Challenge Yourself to Get It Done in 21 Days

In his book, Get It Done: The 21-Day Mind Hack System to Double Your Productivity and Finish What You Start, Michael Mackintosh shares his Get It Done 21-Day Challenge. This system helps you take action and finish projects in three weeks.

The Get It Done 21-Day Challenge comprises of the following three stages:

1. W = WHACK: Gain clarity for what you want to do and set yourself up for success.
2. A = ACT: Take massive action and challenge yourself to get it done for 21 days.
3. R = RELAX: Celebrate the success and rest, rejuvenate, and prepare for the next round.

The Get It Done 21-Day Challenge will give you the power to fight the WAR with Resistance and win. You will leave the excuses behind, get it done on a 21-day challenge, and finish your most important projects.

Download the PDF Book Summary for Get It Done

Stage 1 – WHACK

W = What Do You Want?

First, you will gain clarity to figure out what you want to get done in the next 21 days. Write down everything that is on your mind, unfinished, or stressing you out. Ask yourself the following:

1. What Do You Want To Achieve? Determine the one specific thing to focus on and challenge yourself to finish in the next 21 days.
2. Why Is It Important To You? Determine the importance to you, the benefits of taking action, and the consequences of inaction.
3. When Do You Want To Get It Done? Determine a specific end date and time to finish your task.
4. Where And When Will Do It? Determine the location, date, and time for accomplishing your task.

When you answer these questions, write the answers down, so your intention is clear to you. You can create a vision board of images to inspire and remind you to take action on your task.

H = How Are You Going to Make It Happen?

You need a solid plan of action to accomplish what you want one step at a time:

1. Where Do You Want To Go? From the previous “What” section, you should have determined what you want to achieve and where you are going.
2. Create Your Plan: Determine the best plan you can think of to accomplish that result. Write down the steps that you have to take from start to end.
3. Put Things In Order: Organize your work and plan the steps sequentially such that you can move from one to the next one.
4. Look at Your Plan and Ask Yourself:
   1. How could I do less work or take less time and achieve the same result?
   2. How could my plan be executed at least four times faster and four times easier?

If you are stuck trying to figure out what to do, here are some steps to gain clarity:

• Write Down What You Know: You don’t need to have everything planned from the start, so instead, write down the steps that you know or can take action on.
• Ask For Help: Someone can help you gain clarity, so ask people you know or do a Google search to get an answer.
• Take A Break: Taking time a little or a lot of time off can help you think more creatively.
• Find A Mentor Or Training Program: Find the proper support, guidance, or mentors to help you take action.

A = Absolute Accountability

The magic power to taking action and receiving results is accountability:

Accountability – the willingness “to take complete responsibility for your actions and decisions and…pay for the consequences of your actions.”

There are the steps to create bulletproof accountability during your Get It Done 21-Day Challenge:

1. Determine What Do You Want To Achieve: Choose the goals you want to accomplish in terms of your overall vision or plan.
2. Write Down Your Accountability Contract: Write your actions, goals, and consequences on paper or digitally. You can use ClickUp or Todoist to organize your tasks.
3. Choose Your Accountability Partner: Pick an external person to hold you accountable for your actions, goals, and consequences.
4. Make A Public Commitment: This step adds extra accountability as your reputation in society is on the line.
5. Communicate Your Actions: Relay your actions and results to that external person with transparency and integrity
6. Accept and Pay the Consequences: Follow the contract as to any consequences of your actions or lack of action.

When you commit, put yourself to the test, and take action, you can accomplish your goals. The key to results is accountability.

C = Conditions for Your Success

Now, it is time to focus on the conditions and structures to be efficient in achieving your goals:

Conditions and Structures – “the situations, objects, and rituals you need to set up, so it’s easy for you to do the things you need to do

Now, you will decide and put in place the conditions and structures to make things happen. You can gain clarity on what to add or subtract from your life.

1. What Things Need to Be in Place to Make It Easy for You to Be Successful? Write down your conditions and structures, and keep it uncomplicated and straightforward.
2. What Did You Miss? Examine your conditions and structures and ask yourself if they are clear and going to guarantee your success.
3. Do It Now: Set up your conditions and structures for success as they are your key to freedom.

