Secrets of the 6%: How to Achieve Your Goals in Business and Life - Dr. Michelle Rozen (Transcript)

Here is the full transcript of bestselling author Dr. Michelle Rozen’s talk titled “Secrets of the 6%: How to Achieve Your Goals in Business and Life” at TEDxUNLV 2024 conference.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello everyone, I’m so glad to see you here, and I have something very important to talk to you about. You see, I know that a lot of you that are sitting here, and a lot of you that are watching from home, have something in your life that you really, really want to do, but you keep dropping the ball on.

Something very important for you, something related to your health or your fitness or your mental wellness or your money or the people you love, the relationships that you have, a business that you really want to scale, a career that you really want to do better at, and the ball just keeps dropping. We are here to move the needle today, so I want to share this with you.

Last year, I conducted a research and I surveyed 1,000 people, and all of those people had something in their life that they really wanted to change. And it was the beginning of the year, and they all said, “Yeah, this year, I’m going to do this thing. I’m going to the gym more often, I’m saving more money, I’m making more money, I’m scaling that business, I’m going to be so happy, so confident, I’m improving my relationships, yeah.”

So, I surveyed those 1,000 people all over the US from January to June, and I said, “Let’s see what happens to all of these big goals over time,” and what I found out made my jaw drop. Because what I found out was that out of the 1,000 people that I surveyed, 94% of them dropped whatever they pledged for by February, the next month. We are here today to figure out the secrets of the six percenters.

What the Six Percenters Do Differently

What is it that they did differently that got them to the happiness, to the success, to the confidence, to the business, to the money, to the relationships that they wanted for themselves compared to the 94%? What is it that they did differently is what I want to share with you today. So, three secrets of the six percenters that I want to share with you today.

The first one is that the six percenters take charge. They set their mind to do something different. You see, our brain, your brain, takes about 20% of your overall body energy just to get by.

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So, think about your day today. You got up in the morning, went on social media, read the news, answered some emails, talked to some people, had the same breakfast pretty much, had the same lunch pretty much, went to the gym or didn’t go to the gym, treated people the same way. That’s 20% of your overall body energy that the brain takes just to do what you know how to do already.

Every time you ask your brain to do something different, new technology, new ways of doing things, new ways of working out, new ways of doing business, new ways of handling your mental wellness, your time, your brain hates that. The brain says, “Are you kidding me? I’m so maxed out on the 20% already.” So today, and every day of your life, your brain comes to you with a deal.

The Brain’s Deal

And your brain says, “Listen, you want to be happy. You want to succeed. You want to feel good. You want to live this dream life. Good for you. I want to conserve energy,” says the brain. “So here’s the deal. I’m going to keep you super stuck doing the same things over and over again in business and life without even noticing. You’re going to be super stuck and miserable, but I’ll conserve energy. Are you signing the deal?” 94% of the people in the world don’t read the fine print. They sign the deal. The 6%ers set their mind to do something different.

The Law of Specification

The second thing that the 6%ers do differently is that they use what I call the law of specification. And the law of specification means this. The more specific you are, the more granular you are in the way you set your goals and in the way you follow through, the more successful you are.

So let’s take going to the gym as an example. The 94%ers say, “Yeah, I’m going to go to the gym so much this year. I’m going to be so fit. This is it.” 94%ers. The 6%ers say, “Okay, I’m going to the gym every day between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. I am going to do this workout routine. I’m going to set my alarm for 30 minutes earlier. I’m putting my gym clothes by my bed. I’m setting an alarm on every single device that I have, and Jim is my accountability buddy. And if I can’t go out there, I’m going to go out there the next day, and I’m going to give myself a 30-minute extra workout penalty.” Boom.

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The 6%ers using the law of specification have 100% success rate. The more specific you are, the more granular you are, the more you use the law of specification, the more successful you are.

The Zero to Ten Rule

The third thing, the third secret of the 6%ers, is that they use what I call the zero to ten rule. You see, we live in a world that glorifies being busy. Everybody’s just so busy. You ask anybody, and they’re going to tell you with an incredible sense of importance, “Oh my gosh, I’m so busy. I’ve been running around the whole day. I didn’t even have lunch.” And this being busy equals being important or successful.

There’s something very different that the 6%ers do here.

You see, in the span of your day, you have a lot of things to do, too much, too many things to do. You can’t do it all. The mindset of trying to do it all leads to burnout. So you have things to do throughout your day that are of lesser importance. Things that are zero or one or two, you can delegate them. Someone else can do them. They can wait for another day.

But you have things on your agenda for the day that are a ten. Those are your most important things to do. Those are your goals, the tasks that will push you towards the future that you want, the success that you want.

The 94%ers run around, run around doing a lot of ones and twos and threes and zeros. They don’t even get to their tens. The 6%ers do their tens first. They get very clear on what their tens are for the day. And you know what? They may do just the tens. Do not mistake doing, doing, doing, running, running, running for progress. It’s using the zero to ten rule, focusing on the tens each and every day that pushes you forward.

Making Changes: One Thing at a Time

And let me tell you this. People get very intimidated by making changes in their lives. The year starts, and people say, “Oh, I made a list of things. I’m going to make all these changes this year.” And the brain gets overwhelmed. Do not underestimate how much effort it is for the brain to do something different.

But let me tell you something. It’s not complicated. You pick one thing that is a ten for you. You use the law of specification, and you get really specific and granular. And you repeat, repeat, repeat the same thing, focusing on one thing for 30 days.

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It takes the brain 30 days to start a new neural pathway, a new beaten path in your brain that automates that behavior. So don’t start five things at once, six things at once, three things at once. Pick one thing. Start simple. Start small. And it works. Then you’ll say, “Wow, this is so cool. This actually works. Let me pick another thing.” And you repeat it for 30 days, and it works now. You change two things.

Now think about it this way. In the span of a year, instead of getting excited about a lot of things and then dropping them all very quickly because it’s so overwhelming to the brain, you pick one thing every 30 days. Now let’s say in the span of a year you dropped two things because life — life happens, you’re not perfect. Fine. You dropped two things. You were still able to change 10 things in the span of a year, healthy, wonderful habits that build you.

Now think about year two. Now think about year three. One at a time, you automate them. It’s not overwhelming. It’s not complicated. Becoming a six percenter is simple and life-changing if you know how.

Preventing Burnout

And I’m going to tell you one more thing about the zero to 10 rule. When you focus on what matters the most instead of trying to do it all, running around, running around, you prevent burnout. So many people are burned out just because they try to do it all. Don’t try to do it all. Focus on what matters the most. Get really specific and granular and make it happen one habit at a time.

Conclusion

I believe in your ability to become a six percenter, to change your life in amazing ways. Get to everything that you want. Get specific. Get granular. Use the zero to 10 rule. Take charge. And welcome to The 6% Club.

Secrets of the 6%: How to Achieve Your Goals in Business and Life – Dr. Michelle Rozen (Transcript)