We all know success doesn’t have a specific definition. Everyone defines it in their own way in life. Habits decide a person’s future and thus lead to success or failure. The success of accomplishing the task, the success of executing, the success of achieving expected results, or the opposite depends on consistency, the right strategy, and the right approach.
When I used to lead my life with my old behaviors, I got those kinds of old results. My approach to life was carelessness, old-fashioned, and indifferent. As a result, I got outputs as given old inputs. Those same habits and beliefs took me to where I deserved to be—in actual failure, in my health, study, career, and relationships. When I started to identify each wrong habit and slowly replaced them, I got new results that led me to the success of my life. One cannot make pizza by following a hamburger recipe; a pizza recipe will lead you to make pizza. Habits define a person. An athlete won’t be a junk food eater because their habits involve eating healthy, following nutritionists’ advice, learning more about healthy food, and adding nutrient-rich foods to their diet.
What are habits?
Habits are the repetitive behaviors of a person. They are the result of conscious and unconscious beliefs. Current habits create future results. There are good and bad habits. For instance, daily consumption of smoking, drugs, and alcohol are bad habits. Following a good diet, eating nutrients, and avoiding junk foods are part of good habits.
How do they help you?
Habits are the determinants of life. They help people achieve their goals: the goal of fitness, the goal of a good relationship, the goal of a successful career, and the goal of good results. Every well-established person is defined by their habits. If you see Bill Gates, he always carries books with him, retaining his reading habit and increasing his intellectual capacity. You can achieve your life goals by replacing bad habits. List the habits that bring the same results you want to replace.
Importance of process:
Results are determined by taking actions. Old actions will not bring new results. For example, if you want to improve concentration, using social media for 8 hours will not help you. You have to replace that time with mindful activities to improve concentration. Process determines the outcome. If you follow the right process, you will get right results. Start small and stay consistent with the tiny habits you build for future success. Bring small changes in your everyday life towards good. If you want to be fit, then walking for 10 minutes would be the first tiny step you take towards your fitness goal. The bigger your dream, the smaller the steps, the bigger the results will become.
Identity based habits:
First, imagine what kind of person you want to be, then visualize yourself as that person and doing daily activities that the person would do. Imagine yourself as punctual, a fitness freak, confident, focused, and intellectual one. Now, do all the activities that such a person would do. Punctual people don’t get late to any meetings; fitness freaks don’t grab any junk food; focused people don’t scroll on phone unnecessarily; intellectual people dedicate a part of their day to learning something.
Celebrate small wins:
You must appreciate yourself for small wins. When I completed my 15-day goal of waking up early, I treated myself a snack at the park and say to myself, “Bravo, you did it!” I make a fist and say, “Yes, I am superb.” These small wins will fuel you to keep going and enjoy the process, whatever the outcome will be. No one has seen the future, so enjoy your wins. If you think you will only celebrate once you reached your goal, then your mind will perceive the process as hard and assume that success is not achievable. Your mind will put you under stress, make you abandon the habit. Progress equals happiness. So, give importance to it.
Habit stacking:
Keep adding new habits to existing ones. If you want to build a habit of morning walk, then you must stack it with an existing one. For example, if you wake up early, keep your shoes beside your bed before sleeping. When you wake up, you can wear them and go for a walk. New habits can be built with existing ones by stacking them. But building two habits at the same time will be tough. You cannot build the habit of waking up early and going for a walk simultaneously; after some days, you will find it difficult and go back to your old habits.
How to stay focused and increase focus:
We plan big and get motivated with the plan, but after some days, we go back to our old life and lose motivation. Why does this happen? It’s because we feel overwhelmed by trying to accomplish the goal at once with big steps. But big steps don’t bring the expected results; smaller steps do. One step at a time will make us reach our destination, as the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Staying motivated requires keep going along with the plan and reach the destination. Small steps at a time, celebrating wins, and tracking habits will keep us motivated.
Power of group and community:
Having a group with common goals helps one stay on track. A person who has drunkard friends won’t help him to leave alcohol. He has to change his group of friends and join a new group where people are health-conscious and practice fitness.
The role of the environment:
The role of the environment is significant in our lives. Problems created in the environment won’t be solved there; one must get out of that environment to solve them. Some people look for a beautiful place, but smart people make it. You can create your best environment; it’s in your hands. You will become the person you want to be in 5 years based on the type of people, books, and social media content you spend your time with. Les Brown often says OQP is the essence of life, meaning “only quality people.” Cut off those who are not bringing any good impact into your life.
The role of motivation:
If you are motivated by a speaker or a person with the same goals, it will not last long. There are two parts of motivation: one is pain, and two is pleasure. Your mind doesn’t feel the future. You are aware that if you continue smoking, one day you will suffer from lung cancer. That’s why you have to bring the feeling into the present. Try to imagine you are suffering from lung cancer, the situation is getting worse, and it’s putting you in the grave. This pain will prevent you from smoking. Now feel the pleasure that your life has become beautiful, with a longer lifeline because of the step of leaving smoking. Get yourself aware of the pain. You know that bad habits and bad friends are not easy to avoid, but you will do this tough task to enjoy the outcome. Every athlete hates every moment of exercise and doesn’t like eating only vegetables, salads, and boiled foods. But they know that the result of a fit body is beautiful. That’s why they keep themselves on it.
Begin with the end in mind:
Start your first step by visualizing the end in your mind. How do you expect the end to be? Have a clear structure in your mind. If you can see it, you can do it. If you want to graduate with a 4.0 GPA, then imagine your report card score and how happy you are! and sharing the news with friends and family. Start your study with the end picture in your mind.
Life is never easy, so the changes we want to make will not be either. These are a few steps to build habits. These are not the ultimate; there can be others, but the core ones are here. Implement these in your life and modify them according to your situation and enjoy the process. Best wishes.
Some wise minded people’s perception on habit:
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle
“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.” — Samuel Johnson
“Successful people are simply those with successful habits.” — Brian Tracy
“Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.” — Benjamin Franklin
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” — Jim Rohn
