One decision separates the wealthy from the non-wealthy

One decision sepatarifs the wealthy from the non-wealthyOne decision separates the wealthy from the non-wealthyThe problem with most peoples lives is that they are being shielded from the consequences of their behavior. Theres little to no accountability.The fastest way to make success inevitable in your life is to only do work that is incentive-based. Only do that which you are rewarded and punished for the quality of your work. Everything you do needs to matter to the outcomes, consequences, and results you get in life.So what is the decision?The decision is to take complete ownership of every decision in your life. And how you do that is by only doing things in which you are compensated based on perfassonance.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThis goes completely against the norms in society. It goes against public education - which shields people from progressing at their own rates. It goes against most job structures, wherein a person is paid an hourly rate or salary.If you want to make dramatic strides forward, you must only work in environments where the consequences of your actions are immediate and REAL. You need to be demanded by your situation to come up with a result.This article will show you howAre You A Part Of The Results Economy?Founder of the exclusive entrepreneurial coaching platform, Strategic Coach, Dan Sullivan distinguishes between those who are in the Time-and-Effort Economy with those who are in the Results Economy.If youre in the time and effort economy, you are focused on being busy. You actually believe the amount of time and energy you put into something merits praise. Those who are focused on being busy are protected in some way from the consequences of their actions. Theyre elend being forced by necessity to come up with a solution. Chances are, they are an employee. They are part of a bureaucracy. And theyre striving to foll ow rules rather than break them.Conversely, when you are in the results economy, you are only focused on achieving a specific result. You are focused on results because if you dont get the result, there will be consequences to pay - for you and others. Youre leid worried about your reputation. Youre not worried about following the rules of ridiculous systems which are seeking to make you their slave anyways.Dr. Thomas Stanley found in his research that those who are paid based on RESULTS are most courageous and also the most wealthy.You actually have to take risks.You cant be sheltered from the consequences of your behavior.And you certainly cant be a part of a system which supports busyness to maintain the status quo. Hence, Dan Sullivan saysEntrepreneurs have crossed the risk line from the Time-and-Effort Economy to the Results Economy. For them, theres no guaranteed income, no one writing them a paycheck every two weeks. They live by their ability to generate opportunity by crea ting value for their clientele.Sometimes, they - and you - will put in a lot of time and effort and get no result. Other times, they dont put in much time and effort and get a big result. The focus for entrepreneurs always has to be on results or theres no revenue coming in.If you work for an entrepreneur, guess what This is true for you, too. Though you probably have a guaranteed income, its important to understand that the business you work in exists inside The Results Economy, even if youre sheltered somewhat from seeing that.I say this not to make you feel insecure, but to show you how to succeed in this environment by maximizing your results while minimizing the time and effort it takes to get them.Flow Triggers And Forcing FunctionsFlow is a mental state where youre completely absorbed in what youre doing. Youre totally engaged. No distractions. In such a state, time slows down and you begin operating at higher and more subconscious levels.One of the primary flow triggers is immediate feedback. Hence, in extreme sports where the possibility of injury is high, flow is a regular experience. If you dont land that trick, you could be in the hospital. Immediate feedback.If you want more flow in your life, you need to get faster and harder feedback for your behavior. You need to feel the consequences of your wertmiger zuwachs. You need to be in the Results Economy - not the Time and Effort Economy.In fact, one of the ways to produce more flow in your life is by creating much, much shorter timelines. Give yourself only 60 minutes to write the article and then, once the timer goes off, push publish regardless of what you came up with. Tell your partner or adviser that youll have your work to them far sooner than they expect. Make your goals public, with public deadlines.You can create immediate feedback for your behavior in the form of forcing functions. According to entrepreneur, Dan Martell, A forcing function is any task, activity or event that forces you to take action and produce a result.A forcing function is exactly how it sounds - something external thats been put in place to FORCE YOU TO FUNCTION how you desire to function.An example Dan Martell uses is a story between him and his younger brother, Moe. Dan asked Moe about his business goal for the next 3 months, to which Moe told him the goal.Then Dan asked, Based on todays understanding of the work involved, etc. how likely would you be to hit your goal in 3 months?Hmmmm, probably 6070% I would guess, Moe answered.Then Dan asked, Whose the most important person in your life?My wife, Moe replied.I then asked him to visualize a person with a gun to the head of his wife, and he knew - 100,000% that if he didnt hit his goal within 3 months that the guy would pull the trigger. There wasnt a doubt in his