The Importance of Habits To Your Success

Ya know, i used to be a bit of procrastinator... I'll admit it. I was your typical ADD kid daydreaming or goofing off in class trying to make people laugh. Re

cess was best class. And i was GOOD! I mean i owned the blacktop! Tetherball, foursquare, and soccer baby... Couldn't be stopped.

Anyway... I also was the guy who would usually wait til the last minute and then in a brilliant act of focus and stress manage to weave together a great paper and turn it in on time.

Having served in the military i learned a bit about discipline and grew to know and understand that STRUCTURE was NOT my enemy, but ACTUALLY VERY conducive to my creative and intuitive type brain.

After serving six years as a grunt, i naturally became entrepreneurial and started my own business...

But no longer having a structure to work within, i've had to figure out how to create that structure to help and supplement my creativity, be responsible and hit my targets, and it's been a tough road at times being self-employed, to say the least.

The thing that i've learned is that it is up to me to BUILD a structure into my life, born of consciously created habits that i learn and do automatically, which keep me progressing and handling business AND help me keep my head straight.

I've learned that the HABITS we have, are maybe THE most important factor for what we can achieve, and how successful we can be.

Basically, it takes about 21 days to form a new habit. After that, if done consistently, the new habit will be essentially installed and doing it will feel more natural than NOT doing it.

One of the most critical habits i've installed has been my Morning Ritual. Lots of people talk about the importance of having a consciously built routine that get's you ready for the day. The way you start the day often determines how the rest of it will go.

My morning ritual consists of several things that i do automatically and works for me, and i've found it to be a huge help in getting me ready for my day, and keeping me calm and in the flow.

So what i want you to do, is to take a few minutes and think about what habit you could INSTALL into your life, that would improve your life in some way, if done consistently over a long period of time.

Think small and realistic. Recognize that the single most important point is that you successfully DO IT and follow through. This is key for your confidence in yourself and after the first one, you will see how such a small thing, done consistently can make such a difference in one area.

I want you to get into the habit of consciously creating new habits every 21 days. Again, you are not trying to win some prize or train like rocky... Unless that's realistic for you... But you are going to be surprised at how much of a difference this will have on your learning and developing in areas you want to improve in.

Maybe you want to improve your finger speed on the guitar, and ultimately get better at soloing...

So you could set a 21 day habit to practice 20-30 minutes every day doing scales.

Again, you can't expect to just wake up one day and play like Hendrix, or Stevie Ray Vaughan... It's gradual improvement and consistency over time. And it all starts with the right habits.

I'm curious to hear what habits YOU have that you know you need to break, OR you know you need to create.

Comment and share with us, and better yet, post the commitment to start the new habit you describe, and why it's important that you do.

Be Brilliant,

Jamie

@jamieleger

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