What Went Right? You Changed a Habit!

In my last post, I introduced you to an exciting new idea: You can succeed at self-change this time because you succeeded before.

You need a bit of help this time. That's why you're reading this blog.

What Went Right?

You succeeded because of your great habits. No two ways about it. Successful people succeed because they are habitual. Physically fit people hit the gym habitually, accomplished musicians practice habitually, and million-dollar salespeople work their contacts habitually.

You succeeded because you did the right things over and over again. You were habitual, and it worked.

Now, because you're always growing, always becoming better, you have a new challenge. A new accomplishment beckons. Your success depends on getting a great new habit. It depends on becoming habitual. Maybe you want to be in better shape. If that's you, exercising must be habitual. Maybe you want to be promoted at work. If that's you, greater efficiency must be habitual. Maybe you want a more satisfying social life. If that's you, you need to be 'out there.' Habitually.

Habits are the most effective means for changing yourself because, by definition, they are highly ingrained behaviors that you perform almost automatically. If, like me, you get up early every morning to hit the gym, it doesn't matter how much sleep you had the night before, what your mood is, or what your dream before waking was. When you awake, you (groggily) grab your workout clothes and get on your way.

If you are a productive writer, you have a regularly scheduled time for writing. It doesn't matter what else is happening in your life, you know that you write at a certain time. When that time comes, you find yourself moving, almost without willing it, toward your word processor.

That's the power of habits. They do so much for you. Your job is to establish a new great habit that will get you the self-change that you want.

So, your first job: You need to pick a habit.

And, as we'll see in the next post, make sure that you pick just one . . .

Next Post: What Went Right? You Picked One (and only one!) Habit

For more from yours truly, visit me at My Bad Habits. I am also on Twitter.