We are creatures of habit. We live our lives mostly by the habits we have developed.
Have you ever left work intending to stop by the store on your way home and completely forgot? Did you just go home the same way as usual and didn’t think about the store once you were on the road? I know I have.
We are also forgetful people. This world is getting faster and faster, with more information overload. The demands on our time and thoughts is constantly increasing. Have you ever left one room going to another, to get or do something, and when you got to the second room you couldn’t remember why you were there? I know I have.
We all need help with these and other challenges. With reminders of the steps we want to take on the path to Pursue Great!, In all you do, hopefully reminders will help us create good habits by walking on the correct path.
Some have said it takes twenty-one days to create a new habit. Others have said it takes longer. What I know is that to create new habits it takes consistent focus and discipline.
It also takes being reminded. Because we are forgetful we need reminding of what our goals are and how to go about achieving them. After a while these new habits become second nature. They will become “Who we are.”
Of course, the choice is yours. Changing the way you communicate; the way you speak and the way you listen is not easy. You have been sliding into the habits of communicating you currently own a little bit at a time over twenty, thirty, forty or more years. The cables that now shackle you once started as innocent, un-noticed threads. With practice they became stronger and stronger until they took over your behavior. Now it takes concentrated, focused, consistent and intentional effort to unwind these cables of your habits.
Strange things about our minds. It takes repetition to create a habit and to improve. That is why even the professionals in the NFL have training camp, practice and coaches. They have been playing football all their lives. They should know how by now. But, that’s not the way it works for us humans. We have to push to excel. There is no status quo.
Push yourself. Be disciplined. The reward is worth the pain.