Jon Acuff's Blog

Achievements feel amazing, but they only last about 30 minutes. The action that got you there takes thousands of hours. In this episode, I’m sharing soundtrack number 61 from my brand new book, The Three Minute Mindset: fall in like with the achievement, fall in love with the action. I’ll break down why the warm buzz of finishing a book, running a race, or landing a big win fades fast, and why the people who keep showing up are the ones who learned to love the process itself. Plus, I’ll walk you through a question to help you find the one part of your current job you could actually fall in love with. Also, my new book comes out tomorrow, and if you pre-order today you get the full audiobook free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Nepotism gets a bad reputation, but here’s a truth that’s existed since cavemen lived in caves: people give opportunities to people they know and like. Life is rarely a meritocracy, and that’s okay. In this episode, I’m sharing soundtrack number 29 from my new book, The Three Minute Mindset: Friends Hire Friends. I’ll walk you through three practical things you can do right now, burn fewer bridges, be friendly, and give without keeping score, plus a true story about running into an old coworker 22 years later at FedEx headquarters. I’ll also share why I’ve started being wide open with my cell phone number (thanks to a billionaire who taught me this lesson) and leave you with a simple question and action that could change how you show up for the people in your life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Friends Hire Friends appeared first on Jon Acuff.

You’ve already won before, so why aren’t you using that success? In this episode, I’m sharing a soundtrack I’ve been teaching for years: win the way you’ve won before. I’ll walk you through a real moment from a podcast interview where a host had presented at Oxford twice but still felt intimidated by writing a book, and how I helped him see he’d already done something harder. You’ll learn why your brain remembers failures but forgets victories thanks to negativity bias, and why people trying to lose weight often ignore the exact tools that helped them get out of debt or finish nursing school. I’ll also share how pastors who struggle to write books already have the process inside them, they just need to translate their sermon writing skills forward. Your homework today: think of a time you won, make a list of what made it possible, and bring those same tools to your next goal. Plus, I’m talking about my new book, Three Minute Mindset, out in early November, and how you can get the audiobook free when you preorder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Replay Your Wins appeared first on Jon Acuff.

 Have you ever felt like you’re failing at something you used to be great at? You might be judging yourself with an old scorecard. In this episode, I’m breaking down a soundtrack that came from coaching people in my Remarkable You Community, especially a real estate agent who couldn’t figure out why he was struggling until he realized he was now caring for his dad who has early onset dementia. He was judging his current performance against a version of himself from a completely different season of life. I’ll share how this shows up in my own life with the busiest speaking year of my career, why my daughter’s short season in high school band changed how I said yes and no to things, and how you can create a simple scorecard to measure progress in whatever new season you’re in right now. Plus, I’ll tell you about my brand new book, The Three Minute Mindset, and how you can get the audiobook free when you preorder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post New Seasons, New Scorecards appeared first on Jon Acuff.

You’ve never met someone who accidentally got in shape, accidentally achieved financial freedom, or accidentally built an awesome marriage. In this episode, kicking off a new series based on my upcoming book, The Three Minute Mindset, I’m sharing one of my most powerful soundtracks: awesome is never accidental. Whether it’s your health, your finances, your marriage, or your career, everything you care about that becomes awesome takes intentionality. I’ll share why the danger isn’t trying nothing, it’s trying to go from nothing to everything overnight. Plus, I’ll walk you through the one question you need to ask yourself today and give you a simple action to take this week that will start building the awesome life you actually want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Awesome Isn’t Accidental appeared first on Jon Acuff.

If you ski, try not to fall near the lift. Yard sales are hard enough without an audience. But from the lift you’ll also see snowboarders hunting for trouble on purpose: rails, jumps and half pipes. In terrain parks, they don’t call those things obstacles. They call them features. In this episode, I’m sharing the first soundtrack from my brand new book, The Three Minute Mindset: Obstacles are features. We’ll talk about difficult coworkers, surprise bills (like an $8,000 air conditioner during a Nashville heat dome), and a five-city week full of delayed flights. You’ll get a question to get you thinking and an action to get you moving. Plus, find out how to get the audiobook free when you pre-order. Here’s to the features.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Obstacles Are Features appeared first on Jon Acuff.

Some tasks are dead ends. Some are dominos. In this episode, part of my four episode series on prioritization, I’m teaching you the final question to ask when your to do list feels overwhelming: does this task make other tasks possible? A domino task unlocks a chain reaction of other important work, while a dead end task just gets done and stops there. I’ll walk you through a real example from my own week, comparing a low stakes lunch meeting to a high stakes speech description, and show you exactly how the four prompts (promise, money, deadline, domino) helped me figure out what to tackle first. Plus, you’ll hear two hilarious stories from my wife’s 96 year old grandfather, a Navy veteran, because sometimes the best lessons come with the best stories attached. And a warning: don’t overthink this process. Go fast, give it a star, and move on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Is This a Domino? The Question That Changes How You Prioritize appeared first on Jon Acuff.

You have too much to do right now. I know because I’ve never met someone whose biggest problem was too much free time. In this episode, part three of our four part series on prioritization, I’m teaching you a simple question that will help you sort your overwhelming to do list: is there an outside deadline? I’ll explain the difference between outside deadlines (like my daughter’s 5:30 AM cross country practice) and inside deadlines (the ones you create yourself, like the small milestones I’m setting for my book due in January 2027). You’ll learn why high achievers tend to clog their to do lists with tasks that don’t actually need to happen this week, and how asking this one question can add more peace and performance to your day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Is There an Outside Deadline? The Prioritization Question That Changes Everything appeared first on Jon Acuff.

You have too much to do. I know because I’ve never met someone whose biggest problem was too much free time. In this episode, part of a four part series on prioritization, I’m teaching you the second prompt that clarifies your decision making when your to do list feels overwhelming: is there money involved? Money isn’t emotional or fuzzy, it’s just math, and I’ll show you the specific questions to ask, like whether something will cost you more if you delay it or whether you’ll waste money by skipping it. I’m also sharing my 1 4 7 technique, a simple formula for finally taking action instead of endlessly reorganizing your list. Because motion beats perfection, and there is no perfect task waiting to be found. Your broken soundtrack will never tell you that you picked the right one, so stop looking for it and start moving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Is There Money Involved? The Prioritization Question That Cuts Through the Noise appeared first on Jon Acuff.

You have too much to do and not enough time to do it. I know because I’ve never met anyone who said their biggest problem was too much free time. In this episode, I’m kicking off a four-part series on prioritization and giving you the first of four questions that will help you stop drowning in your to-do list and start making real progress on what actually matters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Why Your To-Do List Will Always Beat Your Calendar (And What to Do About It) appeared first on Jon Acuff.