“Whether it is good or bad, when you do something often enough, it will become a habit! Choose your habits wisely!” Karen Phelps
As I was riding my bike up my driveway last week I realized it was a lot harder to get up the driveway than it had been the previous week. After I made it to the top and did my “celebratory drive in a circle” I realized it had been more difficult because with my busy travel schedule I hadn’t rode my bike in 6 days. The consistency of riding my bike 5 days in a row had helped to train my body for performance and then I took too long of a break and I needed to get the edge back again.
That’s when it dawned on me! Everything we do in every aspect of our life becomes easier once we do it consistently enough for it to become a habit! Once you develop a consistent pattern of doing something correctly you will discover how easy it is to achieve your desired results!
I laugh when people tell me they don’t have any habits because the truth is we ALL HAVE HABITS! When they tell me they don’t have any habits they are thinking only of bad or destructive habits, which truth be told, we all have many we just dismiss them! Because you are an entrepreneur it’s important for you to develop goo habits that will help you grow your business! Habits are simply the result of doing something consistently! Doing the “right things” on a consistent basis WILL alter your lifestyle. Here are 3 simple steps to help get you on track.
1. Write down everything you do all day long for 3 days. Wow, if you want a real eye-opener this is it! You’ll be surprised at the amount of time wasted on bad habits. You might discover you have a habit of checking your email every 15 - 20 minutes instead of checking it 3 or 4 times each day. You will also discover that you have developed some GOOD habits, like I have of exercising first thing in the morning, journaling, praying or taking time out to be grateful. The important thing is to look at your list to see if what you are doing daily is adding to your pleasure, your income and your self-improvement or detracting from it.
2. Add activities that will help you grow personally and professionally. If there are several things you do consistently that are not helping you in your life or business it’s time to make a conscious effort to change. I forgot to mention that when I am riding my bike or walking each morning I am also listening to motivational or training programs. I know I need to continually feed my mind with motivating material as well as materials that will help me grow as an entrepreneur. I have done this for over 30 years. It’s consistent it’s a habit and the result is continued Self-Improvement!
3. Quit Waiting for Perfection! JUST DO IT! Like the Nike commercial I am a firm believer that it’s time to Just do it! Some people avoid doing things because they are waiting to get good at it and they fail to realize the way to get good at it is to do it! Wow, it doesn’t get much simpler than that. I have had new consultants tell me they can’t start holding parties because they don’t know enough yet and my answer is simple, “You’ll learn everything you need to know once you begin to hold your parties. Come and watch me do a couple and then go do your own and we’ll talk about them when you get home until we fine-tune your presentation so you are getting sales, bookings and recruit leads from every party.” ACTION = RESULTS
So don’t wait for the perfect moment to begin your diet or exercise program. Don’t wait for the right time of the month to make your phone calls for bookings. Start doing what you need to do now and do it every day over and over again until through consistency you master that which at first seemed impossible! The world is waiting for you to take the next step!