June 19, 2025 • 32 mins
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Podcast Description:
Dr. Jon Finn delves into step three of the Success Cycle from his bestselling book "Train Your Brain for the AI Revolution", focusing on daily optimization with the Day Designer and creating a powerful Willpower Story.
• Understanding how to match tasks to your brain's natural energy patterns throughout the day
• Categorizing work into "Ice Sculptures" (requiring premium thinking) and "Ice Cubes" (routine tasks)
• Creating a Willpower Story to map your high-charge and medium-charge states
• Using strengths and willpower boosters to maintain optimal brain states when needed
• Implementing the SWAP technique (Self-Watch, Aim, Plan) to transform challenging parts of your day
• Strategic integration of AI tools during different energy states
• Starting small with simple changes before building a comprehensive system
• Working with your brain's natural rhythms instead of fighting against them
• Understanding that most people can only do 4-5 hours of premium thinking work daily
• Learning how successful planning transforms energy into optimized states
For additional resources and templates for your Willpower Story, visit tougherminds.co.uk/train-your-brain
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello Habit Mechanics .
It's Dr John Finn here.
I hope you're doing well.
So this is the fourth part ofour mini podcast series where
we're just giving you fullaccess to the new best-selling
and it is a bestseller acrossfour leadership and business
(00:23):
categories the quite hardcategories to become a
bestseller on Amazon or it hasbeen.
Those charts are changing allthe time, so it's a bestselling
book.
We're getting some amazingfeedback, so thanks for that.
People are telling us thatthese things are really helping
them.
Telling us that these thingsare really helping them.
(00:51):
You know the ai umunderstanding about how it's
impacting life.
So it's going to impact life.
It's, you know, it's almostchanging on a daily basis.
One of the things I found quiteinteresting recently was
listening to a podcast that, um,our head of business, katherine
grant, had made me aware of,and it's from one of the guys
(01:12):
who's on the Dragon's Den, whichis the UK equivalent of Shark
Tank.
So it's a series where peoplecan pitch their business ideas
and potentially get investment,and I just found it really
(01:33):
surprising that this person,who's a very famous entrepreneur
, was saying that they'd onlyjust realised how powerful AI
was, was saying that they'd onlyjust realised how powerful AI
was, and on his podcast he had anumber of leading thinkers in
(01:54):
this space and they were sayingthat AI, kind of silently, has
already replaced about wellmillions of jobs.
Obviously, businesses are nottaking out press releases to
disclose that, but it ischanging the world and I know
that I think every day now about800 million people are using
(02:20):
chat GTP and that's happeningbecause it's powerful and people
get benefits right.
So, yeah, this is not goingaway.
So understanding how your brainworks, getting that measurement
of your current brain states,your human ai readiness score,
(02:40):
and then understanding how tocreate a long-term strategy, a
daily strategy, in a way ofautomating your daily approach,
is so, so key and that's why wewrote Train your Brain for the
AI Revolution.
It is the world's first AI-erabrain and leadership training
program, essentially, and we arerunning live training with
(03:03):
people, with with businesses.
We're training people to becomenow human AI performance
psychology coaches.
We've created that new field ofpsychology.
So we're really leading the wayon this and we're working with
people one-to-one as well such abroad range of people but all
(03:26):
who want to capitalize on thesenew opportunities of the AI era.
So suppose what we're offeringhere with train your brain for
the AI revolution book.
It's sort of like all books orknowledge based products.
It's kind of a do-it-yourselfapproach.
Some people just want theknowledge and they put it into
(03:49):
practice themselves.
Some people want one-to-onesupport and coaching.
Others want to learn how to doit for their teams or or even
create their own business usingthis approach, and we can help
you with all of those things.
So today we are going to againbreaking that belief that just
(04:12):
talking to someone about whatyou want to work on, what you
want to improve on, is enough.
It isn't.
The data is very clear.
If we want to change ourbehavior, we need a systematic
approach, and that's what thesuccess cycle is in the heart of
train your brain for the airevolution, um.
(04:34):
So what we've done in the pastfew episodes is we've shown you
how to measure your brain states, then how to um, which is step
one of the success cycle, andstep two is planning with the
task director.
So we showed you that in thelast episode, or last episode of
(04:54):
this mini series, and then inthe um.
In this episode, we're going totalk about optimization with the
day designer.
So we're going to coverchapters 20, 21 and 23 and we're
going to go deep and help youto create something called a
willpower story, such a powerfultool and this is like your
daily strategy.
(05:15):
It's like a container that youcan put all your um, all the
things that you want to achieveevery day into, whether it's
very tangible things likefinishing that proposal, or
things that feel less tangible,like managing stress better or
being a better leader, or beingmore focused and productive, so
you can do more high-impactthinking every day.
(05:36):
So, yeah, that's what's comingup, as ever.
If you have any questions, justlet us know.
Contact us via the website, ifyou're not in the app or any of
our other channels.
Again, make notes, don't justnod along.
Put things into practice andyou'll start to get immense
benefits.
(05:56):
So here is.
Here is, first of all, chapter20, which is the first part of
step three from the successcycle from our best-selling book
Train your Brain for the AIrevolution.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Success cycle, step three Optimization with the day
designer.
Planning transforms energy.
The day designer Planningtransforms energy.
The day designer, chapter 20.
Creating your first willpowerstory.
Sarah looked down at her listsof tasks, now neatly organised
into ice sculptures and icecubes.
