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“Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the
unlocked door to failure.”
― Og Mandino

We all have habits. Some habits serve us and some habits sabotage our success. Some habits we are aware of and some habits we are unconscious of. Habits are often referred to as a settled practice or tendency in the way you do things. It is your usual way of behaving. It can be as simple as your morning routine or your night time rituals. Many of the habits you have developed you do not even notice until the results or impact start to show up. When things are going great, you feel good. If things are not going so great, you may start to realize that something needs to change.

There is no sense pointing your fingers at others blaming and complaining about why you got the outcome you received.  Don’t even attempt to come up with excuses. You need to start looking at how you are responsible for your results and making a change. What is working? What is not working? What do you need to stop doing? What do you need to start doing?

What makes a habit good or bad? Look at your outcomes. Bad habits are those actions or inactions you take, a negative pattern of behaviour, that do not serve you. Examples of bad habits are procrastination, overspending, gossiping, interrupting conversations, mindless eating, watching excessive amount of TV, staying up late and not getting enough sleep, skipping breakfast, and being short tempered and being reactive in situations. Good habits are those habits you have put in place to support you in achieving what you want to achieve. You plan, prepare, and execute. You work from a budget. You speak well about yourself and others. You actively listen and ask thoughtful questions. You eat to fuel your body. You limit your TV watching and use the time to read or get exercise. You ensure you get enough sleep to function well and you do not skip any meals. Before reacting to situations, stop and recognize how you are feel. You take a deep breath and wait a few minutes until you have calmed down to respond. In the meantime, you may be asking questions to gather more information so you can understand the nature of the issue or concern at hand. When you are angry or upset, your brain does not think rationally. It goes into a protective mode and shut down rational thought leaving you in a reactive survival mode.

What habits are serving you? What habits are sabotaging your success? Are you getting in your own way?

Here are more habits that can be impacting your success:

Being late to meetings	Not being prepared	Skipping the gym
Using your cellphone in bed	Checking your cellphone compulsively	Forgetting names
Breaking promises to yourself and others	Spending too much time online	Saying “yes” to everything
Criticism – negative self-talk	Rearranging instead of decluttering	Misplacing your keys
Blaming or Complaining	Binge watching Netflix	Borrowing and not returning things
Finishing people’s sentences	Being a workaholic	Emotional shopping

Changing a habit takes time. It is not an overnight fix. Many of the habits you have, have developed over time. The easiest habits to break or change are the ones that have the least meaning to you.

Ask yourself the following questions:

What is one change that would make the biggest difference right now?

Are you ready to make the change?

What is it costing you to not make the change?

What do you need to put in place to ensure the change is successful?

How motivated are you to make the change?

Why is this making this change important to you?

How confident are you that you can make the change?

What would make you more confident?

What are the barriers in the way of making this change?

What can you do to eliminate or navigate those barriers?

What benefit will you gain from changing this habit?

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Rohn

Everything around you is a result of your habits. The every day choices you make. If you want to make a change stick, you will want to put reminders in place such as sticky notes with reminders written on them or setting a phone alarm. Experts say it takes 21 days to create a new habit, I say go for at least 30 days to help it really stick. You are creating new pathways in the brain embedding your new habit. Remember to help make it stick to reward yourself. The reward can be simply acknowledging your smallest win to purchasing an outfit or going to a game or show. It is all the small changes that you do that will make the biggest difference.

You want to start choosing new habits that will support the achievement of your goals. Print off a 30-day calendar to track your progress. Start with small changes. They are more believable and you are more likely to follow through. Let’s say you want to declutter a room. The thought of it seems decluttering the whole room feels over whelming and would take hours. Can you spend 15-30 minutes each day for the next week decluttering the room? Sounds doable, doesn’t it? What you measure gets managed. Changing a habit requires consistent action. If you fall of track, simply get back on the next day. The more you work the plan, the greater success you will have.

Let the habits you put in place serve you!

I would love to hear about how you have changed some of your habits and achieved success.

We would love to have you subscribe to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get us free MP3 download 10 Surefire Strategies to Power Up Your Productivity and Performance. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com

Keywords: good habits, bad habits, change a habit, routines, success habits, changing a bad habit, stop limiting yourself, simple ways to change habits