Building Habits

​This year, the topic of habits is getting significant focus. Books from authors like James Clear and his Atomic Habits book, along with older ones from writers like Gretchen Rubin – Better than Before, and Charles Duhigg, the Power of Habits, each take a deep dive into the topic.

When I went to write Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack, I wanted to encapsulate some of the practical exercises I had been doing with individuals, teams and groups for many years. As I write in Coaching Business Builder,

“Habits and practices are things we do automatically, sometimes unconsciously, because they have come so ingrained. There are many schools of thought that create a link between habits and success. That habits lead to success.”

As the tagline in the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack asserts:
Daily Steps + Consistent Action = Momentum

Habits play a key role in shaping our regular actions. Habits are things we do automatically, and if we are able to instill regular go-to activities that can help us move forward, it can support automation of tasks and activities.

Habit development takes place over time. While the commonly held time-frame a decade ago was that habits took about 21 days to form, today we know that many take longer than that. Lally’s research has been influential in expanding that window to approximately 66 days to a new habit. Check out James Clear’s article on this and other research.

Habits are connected to our behaviors and therefore results. It’s our regular behaviors which shape the results we get. As my doctor recently asserted, my regular habit of walking more than 12,500 steps, along with other factors has helped to lower my cholesterol and blood pressure in the last couple of years. While they were not at a danger zone they were in the higher zone.

Another one of the habits I have built in over the last few years has been around work flow. My Mondays and Thursdays are full, long days, which does free up some time on either Wednesday or Thursday for blocks of writing and other creative pursuits. As an author, and writer, finding these times are critical for reflection and creation.

This year, take a look at the goals you have set for yourself. What are the results you are looking for? Increased sales, new programs, building your network? Work backwards and reverse engineer what are the behaviors you are going to need to undertake on a regular basis?
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As you consider your current goals and priorities:

1. What will help you be successful this year?
2. What are the habits that are going to help you?
3. What are the regular activities you want to build into your work?
4. What are the consistent behaviors and actions you want to or need to undertake to move you towards your goals?
5. What could amplify, or magnify, your regular behaviors?
6. What's missing that could make a difference?
7. What consistent flow do you want to get into?

Enjoy your thinking around habits and perhaps you will also pick up a resource.
For more on this topic, check out these posts from other writers:

• 7 Steps to Developing a New Habit – Bryan Tracy 
• Three Steps of Habit Change - James Clear
• Zenhabit’s Cheat Sheet – 29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior 

While each author has their own framework, notice what is consistent across them.
 
Enjoy the reflection and action!
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019),  Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon
Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues.
Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326
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