Guardrails Rule Your Future

More than 50% of my day is spent on autopilot.

This autopilot mode is comprised of monotonous guardrails which, when you’re in the weeds, truthfully aren’t all that fun.

But pick your head up, and you’ll quickly realize that these guardrails compound into some truly mind-blowing outcomes.

Guardrails aren't sexy. They definitely don’t make newspaper headlines. That being said, they’re the most impactful part of my day.

Systems Thinking

I talk about routines for a living. Kind of wild, I know. Wouldn’t have thought that was a viable career path when I was 12.

Anyway, here we are. My weeks are spent interviewing outlier people who achieve some degree of outlier success.

If you see someone consistently attaining next-level outcomes, they’ve most likely built an extreme system that produces extreme results.

However, designing this system isn’t rocket science. Based on my interviews with a range of high performers, it’s actually quite simple.

First, identify a desired outcome. Second, reverse engineer that outcome into a daily habit. Third, turn that habit into a guardrail on your calendar. Fourth, and this is the real kicker, do the same damn thing every day.

For context, this is what my guardrails look like today.

The Morning

My AM guardrails are as follows (the CAPS is the header of my calendar event):

7 - 8 AM = BOOTUP: wake up, shower, change, journal, walk to grab coffee

8 - 9 AM = TRIAGE: notion check-in, socials, texts, slack, discord, notes, emails

9 - 10 AM = VERBATIM: client updates (for context, verbatim labs is my agency)

The Evening

My PM guardrails are as follows:

4 - 6 PM = EQUINOX: daily lift, includes walking to gym + back and showering

6 - 7 PM = DAILY: same as triage, with the addition of follow-ups and intro thanks

7 - 8 PM = READ & WRITE: start by reading for 30m, then writing on notion

Compounding Results

Not even close to rocket science, right?

If it comes off as a bit boring in practice, that’s because it is. While hitting your guardrails isn’t meant to be insanely hard work, it’s also not meant to be fun.

If you stick to these guardrails every day for a number of years, they’re almost guaranteed to yield some degree of outlier returns.

The compounding nature of some guardrails is easier to wrap your head around than others. Take lifting for example. It’s obvious to anyone that a daily workout will compound over a number of months and get you in better shape.

However, what’s less intuitive is the little things, whether it’s sending a note for a warm introduction or staying on top of texts and DMs. These little things matter more than you know and can bolster or hinder your reputation over time.

For example, if you send thank you’s for every introduction over the course of a year, more people will want to make introductions for you. It’s that simple.

Guardrails are just a fancy word for your default settings. Meaning, the best guardrails reduce your reliance on willpower and snap decisions.

In my own day-to-day, guardrails introduce a sense of stability and calm in the face of variable change. I wouldn’t trade that stability for anything.

On that note, I highly recommend designing some guardrails of your own.