(06:40):
I knew which tasks needed mybest thinking, she told me later
, but I still wasn't sure whento do them.
That's when the day designerintroduced me to something that
revolutionised my approach toplanning the willpower story.
Think of your willpower storyas a simple map that matches
(07:01):
your tasks to your brain'snatural and enhanced energy
patterns.
Just as your FAM story guidesyour long-term journey, your
Willpower story helps younavigate each day's steps along
that path.
The day designer has a sayingplanning transforms energy.
Just as a lighthouse operatorneeds to understand weather
(07:25):
patterns and deliberately managetheir beam's power to maximise
its reach across changingconditions, we need to actively
plan how we use our brain statesrather than letting them
operate randomly.
Through deliberate planning, wecan transform our basic energy
patterns into optimised states,whether through our own
(07:48):
management practices orstrategic AI use, reaching
levels of performance thatwouldn't be possible through
natural patterns alone.
This is why planning isn't justabout organising tasks.
It's about understanding anddeliberately shaping the energy
we bring to those tasks.
What made this tool so powerful, sarah explained, was how it
(08:13):
showed me when to use my brain'shigh-charge state for important
work and when to handle routinetasks in medium-charge states.
Instead of fighting my energypatterns, I could work with them
, leveraging your AI supportsystem.
When I first categorised mytasks, sarah shared, I realised
(08:37):
something important about my AItools.
Some could handle my IceCubetasks almost entirely, like
summarising routine meetings ordrafting basic emails.
Others could enhance my icesculpture work, not by replacing
my thinking, but by handling,supporting tasks.
While I've focused on innovation, consider your own tasks in two
(09:02):
categories.
Consider your own tasks in twocategories.
Number one ice cubes that AIcould handle.
Think about routine emails,basic research and standard
reports.
Number two ice sculptures,where AI could support and
augment your premium thinkingfor tasks like strategic
(09:22):
planning, creative work orcomplex problem solving.
Don't worry if you're not sureexactly how AI can support
different types of tasks.
The key thing is to startthinking about this and to begin
considering how you might usethese tools more strategically
throughout your day.
Remember you don't need tofigure it all out at once.
(09:45):
This understanding will developnaturally as you work with your
willpower story.
For now, let's focus oncreating that story, creating
your first willpower story.
You'll need three things to getstarted.
First, a blank piece of paper.
Second, your lists of icesculpture and ice cube tasks
(10:10):
from the previous chapter.
Third, 15 minutes of quiet time.
Now let's follow these steps.
Step 1.
Draw your basic timeline.
Turn your paper sideways,landscape and draw a horizontal
line across the middle, from oneend of the page to the other.
Now divide this line into thekey parts of your day.
(10:33):
For example, wake up time,early morning, mid-morning,
lunch time, early afternoon,late afternoon, evening bedtime,
lunchtime, early afternoon,late afternoon, evening Bedtime.
Just seeing my day laid outlike this, sarah shared, helped
me be more realistic about whatI could accomplish.
(10:55):
Step 2.
Mark your high-charge times.
Most people have their bestthinking energy in the morning,
but this varies On your timeline.
Mark when you typicallyexperience these states.
When you feel most alert andfocused, this is your
high-charge state.
When you have less mentalenergy, this is your
(11:17):
medium-charge state.
Sarah discovered somethingimportant.
Sarah discovered somethingimportant.
I realised I'm sharpest from8am to 11am.
Then have another good periodfrom 3pm to 5pm.
This became the foundation forplanning my day.
Step 3.
Place your ice sculpture tasks.
(11:37):
Match your ice sculpture tasksto your high charge times.
Here are some examples Completecomplex planning during morning
high charge peak.
Have important meetings whenyou are most alert.
Do your creative work duringafternoon high-charge time.
(12:00):
Step 4.
Fill in routine tasks.
Place your ice cube tasksduring these times, during
natural energy dips, betweenmore demanding tasks when you
know you'll have less focus.
Here's an example to help youpull everything together 6am
Wake-up time.
6am wake up time.
(12:20):
7am start your day.
8am ice sculpture work duringhigh charge state.
10am continue ice sculpturework in high charge state.
12noon take a break.
1pm handle ice cube tasks inmedium charge state.
3 pm return to ice sculpturework in high charge state.
(12:45):
5 pm complete ice cube tasks inmedium charge state.
5 30 pm.
Start winding down withactivities like your daily
3-to-1 reflection.
9.30pm bedtime remember tostart small.
Just like Sarah, I started byjust planning my morning hours.
(13:09):
Sarah recalled.
Once that worked, I graduallyexpanded to the full day.
The key was keeping it simple.
At first she smiled as sheremembered how this approach
paid off.
Once I expanded to eveningplanning, I discovered something
powerful.
Including my three-to-onereflection in my willpower story
(13:32):
helped both habits growstronger.
Good planning supported betterreflection, and better
reflection led to clearerplanning.
Common challenges to watch for.
Challenge one Trying to do toomuch.
I learned the hard way.
Sarah shared that you can onlydo about four to five hours of
(13:57):
premium thinking work each day,and sometimes over six hours.
When you get the AI workingwith you.
Trying to do more just doesn'twork.
Challenge two Fighting yourpatterns.
Don't schedule demanding workwhen your brain naturally needs
rest.
Move ice sculptures to yourhigh charge times.
(14:18):
Your next steps Step 1.
Create tomorrow's basicwillpower story.
Draw your timeline, mark yourtypical high-charge times.
Place just one to three icesculptures to work on during
these times.
