Your New Sunday Ritual

Today we’re talking about planning your perfect week.

Look guys, we can discuss tactics, strategies, and tips for marketing, sales, newsletter writing, and getting people interested in your products all day long.

But at the end of the day, everything depends on YOU.

Even if you have a team, their performance ultimately comes down to your leadership. If you're not right, nothing else will be right in your world.

Diffused Vs. Focused Thinking

Before we talk about routines, I’d like to clarify something.

Yes, routines are important, I’m going to show you today how to craft a killer one you can stick to, but at the same time you need to be able to break out of them.

My buddy Stefan Georgi put me onto this concept that there are essentially two types of thinking…

In Routine - Focused Thinking
Out Of Routine - Diffused Thinking

I cannot overstate the importance of Diffused Thinking for creative work, you need to get out and see the world, live life, and experience shit.

For example, as many of you saw, I was all over the place earlier last month - Oklahoma, Florida, Austin, Las Vegas, Arizona, and even Columbia.

However, I will tell you from personal experience, It's damn near impossible to lock into a solid routine when you're constantly on the go, so it does have a major downside to it.

I believe you need to pick and choose your seasons in life. Ya can't have it all at once!

Some people say life is all about suffering and grinding 24/7. I somewhat agree - adversity builds character and greatness is born through challenges. When you hit that breaking point where you're utterly exhausted and can't work any more, that's where your truest self emerges. Do you dig deep, calm the chaos in your mind, and keep pushing forward? Or do you panic and spiral into negativity? How you respond reveals who you really are.

So yes, you absolutely need those seasons of intense effort where you’re getting outside your comfort zone…

But you also need seasons of relaxing a bit, having fun, and allowing your mind to wander more freely versus always thinking in a focused, disciplined manner. It's during these times of "diffused thinking" that you gain fresh perspectives.

Let me tell you a quick story to illustrate what I mean. On my last day in Colombia, I was walking out the door to head to the airport. I had 100,000 pesos in my wallet - their currency denominations are crazy, it's actually only about $30. I figured I should give it to someone since I wouldn't be able to use it back home.

Right then, two little kids ran up to me saying "hambre, hambre" - I knew that word, it meant they were hungry.

I handed them the 100,000 pesos and their faces LIT UP with pure joy and gratitude. They both hugged me tight and then excitedly ran off with the money.

Man, that experience really struck me.

I've never had anything like that happen in any American city I've been to. Sure, you might get the occasional homeless person asking for a buck or two, but never kids coming up and directly telling me they're hungry. It made me realize how fortunate I was growing up.

I may not have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth destined for Stanford, but I still had it pretty damn good compared to so many others in the world. That advantage means I have an even greater responsibility to make the most of my life. Seeing those kids and the disparity between my upbringing vs theirs connected dots in my mind I hadn't considered before.

But that perspective shift likely wouldn't have happened if I was head down, focused on executing in my normal environment and routine.

See what I mean?

As important as focused discipline is, you also need times of more diffuse, free-flowing thinking to spark new neural connections. It's a balance.

Focused Discipline - Getting Shit Done

Now, when you're not in that diffuse mindset exploring new avenues, you need to be locked in and executing in a focused manner to actually get shit done.

That's what I want to really dig into here - HOW to craft a routine that enables you to perform at the highest level.

This is my personal weekly process which might seem a little extra to some, but I believe success comes down to putting the MOST care, time and attention into what you want to achieve. It's the law of generation - what you give your CARE to will blossom.

Let’s start here…

Step 1 - Go to the store and grab a graph paper notebook, a good pen, and a ruler.

Step 2 - Break out that notebook and create a big box, then divide it into 7 smaller boxes for each day of the week. I personally only plan Monday - Saturday as I like to keep Sundays more open. Along the side, break the schedule down from when you wake up to when you go to bed. For me that's 4am to 8pm typically.

Step 4 - Then start by filling in all your "non-negotiables", these are the things you MUST do that week no matter what. This could be gym sessions, reading time, family commitments, travel, birthdays etc. Schedule those in FIRST. For me, my current non-negotiables are 4 hours of deep work, hitting the gym with proper recovery and nutrition, meeting up once a week with my best friend (he’s basically my older brother), and then one hour of reading at the end of the day.

