If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude. – Colin Powell
Have you ever thought about the habits that you have? Most people don’t and I can say for a long time that I didn’t. How important are habits, they are the key to changing your life. They can help you become a better person, a better spouse, father, employee or boss. The opposite is also true. Your habits could be keeping you in the same place. The habits that you have now may have gotten you a comfortable life, but they also may be keeping you in that comfort. Habits are very important.
My Writing Habit
There have been a couple of times where I have tried to form a new habit with my writing. It’s on my heart to write two books this year. I know that to get those accomplished I need to actually sit down and write. One thing that I’ve learned is that I need a daily writing habit. My goal is writing 500 words a day. That is why most of my articles are right around that length.
The reason that my books aren’t completed is because I haven’t been consistent in my writing. I have a morning routine and have written about the importance of a writing routine, but I still haven’t stuck to it lately. These ups and downs with my writing habit do show me the importance of habits.
Want to know how important habits are? Here are some stats
The Importance of Habits
- Almost half of the actions you perform each day are habits.
- Habits are powerful because of neurological cravings.
- When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making
- The automatization of your actions free up energy that can be used focus to other tasks.
- Take control over your habits: Your brain can’t tell the difference between bad and good habits.
The general rule is that it takes 21 Days to start a new habit. The struggle for most of us , myself included, is that we can do good for a couple of days and then it just takes one day to mess up everything and we feel like we have to start all over again.
21 Days to a new Habit...what's holding you back Click To TweetHabits are vitally important to us. From the above list, we can see how much of what we do is based on habits.
How often do you think about the route that you take to work? Do you think about the route when you take the kids to school? What about the start of your work day?
The good news is that we can change our habits. We can improve and go from where we are to where we want to be. It’s not about changing the big things in our lives but about changing the things we do on a daily basis.