– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

[Music]

if you were anything like me growing up

you absolutely hated rules no TV until

you finish your homework don't run with

scissors rules were an assault to our

free will and we vowed that when we grew

up we would do things differently but as

it turns out maybe our parents were

right right now

[Music]

there's one rule in particular the 2-day

rule that I can credit to being the most

influential in my own personal life it

helped me put more than 20 pounds of

muscle on my scrawny 130 pound frame and

it empowered me to create a consistent

exercise habit over the past eight years

the decision which according to

researchers has extended my life

expectancy by at least three point four

years fingers crossed I don't be hit by

a loss so what's the 2-day rule how has

it helped me and why are rules so

effective at helping us change our lives

I'm gonna be talking about that in

today's video but first thanks to my

sponsors Skillshare has made this video

possible Skillshare is an online

learning community with thousands of

classes covering tons of different

creative and entrepreneurial skills I'll

talk about one of my favorites at the

end of this video so let's first talk

about what makes rules so effective you

see our brains are really good at

thinking but they are terrible at

remembering that's why it's easy to get

excited about building a new habit and

just as easy if not easier to completely

forget about it the next day you know

what I mean if you've ever had a

brilliant business idea right before bed

but decided not to write it down you

felt the pain of waking up the next

morning scrambling through your brain

trying to find the file with the idea on

it but it's gone it was an idea that was

so brilliant it would have changed the

world and you forgot you just you didn't

write it down

our brains they possess amazing

computing powers in split-second

decision times but we're biologically

wired to get distracted how many of us

struggle with addictions from social

media to alcohol and sex left to our own

devices we will pretty much do anything

but the right thing or at least the

thing that we want to do if we never set

rules for yourself we're simply letting

our current feelings desires and mood

move our path out of a line

if we decide to take control of our

lives if we focus on what we value most

and we create a set of rules to live by

they can be a powerful way to regain

control of both our personal and

professional lives in a way that we

could never imagine no one who has ever

achieved success as an author filmmaker

or an athlete has gotten there without

setting some kind of rule or system for

their lives to make it as a pro to write

a book or to even build a habit requires

overcoming what Stephen Pressfield calls

the resistance in his book the war of

art Stephen writes resistance is the

most toxic force on the planet it is the

root of more unhappiness than poverty

disease and erectile dysfunction to

yield to resistance to forms or spirit

it stunts us and makes us less than we

are and were born to be resistance shows

up in many forms from procrastination

doubt the voice in the back of your head

asking who the hell are you to do this

the antidote is consistency showing up

day after day and putting in the work

and make no mistake it is a war so early

on in high school and college no matter

how much I tried I found it so difficult

to build a habit of going to the gym or

working out consistently to put it in

perspective I was a pretty scrawny kid I

weighed about a hundred and twenty

pounds later in high school when I was

around a senior and throughout college

at least the first couple years I

weighed 130 pounds I kept trying to eat

as much food as I could to build up a

consistent workout routine but nothing

worked it always seemed like something

was getting in the way you know I'd get

busy with classes I had to prepare for

finals I would just be too hungover and

I would make every excuse possible but

then I decided that all these excuses

were complete [ __ ] if I couldn't

commit to at the very least 30 minutes

of exercise a day then I was the problem

after all this was my life this was my

health and my future after eight years

of attempting to put weight on ever

since high school and failing miserably

I implemented the two day rule it's very

simple I would not allow myself to take

off more than one day in a row for some

kind of

Gau be at the gym jog or hike I had to

do some kind of physical activity at

least every other day this allowed me

the time to take days off as I needed it

often multiple days a week but it also

kept me committed to my goal and most

importantly it prevented me from falling

into a slump and neglecting my health

for weeks or even months at a time it's

so easy to give ourselves a break which

we need saying just this one time

but then that turns into the next five

days six days seven days and on I took

the two day rule to heart and promised

myself that I'd stick to it as much as I