Fill in some ice cubes aroundthem.
Step 2.
Notice what works.
(14:40):
When did you feel most focused?
Which times worked best forimportant tasks?
When was routine work easier?
Remember this is just yourfirst attempt.
Keep it simple.
Be patient and let the daydesigner guide you toward your
optimal rhythm.
The key is getting started withsomething you can actually use
(15:02):
tomorrow.
Chapter 21.
Strengthening your willpowerstory Success cycle location.
Step 3.
Progress 50% complete.
Sarah had been using her basicwillpower story for a week,
matching her ice sculptures toher high-charge times.
(15:22):
I was getting better results,she told me later, but sometimes
I still struggled to maintainthose high-charge states.
That's when the day designershowed me how to protect and
strengthen my best thinkinghours.
This is where two powerfulresources come into play your
(15:43):
strengths and willpower boosters.
Think of these as the supportsystems that help you maintain
your optimal brain states,especially during important
high-charge work.
These resources superchargedhow I approached each day.
Sarah explained.
Instead of just hoping I'd stayfocused during important work,
(16:07):
I had specific strategies toprotect my thinking time.
Your lighthouse brain's supportsystem.
Remember how your lighthousebrain needs different power
states throughout the day.
Just as a lighthouse needssystems to maintain its beam at
full power, your brain needssupport to maintain its high
(16:29):
charge state.
This is especially crucial whenworking on your ice sculptures
those tasks that require yourpremium thinking power.
Understanding your strengthsStrengths are your natural
(16:50):
abilities for maintainingfocused states.
Key ones includeself-controlled you stay focused
on priorities and avoiddistractions.
Persistent you motivateyourself to keep going when
things get tough.
Perspective you step back fromthe immediate to reflect and
plan.
Efficient you organise well andminimise wasted effort.
(17:14):
Optimistic you stay positivewhen things don't go to plan.
Optimistic you stay positivewhen things don't go to plan.
Learning about these strengthswas enlightening, sarah shared.
I realised I was naturally goodat being persistent, but needed
to work on beingself-controlled.
This helped me know exactlywhat to focus on Adding
(17:37):
willpower boosters.
While strengths are yourinternal capabilities, willpower
boosters are specific actionsthat protect your brain states.
Key boosters include phonemanagement turn off your phone
to minimise distractions.
Internet management disconnectto reduce quick check
(17:58):
temptations.
Workspace plan create anenvironment with minimal
distractions.
Concentration booster Writedown a focus plan before
starting Strategic AI management.
Sarah discovered that AI toolscould either boost or drain her
brain states.
Ai tools could either boost ordrain her brain states, just
(18:19):
like my phone.
I learned to manage AI toolsstrategically, she explained.
During high-charge periods, I'duse them to enhance my thinking
, having them analyze data whileI focused on strategy.
During medium-charge periods,they could handle routine tasks.
(18:39):
Examples of how you could useAI during high-charge periods
they could handle routine tasks.
Examples of how you could useAI during high-charge periods to
outsource brainpower.
Use AI to support and augmentcomplex thinking.
Have AI handle backgroundresearch while you experiment
and innovate.
Let AI explore alternativeswhile you focus on strategic
(19:00):
decisions.
Examples of how you could useAI during medium charge periods
Let AI handle routinecommunications.
Use AI for standard informationprocessing.
Use AI to automate repetitivetasks, completely enhancing your
(19:22):
willpower story.
Let me walk you through a sampleday's schedule and how it
aligns with your brain states,strengths and boosters.
This will show you how to takeyour basic willpower story and
add these elements.
Remember, this is just anexample.
At 8am, focus on strategic work.
(19:42):
This is a nice sculpture task.
Your brain will be in highcharge state and your key
strength here is beingself-controlled.
To boost your performance, keepyour phone turned off and find
a quiet space to work.
At 10am, have your team meeting.
You'll still be in high chargestate, which is perfect because
(20:06):
your strength in this situationis leading others.
Make sure you have your meetingplan ready to boost your
effectiveness.
At 1pm, handle routine tasks.
This works well with yourmedium charge state, where your
strength is being efficient.
No special boosters neededduring this period.
(20:27):
Finally, at 3pm, focus oncreative work.
Your brain will be back in highcharge state and your strength
here is being persistent.
To boost your performance, tryturning off your internet
connection if you don't requireit to reduce distractions and
(20:48):
help you maintain focus.
Remember, this is just anexample to help you understand
how to start pulling all theseelements together To make it
easier to create a completewillpower story.
I have created a PDF templatestory.
(21:12):
I have created a PDF template.
Go to toughermindscouk forwardslash, train your brain to
download your copy.
Start simple.
Begin by adding just one or twostrengths and boosters to your
most important high chargeperiod.
I started with just my morningplanning time, sarah explained.
Once that worked well, Igradually added support to other
(21:33):
parts of my day.
Common challenges using toomany boosters.
Start with just the essentialones.
Sarah found this out.
At first.
I tried using every booster.
It was overwhelming.
Starting with just phonemanagement made it much easier.
Forgetting to use yourstrengths.
Make a note of which strengthshelp most during high charge
(21:57):
work.
Build on these naturalcapabilities.
Your next steps Identify yourkey strengths.
Which ones do you naturally usewell, which could help with
your high charge work?
Choose your essential boosters.
What most often interrupts yourfocus?
Which boosters would help most?
(22:18):
Update tomorrow's willpowerstory.
