The 6% Club: Unlock the Secret to Achieving Any Goal and Thriving in Business and Life

Table of Contents

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction: What I've Decided to Find Out and How It Will Change Your Life

PART I: Your Secret Power

1 The Research That Made My Jaw Drop

1. You've Pledged to Make a Change. Now What?

2. What I've Decided to Research and Why It Matters to You

3. The Research Findings and Why My Jaw Dropped

4. Your Secret Power

5. The 6% Club Will Change Your Life

2 What 94% of People Don't Know

1. Why Is There So Much Frustration and Pain?

2. Making Big Promises (and Really Meaning It)

3. The 20% Energy Glass Ceiling

4. The Beaten Paths in Your Brain

5. The Deal You Should Never Sign with Your Brain

6. The Comfort of the Autopilot

7. The Secret That Nobody Told You

8. Why Your Comfort Zone Is Your Honey Trap

Notes

3 Enough with Feeling Stuck and Frustrated!

1. The Day That Turned My Life Around

2. Your Most Powerful Mindset

3. Stop Waiting for the Right Time

4. Your Inner Voice Matters

5. How to Beat Self-Doubt

6. How to Stop Being a Pushover

7. How to Say No Without Feeling Bad About It

8. The Mindset of Taking Charge

Note

PART II: The Secret of Making a Change

4 How to Actually Set a Goal

1. The Power of the Pause

2. The Most Common Mistake in Goal Setting

3. This Is How You Set a Goal

4. The Secret Sauce of Making a Real, Lasting Change

5. Goal Setting Dos and Don'ts

6. Knowing How to Set Goals Empowers You

7. The Number One Question to Ask Yourself Every Day

5 The 0–10 Rule

1. What the 0–10 Rule Is and How I Developed It

2. The 0–10 Rule Is a Game-Changer

3. Focusing on What Matters the Most

4. Combating Your Decision Fatigue

5. Your X, and Your Peace of Mind

6. 30 Minutes of Magic

7. Using the 0–10 Rule in Your Business and Career

8. How the 0–10 Rule Gets You in the 6% Club

6 The Law of Specification

1. Why Your Brain Loves the Fog

2. The Science Behind the Law of Specification

3. The Importance of Setting a Deadline

4. The Law of Specification: Common Mistakes to Avoid

5. The Law of Specification: Real-Life Examples

6. Riding the Bikes of Change

PART III: Your Life Is About to Change

7 The 6% Club Hacks and Tips

1. The 20-Minute Rule

2. The Mirroring Rule

3. The $100 Bill Effect

4. The Bleeding Man Analogy

5. The Domino Effect

8 Welcome to the 6% Club!

1. Your First Day in the 6% Club

2. The Next 30 Days

3. Your 50 Questions About Making a Real Change Answered!

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

MICHELLE ROZEN, PhD

THE 6% CLUB

UNLOCK THE SECRET TO ACHIEVING ANY GOAL AND THRIVING IN BUSINESS AND LIFE

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Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available:

Names: Rozen, Michelle, author.

Title: The 6% club : unlock the secret to achieving any goal and thriving in business and life / Michelle Rozen, PhD.

Other titles: Six percent club

Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2024] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2024000552 (print) | LCCN 2024000553 (ebook) | ISBN 9781394254323 (hardback) | ISBN 9781394254347 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781394254330 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Goal (Psychology) | Achievement motivation. | Success. | Success in business.

Classification: LCC BF505.G6 R69 2024 (print) | LCC BF505.G6 (ebook) | DDC 650.1—dc23/eng/20240202

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024000552

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024000553)

Cover Design: The Change Doctor Intl. Inc.

To Adam, who has been holding my hand for 28 years.

Introduction

What I've Decided to Find Out and How It Will Change Your Life

I'VE BEEN RESEARCHING, writing, and speaking about change to audiences around the world for over a decade. I got my nickname, The Change Doctor, at an event in Texas several years ago and it has stuck with me ever since. My whole career, I've been fascinated with a few simple questions. What makes people tick? What makes them do the things they do, and on the flip side, what makes them not do the things that they don't do?

In January 2023, I began a research project, and its results made my jaw drop. The research focused on people who make New Year's resolutions and pledge to make all kinds of changes in their lives for the upcoming year. You know that time of the year when you swear up and down that you'll get healthier, do better with money, be more present, be more patient with your kids, do that thing that you've been talking about for the longest time? I wanted to dive deeper into that. I wanted to find out what happens with all of those people as far as the goals that they set for themselves within a span of six months, from January through June.

The results of the research, which I talk about in Chapter 1, shook me to the core and made me write this book. I wrote it for you. I wanted you to be aware. I wanted you to have the tools to get to where you want to go in business and in life.

So I took all the secrets that I have been teaching the world's top leaders in terms of how to actually make a change in business and life, and rather than just talk about it, actually make it happen and then make it stick. Over the years, I have seen businesses and lives transformed using these tools. I have made them available for you, too.

Here, in this book, I share with you everything that I know, everything that I have been teaching the world's most successful people. This is your manual for success. Read it, and then read it again.

Knowing how to change things in your life to get what you want to see happening is a total game-changer. Your life is about to change in the most amazing ways. You are not alone on this journey. This book is here to hold your hand through it. I am here to hold your hand through it.

Are you ready to start?

I am excited for you!

Yours,

PART I

Your Secret Power

Most people make the same choices over and over again without even realizing it.

It’s time to do something different.

