Habits: the key to success in life and business
Habits are an integral part of our daily lives. They shape our actions, influence our decisions and determine our successes. In terms of productivity, habits play a key role in both our personal and professional lives. In this article, we will look at how habits affect our lives and businesses, why it is important to acquire the right habits and how to form them effectively.
The Role of Habits in Life and Business
Habits are automatic actions that we perform without much thought. They save us time and energy, allowing us to focus on more demanding tasks. In everyday life, habits can affect our health, relationships and overall quality of life. For example, regular exercise can improve our wellbeing and health, and daily reading can develop our knowledge and skills.
In business, habits are equally important. Employees who are in the habit of being punctual, systematic and proactive are more efficient and perform better. For example, a manager who regularly schedules his tasks and monitors progress is better able to manage his team and achieve the organisation's goals.
Why is it important to acquire the right habits?
- Efficiency: good habits allow you to use your time and resources more efficiently. For example, the habit of planning your day on a daily basis can help you to better manage your responsibilities and avoid procrastination.
- Health: Health habits, such as regular exercise and a healthy diet, have a direct impact on our wellbeing and longevity. People who regularly exercise have more energy and are less prone to illness.
- Relationships: Communication habits, such as active listening and empathy, can improve our relationships with other people. For example, a habit of regular contact with loved ones can strengthen family and friendship bonds.
- Professional success: In business, habits such as punctuality, regularity and proactivity can lead to promotions and professional success. Employees who are in the habit of regularly improving their skills are more valuable to employers.
How to Form Habits
- Start with small steps: Making small, incremental changes is more effective than trying to change everything at once.
- Set specific goals: Clearly defined goals help monitor progress and keep you motivated.
- Create routines: Regularity is key to forming habits.
- Monitor progress: Tracking your progress can be motivating.
- Reward yourself: Small rewards for achieving goals can increase motivation.
- Find support: Support from family and friends can help you maintain your new habits.
- Avoid temptation: Try to avoid situations that can lead to breaking a new habit.
- Be patient: Forming habits takes time and patience.
- Prioritise: Focus on the most important habits that have the greatest impact on your life.
- Use reminders: Reminders can help you maintain your new habits.
- Find motivation: Find reasons why you want to introduce a new habit.
- Be consistent: Regularity is the key to success.
- Set realistic goals: Goals should be achievable and realistic.
- Find inspiration: Look for inspiration in books, articles and other people's stories.
- Set an action plan: An action plan will help you achieve your goals.
- Be flexible: Be willing to adjust your plans if something is not working.
- Learn from mistakes: Mistakes are part of the learning process.
- Find the right tools: Tools such as time management apps can help you form habits.
- Set rewards: Rewards can be motivating.
- Find a habit partner: A habit partner can help keep you motivated.
- Be aware of your habits: Being aware of your habits is key to changing them.
- Set a schedule: A schedule will help you maintain regularity.
- Find time for reflection: Reflecting on your progress can help you stay motivated.
- Be persistent: Persistence is the key to success.
- Use TargetNavigator
Forming habits is a process that requires determination but is also rich in the satisfaction of achievement. According to research, on average, it takes about 66 days for a new action to become a habit. This number may seem large, but it hides the key to success - consistency and regularity.
A habit is not just an action that we perform frequently, but more importantly a behaviour that becomes automatic after the occurrence of a specific stimulus. This means that it is not enough to perform an action repeatedly; it must be closely linked to a specific trigger in order to move into the subconscious realm. For example, if you immediately take the plates to the dishwasher after every meal, over time this action will become automatic.
It is worth remembering that everyone is different and the time it takes to form a habit can vary. Some may take as little as 18 days, others as long as 254 days, according to a study by the University of London. This shows that flexibility and patience are just as important as determination.
Reward is also a key element to motivate repeated action. Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, distinguishes between the three components of a habit: stimulus, routine and reward. It is the reward that makes our brain begin to perceive the repeated action as valuable and worthy of being perpetuated.
The inspiring thing is that everyone has the power within themselves to shape their habits and thus steer their lives in the desired direction. It's a process that can start with a small step, such as deciding to read a book before bed every day. Over time, this one change can bring an avalanche of positive effects in other areas of life.
How to develop habits with TargetNavigator
In TargetNavigator, we use sun-shaped cards to shape habits. Of course, any shape can be used.
One card represents a single action that we want to make into a habit. We create 66 such cards by following the previous instructions. It is possible to create more, even 254, but we do not recommend reducing the number of cards below 66. If you manage to implement the habit after, for example, 30 repetitions, then moving on will become a natural formality. If, however, after 30 times, we do not manage to 'get into the habit', we risk abandoning it. So we have created 66 cards, numbered, with the name of the habit.
The first habit to implement might be to use 'TargetNavigator'.
Routines help to form habits. We call them rituals. Such a ritual might be, for example, as soon as you enter the office, make coffee and start up, to open the TargetNavigator board to review to-do tasks, add new ones and set their order on the 'Today' circle. The habit cards are dealt with in the same way as the other tasks. After the ritual of reviewing the tasks, establishing the order on the Today circles, we put 1 habit card into the 'Done' circle.
If necessary, the title on the habit card can sound more specific, such as "Set Up Tasks Today around 9 AM." or "Review TargetNavigator at 8:30 AM." You could also create 2-3 consecutive series of habits, along the lines of "Review TargetNavigator at 11AM", then somewhere in the middle of the afternoon and finally "Review TargetNavigator at X:00PM" - close to the time at which we customarily finish work.
In our example, every tenth card is a different colour. Placing such a card in the 'Done' pile entitles us to award ourselves a prize. What this reward might be - let's determine for ourselves.
Using the above habit formation scheme, we can introduce new, desirable behaviours. For example, to improve health and well-being, we can form the habit of practising yoga in the morning or meditating in the evening. To improve relationships with loved ones, for example, we can form the habit of having daily 20-minute conversations with them. It will only be up to us to shape our destiny with habits, according to a Quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi:
"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become YOUR WORDS.
Keep your words positive because your words become YOUR BEHAVIOR
Keep your behaviour positive because your behaviour becomes YOUR HABITS
Keep your habits positive because your habits become YOUR VALUES
Keep your values positive because your values become YOUR DESTINY".
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