Add one to two strengths toyour main high charge period.
Include one key willpowerbooster.
Remember start small with justone or two supports.
The goal isn't to use everystrength and willpower booster
at once, but to gradually builda system that helps you maintain
(22:43):
your best thinking states whenthey matter most.
Chapter 22.
Managing your biggest dailychallenge.
Success cycle location.
Step three.
Progress 75% complete.
Sarah had been using herwillpower story for two weeks,
matching tasks to brain statesand using strengths and
(23:06):
willpower boosters.
While I was making progress,she reflected there was still
one persistent challenge in mydaily routine that post-lunch
energy crash.
That's when the day designershowed me how to use the swap to
overcome my biggest dailychallenge.
Most people have one part oftheir day that consistently
(23:30):
causes problems.
For many, like Sarah, it'spost-lunch.
For others it might be earlymornings, late afternoons or
switching off in the evening.
The swap helps you tackle thischallenge systematically.
What made swap so powerful?
Sarah explained.
(23:50):
The swap helps you tackle thischallenge systematically.
What made swap so powerful,sarah explained, was how it
helped me turn the mostchallenging part of my day into
a genuine recharge opportunity.
Instead of fighting my energydip, I learned to work with it.
Understanding swap.
Let me explain what swap speltS-W-A-P means.
It's an approach with threeparts.
(24:12):
The S-W stands for self-watchNotice what's happening.
The A stands for aim Choose aspecific goal.
The P stands for plan Createclear steps to achieve your aim.
Let's see how Sarah used thisto transform her challenging
(24:32):
post-lunch dip in energy levels.
Step 1.
Self-watch First, sarahobserved exactly what happened
after lunch.
She noticed four key things.
She felt mentally foggy.
She struggled to focus on work.
She often made mistakes.
She ended up scrolling on herphone.
(24:54):
Just paying attention helped mesee the pattern Sarah shared.
I was trying to do high chargework when my brain was only
capable of working onmedium-charge tasks.
Step 2.
Aim Next, sarah set a clear,specific goal Complete my list
(25:17):
of afternoon ice cube taskseffectively, despite the energy
dip.
Notice how this aim has threeimportant qualities it's
specific, focused on a clearlist of afternoon work.
It states a positive action.
Complete a list of tasks.
It's measurable the tasks willeither be completed or not.
(25:41):
Step 3.
Plan Finally, sarah created asimple plan to support her aim,
which included strategic AI use.
She chose to eat a light lunchto avoid feeling heavy and
experiencing indigestion.
She took a 15-minute walk torefresh her energy.
(26:02):
She prepared a clear list ofafternoon Ice Cube tasks.
She used AI to help her draftreplies to urgent emails.
She used self-control to turnoff her phone to minimise
distractions.
Having a specific plan was verypowerful, sarah explained,
(26:25):
instead of just hoping I'dsomehow push through.
I had clear steps to followStrategic AI management.
I realised AI could help managethe most challenging part of my
day, sarah explained.
Instead of forcing myself to docomplex work when my energy
dipped, I could use AI to helpme write some draft emails I
(26:48):
needed to reply to whilst Irecovered.
Adding a swap to your willpowerstory.
Look at your willpower storyand circle the most challenging
part of your day, when it's mostdifficult to get into the brain
state you need to be at yourbest.
This might be a time of daywhen you struggle most with
(27:11):
focus or often waste or feelleast productive or worry and
beat yourself up a lot, or youmight have trouble transitioning
from work to rest in theevening.
You might have troubletransitioning from work to rest
in the evening.
Now let's create your own swap.
(27:32):
You can use Sarah's example forinspiration.
First, self-watch what exactlyhappens during this challenging
time.
Second, set your aim.
What specific outcome do youwant instead?
Third, create your plan.
What two to three-part planwill you create to help you
(27:53):
achieve the specific outcome youwant?
Start simple.
Begin with just one smallchange.
I started with just thelunchtime walk, sarah explained.
Once that became natural, Iadded the other elements.
Small steps made it sustainable.
Common challenges to watch for.
(28:15):
Challenge one Trying to fightyour pattern.
Don't try to schedule icesculptures during the most
challenging part of your day.
Work with your brain's naturalrhythms instead.
Challenge two making the plantoo complex.
Keep your swap steps simple andspecific.
Sarah found this crucial.
(28:36):
The simpler my plan, the morelikely I was to follow it.
Your next steps?
Let's break this down intothree simple actions to take.
Action one Identify your dailychallenge.
Circle it on your willpowerstory.
Notice exactly what happens.
(28:58):
Be specific about the timeframe.
Action two Create your simpleswap Self-watch the pattern.
Create your simple swap,self-watch the pattern.
Set one clear aim.
Make a two to three step plan.
Action three Try it tomorrow.
Focus on just one small change.
Notice what works.
Adjust as needed.
(29:20):
The complete willpower story hasthree elements working together
.
First, your basic timelinematching tasks to brain states.
Second, your strengths andwillpower boosters for support.
Third, your swap for yourbiggest challenge.
As Sarah discovered, thiscombination takes how you think
(29:44):
about managing your day to newlevels.
Once I had all three partsworking together matching tasks
to energy, using the rightsupport tools and managing the
most challenging parts of my day, everything became easier.
I wasn't fighting my brainanymore, I was working with it.
But even with these toolsmastered, sarah faced one final
(30:09):
challenge Making this newapproach automatic rather than
effortful.
That's where step four of thesuccess cycle pulls everything
together.