possibly could unless I was literally

sick or there was something completely

out of my control that prevented me from

going to the gym or from getting a

workout in whether I was tired whether I

was sore from yesterday's workout or

even if I was hungover I would get my

ass out of bed and I would get to the

gym even if I would just get a

ten-minute cardio session and even if I

went to the gym and I worked out for

five minutes that was enough for me to

feel like I had actually made progress

that I had followed through with that

commitment to myself within six months I

had built more muscle mass than the past

six years I'd broken through a wall and

found it more difficult to skip a day of

working out than it was to actually go

that was over ten years ago and I still

stay committed to this rule that's not

to say that I'm perfect that's not to

say that I don't often mess up and I

don't fall back and fail to follow

through with the 2-day rule that's just

part of life I don't think there's any

sentient being on earth that would be

able to continue through with the 2-day

rule indefinitely for years and years on

end but for me it's helped me stay

committed eighty to ninety percent of

the time when I follow through with this

rule and I keep it going in my everyday

life I find that I'm healthier I'm more

alert it acts as a keystone habit a

ripple effect to other habits in my life

so if I can get my ass out of bed and go

to the gym I'm more likely to eat better

I'm more likely to get better sleep I'm

gonna feel more energized throughout the

day I just know that this one habit

alone has changed my life in ways that

it's it's hard to explain if you're able

to remove the childhood baggage of rules

you can use them to your advantage

life there's a misconception that rules

limit what you can do in life that they

hold us back in some way but the truth

is that if you set the right rules for

yourself based on what you value most

will help you to live a life that you've

always imagined I was able to make this

video with the health of Skillshare

recently I took a class by my friend and

productivity master Thomas Frank if you

often feel unproductive or disorganized

this class will change your life it

helped me to completely rethink how I

schedule my days set up my calendar and

get [ __ ] done

this isn't just about tips and tricks

this is about setting up a productivity

system that will help you be more

productive and more effective every day

or at least the days that you should

stick through with it maybe use the two

day rule for that skill chair is super

affordable with an annual subscription

it's less than ten dollars a month but

sign up today using the link in the

description and get a two month free

trial thanks for watching oh hey guys by

the way I'm gonna save this for the very

end I'm actually gonna hire an editor

thanks to sponsors like Skillshare I'm

now able to bring on some more people to

help me make my videos to help bring up

the quality to do some really cool stuff

so I'm in the process of looking for a

los angeles-based editor to work with me

on everything from feature-length

Netflix documentaries to the YouTube

videos I create videos that get tons and

tons of exposure if you want to be able

to work alongside me learn from me and

some of the things that I've learned as

an editor and filmmaker my entire life

up your skills as well as make an impact

and touch the lives of millions of

people then go to Machiavelli comm slash

editor

thanks so much and hopefully I'll hear

from you soon

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
rule /ruːl/ A2	noun - a regulation or principle governing conduct verb - to govern or control with rules
habit /ˈhæbɪt/ B1	noun - a regular behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition
muscle /ˈmʌsəl/ A2	noun - tissue in the body that can contract to produce movement
exercise /ˈeksərsaɪz/ B1	noun - activity requiring physical effort to maintain fitness verb - to engage in physical activity
consistent /kənˈsɪstənt/ B2	adjective - acting or done in the same way over time
commit /kəˈmɪt/ B2	verb - to pledge or bind to a certain course of action
progress /ˈproʊɡres/ B1	noun - forward or onward movement towards a goal verb - to move forward or develop
decision /dɪˈsɪʒən/ B1	noun - a choice made after consideration
struggle /ˈstrʌɡəl/ B2	verb - to try hard to do something difficult noun - a forceful effort to overcome difficulty
challenge /ˈtʃælɪndʒ/ B2	noun - a difficult task or problem verb - to invite someone to compete
energy /ˈɛnərdʒi/ B2	noun - the strength and vitality required for sustained activity
consistency /kənˈsɪstənsi/ C1	noun - the quality of always behaving or performing in a similar way
resistance /rɪˈzɪstəns/ C1	noun - the refusal to accept or comply with something
addiction /əˈdɪkʃən/ C1	noun - a compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance
procrastination /proʊˌkræstɪˈneɪʃən/ C1	noun - the action of delaying or postponing something
impact /ˈɪmpækt/ B2	noun - the strong effect or influence of something verb - to have a strong effect on something