Cultivating the Success Habit
We are all creatures of habits. We have great habits like brushing our teeth twice a day and not so great habits like smoking (because it damages our health!) and if you look at where your life is right now you can pretty much see where your good and not so great habits are.
For example if you have the habit of exercising 4 times a week chances are you are in great shape. If you’re not in great shape (like me!) just take a look at your “habit” called exercise.
So habits are important if we want to experience real long-term benefits (and not just dabble in short term success) in life and the habit you need to adopt is the “No excuses” habit. It’s a tough one but here’s what someone told me years ago “Diane. You can have your results or you can have your reasons and excuses for not getting your results.” Naturally I wanted results and got to work on become a “no excuses woman”
Of course when you begin to take on the habit of not making excuses first you become aware of just how many times an excuse for not getting something done falls out of your mouth like rain from the clouds and then you realise just how hard it is to stick to not making excuses!
Imagine a life where you told your mentor you were going to get something done and you did it when you said you would without excuses. You just did it! How would that make you feel?
Now I’m sure the excuses are forming even as you read this and let me tell you living this life isn’t easy. Wanting to be successful isn’t easy but it is possible and it becomes possible when you make a commitment to make it happen.
In order to be successful you must create a new habit for yourself. This mentoring and anything you decide to do is something you are about to “fit in” with all the other things you have going on in your life. How much time you spend on it will be in direct relation to how important you see it and what it can do for you.
You should also know that the results of your bad habits will not show up immediately. So if something isn’t working in your life right now it’s because of past bad habits, which of course means that once you identify what it is and change that you can do something about it.
What will you have to give up to make time for this? Maybe less time spent in the bar drinking with your friends. Perhaps you can wake up an hour earlier than usual or maybe watch an hour less of TV at night. I am not asking you to give up living, just to sacrifice a little of your time to create a new habit.
It’s been said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit (or to break an old one) so my challenge for you – if you choose to accept it – is to decide on what your new habit will be and stick to it for 30 days. Make sure you share it with your mentor of course!
If you really want to be strict with yourself here is what you do….. if at any time during those 30 days you don’t stick to your new habit then you start again from day one until you can do 30 days straight of whatever you committed to get done.
Here’s an important lesson I learnt (and paid a fortune to learn it too LOL) if you want to separate yourself from the sheep (the masses of people that do the same thing) and enjoy an abundant, unique lifestyle that you designed by choice then you must understand this one thing – everything you do today will affect what happens in your life in the future.
Your habits (or lack of them) will determine how successful you are in the future so get used to telling yourself (especially when you don’t want to do something) that negative habits produce a lack of results and negative consequences. Developing successful habits produces rewards on a consistent basis.
Until next time….. Stay focused, stay committed and stay in (consistent) action
Diane
Inspirational Guidance
http://www.inspirationalguidance.com
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I write on this self development blog about building self confidence, being purpose driven and being altogether fabulous. I write especially for women over forty but all women are welcome.
