Every System Needs a Trigger

(Transcript edited for clarity.)

Hi, I'm Wes. Welcome to Every System Needs a Trigger.

I'm going to define trigger a little bit here so I make sure you get what this is really about.

A trigger is something that gets you started.

Here's where I really started thinking about triggers and learning about triggers.

I was communicating with someone, and we talked a lot over a long period of time. I kept saying words, and they would think I meant one thing, but it meant something else to me.

Then I might use the same word in the future, and they'd think it meant the same thing it meant when I used it last time, but it didn't. It did something else.

Here's what I learned about myself: I use trigger words in my mind that open what I call rooms in my mind.

For example, business.

Business is a trigger word for me.

Business means a lot of different stuff.

You already know business can mean a lot of different things, but in my mind, when I say business, it can mean a lot of things.

It can mean entrepreneurship. It can mean retail business. It can mean the way I think about business. It could mean the way I do things.

It's all in context in a conversation.

So I've had to learn to be very careful about using trigger words in communication.

Often, when I use a trigger word in communication, I need to stop and remember to dig down further so my communication is clear.

Now, another use for triggers that I've used - and remember, this business is Your Life Systems. It's focused on creating systems to help you in your life.

That's what I've done.

I've created system upon system upon system to help me do things and accomplish what I want in all the important areas of my life.

I've also found that sometimes I need to use a word, phrase, or action to trigger different systems.

So that's what I mean when I use the word trigger here.

Mostly, I'm talking about an action, word, or thought that will trigger a system for your life.

Keep that in mind as we go through Every System Needs a Trigger.

The best system in the world won't help if it never starts, and that's the thing about a trigger.

Think about a race where they have a starting pistol.

They fire the starter pistol in the air, and that starts the race.

Every system you have in your life, you need to use the system.

So how do you start using each system?

Does it happen automatically?

Do you start a system at a particular time or when a certain thing happens?

Think of that.

What's the trigger, like the starting gun?

That's the trigger.

The best system in the world is not going to help you if it never starts.

What's the trigger to start your important decisions?

Every consistent action begins with a trigger.

Now let me back up a minute and explain.

When I say trigger, it doesn't have to be a conscious trigger.

It can be something that you design.

I talked about defaults in a recent video.

It can be a default that you've automatically trained yourself to use: every time this happens, it triggers this, and this happens.

You don't have to think about it every time, but something has to trigger it.

Or it can trigger at a particular time.

It could be every morning at 9 a.m. I do this for my business or for work.

Or every Saturday at 2 p.m. I call my mom.

Those are simple examples, but that's a time trigger.

You know that at this time, it triggers whatever this is.

I've talked about the publishing process I use.

Every time I finish recording a video, it triggers a system.

I'm not going to go through the whole thing because it's boring.

But basically, when I'm done recording the video, the first thing I do is take the little card out, put it in my computer, and verify that the video is what I wanted.

I save it two different places, then I send it to the person who edits the video for me.

The trigger is as soon as I'm done recording, it triggers the next step in that system.

It's a whole long system that the video is just one part of.

There are things you're already using triggers for, whether you think about them or not.

But you can intentionally create triggers, and that's what I do with the video.

It's all part of this big system I've created, and each thing in there has a trigger.

When I'm done with the video, what's the trigger? What's next?

I don't have to think about it because I've already done it.

If nothing reminds you to start, most systems either struggle or don't work because they never start.

So the importance of all this is to recognize that every system in your life has a trigger and that you get to choose the trigger.

If you intentionally choose the trigger for each system, then you have more control.

What system are you using now that you might not be using as consistently as you'd like?

What's one trigger you could assign to it so you use it more consistently?

Why this matters:

Good intentions need activation.

Good systems need a trigger.

Triggers make consistency easier.

Good systems make your life easier. They make better actions more automatic.

So try to create automatic triggers to trigger your best systems.

The right trigger removes the need to remember.

Here's a very simple trigger.

I said maybe every Saturday at 2 p.m. you call your parents, or you call your mom.

What's a trigger you could use so you don't have to remember?

This is a simple one.

You can get your phone out and set an alarm for 2 p.m. every Saturday.

That's a trigger.

You don't have to think about it anymore because you put it in your phone.

The phone alarm goes off at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, and you know what you're supposed to do.

That's a trigger.

Triggers don't have to be complicated.

You have to figure out what the best trigger is and use it.

Now, here's an example.

I mentioned this example in a previous video, so I'm not going to cover it in depth here, but I am going to use it because it's an example of a trigger.

When I used to write full-time, my trigger was that when it was time to write every day, I wrote the first line.

That sounds simple.

Don't miss the power of this.

When I wrote full-time, I wrote four or five days a week.

I knew I had to do that.

Let's say I wrote Monday through Friday.

That means every Monday, when I got up and did whatever you do in the morning, when it was time to start writing, I wrote the first line.

That was the trigger that unlocked everything else so I could write the rest of the day or however long I needed to.

It wasn't a complicated trigger, but I found that it helped me avoid writer's block.

Notice I didn't say make sure the first line was perfect and then write it.

Nothing to do with it.

The trigger was: You sit down, open the computer, and type the first line.

Even if the first line is terrible, the trigger for me was writing the first line.

I trained my mind that that was the trigger.

Once it was time, write the first line.

That trained my mind: I wrote the first line, now it's time to write.

I intentionally chose that.

What can you intentionally choose as a trigger for an important system or habit in your life?

What starts your systems every single time?

Do you have triggers?

The truth is, you already have some triggers.

Are they working like you want them to?

If they're not, what triggers can you put in place to make them work every time or work better?

Every system has a starting point, and the trigger helps you with the starting point.

A trigger answers, "When do I do this?"

I talked about what happens once I'm done with the video. That's one type of trigger.

Another type of trigger is you're going to call your mom every Saturday at 2 p.m. The alarm triggers that.

Two different kinds of triggers, but they do the same thing.

You can use existing habits, times, or locations as triggers.

You can use anything you want as a trigger, as long as it works to start your system.

Don't rely on your memory.

That's like the phone.

You set the alarm for 2 o'clock.

You don't have to worry about forgetting.

Build reminders or triggers into every system you create.

One trigger can launch an entire routine.

That goes back to the video I was talking about.

When I'm done with the video, it triggers the next step, then the next step, and it triggers this whole page of stuff that creates the whole publishing arm tied to the video.

Missed triggers can lead to broken systems or ineffective systems.

That's why triggers are so important.

Every system you have needs a trigger, and you need to intentionally choose the best triggers for each system you have or create.

Consistency often starts with one trigger.

You get one good trigger, and it helps you stay consistent.

If your system isn't starting, don't beat yourself up.

Find a trigger, put a trigger into place, and use it.

The right trigger can and will change what happens next.

So that's my challenge to you.

Identify one system you're already using in your life that might not be working as well as you'd like or might not be happening as consistently as you'd like.

Intentionally create or develop a trigger, whatever kind of trigger it is, for that system, then start using that trigger.

Thanks for being with me. Your Life Systems. I'm Wes.

Please subscribe, and best of luck.

What's Next?

·        Choose one useful system you're not starting as consistently as you'd like.

·        Identify the exact moment when that system should start.

·        Choose a trigger tied to a time, event, location, habit, reminder, or action.

·        Make the trigger obvious enough that you don't have to rely on memory.

·        Use it consistently long enough to see whether the system starts more reliably.

·        Adjust the trigger if it isn't doing its job.

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