I'll start with a really powerful quote from Mike Murdock who says "the secret to your success is hidden in your daily routine". I recently saw another good one that said "successful people do what unsuccessful people are not prepared to do".
And that's exactly my point: there are hundreds of little things we either do or don't do that affect the level of success we achieve.
A habit is an action done so many times that we don't even have to consciously think about it anymore.
Most people agree that it takes 21 days to form a habit and only 3 days to break it. For example, when we were very young, we were all trained to brush our teeth every morning. We got a toothbrush and paste and we conscientiously brushed our teeth every day. I don't know anyone my age (!) who really has to think about brushing their teeth. I know I'm half asleep stumbling into the bathroom and automatically brushing my teeth. Why? It's a habit.
If you take the time to think about your daily routine, you will notice many good habits, such as driving within the speed limit (J), drinking 2 liters of water a day, etc. A few years ago I decided that I needed to start drinking more water. So on January 1, 1998, I started forcing myself to drink 2 liters of water every day. This habit caught on in just 14 days because after the first two weeks it was easy and it has been that way ever since.
Now, in the same way that good habits are formed, bad habits are formed just as easily. I know of people who start saving, say R100 every month, and for three or four months everything goes well. Then they decide to go on vacation and stop saving for one month. The catch is that it won't end up being just one month because the habit they formed was broken. The next month it's easier to spend that R100 on clothes and after the third month it's back to square one!
So this month I want to encourage you to think about some good habits you want to start implementing and some bad habits you need to replace with good ones. If you currently have a bad habit of throwing papers around at work and not dealing with it, start this month with discipline and either establish it, work on it, or throw it away. When you're tempted to throw it back in the bin or start making a pile on the table, STOP!
Remember that you have the power to break this bad habit and start creating some good ones. And the same goes for driving – if you're like me and get irritated by other drivers on the road, stop and tell yourself that you're going to replace all that negative behavior with something positive. You may need to start saying things like, "I'm completely calm and stress-free in traffic."
Action call
1. Take a blank piece of paper and write the Habits Worksheet at the very top. If you work away from home, keep a copy at home and another at work.
2. Make a list of all the good habits you want to start and the bad habits you need to be more aware of.
3. Read your list every day to remind yourself of your habits.
4. Start implementing it. Do it like Nike and "do it"