Step 5 - Now what we want to do is fill in any calls or appointments that you have throughout the week. I try to schedule the majority of my calls on Wednesday + Thursday and avoid them being on Monday or Tuesday

Step 6 - After you've scheduled all your non-negotiables and have a visual of how much discretionary time is left, it's time to prioritize the right tasks. I like using the Eisenhower Matrix to categorize tasks:

Urgent & Important
Urgent but not Important
Important but not Urgent
Neither Urgent nor Important

I'll spend a good 20-30 minutes on Sundays just brain dumping every task I think needs to get done that week, then slot them into one of those four buckets, I did a light version for you here because I did it earlier last week and not much has changed…

Step 7 - From there, look at your most important tasks (both urgent and non-urgent) and start blocking them into your remaining open slots for the week. Be realistic about what you can achieve in the time available. If you’re like me and enjoy deep work blocks, I would assign those blocks to the right tasks. You'll notice that I have blocks that are crossed out those are areas where I want to have time for myself to either go on walks, sit in the hot tub, chill out, scroll socials, call friends, etc.

Step 8 - Review your game plan for the week, update Google Calendar so no one books over you, and put your gameplan somewhere where you can see it everyday.

The Disciplined Advantage

Now look, I'm not saying you have to plan out every minute of every day in painstaking detail and you also do NOT need to beat yourself up if you can’t hit everything.

I don't stick to my schedule 100%. I might have an 8am gym session blocked off, but wake up feeling sore as shit and I postpone the workout until the afternoon after I can get some proper stretching in. That's totally fine, I'm not a robot.

The key is having a disciplined BASELINE to fall back on. Even if I only stick to my pre-planned routine 80% of the time, that's still light years ahead of having no plan at all. Inevitably things will come up and you'll get thrown off course. But if you're starting from a place of focused intention, you'll be far more likely to get back on track quickly.

Why Stay Analog?

One final note - you might be wondering why I do my weekly planning in a physical graph paper notebook vs digitally on Google calendar. Fair question. It comes down to the power of making your planning a deliberate, analog RITUAL. Actually writing things out by hand creates a deeper mind-body connection vs typing on your laptop.

Staring at screens all day can make your planning feel like just another task. But breaking out the pens and paper, diving into your calendar, and mapping out your week can become a grounding, almost meditative process.

Also, you’re more likely to say no to people who want to change your schedule because the shit is in pen lol.

Of course, I always recommend transfering your final schedule to your digital calendar for convenience & sharing. But starting the process on paper makes it feel more real and weighty.

Time To Take Action

Alright guys, if you're still reading this, first of all, massive respect. Most people would have zoned out about 2000 words ago. Since you stuck around until the end, I know you're serious about leveling up your performance to become the most elite version of yourself.

Here's my challenge to you - don't just consume this and nod along thinking "that sounds good, maybe I'll try that someday." No. Go to a Michaels, Targetm or a Walmart right now and buy yourself a fresh graph paper notebook and a G2 pen (personal favorite).

Then, do this shit!

There's no reason you can't kick this off right now and set yourself up to absolutely crush the upcoming week. If you're serious about stepping into your full potential, you owe it to yourself to develop a planning process for peak performance.

Remember, greatness happens at the EDGES. When you push yourself to show up as the most focused, disciplined version of yourself, even when you don't feel like it, that's where you grow.

Start becoming the kind of person who doesn't just blindly follow the path of least resistance, but DELIBERATELY carves out your ideal week, every week.

String enough of those weeks together, and you'll create a life that's a cut above the rest.

Your success depends on the routines and rituals you put in place. Don't leave it up to chance.

Be intentional, be disciplined, and make it happen.

To Your Super Success,

Nicholas Verge - Founder @ 4Creators

P.S.

You might be looking at the schedule I gave you wondering why I wake up at 4am. Just look at how much extra time it opens up! From 4-5am, I get the day started, little bit of cardio, shower, get some coffee, read something thought provoking and then BAM from 5am-9am, I have a 4 hour block to do deep focused work with zero distractions.

If I woke up at 8am, by the time I got ready for the day, I'd only have an hour or two before my first midday calls and meetings start rolling in. I'd barely have time to squeeze in a workout, let alone 4+ solid hours of high-impact work.

Here's how I structure it - from 4-9 I'm doing DEEP work. Around 9 I eat some carbs and start shifting into workout mode. Then I hit the gym hard and handle all my recovery tasks like stretching, sauna, post-workout nutrition etc. By noon, I've put in 4-5 killer hours of productivity and powered through an intense workout to get the blood flowing and endorphins firing. I'm ready to fucking crush the rest of the day.

4 AM wake up is a game changer, you just have to commit to it. If you’re not used to waking up before the sun, the first day will suck, not gonna lie. But you'll naturally get tired earlier that night as a result. Stick with it for 2-3 days until your circadian rhythm adapts. A helpful hack is plugging your phone in across the room so you're forced to get out of bed to turn off the alarm.

Once you're up, splash some cold water on your face and dive into focused work before the rest of the world is awake to distract you.

Is 4 AM for everyone? No. You have to find the routine that fits your unique lifestyle and chronotype. Maybe you're a night owl and focus best from 10pm-3am. That's totally fine, you do you. The key is identifying your personal peak performance periods and defending them viciously.