Video summary
The core philosophy presented in this video is that true productivity comes from reverse engineering your day rather than planning it forward from the morning. Most people wake up and create a to-do list based on what they think they should do, hoping that their efforts will eventually add up to success. However, this approach relies on guesswork and leaves room for stress and unknown variables throughout the day. Instead, the speaker argues that you must start by defining what "success" looks like at the end of the day, specifically asking yourself what needs to happen so that you can lie down tonight feeling accomplished. By working backward from that desired outcome, you create a clear map with a defined destination, which significantly increases motivation and reduces the pressure of time compared to the uncertain nature of forward planning.
Once the end goal is established, the next step involves creating specific implementation intentions by asking when, where, and how you will execute your tasks, rather than just stating vague intentions like "I will work out." This method transforms abstract goals into concrete instructions that remove the need for constant decision-making, which depletes willpower as the day progresses. For instance, instead of deciding whether to go to the gym when the time comes, you set a rule that your gym clothes are on immediately upon waking up and you leave at a specific hour. This system eliminates the opportunity to talk yourself out of important actions by removing the moment where a choice needs to be made, ensuring that you follow through on commitments without relying on fluctuating levels of discipline.
A third critical component is energy planning, which dictates scheduling your most important tasks during the window when your brain is sharpest and your energy is highest, rather than filling those prime hours with routine work or meetings. Many people mistakenly schedule their top priorities for late in the day after hours of emails and meetings, effectively using their best mental resources to do low-value work. The video emphasizes that you must identify your personal peak performance window—whether it is in the morning, afternoon, or late night—and protect that time fiercely. All other obligations, such as Zoom calls or errands, should be negotiated around this protected block, ensuring that your number one lever for moving the needle in your life gets the attention of your freshest mind.
Finally, the strategy concludes with a technique called "killing the day in advance," which involves imagining a scenario where everything has gone wrong before the day even begins. This pre-mortem exercise helps you identify your specific self-sabotaging patterns, such as checking your phone immediately upon waking or getting distracted by visitors, and allows you to create countermeasures to avoid them. By anticipating potential failures and planning how to navigate around your known habits, you build a resilient system that can withstand unexpected disruptions like a sick child or a cancelled meeting. Ultimately, the goal is not to create a perfect day but to build a framework where success is defined by working backward from your desired outcome, executing specific instructions, utilizing peak energy times, and proactively managing your personal patterns to ensure you end each day feeling productive.
Read the full video transcript
You'll never get more than 24 hours in a
day. And the amount that you get done in
those hours that you're actually awake
will dictate where you end up in the
future. And so if you want to create a
life that you actually want from your
dreams faster, then you need to
understand how to be more productive so
that you can actually get more out of
every hour that you work. The problem is
that most people are trying to be
productive completely wrong. And so
today, I'm going to show you and teach
you how to be ridiculously productive
every day. And I'm going to give you
four separate steps, okay? And by the
end of this, you're going to know how to
stop planning your days and actually how
to start reverse engineering them to
have each day be successful. So, let's
get into it. Here's how almost everybody
does whenever they are planning out
their day. They build their day forward.
They wake up and then they look at what
they want to do today and then they go,
"Okay, here's my to-do list. Let me put
my schedule together." And then they go
and they try to do it and they push into
the day and you just kind of hope that
it adds up to something. Hopefully, you
cross off a few things from that to-do
list that you just made. And that's the
actual problem. And I did this for
years, mind you. I completely screwed
this up for years. But there's been some
really interesting research done
recently on this. So there's researchers
on productivity that study the
difference between forward planning and
backward planning. So forward planning
is what you would expect. It's what
everybody does. They wake up, they make
a to-do list, and then they go, "This is
step one, this is step two, third step,
fourth step, and then they just keep
going." Backward planning is you
actually start with the finished outcome
that you want and then you work your way
backwards right into it. And what they
found is that people who planned
backwards like with the end in mind were
actually more motivated to take action.
