Habits of Success
The road to self-fulfillment and success at times looks more like a shell-shocked third world path in the middle of monsoon season than a modern super-highway. It ain’t supposed to be easy, and sometimes it feels as if God, the universe, and Osama Bin Laden were all conspiring against us. How many nights have you thought “God, it would be so much easier to turn on the idiot box and veg out than…(put your plan here).” When the initial thrill of a new venture wears off and complacency sets in, that’s when good habits take over and become our auto-pilot to the Promised Land. Aristotle said “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Well actually he said it in Greek so it looked something more like this
All Greek to me!
I recently posted an entry at eHow on “How to Get Into the Habits of Success” and it deals with the how to of developing successful habits but not all the sexy, philosophical reasons as to what successful habits are and why we need to get our collected derrieres in gear and use our positive habits to kick butt and get things done! So take a look at the post and then lets start talking about all the effective hacks that we use to develop and keep world beating habits.
Remove Distractions - Once, while I was serving in the Peace Corps in Guatemala I had a buddy that was studying for his LSAT exams (to get into law school) at the same time I was studying for the CPA exam. Previously I had ribbed him a little on watching Spanish soap operas instead of studying and, one day when he arrived in town, I asked him about how his television was doing. “I had to get rid of it,” he replied, “it was the Devil!” As he said those last words I swear his eyes rolled back into his head (which spun around several times) and he hissed in a way that reminded me of that song about the Devil in Georgia or something like that. All right, maybe I don’t swear it, but it was some pretty intense stuff at the time. The point is, this guy went on to ace the LSAT’s, get a scholarship to one of America’s most prestigious law schools and has now graduated and is halfway along in his plan to conquer the universe. Why, because he was ready to take extreme actions to remove any obstacles that may have diverted him from his true calling, future Supreme Court justice.
Unwavering Focus - “Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn’t look up. Well, maybe once.” The preceding quotation was brought to you by the great Isaac Asimov. We’ve all heard of the expression “in the zone,” when you are so concentrated on the task at hand that there are no distractions, the clock stops ticking and the rest of the world just melts away. Sometimes, when I’m writing late at night and the kid’s in bed I get in the zone and the hours fly by until I remember I have to work in the morning and that I’d better drag my sorry butt to bed. Sometimes, but not every time and it almost never starts that way. Usually, I’m tired and there’s a great soccer match on the telly that I’m missing and I can’t remember any of the great ideas that came to me earlier in the day when my computer wasn’t handy. Sound familiar? Focus at the task at hand is not something that just happens, it is a habit like any other that has to be cultivated, nurtured, and coaxed along until it’s fully grown and it sweeps us up and carries us along with it.
Labor of Love – I’ve already posted about my dad and his unrelenting obsession of all things zoological to the very border of institutionalization. For Dad, the zoo was a labor of love, his pride in his achievements in such a public domain was a huge rush for him and its addiction had him striving to ever greater heights. Focus on your plan for success becomes so powerful that the end (making a living) becomes, at times, subordinate to the means (whatever we are doing to achieve our success). If we don’t love what we do, the Earl Wells of the world will always be out there; hungrier, more determined, and absolutely in love with what they do no matter what they are making. How’s a guy going to compete with that?
All right, enough of my mumblygunk, now I want to hear from you! Do you have a point that you’d like to add? What about a great motivational story on developing good habits? Please share!
Tyler,
While I think all the points you have posted are excellent, they are by no means definitive. Habits are like the wind, while you can’t hold them or catch them, through constant, applied pressure they can move mountains. For that repetition, repetition, repetition is the key.
Excellent observation, Celeste. Habits are very sticky, hard to make and hard to break.
My big thing with habits is to “Think Big but Start Small”.
When I start a habit, I start off as gently as possible. The most important thing is to establish the habit of doing it. Then you can ramp up the amount you do. Some people will try and do too much too soon. They usually get discouraged after a few days and then revert back to the old behaviour
Kaizan,
I was just discussing with a companion today about that and the gym. Every year we see a massive crush of people around the new year that gets so bad that you have to wait to use some items. By April, however, there’s peace and solitude. Rather, people should keep it controlled and consistent, 45 minutes a day three days a week and then, as you said, ramp it up as they go ahead, or not, depending on their priorities. Thanks for the contribution.
Actually, I tell people to even go to the gym for 5 minutes to begin with. It seems crazy, because you spend more time going to the gym than exercising, but in the beginning its not about time spent at the gym, it’s about developing the habit of actually going to the gym.
Tyler,
I really enjoyed your take of success, but I would slightly disagree with you on “Labor of Love”. I know that there are many people who are successful in various ventures that do not love what they do. For example, there are many athletes that do not love their respective sport, but are great. It’s just that they have the talent to perform at a high level.
Thanks Torrey,
You’re probably right, there are always people out there who are exceptions to the rules and super-talented people may find success without having it be a “Labor of Love,” but who wants that for their own life? I want to be passionate about what I do! Not that I would turn down being super-talented….
Success demands strenght of character and the right attitude to reach our goals in life. Unfortunately, most people are conditioned to the negative admonitions perceived in its pursuance.
Hmm, I wish that you had elaborated on people being “conditioned to the negative admonitions perceived in its pursuance,” because that is a fascinating observation for me. I am assuming (I know, assumptions are dangerous) that you refer to people who are ruthless or cut-throat in their pursuit of success, like the types with the ridiculously blingy cars and clothes. You know, Gordon Gecko types. Still, while I might not agree with everyones definition of what makes you successful, the work ethic and initiative used to achieve success are pretty constant.
Focus, Focus , Focus! This word is very underrated and used only by those who truly understand what power it holds. The power of focus is so powerful, that most people intentionally distract themselves from achieving a goal because they are scared of their inner potential. Most are unconscious of such a thing, yet they under achieve instead of overachieving. Lack in focus creates confusion, procrastination, anxiety and NO progress.
End Distractions and develop focus with 3 thoughts in mind
1. Develop a desire to succeed
2. Set prioritizes
3. Work Hard
4. Do one thing at a time, Don’t Multi -task.
Multi tasking diffuses your energy and creates failure instead of success. By focusing on 1 task at a time, it allow you to get more things done in less time.