to keep your house completely tidy and this is not bad at all.

• What you should do is to accept that although there are things to which you are not devoting much time, there are other things that are making a difference. If you spend your energy on minor activities you will most likely not achieve the goals you have always wanted.

• Deteriorated health: do not think that your health will wait five or ten years while you perform all your tasks. You must take care of your diet and dedicate at least half an hour a day to take care of your body if you want your productivity levels to increase.

• Having an environment that does not support your goals: if you have many distractions or your workplace is not a quiet place it is evident that you will not be able to complete your goals properly, in this case you will have to find another place where you can concentrate more easily.it is important to note that the people around you can also influence the achievement of your goals; associate with positive people and avoid toxic people because they can infect you in a negative way.

If you want to know more about our training proposal in aesthetic medicine, we encourage you to contact us. We will solve your doubts and advise you on what you need.

Dr. Manuel Rubio Sanchez

aesthetic doctor