They felt less pressure with time and
they were more likely to actually
complete the thing they needed to
complete. Let me put that into plain
language for you. When you plan forward,
you're kind of guessing, but you're kind
of hoping today's effort will eventually
turn into something, right? And that can
feel more stressful because there's a
lot of unknowns that are going to be
happening throughout the day. But when
you plan backwards, you're basically
following a map that already exists.
Like you set the destination and then
you work backwards to come up with a
step-by-step plan. Think about it like
this. You can't build a bridge from just
one side, right? You have to know where
the bridge actually lands. Otherwise,
you're just laying concrete into water
hoping that you're going to get to the
other side. And so, like the way you
actually want to look at it and dive
into it is quite simple. Step number
one, you want to start at the end of the
day, not at the beginning. Okay? At the
beginning of your day, I want you to ask
yourself one question. What has to
happen today for me to lie down tonight
and feel like today was a success? And
so you're basically starting today by
looking at tonight when you're going to
bed and asking yourself what has to
happen today for today to actually be a
success. And notice what the question is
not. The question is not what do I have
to do today? It's what does tonight have
to look like? Right? So we're starting
with the end in mind. You're standing at
the end of the day and you're looking
back. Right? And we will be right back.
Hey, if you're looking to get to your
next level and you realize that it's not
another strategy, it's not another book.
It is found by you conquering the
version of you that's holding yourself
back, then you need to be at my live
event this December 3rd, 4th, and 5th
called Freedom Live. We're going to find
out exactly where you want to be in
life, why you're not there yet, and then
find and break the unconscious patterns,
limiting beliefs, and fears that are
holding you back and capping your
success without you even knowing it. So,
if you want to live to your full
potential, but you don't know how to
break through, this is the event to be
at. You can go to freedomlive2026.com
or you can go to this QR code, scan this
right here. There's currently a $50 off
coupon right now. So, go ahead and scan
that and I will see you live in Austin,
Texas. And now back to the show. And so,
now here's the rule. Come up with three
things maximum. Most people are like,
"Oh, in order for today to be
successful, I need these 74 things to
happen." Nope. That's not going to help
you at all. I would come up with one
thing, maybe two, at most three things,
right? Because the more things that you
have, the less likely you are to
accomplish any of them. And most people
hate this because people want to write
down like 20 tasks. Three things, three
things only. And they have to be three
things that actually change something.
Not three things that are like the
easiest to check off. Three things that
actually move the needle in your life.
Because you can have a day where you
answer 60 emails and you're doing all
kinds of different stuff and you're
you've done the laundry and you're
checking things off your to-do list, but
nothing in your life is any different.
That's a day of being busy where you
work really hard and at the end of the
day you feel like you got nothing done.
What I want is I want a day of
productivity. I want to get done today
whatever needs to be done and feel
extremely productive when I lay down.
Right? Like you can have a day where you
get one hard thing done for 90 minutes
and you feel like you accomplish a lot
today because that was the number one
lever that you could pull today. So the
win needs to be defined right when the
day starts. Okay? So that's number one.
Number two, work backwards into your
calendar and ask yourself when, where,
and how. So, now that you've got your
three, what I would recommend when you
write these three things down, write
them on an index card and put that index
card in your back pocket and carry it
with you everywhere today. Right? So,
you have those things. Now, let's create
a plan. There's a researcher named Peter
Gwitzer and he studies something called
implementation intentions. And what he
found is that when you take an intention
and you turn it into a specific if this
then that, your followth through goes up
dramatically. And in a lot of his work,
the follow through actually roughly
doubles. And so here's what that
actually means. Your brain doesn't
respond to intentions. Your brain
responds to instructions.
So, you have to walk it backwards from
the finished thing to the exact moment
that it starts. And so, instead of
saying something like, "I'm going to
work out today," that now becomes at
6:15, my gym clothes are already on
because I put them on the second that I
woke up. And as soon as I 6:15 hits, I'm
walking out the door. If this, then
that, if this, then that. And you're
just basically just creating
instructions, right? 6:15, gym clothes
are already on. Why are they already on?
Because as soon as I woke up, soon as I
woke up, I put clothes on. 6:15 hits,
I'm walking out the door. If this then
that multiple times. You see the
difference between like I'm going to
work out today. I'm going to work out
today kind of requires you to decide
something like do I want to work out
today? And you can kind of make a
decision. The other one basically takes
all decisions out. It's just a system
that requires you to move when something
happens. This happens. That happens.
This happens. That happens. Because
every single decision that you have to
make in the moment, if you're saying,
"Do I want to work out today? Do I not
want to work out today?" Whatever it
might be, is a chance for you to talk
yourself out of it. And we all are kind
of like, "Oh, I wish I had more
dedication. I wish I was more
disciplined." It's not that we're lazy
people. Just to be fully transparent.
Most people that think that they're
lazy, they leave way too many decisions
that they need to make throughout the
day. and your willpower goes down
throughout the day and you're going to
start saying no to things that you
wanted to say yes to. Right? Decisions
leave opportunities to choose what is
easy to do now versus like what you
committed to get done. So when, where,
and how. And then you get the physical
movement going. Then you're coming up
with a plan and you're removing any room
for negotiation. Okay, that's number
two. Number three, this is super
important. Okay, almost nobody does
this. put the thing that matters the
most when your brain works best. And so
this is something that I call energy
planning. I do this every single day.
It's the most important part of getting
something accomplished every single day
because most people they take the most
important thing on their list and they
schedule it for whenever their calendar
happens to be empty. And that's usually
like 4 4:30 p.m. right after like seven
hours of email and three Zoom meetings
and like a hard conversation with an
employee that you didn't want to have.
So what happens is you're giving your
most important thing every single day to
the worst possible version of your brain
most likely.
That doesn't seem to really work if you
think about it, right? like you're
building your future with whatever's
left of your brain after the entire day.
And so you want to back it up again, but
this time not from your calendar, from
your energy. Once again, it's called
energy planning. So you know when you
are sharp throughout the day, like you
know when you feel the best throughout
the day. Nobody really has to tell you.
Like you probably have a pretty good
idea of when you feel your best, when
you have the most energy, when your
brain is working the best. For me, it's
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. I protect that
3hour gap like my life depends on it. I
take my most important thing and I plan
my most important task in that time. Why
would I do that? Well, because I know my
brain is going to be firing at its
absolute best during that time. Wouldn't
you want to take your best brain and put
your number one needle moving activity
and put them together? And so for me,
it's 11 to 2 pm. For you, it might be
different. For you, it might be at
night. My best friend, for some reason,
he's completely opposite of me. His best
time where his brain is like on it is
11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. I'm already
asleep by that time. But he plans his
most important things when the kids are
asleep. And just for some reason, his
brain works that way, right? For you, it
might be at night. It might be in the
morning, like 11 to 2, like mine is. It
might be 4:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., right?
It might be right after you work out. I
don't really care when it is. Whatever
that window is, that window needs to
belong to your number one task. Nothing
else gets to touch it. Nothing.
Everything else in your day needs to
bend around that window, not the other
way around. Like, don't protect an
hour-long Zoom meeting and negotiate
with your goals. That doesn't make any
sense. Like somebody asked for a 9:00
a.m. and that's your best time and you
normally just say yes and you move the
thing that actually matters to whenever
it fits. Does that make any sense? And
so you have to flip it completely. You
protect the goal and then you negotiate
the meetings or whatever else needs to
be done. Okay. And then number four,
this is my favorite one. You need to
kill the day in advance. This one's kind
of weird, but it works so well. Before
you start your day, I want you to jump
ahead to 9:00 p.m. tonight. And I want
you to imagine that the whole thing
completely fell apart. Like you just to
bed today. You got none of it done. Not
one of your three things was
accomplished. Just crapping on the bed,
right? Imagine that. And now you ask
yourself, what happened? It's not a
mystery, is it? Like you already know.