Gaining clarity and setting goals with the right conditions and structures are necessary for success. However, Inevitable Thinking will get you in the right headspace:

Inevitable Thinking – a way of thinking to set up “systems and structures in your life that success becomes inevitable” such as deadlines and accountability

K = Kick-Start

Finally, you can kick-start your project by creating a plan and identify specific actions to accomplish your project. There are four things you need to establish to take an idea from your mind into reality:

1. Vision – “what you want to achieve”
2. Plan – the path from where you are now (Point A) to where you want to be (Point B)
3. Action – the tangible, practical steps to move forward on your vision
4. Support – the structure to keep you on the path, including accountability, conditions and structures, and inevitable thinking

Now, you have to gain radical clarity on the actions that will directly move you to success. The 80/20 rule states that about 80% of your actions will be highly ineffective, while only the top 20% get you most of your results. Thus, not all actions are created equal.

Download the PDF Book Summary for Get It Done

Stage 2 – ACT

Now it is time to take action for each day of your 21-day challenge. There are several essential productivity tips to help you stay focused and get the most out of each day:

1. Your Daily Impact List: Using your vision, plan, and weekly action steps, get clear on the one to three most important tasks and finish them before doing anything else.
   1. Get up early.
   2. Take action on your top 20% of the most effective work daily as early as you can. You can use Grant Cardone’s 10X Rule to take massive action.
2. Eliminate Distractions: Remove the following few distractions to focus and get your work done:
   1. Cell Phone: These devices with their notifications are made to be addictive, so you should turn it off while working.
   2. Internet: Even though this technology gives you access to anything instantly, you should turn it off when you are not using it.
   3. People: They can be great; however, people are a huge distraction, so let people know when you are busy working.
3. Time Yourself: Choose a task and set a timer for each work session to stay focused.
   1. Use Focus Blocks (50-minute blocks with 10-minute breaks) or the Pomodoro Technique (25-minute blocks with 5-minute breaks).
   2. Take breaks during the day to rest and recharge, so you maintain effectiveness.
4. Maintain Accountability: Share your results with your accountability partner at the end of the day to get things done and maintain momentum on your goals.

After taking daily action for 21 days, you should have formed habits and made substantial progress on, if not accomplished, your goal. For getting motivated, check out our blog on the best productivity quotes!

Stage 3 – Relax

After finishing your project, it would be amazing to block off time, take that much-needed break, and celebrate your accomplishment. The book, The Power of Full Engagement (book summary), says that we need to rest and recharge after stressing ourselves for a certain amount of time. Without breaks, our performance will deteriorate, and we will burn out.

These steps will help you take a high-quality break:

1. Pick an activity that will make you feel inspired, refreshed, and recharged.
2. Determine a special place for you to do that activity.
3. Time block the break on the calendar, so you don’t add more work to your schedule.

Then, you can ask yourself the following questions to gain clarity on how to celebrate success:

• How will you celebrate your success?
• What gives you the greatest joy?
• What celebratory activity will be so enjoyable to motivate you to finish your challenge?
• How much time will you take off?
• Who will you enjoy your break with, or are you going solo?

When you go on the break, you should celebrate the accomplishment and appreciate the work you have put into the project. You should “relax, rest, and do things that genuinely renew and fulfill you.” Lastly, reflect on what you learned during the 21-Day Challenge and how you can improve for next time.

Download the PDF Book Summary for Get It Done

Start Your 21-Day Challenge to Get It Done

The three stages of the Get It Done 21-Day Challenge are as follows:

1. W = WHACK: Gain clarity for what you want to do and set yourself up for success.
2. A = ACT: Take massive action and challenge yourself to get it done in 21 days.
3. R = RELAX: Celebrate the success and rest, rejuvenate, and prepare for the next round.

After understanding the three stages of the Get It Done 21-Day Challenge, it is time to take action on your projects. Trust the process and transform yourself to get more done in much less time.

The previous blog post in this series shows you the 11 mind hacks to help you achieve massive results. For more, read check out the author’s website or buy the book here, which was published by TCK Publishing. For another book recommendation, check out $100M Offers (book summary) by Alex Hormozi.

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