“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle.

Each year many people set some resolutions for the New Year. These may include changes that they want to make to their life, goals they want to achieve, some unhealthy behaviours that they want to change or some healthy new behaviours they want to create.

Sadly, many fail to honour and maintain the resolutions beyond the end of January. A reason for this may be that they don’t dedicate sufficient time to allow good new habits to develop and form.

When you embark on a journey of personal change or look to accomplish a personal goal, there are some characteristics and qualities required in order to ensure success and achievement.

These include effective planning, as well as a strong belief that it’s possible to accomplish your goal. A determined approach, self -discipline to manage distractions and use your time effectively and to keep taking action. Perseverance is required to help you overcome any difficulty, obstacles or opposition.

Change takes energy and therefore it’s important that you give yourself the best possible chance of success by being energised and in good shape mentally and physically.

Essentially, in order to successfully implement personal change and turn your goals into reality you need to develop and use good habits. We truly are creatures of habit as research suggests that 90% of what we do each day is habit. Every day from the time you get up to the time that you retire to bed; there are hundreds of things that you do the same. This will include the way you shower, dress, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, drive to work etc.

The positive aspect of habits is that they free up your mind while your body is on automatic pilot.  For example, you are able to plan your day whilst you are in the shower or driving to work. The negative aspect of habits is that they get locked into our sub-conscious mind and create self-defeating patterns that can inhibit our growth, limit our performance and prevent us from fulfilling our potential.

It was Einstein who said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  If you want a different set of results, you have to adopt a different approach. Your established habits are producing your current level of results.

If you’d like to create improved results, better relationships or greater happiness, it’s important that you create good healthy habits that help you to maximise your opportunities and fulfil your potential.

Habits can hinder rather than help you and limit your results in life. These include overcommitting your time and spreading yourself too thin, an inability to say no to unreasonable demands, not effectively managing distractions and interruptions, procrastinating and not following through on plans.

Some healthy habits that will allow you to be the best you can be include:

  • Creating a list of key priorities and plans each day
  • Establishing a regular sleep pattern
  • Returning calls and replying to emails within 24 hours
  • Spending time with positive people
  • Exercising for 30 minutes and drinking 2 litres of water each day
  • Limiting the amount of time that you watch TV
  • Increasing the amount that you read and learn new things
  • Keeping the promises that you make to yourself and others
  • Being assertive and effectively managing interruptions.

 
Changing and creating habits takes time. As a result of comments made by Dr Maxwell Maltz in his book Psycho-Cybernetics published in 1960, it’s been believed that it takes a minimum of 21 days to change a habit. However, research by University College London in 2010 stated that it may take as much as 66 days for a new habit to fully form.  They suggest that the duration of habit formation is likely to differ depending on who you are and what you are trying to do.

This week, why not pause for a few moments to reflect. Consider what healthy habits you need to develop this year to help you achieve your goals.

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk