success habits Archives - Debra Kasowski

EPISODE 174 – Repetition Leads to Mastery

September 21, 2018 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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“Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.” Earl Nightingale

Success and failure are both habits. Ninety-seven percent of what we do is by spontaneous habit. People can get frustrated with repeating the same practices over and over. They may get bored. They may think there is no room for spontaneity. Their minds do not excited after repeated exposure to content or activity yet repetition is a necessity. Repetition is the mother of skill which leads to mastery.

If you want to develop success habits, you must repeat, practice, and develop your skills and a new way of thinking to develop new neuropathways in the brain. If you don’t practice, you will never master anything. Practice involves deliberate repetition.

What Does Repetition Do?

Repetition helps you master new skills and develop your abilities. You will improve in your speed and your confidence will increase. You strengthen connections in your brain. Repetition emphasizes key points. It helps you transition a skill from the conscious to the subconscious mind. Think of the first time you drove a car. Your focus and concentration were very deliberate in how you place your hands on the wheel, shoulder checked, or stepped on the gas. After years of driving, you probably do not give it much thought anymore. When you first start out doing things, they make seem awkward and uneasy but as you practice and rehearse – everything becomes easier. Repetition solidifies information in order to keep it in your memory for recall when you need it. Over time like an athlete, you will develop an intuitive understanding. A keen ability to feel how you are performing on any given day and what you need to do to sharpen your skills.

“An action by itself is insignificant but an action repeated every day is life-changing.”
― Avina Celeste

How Do You Get Passed Boredom?

Boredom can result from feeling empty, not challenged, limited attention span, or a lack of interest in activities around you. Your boredom may be attributed to taking things in life for granted. You need more. You want more. Boredom can be a wake-up call that you need to shake things up.

When things get routine and you get bored, your dopamine levels drop. Dopamine is a chemical messenger in the brain that increases when we are excited about and anticipates new situations. We crave excitement to increase this chemical in our brains.

Explore Your Boredom. Why are you bored? What can you do to increase excitement? Expand your learning on a subject? Can you make a game out of your repetition? Are you procrastinating from getting things done? Are you lacking motivation or inspiration to take consistent action? Stop over thinking about all the reasons you may be bored. Don’t force yourself to do something. Find a way to spice up your routine and energize the repetition involved. Challenge yourself to do new things – take up a new hobby. Travel – explore new lands and cultures. Expand your way of thinking. Sometimes it is best to allow yourself to be bored. Learning how to be versus “do” can be a good thing. Write in a journal and express your thoughts and share your story. The same things that raise your vibration will decrease your boredom.

You can continue on your path to mastery through practice and repetition. You expand your level of knowledge by finding YouTube videos, articles, podcasts, and books to stimulate your brain and have you asking more questions on the subject you what to master. You will be increasing your dopamine levels and start getting excited about your path to mastery.

“Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex.” – Norman Vincent Peale

What success habit are you wanting master right now?

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 my just release FREE e-book about the 21 Habits High Achievers Kick to Achieve Success. 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 e-book download today! www.debrakasowski.com

EPISODE 157 – Discipline Gets a Bad Rap

May 23, 2018 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn

When building success habits, you probably don’t think about the discipline it takes to achieve what you want to. Discipline paired with desire and intention are what get results. You must have the desire and drive to go after what you want. You also need to take intentional action to get to the result you desire. In order to do so, you create a plan to achieve and you work the plan. This is where discipline comes into play.

Discipline is a game changer. It builds consistency. People often give discipline a bad rap because they see discipline as constraining or regimented. They will say, “This is not the military.” No, it may not be. Navy Seals get results and now teach leadership? To achieve a goal, you require discipline and effort to get to what you want. I saw a post that resonates with me on Instagram – “If it was easy, it would not make you proud.” You are most proud of the things you earned and worked towards.

Discipline is an activity or experience that provides mental or physical training. You are training yourself physically and mentally to build the stamina to get results and face challenges in your way. Discipline helps you make deliberate choices rather than be steered by your emotions at any given moment or bad habits to create a satisfying life.

Great things happen for those who are disciplined. You get things done!!! When you are disciplined, you are focused on what needs to get done and you do it. You are respected by others and often have self-control. You are confident. Not only do you get more done, you have more time in your day but you have less stress. You actually avoid problems by staying healthy and physically active.

