This week, you’re going to define one personal operating standard. An operating standard is not a goal. It’s a rule you live by — especially when things are inconvenient. Examples of operating standards: • “I don’t skip training two days in a row.” • “I eat seated, without my phone, every meal.” • “I stop work at a fixed time and protect sleep.” • “I move my body daily, even lightly, no exceptions.” • “I speak honestly instead of avoiding discomfort.” Notice what these have in common: They are clear. They are binary. They don’t rely on motivation. Your task this week: 1. Choose one area that matters most right now 2. Write one clear operating standard for it 3. Live by it for the rest of the week If you break it, you don’t quit. You notice it, reset, and continue. The goal is not a perfect week. The goal is to experience what it feels like to live with clear expectations of yourself. Check in under this post once you’ve written your standard You don’t need to justify it. Just name it. This is concrete. This is new. This is useful.

Here’s the process: 1. Keep the same standard you chose on Day 1 2. Make one adjustment to support it 3. Practice with the adjusted structure today Examples of clean adjustments: • Fixing the block start time • Removing distractions before the block • Shortening the block slightly but honoring it fully • Changing the order of your blocks What is not allowed today: • Changing the standard itself • Lowering the expectation • Adding exceptions Check in tonight with one sentence: • “The standard felt more supported when…” or • “The standard still struggled when…”

There’s a difference between adjusting a system and negotiating with yourself. Adjustment strengthens the standard. Negotiation weakens it. Adjustment sounds like: • “This works better at a different time.” • “I need a clearer start and stop.” • “I need fewer inputs during the block.” Negotiation sounds like: • “I’ll do it later.” • “I’ll make it up tomorrow.” • “I’ll loosen it just for today.” Today is about making one clean adjustment that helps you live your standard more consistently without lowering your expectation of yourself. This is not about being easier on yourself. It’s about being more precise. This teaches discernment, not rigidity.

Here’s the process for today: 1. Name one moment your standard held 2. Name one moment it didn’t 3. Identify what was present in both moments Examples: • Clear start time • Low energy• Distraction • Rushing • Emotional friction Do not fix anything yet. Do not rewrite the standard. Just notice the conditions that support or undermine it. Check in tonight with one sentence: • “The standard held when…” • “The standard broke when…” This keeps people out of shame and out of tinkering.

By now, you’ve seen something. Where the standard held. Where it bent.Where it broke. What matters today is how you relate to that information. Most people turn data into drama: “I always do this.” “I can’t stick to anything.” “I knew this wouldn’t work.” That reaction is not insight. It’s avoidance. Data isn’t here to judge you. It’s here to help you lead yourself better. Today, the work is simple: Look at what happened without adding a story to it. This re-frames failure without softening responsibility.