Purposeful Productivity
How to Add Meaning to Your Daily Habits

The 5 AM Miracle Podcast, hosted by Jeff Sanders

Episode #594: Purposeful Productivity: How to Add Meaning to Your Daily Habits

Jeff Sanders
Good morning and welcome to The 5 AM Miracle, episode number 594: Purposeful Productivity: How to Add Meaning to Your Daily Habits.

I am Jeff Sanders, and you have reached the podcast that is dedicated to dominating your day before breakfast.

I am a keynote speaker and corporate trainer, and to learn more about those options, head over to jeffsanders.com slash speaking.

Now, the episode this week, I'll break down what it means to do meaningful work,

what's included in my new four-part habit alignment framework,

and how to leverage purposeful productivity strategies each and every day.

Let's dig in.

So recently, I was asked to speak to,

speak to the corporate office of a large retailer here in Nashville, and the focus

of the training was on finding ways to introduce purpose and meaning into our daily

lives, and specifically our work. Now, as much as I love to talk about productivity,

I have always made a big assumption that the work and habits you prioritize

every day are well chosen, not just random, that they are aligned to a bigger

goal, not just meaningful on an island all by themselves, and they also represent

your skills and interests, not just chosen by necessity or scarcity.

In other words, our work and goals are a reflection of more than just what we

want out of life, but they also serve as a mirror to reflect our current circumstances,

limitations, and real-life obligations. All that to say, sometimes we choose

goals because we want to and sometimes because we have to. And the difference is

the story of our lives. And it's incredibly important to clarify what it means

to do purposeful work so that we can strive to do it more often. And so this week,

I want to break down what true purpose means in productivity and specifically how to

add more meaning and value to the current daily habits you have today, as well as your future

habits for your future goals and big projects. So let's begin this conversation

with part one and discuss what it means to do meaningful work. When preparing for

the speech that I gave as well as for this episode, I was really tasked with this

difficult question of what is work itself? And then specifically from there, how can

you add value to something that seems so objectively neutral? Which, I also

I'll get to in a second.

So let's ask this question right away.

What is work?

What is it that you do?

What is the role that you serve in the larger organization that you work for,

even if you work for yourself?

With those questions in mind, I have to think that work itself is something that we do

that's tied to something that is important to us, whether that is just a paycheck

we receive or it's value that we provide to someone else or we're in,

service of our customers or our community, we are doing work, kind of in quotes,

to achieve an objective. My daughters go to a Montessori school. And in the

Montessori method, work is defined for the kids. Their work is play. And they learn

through doing their different activities, their different work stations. And with each

one of them, they can engage in something new, learn something about themselves and their

friends and they work together to solve these different challenges and they play in the

process. So for them, work is play and play is work. But in the context of what we do

for our jobs, for our careers, most of us don't define our work as play. Some of us may.

I find a lot of the work that I do to be playful and fun. Recording a podcast can be a

lot of fun, but in general, work has this negative connotation. It has this feeling

of drudgery or obligation, responsibility. Work becomes this thing that we have to do,

that we are forced into, and yet, work is potentially a lot of fun. It's potentially a joyful

experience if we bring that to the table. Which brings me to the question of neutrality.

Tasks themselves, individual actions that we take are actually neutral.

Yes, they have a desired outcome we're trying to achieve, but they don't have emotion.

Tasks and checkboxes and things to do on a list are not emotional.

We assign value to them, but they themselves do not bring to the table anything of an emotional stance.

So in the context of doing work for a bigger purpose, your work is meaningful or not based

upon what it adds up to, the grander purpose that it serves. The task itself might be

on an island, might feel isolated, but in reality, if the task is tied to something bigger,

which this is the theme of the entire episode this week, if the task is tied to something

bigger, it has meaning, it has value because it's serving a bigger purpose.

It's going somewhere. It's taking you on a journey. It's not just a random

thing to do. It's an important piece of a larger puzzle. So our goal is to strive

for more meaningful work, which then begs that question once again, what do you do?

What grander purpose are you working towards? How can you transform your work to align

to a goal that deeply inspires you.

I would love for you to strive for more meaningful work to actually say

what I do is not just a job, that what I do is a part of who I am.

And even if my job title changes, my employer changes, my career changes,

my industry is a radical shift, regardless of the actual tangible day-to-day work,

what you do is in service of something bigger.

What you do every day is more of a personal mission to add value in whatever way you define that to exist.

So ultimately, we assigned value and emotion to all the things that we do.

And your experience with any task will change based upon your perception of the value that task provides, whether it's positive or negative.

And to really make this practical with a downhome example, laundry.

Something that I discuss on this podcast more than most things.

I use laundry as a great example, partly because I do laundry every single day in my house.

And we have to ask the question, well, why?

And beyond just why, is laundry itself meaningful?

Or is it just a chore?

So in my life, laundry has always been a chore.

It's a thing to do, and I choose to do it because I prefer to have clean clothes,

both for myself and for my wife and for my girls,

I would like our family to wear clean clothes.

Very simple.

Being clean is better than being dirty.

At least that's my perception.

That's the emotional state that I bring to it.

Doing laundry, once again, is neutral.

You don't have to do it.

Choosing to clean your clothes,

choosing the value of cleanliness is a choice.

And so then all of a sudden it changes the conversation.

If I am opting into this and believe that doing my laundry

is a choice, well, then it's because I believe it has value. And I'm assigning that

value to the task to say, this is more than a chore to me. This is something that adds

value to my life and to the lives of those who I love. And so all of a sudden,

it's not just a thing to do. Laundry is now something more. It's serving a grander purpose.

And that grander purpose, at least from my perspective, is that laundry is allowing me to serve my

family, as well as myself, my clothes are included, but it's allowing me to do something

in service of myself and others, to make our family and our home a better place.

Laundry is neutral. The task of washing your clothes does not have value by itself,

but it does when you ask the question, what's the QBQ, the question behind the question,

the why behind the why, what are we doing? Why are we doing it? What is the grander purpose

all of these things that we claim we quote unquote have to do or must do

or feels obligatory to do and it sounds like a lot of semantics it sounds like a lot

of words to say jeff it's just laundry move on but the reality is it's not unless

it is and that's kind of the point of the entire conversation is that our lives are

filled with tasks just like this one and thousands of others and whether or not you

choose to bring value to the table, whether or not you choose to assign a bigger,

grander purpose to an individual task is a choice. And so yes, you can say,

Jeff, it's just laundry. Or you can say, no, no, no, no, this is a lot more than that.

This actually means something to me. Let's take this a little bit further here.

The best case scenario to bring together all of these possibilities, the most productive

and fulfilled people will spend as much of their time as possible working to

fulfill a grander purpose not just through their work or their day jobs,

but through each and every task that they choose to opt into every day.

So our goal this week on this episode is to ask the question,

how can we add more value, meaning, and purpose to the work we're already doing,

to the chores we're already doing?

And then possibly we can add additional value-based work

increase our fulfillment and, of course, our results.

The question about is work meaningful is 100% subjective.

You get to decide.

Laundry may be just a chore to you, or it could be more.

And allow that example to kind of work through the rest of this conversation

as we discuss the next part, which is the habit alignment framework.

So when I was preparing to deliver this content and really asking,

the question, how are all of these things connected? Our daily choices, the habits we have,

the goals that we have, how are these things truly connected in a way that will allow us

to conceptualize and really be concrete about what we care about and how our daily

actions reflect our values? And so the habit alignment framework that I developed

has four parts, values, goals, purpose, and habits. And each of these concepts are

interconnected, you can work through them in order or in reverse order and

reverse engineer your current habits, but either way, all of the alignment that

exist through these concepts will really highlight whether the work that you do

each and every day, whether your habits are aligned to something bigger or not.

Because once again, we're not doing random tasks that are isolated on an island

by themselves. That's not valuable. What is valuable is that each and every

task that you take on is tied to something bigger. That's where purpose shows up.

That's where meaning shows up. That's where drive and hunger and this real sense of

clarity is present because you know what you're doing and most importantly,

why you are doing it.

So the first part of the habit alignment framework are values and motivations.

To define values more specifically, values are fundamental beliefs about what you consider to be right and important.

versus motivations, which are internal forces that drive your actions.

Now, I have a combined definition of these two together, I think, really speaks to this conversation.

So values and motivations combined are internal desires to act on what compels you to do great work.

That to me speaks volumes.

Our internal desires to do great work.

Where do they come from?

Why do we care?

And how does that lead to the actions that we take and the choices that we make?

So examples here.

In your personal life, examples of values may be your health, relationship, adventure, exploration, creativity, all these wonderful examples of things you care about that lead to personal goals.

In your professional life, that could include influence, service, problem solving, resolving, resolving conflict, interpersonal connection,

boosting your resume, any and all of these things that you care about because they

are tied to values that are personal to you.

So to apply this more specifically, you may ask the question, well, what truly

motivates me?

What do I actually value?

What lights me up?

I love the question of what are you drawn to.

And I really ask that question with the example of a magnet.

I always think about what is sucking me in?

What do I feel like I cannot escape?

because I just get brought back to it again and again and again.

In my life, there are very clear examples of things that I just can't ignore.

They just, they really do suck me in like a big magnet saying,

No, Jeff, this is part of your life.

Do not ignore this.

Go do this more.

Versus other parts of my life, if I try to force it,

it's as if the magnet's in the opposite direction.

It's repelling me against it.

And from that perspective, ask the question for your values,

and motivations, what are you naturally drawn to? Because those types of examples

really highlight who you are as a person and what those internal desires are

to do that great work you're striving to do. Now, part two of the framework are

your goals. And goals are an expression of your values, a specific and aspirational

mission that is tied to something you want to see achieved that directly originates

from the values you have.

So examples there.

Imagine that you value health.

So you may set a goal to lose 40 pounds.

Or you are motivated by creativity.

So you set a goal to launch a YouTube channel to share your creations with the world.

Or maybe you value generosity.

So you set a goal to teach and help others to break into your industry and succeed financially.

There are millions of examples of these things where you could say,

Because I value X, therefore I have set a goal to as an expression of those values to really do something that matters to me.

So as a direct application, based upon your values and motivations, what current personal or professional goals are you striving to accomplish?

This is your chance to really be concrete and not just say, well, I value personal health.

Well, take that a little bit further.

because you value health, what should you do about it?

Well, let's go lose some weight, build some muscle, run some marathons,

let's go do something that is meaningful and actionable based upon what it is I

claim to care about.

This is why I love productivity.

I love it because when you're able to say, I understand myself, I know my values,

my motivations, I know what I care about.

And because of that, I've got so many ideas for goals to achieve and so many things I want

to pursue.

And this is where it gets a lot of fun because you can say, here's a mission that I'm on now.

I'm going to go do something that I care about and achieve something that is tied to my identity and my expression of my inner self.

Which then brings us to part three, which is purpose.

And your purpose, of course, is your why.

It's your reason for taking on a specific action or achieving a specific goal.

So in this case, we're being more specific about why you chose the,

the goal that you did, not because it's just an expression of your values.

That's a little bit vague.

The purpose is a lot more tied to that goal itself.

So an example here, you may say, well, I value health, therefore I have chosen

a marathon, and the big why behind it is because it's been a bucket list goal

my entire life.

The reason behind is because if I achieve this goal of crossing that finish line,

I'll have built physical fitness that I care about.

I'm an example to my family and friends.

I've got so much I can build upon because of that.

All of a sudden, the purpose becomes very clear because the goal is not just a goal.

It's got a hundred reasons why you should achieve it.

And those are the things you rest upon in those difficult moments, on those difficult days,

when you just want to quit.

But you're not going to quit because your purpose is rock solid.

Your why is in place.

It is a foundation for you doing what it is that you do.

and sticking with it and persevering.

So for the application of the purpose component,

what is the primary reason for accomplishing your current goal?

What is your big why?

What powerful force is preventing you from quitting or veering off course?

When you answer these questions,

you will understand a lot more specifically

why you chose the goal that you did

and how that's connected to the values that you have.

Which then brings us to the first.

fourth part of the framework, which are your aligned habits. So aligned habits

are repeated actions that you choose to achieve your value-inspired, purpose-driven

goal. These are the things you do each and every day over and over and over again.

This is the part of life where a lot of success shows up. The compound effect kicks in

and you see success over the long run. Of course, it's also the place where you could be

in a rut and be stuck in a bunch of habits you do not like.

which is the chance for you to reassess and pick better habits that have the alignment

you're looking for.

Now, for great examples of habits, of course you could choose a morning routine

to do the work you tend to avoid, have your own 5 a.m. miracle.

You could also have an accountability partner to stay the course as you work

through your difficult moments.

You could also set up weekly review sessions to check on your progress to ensure that

your habits that you're doing each and every day add up to the goal.

goal you said you were out to achieve. So apply this more specifically. How soon and

how often can you schedule repeated actions to work towards your goal? How can you

guarantee the new habit will become and stay a part of your routine? This is the nuts

and bolts of the entire conversation. What you do each and every day defines you.

So this is a great example of the classic quote from Aristotle, which is that you are

what you repeatedly do.

Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.

This is the crux of the conversation.

We are striving here to make better choices that are repeated choices each and every day

because those repeated actions, those habits are directly tied to a purpose-driven goal

that is an expression of our values.

When all of these pieces come together, all of a sudden, it clicks.

And you get it.

You know why you do what you do.

and then you also know why the things that you do that aren't working, aren't working.

Because they're missing the alignment.

They're not tied to a goal you care about.

They're not purpose driven.

They don't express your values.

The opposite is also true and you can feel it in your bones.

You know when a task feels silly or pointless to you.

And so the goal of this is to figure out how to change to create this alignment so you have more of that positive expression more often.

Now, let's bring this home with a lot more examples, real clear examples to see the four parts of the habit alignment framework in action.

I'll go back to the example of a marathon.

So if you value health and competition and personal growth, you could say then, well, my goal is to run the Boston Marathon next year.

And the purpose behind that is to achieve a lifelong bucket list goal.

and my aligned habits are to run before work on most days with long runs on the weekend.

Now let's pause for a second and ask the question,

what if I told you that I found a person who was running every single morning?

And they chose to run, but there was no marathon on the calendar.

There was no real purpose behind the running besides this vague sense of being healthy.

There was kind of a value of personal health, sort of,

But the reality is the exercise, this repeated action of going to the gym and going to the trail and doing the exercise routine was just this rote habit.

It wasn't something of real value.

It was just this thing that you did.

Well, that to me is a prime example of an opportunity to reassess what you're doing.

Right.

Person A who has the value of health, the goal of the Boston Marathon, the clear purpose of a bucket list item, and that routine of running every single.

week, that person knows why they're running. Tomorrow morning, if they're questioning

should I run, oh, nope, I'm not going to question it. I know why I'm running. It's

clear. It's objective. I have the values, the goal, the purpose, and the habit

schedule in place. But if you're missing any of those components, and yet you're

still doing the habits, you're still going for a run, okay, you're still getting benefits,

but you're missing the connection. And so you're not going to have the reason to

do it well. You're not going to be able to persevere on the difficult days.

You're more likely to quit. You're more likely to do it poorly and then get injured

and give up. That's what's going to happen. And so the goal with any of the things we

choose to do repeatedly is to create that alignment so we're not just off on an island

and just doing random things for random reasons. Second example is a sales goal.

So imagine that you value growing your company and serving even more customers.

So your goal is to exceed next quarter's revenue goals by 10%.

And the purpose behind it is that, well, you fell behind last quarter and you know you can do better.

So your aligned habits are to increase your sales calls by 20% every week with weekly reviews to monitor your progress.

So in this example, the actual day-to-day action, the aligned habits, are to increase your sales calls.

Or just simply do your sales calls at all to make those calls.

Well, once again, great example that if you have all of these things in order,

well, now of a sudden you do more sales calls and then you increase your revenue,

which allows you to serve more customers and grow your company.

Everything is connected and aligned.

Now, second example, you are doing sales calls, but you don't know why.

you don't really care about it.

You're not really into it.

You only like sales to begin with.

Well, all of a sudden, you're doing the same activity.

Maybe you're getting some results.

But for what purpose?

Why are you doing this?

Maybe vaguely you value your company doing well.

Of course, we like to get a good paycheck.

But it's just feel so disconnected.

It's just an activity.

It's just a habit.

It doesn't have the alignment.

Once again, what we're striving for,

are habits and daily tasks that mean something to you because it's not just a checklist.

It's not just a thing to do.

It is so much more.

Third example is retirement.

So imagine that you value more time with your family.

traveling, or even stepping aside for the younger generation to lead.

Well, your goal may be to retire by age 65.

And the purpose behind it is that you have additional aspirations in your life to fulfill.