Congratulations.
You've now completed step threeof the success cycle.
Before we move on, and if youthink it's helpful, take a
(30:31):
moment to think about people youadmire for their ability to
structure their day and managetheir energy, whether it's a
colleague, a mentor or even ahigh-performing athlete.
What makes their approach soeffective?
This might help you to improveyour relationship with your own
(30:52):
day designer, and you might evenname it after one of those
people you admire.
Next, we'll move on to stepfour, where you'll discover how
to use behavioral science tomake completing your daily
willpower story automatic.
Hello Habit Mechanics .
It's Dr John Finn here.
I hope you're doing well.
So this is the fourth part ofour mini podcast series where
we're just giving you fullaccess to the new best-selling
and it is a bestseller acrossfour leadership and business
(00:23):
categories the quite hardcategories to become a
bestseller on Amazon or it hasbeen.
Those charts are changing allthe time, so it's a bestselling
book.
We're getting some amazingfeedback, so thanks for that.
People are telling us thatthese things are really helping
them.
Telling us that these thingsare really helping them.
(00:51):
You know the ai umunderstanding about how it's
impacting life.
So it's going to impact life.
It's, you know, it's almostchanging on a daily basis.
One of the things I found quiteinteresting recently was
listening to a podcast that, um,our head of business, katherine
grant, had made me aware of,and it's from one of the guys
(01:12):
who's on the Dragon's Den, whichis the UK equivalent of Shark
Tank.
So it's a series where peoplecan pitch their business ideas
and potentially get investment,and I just found it really
(01:33):
surprising that this person,who's a very famous entrepreneur
, was saying that they'd onlyjust realised how powerful AI
was, was saying that they'd onlyjust realised how powerful AI
was, and on his podcast he had anumber of leading thinkers in
(01:54):
this space and they were sayingthat AI, kind of silently, has
already replaced about wellmillions of jobs.
Obviously, businesses are nottaking out press releases to
disclose that, but it ischanging the world and I know
that I think every day now about800 million people are using
(02:20):
chat GTP and that's happeningbecause it's powerful and people
get benefits right.
So, yeah, this is not goingaway.
So understanding how your brainworks, getting that measurement
of your current brain states,your human ai readiness score,
(02:40):
and then understanding how tocreate a long-term strategy, a
daily strategy, in a way ofautomating your daily approach,
is so, so key and that's why wewrote Train your Brain for the
AI Revolution.
It is the world's first AI-erabrain and leadership training
program, essentially, and we arerunning live training with
(03:03):
people, with with businesses.
We're training people to becomenow human AI performance
psychology coaches.
We've created that new field ofpsychology.
So we're really leading the wayon this and we're working with
people one-to-one as well such abroad range of people but all
(03:26):
who want to capitalize on thesenew opportunities of the AI era.
So suppose what we're offeringhere with train your brain for
the AI revolution book.
It's sort of like all books orknowledge based products.
It's kind of a do-it-yourselfapproach.
Some people just want theknowledge and they put it into
(03:49):
practice themselves.
Some people want one-to-onesupport and coaching.
Others want to learn how to doit for their teams or or even
create their own business usingthis approach, and we can help
you with all of those things.
So today we are going to againbreaking that belief that just
(04:12):
talking to someone about whatyou want to work on, what you
want to improve on, is enough.
It isn't.
The data is very clear.
If we want to change ourbehavior, we need a systematic
approach, and that's what thesuccess cycle is in the heart of
train your brain for the airevolution, um.
(04:34):
So what we've done in the pastfew episodes is we've shown you
how to measure your brain states, then how to um, which is step
one of the success cycle, andstep two is planning with the
task director.
So we showed you that in thelast episode, or last episode of
(04:54):
this mini series, and then inthe um.
In this episode, we're going totalk about optimization with the
day designer.
So we're going to coverchapters 20, 21 and 23 and we're
going to go deep and help youto create something called a
willpower story, such a powerfultool and this is like your
daily strategy.
(05:15):
It's like a container that youcan put all your um, all the
things that you want to achieveevery day into, whether it's
very tangible things likefinishing that proposal, or
things that feel less tangible,like managing stress better or
being a better leader, or beingmore focused and productive, so
you can do more high-impactthinking every day.
(05:36):
So, yeah, that's what's comingup, as ever.
If you have any questions, justlet us know.
Contact us via the website, ifyou're not in the app or any of
our other channels.
Again, make notes, don't justnod along.
Put things into practice andyou'll start to get immense
benefits.
(05:56):
So here is.
Here is, first of all, chapter20, which is the first part of
step three from the successcycle from our best-selling book
Train your Brain for the AIrevolution.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Success cycle, step three Optimization with the day
designer.
Planning transforms energy.
The day designer Planningtransforms energy.
The day designer, chapter 20.
Creating your first willpowerstory.
Sarah looked down at her listsof tasks, now neatly organised
into ice sculptures and icecubes.
(06:40):
I knew which tasks needed mybest thinking, she told me later
, but I still wasn't sure whento do them.
That's when the day designerintroduced me to something that
revolutionised my approach toplanning the willpower story.
Think of your willpower storyas a simple map that matches
(07:01):
your tasks to your brain'snatural and enhanced energy
patterns.
Just as your FAM story guidesyour long-term journey, your
Willpower story helps younavigate each day's steps along
that path.
The day designer has a sayingplanning transforms energy.
Just as a lighthouse operatorneeds to understand weather
(07:25):
patterns and deliberately managetheir beam's power to maximise
its reach across changingconditions, we need to actively
plan how we use our brain statesrather than letting them
operate randomly.
Through deliberate planning, wecan transform our basic energy
patterns into optimised states,whether through our own
(07:48):
management practices orstrategic AI use, reaching
levels of performance thatwouldn't be possible through
natural patterns alone.
This is why planning isn't justabout organising tasks.
It's about understanding anddeliberately shaping the energy
we bring to those tasks.
What made this tool so powerful, sarah explained, was how it
(08:13):
showed me when to use my brain'shigh-charge state for important
work and when to handle routinetasks in medium-charge states.
Instead of fighting my energypatterns, I could work with them
, leveraging your AI supportsystem.
When I first categorised mytasks, sarah shared, I realised
(08:37):
something important about my AItools.
Some could handle my IceCubetasks almost entirely, like
summarising routine meetings ordrafting basic emails.
Others could enhance my icesculpture work, not by replacing
my thinking, but by handling,supporting tasks.
While I've focused on innovation, consider your own tasks in two
(09:02):
categories.
Consider your own tasks in twocategories.
Number one ice cubes that AIcould handle.
Think about routine emails,basic research and standard
reports.
Number two ice sculptures,where AI could support and
augment your premium thinkingfor tasks like strategic
(09:22):
planning, creative work orcomplex problem solving.
Don't worry if you're not sureexactly how AI can support
different types of tasks.
The key thing is to startthinking about this and to begin
considering how you might usethese tools more strategically
throughout your day.
Remember you don't need tofigure it all out at once.
(09:45):
This understanding will developnaturally as you work with your
willpower story.
For now, let's focus oncreating that story, creating
your first willpower story.
You'll need three things to getstarted.
First, a blank piece of paper.
Second, your lists of icesculpture and ice cube tasks
(10:10):
from the previous chapter.
Third, 15 minutes of quiet time.
Now let's follow these steps.
Step 1.
Draw your basic timeline.
Turn your paper sideways,landscape and draw a horizontal
line across the middle, from oneend of the page to the other.
Now divide this line into thekey parts of your day.
(10:33):
For example, wake up time,early morning, mid-morning,
lunch time, early afternoon,late afternoon, evening bedtime,
lunchtime, early afternoon,late afternoon, evening Bedtime.
Just seeing my day laid outlike this, sarah shared, helped
me be more realistic about whatI could accomplish.
(10:55):
Step 2.
Mark your high-charge times.
Most people have their bestthinking energy in the morning,
but this varies On your timeline.
Mark when you typicallyexperience these states.
When you feel most alert andfocused, this is your
high-charge state.
When you have less mentalenergy, this is your
(11:17):
medium-charge state.
Sarah discovered somethingimportant.
Sarah discovered somethingimportant.
I realised I'm sharpest from8am to 11am.
Then have another good periodfrom 3pm to 5pm.
This became the foundation forplanning my day.
Step 3.
Place your ice sculpture tasks.
(11:37):
Match your ice sculpture tasksto your high charge times.
Here are some examples Completecomplex planning during morning
high charge peak.
Have important meetings whenyou are most alert.
Do your creative work duringafternoon high-charge time.
(12:00):
Step 4.
Fill in routine tasks.
Place your ice cube tasksduring these times, during
natural energy dips, betweenmore demanding tasks when you
know you'll have less focus.
Here's an example to help youpull everything together 6am
Wake-up time.
6am wake up time.
(12:20):
7am start your day.
8am ice sculpture work duringhigh charge state.
10am continue ice sculpturework in high charge state.
12noon take a break.
1pm handle ice cube tasks inmedium charge state.
3 pm return to ice sculpturework in high charge state.
(12:45):
5 pm complete ice cube tasks inmedium charge state.
5 30 pm.
Start winding down withactivities like your daily
3-to-1 reflection.
9.30pm bedtime remember tostart small.
Just like Sarah, I started byjust planning my morning hours.
(13:09):
Sarah recalled.
Once that worked, I graduallyexpanded to the full day.
The key was keeping it simple.
At first she smiled as sheremembered how this approach
paid off.
Once I expanded to eveningplanning, I discovered something
powerful.
Including my three-to-onereflection in my willpower story
(13:32):
helped both habits growstronger.
Good planning supported betterreflection, and better
reflection led to clearerplanning.
Common challenges to watch for.
Challenge one Trying to do toomuch.
I learned the hard way.
Sarah shared that you can onlydo about four to five hours of
(13:57):
premium thinking work each day,and sometimes over six hours.
When you get the AI workingwith you.
Trying to do more just doesn'twork.
Challenge two Fighting yourpatterns.
Don't schedule demanding workwhen your brain naturally needs
rest.
Move ice sculptures to yourhigh charge times.
(14:18):
Your next steps Step 1.
Create tomorrow's basicwillpower story.
Draw your timeline, mark yourtypical high-charge times.
Place just one to three icesculptures to work on during
these times.
Fill in some ice cubes aroundthem.
Step 2.
Notice what works.
(14:40):
When did you feel most focused?
Which times worked best forimportant tasks?
When was routine work easier?
Remember this is just yourfirst attempt.
Keep it simple.
Be patient and let the daydesigner guide you toward your
optimal rhythm.
The key is getting started withsomething you can actually use
(15:02):
tomorrow.
Chapter 21.
Strengthening your willpowerstory Success cycle location.
Step 3.
Progress 50% complete.