1

The Research That Made My Jaw Drop

DECIDING TO MAKE a change. Fresh beginnings. Think about all those times in your life when just saying that gave you a sense of excitement. You got all excited about going to the gym every day, or being more patient, or saving more money, or being more focused and intentional in your business or career. You will finish this degree, you will write this book, and you will start prioritizing yourself and setting boundaries for people.

1. You've Pledged to Make a Change. Now What?

So many people swear time and time again that they are going to do that thing in their lives. They are going to go to the gym every day, eat healthy, save money, make more money, lose weight, be more present, be a better parent, be more patient. The list goes on and on. You name it, someone has sworn to do it. I bet you did, too.

I've been aware for the longest time that most of the people who say they'll do all of those things drop what they've pledged to do pretty quickly. People make big promises to themselves, feel like they are starting this new and exciting change, and yet a few months later they're drinking again, or not exercising, or slipping back into their old way of doing things.

I've been a motivational speaker for over a decade. I speak to tens of thousands of people every year, and every time after a keynote or a speech, people tell me, Oh for the longest time I've been wanting to do this thing. I have a kid I haven't spoken to for 10 years since my divorce. I have an eating disorder that I haven't told anyone about. I have a degree I haven't finished. I can see the pain in people's eyes; I can feel how much frustration these things have caused; I can hear the sincerity in their voices when they tell me enough is enough. But the change they talk about rarely happens.

I'm sure this has also happened to you. There is this thing you wanted to do, this change you wanted to make, but then life got in the way and it never happened. I know how exasperating it can be.

Life is short, and the same way that good changes tend to build on one another and have a tremendous effect once they all accumulate, changes that are not made also accumulate and cause your life to feel not only stagnant but also discouraging.

In nature, whatever doesn't grow crumbles and dies. We are here on this planet to grow, to evolve as people, to master the art of getting better in everything we do over time. Life becomes better when you are more aware, more mindful, more capable, and achieve whatever goals you set for yourself. You achieve what you want when you take control of your life: how you act, what you choose, how you live.

Goals. That's a word everyone tosses around but very few people properly understand. Can we talk about that for a moment? Did you ever think about how the concept of setting goals is something that you never actually learn as part of the journey of education? You learn history, math, science. But unless they are lucky enough to have someone teach them, people never learn the most important things. Did you ever learn in any of your classes how to set goals, how to actually follow through, how to be mindful, how to handle relationships with other people, how to handle your relationship with yourself, and how to change what you don't like?

I bet not.

Imagine if in high school, you actually took a class on how to set goals, how to be intentional in your actions, and how to communicate with the different types of people in your life? How much of an impact would that have?

You see, it's not enough to write down a goal. You have to understand how to properly set them. A few years ago my youngest daughter, who was then in fifth grade, came home and showed me that the teacher had them write down their goals for the year. Her paper said:

I'll be a better student.

I won't forget my homework.

I'll talk less in class.

I looked at her sheet and said to myself, None of this is going to happen. This is not how you do it.

Look at that list again. How do you even quantify the first item, for example, so you know if it's been achieved? What would make her a better student? Would she be a better student if she focused more, studied longer, paid more attention in class, listened more in class, participated more, got better grades, did independent research on the topics? There's no concrete idea there of what it was my daughter was striving for.

I emailed the teacher and said, I'd like to come and teach the kids how to set goals.

That's okay, the teacher said. The kids have already set their goals for the year.

Sadly, neither the teacher nor the kids knew what they didn't know. I thought of all those kids in that class and all those goals that weren't going to be achieved. It just showed me once again that missed goals, and that stinging frustration of feeling stuck or not getting what you want to see happening in your life as far as your career, health, relationships, finances, business—or whatever else it is that you want for yourself—is not something to accept and learn to live with. It is something to change.

2. What I've Decided to Research and Why It Matters to You

I remember the day I decided to conduct the research whose results led me to write this book that you are holding right now. There was a long line of people waiting to get their books signed. When it was her turn, a woman looked at me and said, I'm Helen. And for 15 years I haven't worked out. I listened to what you said and I just ordered a treadmill from the audience. I have a plan. I know what to do, and I am going to stop being mad at myself for dropping the ball on making my health a priority.

I asked her to send me pics and keep me posted. For over a year every now and then she would message me a picture of herself on the treadmill, smiling at me. I could see how proud and healthy she looked.

On the same day, a gentleman told me that he had two daughters who have been estranged from him for the past 10 years and that he realized he needed to make a change, that he needed to let them say what they wanted to say and handle it no matter what, and he couldn't believe he hadn't done that earlier. He said he had been talking about wanting to do it for the past 10 years and he had just messaged them during the break and made a plan to meet them on Saturday to talk things out.

On the flight back home I thought to myself, What is it? What is it that makes people drop the ball on what they want for themselves time and time again?

There is so much pain in the world around things that people want to see happening in their lives on which they just seem to keep dropping the ball. They range from small things like working out and eating more vegetables to big things like fixing broken relationships, making a career change, starting or scaling a business, or getting the education they want.

I had to figure out if the problem was as big as I thought, and what was actually going on. After all, if I could figure that out, then I could help people actually follow through and achieve those things they want for themselves in all aspects of their lives: career, business, relationships, health, fitness, money, you name it. I had to figure it out.

3. The Research Findings and Why My Jaw Dropped

I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. I surveyed 1,000 people between the ages of 20 and 60 who all pledged to make a change in their lives. The categories were health, fitness, money, career or business, and relationships. I surveyed them from January to June because I wanted to find out what happens to all of the things they say they will do. Are they actually going to follow through?

You know that feeling in January when you get so excited for the upcoming year and promise yourself to make it your best year ever? We've all been there.