Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Framework & Diagram (50-slide PowerPoint presentation). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Framework & Diagram Contents : 1. Be Proactive 2. Begin with the End in Mind 3. Put First Things First 4. Think Win-Win 5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood 6. Synergize 7. Sharpen the Saw That's where the seven habits of highly [read more]
Build Good Habits!
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“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” John C. Maxwell
In my last article, I talked about the importance of Focus and how it can affect positively our daily life; how we can move from setting goals into actions. Many researches and studies showcased that small daily habits coupled with self-discipline are more impactful than anything else even clear vision and definite goals. Great results are all about the small daily habits and not the giants’ steps. Speed is not important as long as we keep moving forward in the right direction. But sometimes installing new habits may involve learning new habits and unlearning bad habits.
“Good habits are hard to form but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to form but hard to live with.” – Brian Tracy
You will never start new habits only by reading this article or any similar ones, as you have to find a REASON for it. If going through diet is something that can save you from a serious health crisis, then the change will be obvious and automatic as it will be of a Significance Emotional Experience (SEE) to you. If the diet is something of a medium complexity, then the reaction will be of a less intensity. The SEE’s and our reactions to them shape who we are and can impact our future. They can be positive and negative SEEs, which can either alter or enhance our perspectives, actions, and then results. When a crisis hits our life, our personal balance is shacked. Our ability to regain confidence and optimism can seem difficult for some people and impossible for others. It is at this MOMENT that we need to get out the best opportunities from the negative SEEs to turn them into positive SEEs.
For some people this process may take years. For others, it can take few days or weeks to reset the MIND, break old habits and embrace new ones. The mind is the most powerful thing as proved in neuroscience. It controls 95% of our lives: we attract what we focus on. We are the result of our habits, and so our minds. To influence positively the mind, we must make empowering positive thoughts and emotions. Are you part of those who are conscious about the changes that they need to go through in their lives but they unable to step forward?
It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t. It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not” James Gordon
I studied over 100 attributes of success regarding fifteen great leaders worldwide, 50% of their rules of success described in details in my article Embracing the Invisible stem from the daily efforts they initiated either to learn new skills or to unlearn certain bad habits. These new small habits with the perseverance behind to accomplish them proved to be the only way to achieve outstanding performance, raise standards, and enhance our personal perception.
To install new habits, five steps to consider from my personal perspective:
1. Find the reason behind
We all need a great REASON to step forward in any aspects in our life. Napoleon Hill in his book “think and grow rich”, a book that I highly recommend, talked about a BURNING DESIRE as a first step to make any changes and improvement in your life. It is the first element to begin with, without which all your goals and habits may remain unreachable. It can involve your health, money, personality, happiness or personal satisfaction.
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Rohn
2. Self-discipline
Self-disciple is the fuel that keeps empowering you along your journey.
“It is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.” – Brian Tracy
Physical endurance can help tremendously in developing self-discipline. If you can conquer your physical being, you can conquer your mental being as well. Another aspect about self-discipline is that it should be correlated with measured results to be able to assess your achievements and adjust.
3. Share your goals
The best way to keep yourself committed to your goals is to share them with your friends. This way you keep yourself self-motivated. Let others know about them and Dare to ask help. Some will be willing to help and others will simply ignore, but this should not stop you from going forward.
4. Visualize your results
Visualization is an excellent way to stimulate motivation and confidence envisioning success. Imagining yourself achieving your goals can help you create a great positive energy that can empower you to achieve more.
“Visualization is the process of creating pictures in your mind of yourself enjoying what you want. When you visualize, you generate powerful thoughts and feelings of having it now.” – Rhonda Byrne
5. Repeat, Repeat, and Repeat
Repetition is the art of mastery. It is an excellent way to learn, adapt and improve.
“Your daily habits and thoughts matter. We are what we repeatedly do.” – Aristotle
To build good new habits, you will need a great REASON worth going through. It will take time. It will need dedication. It will require sacrifice. You will be tempted. You may fail. You may choose to rise again. You will learn. You may fail again. You will be judged and even rejected sometimes. It will need your patience. It will require more perseverance. You will start turning the invisible into visible. You will start approaching great results. You will be proud of yourself. Your habits will be part of your nature and discipline will find no way to go away. It will be You, the new version of your inner YOU. Congratulations. You have achieved your goals.
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