Sarah had been using her basicwillpower story for a week,
matching her ice sculptures toher high-charge times.
(15:22):
I was getting better results,she told me later, but sometimes
I still struggled to maintainthose high-charge states.
That's when the day designershowed me how to protect and
strengthen my best thinkinghours.
This is where two powerfulresources come into play your
(15:43):
strengths and willpower boosters.
Think of these as the supportsystems that help you maintain
your optimal brain states,especially during important
high-charge work.
These resources superchargedhow I approached each day.
Sarah explained.
Instead of just hoping I'd stayfocused during important work,
(16:07):
I had specific strategies toprotect my thinking time.
Your lighthouse brain's supportsystem.
Remember how your lighthousebrain needs different power
states throughout the day.
Just as a lighthouse needssystems to maintain its beam at
full power, your brain needssupport to maintain its high
(16:29):
charge state.
This is especially crucial whenworking on your ice sculptures
those tasks that require yourpremium thinking power.
Understanding your strengthsStrengths are your natural
(16:50):
abilities for maintainingfocused states.
Key ones includeself-controlled you stay focused
on priorities and avoiddistractions.
Persistent you motivateyourself to keep going when
things get tough.
Perspective you step back fromthe immediate to reflect and
plan.
Efficient you organise well andminimise wasted effort.
(17:14):
Optimistic you stay positivewhen things don't go to plan.
Optimistic you stay positivewhen things don't go to plan.
Learning about these strengthswas enlightening, sarah shared.
I realised I was naturally goodat being persistent, but needed
to work on beingself-controlled.
This helped me know exactlywhat to focus on Adding
(17:37):
willpower boosters.
While strengths are yourinternal capabilities, willpower
boosters are specific actionsthat protect your brain states.
Key boosters include phonemanagement turn off your phone
to minimise distractions.
Internet management disconnectto reduce quick check
(17:58):
temptations.
Workspace plan create anenvironment with minimal
distractions.
Concentration booster Writedown a focus plan before
starting Strategic AI management.
Sarah discovered that AI toolscould either boost or drain her
brain states.
Ai tools could either boost ordrain her brain states, just
(18:19):
like my phone.
I learned to manage AI toolsstrategically, she explained.
During high-charge periods, I'duse them to enhance my thinking
, having them analyze data whileI focused on strategy.
During medium-charge periods,they could handle routine tasks.
(18:39):
Examples of how you could useAI during high-charge periods
they could handle routine tasks.
Examples of how you could useAI during high-charge periods to
outsource brainpower.
Use AI to support and augmentcomplex thinking.
Have AI handle backgroundresearch while you experiment
and innovate.
Let AI explore alternativeswhile you focus on strategic
(19:00):
decisions.
Examples of how you could useAI during medium charge periods
Let AI handle routinecommunications.
Use AI for standard informationprocessing.
Use AI to automate repetitivetasks, completely enhancing your
(19:22):
willpower story.
Let me walk you through a sampleday's schedule and how it
aligns with your brain states,strengths and boosters.
This will show you how to takeyour basic willpower story and
add these elements.
Remember, this is just anexample.
At 8am, focus on strategic work.
(19:42):
This is a nice sculpture task.
Your brain will be in highcharge state and your key
strength here is beingself-controlled.
To boost your performance, keepyour phone turned off and find
a quiet space to work.
At 10am, have your team meeting.
You'll still be in high chargestate, which is perfect because
(20:06):
your strength in this situationis leading others.
Make sure you have your meetingplan ready to boost your
effectiveness.
At 1pm, handle routine tasks.
This works well with yourmedium charge state, where your
strength is being efficient.
No special boosters neededduring this period.
(20:27):
Finally, at 3pm, focus oncreative work.
Your brain will be back in highcharge state and your strength
here is being persistent.
To boost your performance, tryturning off your internet
connection if you don't requireit to reduce distractions and
(20:48):
help you maintain focus.
Remember, this is just anexample to help you understand
how to start pulling all theseelements together To make it
easier to create a completewillpower story.
I have created a PDF templatestory.
(21:12):
I have created a PDF template.
Go to toughermindscouk forwardslash, train your brain to
download your copy.
Start simple.
Begin by adding just one or twostrengths and boosters to your
most important high chargeperiod.
I started with just my morningplanning time, sarah explained.
Once that worked well, Igradually added support to other
(21:33):
parts of my day.
Common challenges using toomany boosters.
Start with just the essentialones.
Sarah found this out.
At first.
I tried using every booster.
It was overwhelming.
Starting with just phonemanagement made it much easier.
Forgetting to use yourstrengths.
Make a note of which strengthshelp most during high charge
(21:57):
work.
Build on these naturalcapabilities.
Your next steps Identify yourkey strengths.
Which ones do you naturally usewell, which could help with
your high charge work?
Choose your essential boosters.
What most often interrupts yourfocus?
Which boosters would help most?
(22:18):
Update tomorrow's willpowerstory.
Add one to two strengths toyour main high charge period.
Include one key willpowerbooster.
Remember start small with justone or two supports.
The goal isn't to use everystrength and willpower booster
at once, but to gradually builda system that helps you maintain
(22:43):
your best thinking states whenthey matter most.
Chapter 22.
Managing your biggest dailychallenge.
Success cycle location.
Step three.
Progress 75% complete.
Sarah had been using herwillpower story for two weeks,
matching tasks to brain statesand using strengths and
(23:06):
willpower boosters.