mind that the trigger would be pulled. How likely are you to hit your goal? Dan asked.100%, there isnt a doubt I could do it Moe said.So what changed?MOTIVATION.Thats the power of a forcing function. Its something thats embedded within the situation that forces you to succeed. It forces motivation to happen. Because if you dont produce a RESULT, there will be immediate feedback.To quote historian Will Durant, I think the ability of the average man could be doubled if it were demanded, if the situation demanded.Motivation and environment are two inextricably connected things. Motivation ISNT INTERNAL - but situational.If you want more motivation, you need a more demanding situation. Your behavior needs to be consequential - and the more immediate the feedback the better. The more consequential your behavior, the more flow youll have in your life. The more youll be forced to adapt and grow.Do You Have Skin In The Game?Bureaucracy is a construction by which a person is conveniently separated from the consequences of his or her actions. - Nassim Nicholas TalebIn the recent book, SKIN IN THE GAME, Nassim Nicholas Taleb explains that if your behavior doesnt bea r immediate consequence, your performance will be low. Even more than that though - if your performance isnt consequential, then you dont really care about what youre doing.As Taleb explainsIf you do not take risks for your opinion, you are nothing.How much you truly believe in something can be manifested only through what you are willing to risk for it.From a psychological perspective, you are either approaching something or trying to avoid something from happening.Offense or defense.Unfortunately, if youre in the Time and Energy Economy, youre probably also avoidance-oriented. In other words, your only concern is about avoiding getting in trouble, or avoiding getting caught, or avoiding doing much work at all.Only those in the Results Economy, whose behavior is consequential - the more immediate the better - are on offense. They are the ones taking risks. Theyre less concerned about the ground theyve made and more concerned about advancing their stelle. Theyre fine taking more risks. Theyre fine putting important things on the line, because they are convicted about what theyre doing.Hence, Telab explains, What matters isnt what a person has or doesnt have it is what he or she is afraid of losing. If youre afraid of losing what youve currently got, you probably wont risk it. Youll probably do everything you can to AVOID losing it. And therefore, youll have given up your WHY. Youll have stunted your progression.The more you have to lose, the more fragile you become. The more you become a slave to your current position and thus stop seeking to take risks for what you believe in.The Only Types Of Relationships That Become ExponentialThere are two types of relationships transaction-based or transformation-based.Most relationships are transactional - where one party makes the rules and the other party submits. Once one of the members of the group is unsatisfied by the terms of the relationship, it ends. People in these relationships are usually takers, not gen uine givers.In transformational relationships - both people are givers who contribute to the ongoing evolution of the relationship. The whole becomes different from the sum of the parts. There is high expectations in these relationships, but also openness.Both parties are completely invested in the relationship. Yet, unlike transaction-based relationships, both parties are also completely free.They give because they WANT TO, not because they feel obligated to.That is perhaps the definition of successful relationships - to get other people to help you BECAUSE THEY WANT TO, not because theyve been manipulated to.According to Pearsons Law When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.Transformational relationships have embedded accountability. Performance matters - because both parties are invested in the relationship and both parties deal with the consequences/outcomes of performance. Complete honesty is essential.Does your behavior matter to those around you?What about the people around you? Are these relationships transactional or transformational?If transactional - then one person is a slave to the other. They are walking on egg-shells. Theyre doing everything they can to avoid a negative outcome. They arent really contributing. No one in these types of relationships can truly be happy.ConclusionIf you are paid based on performance, your pay will go up.If you get immediate feedback with natural consequences of your behavior - youll be in a flow state more. Your performance will increase. Your pay will increase. Your happiness will increase.Its not great power that creates great responsibility. Its great responsibility that creates power.Its not confidence that creates success. Its successful behavior that creates confidence.Its not personality that creates behavior. Its behavior that creates personality.If you want to true freedom in your life, you need to take resp onsibility. Freedom can only exist with consequence - not from the absence of consequence. You are only free when your behavior matters.The only way to increase the freedom in your life is by making your behavior matter more - and by experiencing the REAL consequences of your behavior.The only way to have freedom in your relationships is when both parties have skin in the game. When both parties in invested. When the consequences of each persons performance impacts the whole - and everyone involved embraces this reality because there is mutual love, respect, and responsibility.Ready to upgrade?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThis article first appeared on Medium.