Habits determine the course of your life. Now that’s a powerful statement! I have spent some time thinking about habits this week, and just how I could improve some of mine. I came across this great article by Jack Canfield that I just had to share.
Good or Bad, Habits Always Deliver Results
You are an accumulation of your habits. From how you get out of bed, how you shower, how you dress, how you walk, sit, and talk, how you respond to the world, how you act in front of others, and how you think; you’re living out your habits.
Habits are necessary.
They free up your mind so you can concentrate on how to survive day to day. You don’t have to think about how to drive your car so you can be on the lookout for danger while you are driving. You don’t have to think about how to walk so you can concentrate on where you’re going.
Unfortunately, habits can also keep you locked in self-destructive patterns, which will limit your success.
Is there something you want to accomplish in life that requires you to up-level your game? Whatever it is that you want to achieve, you will need to drop those bad habits that are lead to a dead-end and develop new ones that are in alignment with the life you want to live.
People don’t suddenly appear in the life they want to live… their habits play a large part in determining their outcome.
What are the habits you have that are keeping you from achieving your goals?
Really be honest with yourself here…
Are you always running late?
Do you return phone calls within 24 hours?
Do you get enough sleep?
Do you follow through on your promises?
Do you plan out your day?
Imagine what your life would be like if all your habits were their productive counterparts!
- What would your life be like if you ate healthy meals, exercised and got enough sleep?
- What if you saved your money, stopped using credit cards and paid cash for everything?
- What if you stopped procrastinating, overcame your fears, and began networking with people in your field?
- Would your life be different? I bet it would!
So, my suggested action step for you is to write down some productive habits you could adopt and visualize in your life. Step two is to ‘act as if’ you were living these new habits right now!
I’d like to help you get moving toward creating more successful habits, so I’d recommend you develop four of your new success habits each year, one for each quarter.
Once you pick the new habit you’re ready to adopt, next you’ll want to create a method that will support your new habit.
Here are some ideas… You could write it down on a card that you keep with you and read several times a day. You could make it a part of your daily visualization. You could also enlist the help of an accountability partner who has habits to change, or work with a personal coach who can keep you on track.
It’s important to make a 100% commitment to your new habit, so be specific about the steps that you’re willing to take in order to drop an old habit and adopt a new one. Don’t be vague about how you will change your habits. Spell it out for yourself so you can recognize situations that motivate you to act out your new habit.
Just developing four new habits a year will dramatically shift your life to be more in line with your vision. And the more in line it becomes, the easier the other habits are to replace because your perspective is shifting and you can see more clearly how your old habits aren’t serving you anymore.
Make the decision. Make the commitment. Then watch your new, positive life unfold!
Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com