While I was making progress,she reflected there was still
one persistent challenge in mydaily routine that post-lunch
energy crash.
That's when the day designershowed me how to use the swap to
overcome my biggest dailychallenge.
Most people have one part oftheir day that consistently
(23:30):
causes problems.
For many, like Sarah, it'spost-lunch.
For others it might be earlymornings, late afternoons or
switching off in the evening.
The swap helps you tackle thischallenge systematically.
What made swap so powerful?
Sarah explained.
(23:50):
The swap helps you tackle thischallenge systematically.
What made swap so powerful,sarah explained, was how it
helped me turn the mostchallenging part of my day into
a genuine recharge opportunity.
Instead of fighting my energydip, I learned to work with it.
Understanding swap.
Let me explain what swap speltS-W-A-P means.
It's an approach with threeparts.
(24:12):
The S-W stands for self-watchNotice what's happening.
The A stands for aim Choose aspecific goal.
The P stands for plan Createclear steps to achieve your aim.
Let's see how Sarah used thisto transform her challenging
(24:32):
post-lunch dip in energy levels.
Step 1.
Self-watch First, sarahobserved exactly what happened
after lunch.
She noticed four key things.
She felt mentally foggy.
She struggled to focus on work.
She often made mistakes.
She ended up scrolling on herphone.
(24:54):
Just paying attention helped mesee the pattern Sarah shared.
I was trying to do high chargework when my brain was only
capable of working onmedium-charge tasks.
Step 2.
Aim Next, sarah set a clear,specific goal Complete my list
(25:17):
of afternoon ice cube taskseffectively, despite the energy
dip.
Notice how this aim has threeimportant qualities it's
specific, focused on a clearlist of afternoon work.
It states a positive action.
Complete a list of tasks.
It's measurable the tasks willeither be completed or not.
(25:41):
Step 3.
Plan Finally, sarah created asimple plan to support her aim,
which included strategic AI use.
She chose to eat a light lunchto avoid feeling heavy and
experiencing indigestion.
She took a 15-minute walk torefresh her energy.
(26:02):
She prepared a clear list ofafternoon Ice Cube tasks.
She used AI to help her draftreplies to urgent emails.
She used self-control to turnoff her phone to minimise
distractions.
Having a specific plan was verypowerful, sarah explained,
(26:25):
instead of just hoping I'dsomehow push through.
I had clear steps to followStrategic AI management.
I realised AI could help managethe most challenging part of my
day, sarah explained.
Instead of forcing myself to docomplex work when my energy
dipped, I could use AI to helpme write some draft emails I
(26:48):
needed to reply to whilst Irecovered.
Adding a swap to your willpowerstory.
Look at your willpower storyand circle the most challenging
part of your day, when it's mostdifficult to get into the brain
state you need to be at yourbest.
This might be a time of daywhen you struggle most with
(27:11):
focus or often waste or feelleast productive or worry and
beat yourself up a lot, or youmight have trouble transitioning
from work to rest in theevening.
You might have troubletransitioning from work to rest
in the evening.
Now let's create your own swap.
(27:32):
You can use Sarah's example forinspiration.
First, self-watch what exactlyhappens during this challenging
time.
Second, set your aim.
What specific outcome do youwant instead?
Third, create your plan.
What two to three-part planwill you create to help you
(27:53):
achieve the specific outcome youwant?
Start simple.
Begin with just one smallchange.
I started with just thelunchtime walk, sarah explained.
Once that became natural, Iadded the other elements.
Small steps made it sustainable.
Common challenges to watch for.
(28:15):
Challenge one Trying to fightyour pattern.
Don't try to schedule icesculptures during the most
challenging part of your day.
Work with your brain's naturalrhythms instead.
Challenge two making the plantoo complex.
Keep your swap steps simple andspecific.
Sarah found this crucial.
(28:36):
The simpler my plan, the morelikely I was to follow it.
Your next steps?
Let's break this down intothree simple actions to take.
Action one Identify your dailychallenge.
Circle it on your willpowerstory.
Notice exactly what happens.
(28:58):
Be specific about the timeframe.
Action two Create your simpleswap Self-watch the pattern.
Create your simple swap,self-watch the pattern.
Set one clear aim.
Make a two to three step plan.
Action three Try it tomorrow.
Focus on just one small change.
Notice what works.
Adjust as needed.
(29:20):
The complete willpower story hasthree elements working together
.
First, your basic timelinematching tasks to brain states.
Second, your strengths andwillpower boosters for support.
Third, your swap for yourbiggest challenge.
As Sarah discovered, thiscombination takes how you think
(29:44):
about managing your day to newlevels.
Once I had all three partsworking together matching tasks
to energy, using the rightsupport tools and managing the
most challenging parts of my day, everything became easier.
I wasn't fighting my brainanymore, I was working with it.
But even with these toolsmastered, sarah faced one final
(30:09):
challenge Making this newapproach automatic rather than
effortful.
That's where step four of thesuccess cycle pulls everything
together.
Congratulations.
You've now completed step threeof the success cycle.
Before we move on, and if youthink it's helpful, take a
(30:31):
moment to think about people youadmire for their ability to
structure their day and managetheir energy, whether it's a
colleague, a mentor or even ahigh-performing athlete.
What makes their approach soeffective?
This might help you to improveyour relationship with your own
(30:52):
day designer, and you might evenname it after one of those
people you admire.
Next, we'll move on to stepfour, where you'll discover how
to use behavioral science tomake completing your daily
willpower story automatic.
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