Where people steer away from discipline, is when they steer away from results and focus on penalties of giving up the things they enjoy – desserts, greasy or fast foods, Netflix binges, daily lattes, and shopping sprees. They often feel that they are giving up fun and relaxation. It no longer becomes fun when you obsess over it. You need to shift your focus and reframe into the rewards you are seeking.

Would you rather get things done OR wonder when they are going to get done?

It takes discipline to…

Build an empire
Pay off debt
Climb the corporate ladder
Speak impeccably about yourself and others
Track your finances
Train for a road race
Create a marketing campaign
Declutter your desk or home

You may have your own list. Before you see discipline as limiting, ensure you are no holding yourself back from getting the results you want and desire. Short term sacrifice and structure for long-term sustainable gains…sounds like quite the toss-up to me…NOT!

Discipline is where IT IS AT! Focus on the rewards!

EPISODE 142 – Consistency Wins

December 6, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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“When you look at people who are successful, you will find that they aren’t the people who are motivated, but have consistency in their motivation.” Arsene Wenger

One of the greatest lessons in success is the attribute of consistency. It may seem like a simple concept because it is. Small actions taken every day can lead you to your destination. When you are consistent, the rewards are amazing! Being consistent takes intentional focus and action.

Why Be Consistent?

Being consistent in the way you do things set expectations. People know what to expect from you. You are clear on what you expect from yourself. When you are consistent in your parenting, your children know what to expect from you. They do not have you yelling one minute and giving them the silent treatment the next. If you run a business, people have expectations around the quality of product, program, or service you deliver. For example, when you go to a restaurant and order your favourite dish, you expect the same taste and quality you the next time you order the dish. It sets a standard. It establishes a sense of trust and dependability. Consistency sets the stage.

People can get caught up in the “how” of being consistent and beat themselves up when they are not. Consistency is something you need to consciously practice and do. When you mess up, own it, apologize and set things right. Get back on track by going back to a standard that works! If it works, why break it! Consistency needs to exist in thoughts, actions, and purpose.

It does not matter what your goal, being consistent is the way to achieving your goals. You need to start somewhere and you need to take one step at a time to get there.

#1 Define Your Compelling Vision – YOUR WHY?

Know why your goal is important to you. What will it give you or what will it do should you achieve it? When you know your “why”, you will continue to push through any challenges because you have a clear vision of what your outcome will achieve once you get there.

#2 Decide What You Want

Be clear about what it is that you want to achieve. The more clarity you have the more intentional you can be with your actions.

#3 Make A Plan and Make It Manageable

What does it take to achieve your goal? You want to increase the revenue in your business. Great by how much? Start with setting a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely). If you are going to increase your revenue, how much do you ant to increase it by and when? Ask yourself, “Is this goal and time frame achievable and realistic?” If not, adjust the goal so it is attainable but stretches you a bit to grow. Now, break your goal into smaller manageable pieces. Let’s say you want to increase your revenue in the next 6 weeks by $3000. What do you need to do to make $500/week? How many products or services would you need to sell and at what price? Suppose you want to work 5 days giving yourself 2 days off a week. You will want to make $100 a day.

$3000/6 weeks = $500/week

$500/5 days = $100/day

What actions must you take to get there? Apply the actions consistently and you will win! Make the plan, work the plan. Consistency wins!

#4 Accountability Makes a Difference

Find someone a friend or mentor or hire a coach to hold you accountable to follow through on the actions you need to take to get the results. You are less likely to fall off the wagon. If you do fall off, learn from it and get into the habit of being consistent with your actions again. Adjust the course as you go!

#5 Stay Motivated

The key to being consistent has to do with knowing your why and measuring your wins. If you are not acknowledging your successes or wins along the way, you do not recognize the growth of who you have become in the process. The biggest regret would be quitting due to not having a strong enough WHY to keep you going so you can celebrate success.

Consistency can lead to seeing results sooner rather than later. Whether it be consistent with door knocking or social media posts, your consistency will pay off. Out of sight out of mind. It is better to be top of mind so they can contact you or refer you to others.

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson

What do you do to maintain consistency?

Please share in detail support and inspire others.

Episode 103 – Habits: Serving or Sabotaging Your Success

June 8, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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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!

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