“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle
We often think of success as a result of one huge event in our life or one ginormous result. In fact, it’s the small habits we do every day that take us to where we want to go.
There is no doubt about it we are all creatures of habit. Studies have shown that 45% of what we do is driven by habits. Evidently, for those who are absolutely committed to things like happiness and success, good habits are the answer to achieving our goals and offer a straightforward way to improving our lives.
When I originally had the idea of writing my books, all those years ago. I never thought in a million years I would end up writing a series of best-selling books. But I did and it was all down to taking the first step and then taking that repeated action every single day.
Every day I would wake up at 6. I would research and write until 12.30 PM and then go off to my spin class. This was my habit. I did that for 2 years until I finished the series. I loved this habit, it gave me confidence and security. As I got into this habit, more and more I believed that I would finish the books. There was no panic or doubt or worry. I just plodded on every day and enjoyed the process.
Habits have had a bad press. When we hear the word habit, many of us jump to only thinking of the bad ones. If only we could rewire our minds to only think of habits as good ones. Imagine the difference we could make with our daily habits.
The actual definition has a fairly negative undertone, “a settled or regular tendency or practise, especially one that is hard to give up.”
Since writing the books I have developed and continue to develop new habits/rituals. They are a major part of how I work and organise my days. These rituals obviously, all take time and they are worked into my schedule every day. They have a fairly major position in the planner as well in the top left of every weekly schedule they are important.
The rituals I choose for my business are carefully chosen. I only choose the rituals that I know are going to make a difference. I have to be confident that these rituals are going to move my business forward so that I know they are taking me closer and close to my mission and that I am not wasting time. Some I love and some are mundane. I know that I am not moving mountains every single day but I know I am doing what is required to move my business forward.
I love this quote from Jim John and it is so true, habits do really keep you going.
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
So let’s look at the benefits of these wonderful ‘Habits or Rituals’
1. GOOD HABITS BRING YOU CLOSER TO YOUR GOALS They are the steps that help you get there
2. The RIGHT HABITS HELP YOU TO BE THE PERSON YOU WANT TO BE If you want to be a runner you start running every day. Even if you start with 1k, or you do Couch to 5K, eventually, if you build this regularly into your life, you will be a runner.
3. THE RIGHT HABITS ALLOW YOU TO HELP PEOPLE AROUND YOU By showing up consistently in the right way you build trust and develop credibility.
4. THE RIGHT HABITS INCREASE THE OVERALL QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE By incorporating the things you want to do in your daily life you improve the quality of your life. This could be reading 10 pages of a motivational book or a book by your favorite author. Perhaps you think that journaling would help you in your life. Imagine the difference this could make doing 10 minutes a day.
5. THE RIGHT HABITS HELP YOU REAP LIFELONG BENEFITS Incorporating good rituals, for example, taking a vitamin, drinking water, exercising daily, or eating healthily. These are all going to help you long-term.
6. GOOD HABITS BUILD YOUR FOUNDATION FOR LIFE. Rituals become you and the ones you choose set the tone of your life.
7. GOOD HABITS REDUCE WASTED TIME They help us get those things done without too much thought or prep. We just do them repeatedly.
8. GOOD HABITS REPLACE MOTIVATION I love this one! 16 years ago I started going to the gym. In the beginning, I had to find the motivation to get me there. It then just became a ritual. Six days a week I do some form of exercise for an hour at the club. It' a ritual, I don't need motivation. Instead of thinking, I need to exercise I just do it because it's just become a part of my life.
9. THEY MAKE US FEEL GOOD ABOUT OURSELVES When we do good things and make a difference and get things done, the sense of achievement is wonderful.
Anything worth accomplishing doesn't materialize overnight. It’s not about every so often, it comes down to what you do daily, consistently, and habitually/ ritually.
Developing the right rituals will help you reach your goals, become the person you most want to be, influence people around you, increase the overall quality of your life, and reap lifelong benefits. It’s why we have made our latest addition, POSITIVE HABITS to the 2022 Planner. A habit tracker that helps you incorporate positive habits into your everyday life.
The New Habit Tracker ‘Positive habits’ in MY PA Planner
What rituals do you already have or what ones do you think you could add or incorporate into your day that will help to improve the quality of your life or drive your business forward?