You know how you self-sabotage. You know
your bad habits and your patterns and
you know what you do when you derail
your productivity and your best days.
You know, you picked up your phone at
6:40 in the morning, the first moment
you woke up, and then you immediately
flood with cortisol and you've got your
brain off track. Or somebody dropped
something off to you at 10:00 a.m. and
then they stayed for 30 minutes and that
was your time that you had something
really productive to be done. or like
you told yourself get to something after
lunch and then after lunch never came
right this process of killing it before
it starts. It's actually called
premortem and so it was developed by a
researcher named Gary Klene. It
basically means this plan out the
failure of something so that you can use
that failure as data points to plan
around. And I did this when I hired my
head of operations. We basically said,
"How could this opportunity of us
working together completely die?" Like,
"How could we kill the business? How
could all of this go wrong?" And then
what we did was we planned around it to
make sure that we brought her on to be
as successful as we possibly could and
then the business would thrive from
bringing her on. So instead of failing
and then studying it after it happens,
you study failure before it happens.
like while you can actually still do
something about it and then make a plan
to work around that failure so that it
doesn't actually happen. And the reason
why it works so well is this. You are a
creature of habits. We all are. You're
just a bunch of patterns that you do day
in and day out. Some of them you know,
some of them you don't know. But you
probably already know how you get in
your own way. like what you typically do
when things get hard, how you distract
yourself, your favorite way to
disconnect whenever you don't want to do
something, whatever it might be. You
know your patterns. So, let's plan ahead
so that we can avoid your typical
patterns so that you can make sure that
today is actually successful. And what
you do is you write it on paper. 9:00
p.m. today, everything failed. Here's
what I wanted to do. I didn't get it
done. Why did it happen? And you write
it down. And then you predecide
what you need to do and the moves that
you need to do in order to make sure
today isn't a failure and that today's a
success. Mine pretty simple. A lot of
times my phone goes in a drawer in
another room until my number one thing
is done. I lock myself in my office. I
put my headphones on and I don't allow
myself to get up. That's it. That's my
entire counter move because usually what
derails me is my phone, whether it be a
text message or call or business or
whatever it might be. I avoid my phone
at all costs. And so what you do is you
just create a system to avoid your
typical avoidance patterns. Okay? Now,
let me tell you how most people can take
this and screw this up because I I don't
want you to screw this up. People,
especially planners, like you planners
that plan and then you plan to plan, you
plan to plan to plan. you try to start
optimizing the plan instead of actually
living the plan, right? Like you got to
go get your new colored pencils and
create color-coded calendars and create
perfect time blocks and you have to get
some brand new productivity app, right?
And then you spent two hours designing
the day and zero hours actually doing
the thing that moves the needle forward.
So you have to understand the plan is
not actually the point of all of this.
The plan is really just how you stop
negotiating with yourself and that's all
that it really is. And so the other
thing that you have to understand around
this is that some days your plan is
going to go to like your days are going
to completely blow up. Your kid gets
sick, a client calls and cancels their
order, something breaks, whatever it
might be. That is going to happen. And I
want you to understand when that
happens, that's not a failure in any
sort of way. Because the goal was never
to create a perfect day. The goal is
that when you sit down at the beginning
of the day to build your day, you're
building up from where you want to go,
not where you've actually been. And so,
what you need to do is this, the four
steps that I took you through. Number
one, I want you to start at the end of
the day, not the beginning of the day.
Number two, I want you to work backwards
into your calendar. Number three, I want
you to put the thing that matters the
most where you have the most energy in
your day. And then number four, what I
want you to do is I want you to kill
your day in advance so that you can come
up with a rockolid plan of how to
actually get done what needs to be done.
That is a different way of looking at
your day. That is a different way of
looking at being productive. And if you
take these four steps and put it into
your day tomorrow and every single day,
you will be way more productive than you
have been in your past. Hey, thanks so
much for watching today's video. If you
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