Well, your aligned habits may be to set up increasing monthly contributions to your own retirement accounts.

Now, you may say, well, as a simple example, most people tend to have these things already in place.

The goal is pretty obvious.

Of course I want to retire and travel.

That seems very clear.

But is it?

You have to ask the question.

Number one, do you have this habit in place to actually save and invest for the future?

And number two, if you do, is there a clear plan behind that action?

Do you know what it adds up to?

Not just financially to know that you can retire with a decent nest egg, but more specifically, why?

What does it actually mean to you personally?

what will you do at that time?

What does your life add up to?

These are really important big questions to answer,

and it can radically change what the ongoing habit happens to be.

Maybe because of your clear values and goal and purpose,

you will change your habits.

You will increase your contributions more or decrease them,

or stay the course, whatever the case may be.

The more clarity you have on all of these components,

the more likely you are to then choose the right ongoing habits to reflect where you truly are.

Two more examples.

Number four is team culture.

So imagine that you value relationships, communication, or team performance.

So your goal may be to solve ongoing personnel conflicts within your team.

The purpose behind it is that we do our best work when we're surrounded by people we love, trust, and respect.

And of course, we all struggle when we're not on the same page.

So our aligned habits may be to send thank you notes often to our team members,

to foster personal connections outside of work.

In other words, we're trying to be happy with those around us.

Now, once again, you may say, well, this seems fairly obvious.

Of course, I want to like my coworkers.

But why?

Like, what's the reason behind it?

What is the QBQ?

Question behind the question.

Reverse engineer this.

Okay, so you get along with your team well.

For what purpose?

What's the goal behind it?

Are you trying to improve it?

Stay the course?

Are things getting worse that need to turn around?

Once again, ask and answer these fairly simple questions,

and I believe it will change how you interact each and every day.

Fifth example would be a promotion at work.

So imagine that you value professional growth, influence, and making a big impact,

where your goal is then to get the promotion you've always dreamed of.

And your purpose behind it is to leverage your talents to positively influence even more people at a higher level.

So your aligned habits would be to consistently volunteer to do the work that no one else wants to do.

And of course, get yourself involved in a lot more professional development training.

Now, lots of us go to work every day and we do a really good job.

But you have to ask the question, do a good job for what reason?

Is it just for a paycheck? That could work. Is it for a promotion? Well, let's get more specific then. Promotion to what job title, at what company, to serve what people, who are those you're out to impact and influence and improve their lives? All of a sudden, the same work you're doing each and every day to grow your career can radically shift what you do every day because these specific goals are changing. Your values and motivations are more clarified.

striving for clarity at every level, and the more clarity we have, the more that

our habits will change because of that.

So these are all fairly straightforward examples, but that's exactly why I chose

them.

These are things that most of us do all the time, and we make assumptions.

We take them for granted.

We just assume that because we do X, Y, Z, well, of course it's tied to this fairly

clear goal and value and purpose.

But is it?

Reverse engineer your current habits.

Ask yourself, what do you consistently do?

Why do you prioritize these habits?

What goals are these habits accomplishing?

And then what or whose values are attached to these habits?

These questions will change your response.

They will change how you interact each and every day.

I fully believe it.

Because the more clarity you have, the more likely you are to change your behavior.

All that in mind, let's now go to part three, which is to leverage productivity

strategies with purpose in mind.

When I imagine the best productivity strategies, I'm always asking the question,

what does this make possible?

So for every task, strategy, or tactic, you are always asking the question,

what does this particular strategy make possible?

Because once again, the task does not exist on an island by itself.

It makes a grander purpose possible by its execution.

So we choose productivity strategies that partner well with our daily habits,

goals, purpose, and values.

With that in mind, let's go through a few examples of strategies that I have taught

of this podcast before that I absolutely love, but be a lot more specific

on what the strategy is and most importantly the purpose behind it.

So the first example, the one that I always give in every speech

that I give is the health-first approach.

You know this podcast title, The 5am Miracle, Healthy Productivity for High Achievers.

Health matters a lot to me.

So the strategy is to prioritize your health before everything else because tremendous

health ease your ticket to unleashing your best work.

And the purpose behind this strategy is that you are always able to bring your best

self to the office ready to engage with focus and energy.

In other words, you're saying, I'm not just going to be healthy for the sake of being healthy.

