Time to Get In the Habit
Did you make a promise to yourself a little over five months ago? If you’re like the majority, I can safely assume you did, whether it was to exercise more, quit smoking, read more, work more, or work less. Have you kept this promise?
If you struggle year after year to accomplish your goals, I can point you to the solution. After reading Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, I realized how to become unstoppable in any aspect of life simply by changing a few routines.
I know that often when we fail to succeed, it’s because we haven’t created habits that override other less helpful or downright destructive habits.
I have had an especially destructive habit I’ve tried to kick multiple times: I fret, worry, and ruminate over unpleasant events of my past. This damaging behavioral pattern often paralyzes me and stops me from achieving flow and moving forward. This unhealthy habit takes a toll on my confidence and happiness. But it won’t anymore.
“Our life so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits— practical, emotional, and intellectual…bearing us irresistibly toward our destiny” as William James wrote. Everything is dependent on our ability to choose our habits. When you read The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, you become in command of picking your destiny.
This investigative work is backed by scientific research and includes a guide to understanding the vital role habits play in businesses, societies and our lives. There are many specific examples ranging from Michael Phelps’ habitual preparation that lead him to win Olympic gold medals, 20th century marketers that forever changed consumer habits, and the insight that Febreze and Target have had to maintain their success.” Other examples illustrate how positive habits naturally follow after only shifting focus. This was the case for the companies Alcoa and Starbucks.
You can be one step closer to sticking with the right habits; habits to get you to be where you’d like in life. Self-reflection only goes so far, having the ammunition that is delivered in this book will educate and empower you to take action and become the person you’ve always wanted to be.
The scientific information about habits and their formation will give you the ability to unlock unlimited potential, creating a better you. You will free yourself from rituals that hold you back. Based on knowing the psychology of the cue-action-reward sequence or the “habit loop,” I am no longer imprisoned by my negative meditations on the past. I live more in the moment and better recognize opportunities that have created a more vibrant present. A few small changes have rewired me to enjoy my life more, and I know that anyone is capable of following Duhigg’s suggestions to optimize their lives. Once you read and follow Duhigg’s research-based advice, you will slay your villainous bad habits and create lasting, productive habits.