I'm going to be as healthy as possible to bring the best that I can to work because I want to engage fully.

I want to have all the energy, all the focus, all of me that I can bring.

I want that to be true.

So I'm not just going to show up to work well rested because I like to sleep.

I'll be well rested because I know that allows me to be on the ball, to be amazing, to be productive, to be engaged.

and focused and to do my best work. That's why this strategy exists.

Second strategy, of course, is the 5A miracle itself. Now, this strategy specifically

is yes, waking up early on purpose, but it is to dominate your day before breakfast.

In other words, I'm not just going to wake up early because a podcaster told me to.

I'm going to wake up early because I have something important to do. And the purpose behind

this is to wake up early to devote your time to habits you normally do not

have time for whether that is your personal health, professional growth, or

anything else you may decide to pursue. The simple objective here is to clarify

I'm not just going to wake up by default. I'm going to wake up and do something

I care about because it's clear and it's intentional and I chose this on purpose.

The third strategy is saying no. And more specific,

Specifically, it is cutting the nonsense or anything that never has to get done.

And the purpose behind this is to ensure that your time is primarily devoted to your core strengths and impact, avoiding distracting meetings or events that prevent your progress on your highest leverage tasks.

Saying no is extremely valuable, but knowing why you're saying no is everything.

Why are you canceling that meeting?

Why are you rescheduling that workout?

Knowing why changes everything, because what it should do is free up your time for the most important use of your time.

It should allow you to say, because I canceled this meeting, therefore, I have an hour and a half of my calendar that can now be devoted to the next absolute most important use of my time.

Let's get to it. Let's focus on it and make it happen.

Fourth strategy is inbox zero.

Now, more specifically, that is replying to all of your incoming communication on a regular

schedule, whether that's every 24 hours or something else.

Now, the purpose behind this is actually not to answer all of your emails.

The actual purpose behind it is instead to respect those to whom you are communicating

with, to further conversations that enable progress on your projects, and to prevent

you from falling behind.

Inbox Zero is not a strategy to keep your inbox clear.

No.

It is a strategy to respect the people.

people with whom you are talking to.

It is to guarantee progress on your projects.

That is the point behind it.

It allows you to make sure that whatever has to get done,

you are on the ball and getting it done.

And the fifth and final strategy this week,

of course, are focused blocks of time,

my famous FBots here on the podcast,

the strategy there being to guarantee 100% distraction-free blocks of time

to focus on your next most important task.

And the purpose behind it is to achieve,

deep work to increase the quality and quantity of your work in a distraction-free

manner and enabling you to increase results with less effort or stress.

Focus blocks of time are phenomenally valuable, but you have to know why you're

focusing, what you're focusing on, and that you know that thing is valuable to you

so you can dig in and do it with the best of your ability.

So now let's review. There was a lot covered this week, and I want to

to make sure that you have the big nuts and bolts of what all of these concepts

truly include. The first part was to strive for meaningful work or goals.

What do you do? What grander purpose are you working towards? And how can you

transform your work to align to a goal that deeply inspires you?

Second part is to follow the habit alignment framework. First, your values and

motivations, the internal desires to act on what compels you to do great

work. Second, your goals, expressions of your values, specific and aspirational missions.

Third is your purpose, your big why or reason for choosing your goals. And fourth,

are your aligned habits, your repeated actions to achieve the value-inspired,

purpose-driven goals you have chosen. And then part three is to leverage productivity

strategies with purpose in mind. Once again, for every task, strategy or tax,

always ask, what does this make possible?

And then choose strategies that partner well with your daily habits, goals, purpose, and values.

And for that action step this week.

Clarify a large goal or a grand purpose you want to work towards, plus a daily habit that is directly aligned to moving you.

in that direction. This could be as simple as choosing to finish a marathon and then

running a few times a week, or advancing your career and sitting down to read

and learn for 30 minutes every morning. Whatever you choose, create an action plan

to prioritize more value-based and results-driven habits, while also removing habits

that don't resonate with you and your work. Of course, subscribe to this podcast

in your favorite podcast app, or go to 5am Miracle Premium.com for the

the ad-free VIP experience.

That's all I've got for you here on the 5 a.m. Miracle podcast this week.

Until next time, you have the power to change your life.

And all that fun begins bright and early.

---

© 5 AM Miracle Media, LLC