Goals Gone Wild December 15, 2006

The Force of Habit

Matthew Poepsel, LeftBrain/Co-Founder

Last week, we reached a major milestone by publishing our 100th issue of Goals Gone Wild. (Hooray!) To celebrate, we held a star-studded event at the Kennedy Center, including an amusing performance by Jessica Simpson. (Man, what a night.)

Okay, so that's not entirely true.

Dolly's tribute at Kennedy may have been a bit larger than our chosen celebration. (A high five over guacamole dip.) But we did take the opportunity to recognize the achievement. You see, it takes a fair amount of time and energy to brainstorm, edit, and produce the column week after week. Yet every week we do so happily, thinking of you and your success.

Over the past two years, several people have marveled at the greuling schedule of a weekly publication. That volume bucks the conventional wisdom. Experts like Michael Katz at Blue Penguin Development recommend monthly publishing schedules. In some cases, authors are urged to consider publishing bi-weekly, bi-monthly, or every two weeks. (Why are those all the same thing, anyway?)

Still, a weekly schedule seems natural for us. Matters of personal and professional success are hugely important, so we think that a weekly dose of THRIVE! is the right choice. With that aggressive goal in mind, it was immediately clear what we needed to do to succeed.

Success requires regularly exercising personal discipline and constructive habits.

Aristotle may have skipped Dolly's party, but he did share some powerful words of wisdom centuries ago when he wrote, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." When you develop strong self-discipline and the consistent execution of routines, it's a powerful way of putting your success on auto-pilot.

Have you ever wondered if there were a handy listing of the most helpful "Personal Success Habits"? If there were, you could just read the list and consider exercising these habits in your own life. (Man, that would be swell.)

Hey, wait a minute! I just happen to have such a list right here. My recommended list of Personal Success Habits urges you to:

Set life goals (yearly) - Take a step back and examine the big picture including your personal values and those things you'd like to accomplish in your life. These things don't change very often, but you should take the time to consider them annually just to make sure you know where you're going and that you're staying on track.

Reach out to key contacts (monthly) - Don't buy into the "self-made myth". No one who has accomplished anything worthwhile in life has done so entirely on their own. Stay in regular contact with family, friends, co-workers, and community leaders who want to see you succeed. You can take pride in the fact that you're willing to ask for their help and are prepared to offer your help in return.

Review your progress against your goals (weekly) - Develop a regular habit of keeping score. This simple act reinforces the central importance of your goals and helps you make adjustments along the way. More frustration comes from a lack of tangible progress than from external roadblocks.

Create an action plan (daily) - Don't start a day without a clear idea of what you'd like to accomplish and how you will make progress toward your goals. This is one area where size doesn't matter - any amount of accomplishment will keep the wind in your sails. Without a clear plan, your daily activities may prevent you from getting ahead. You'll be very busy but quickly moving sideways. (Not fun.)

Affirm your goals (thrice daily) - Read your goal statements morning, noon, and night. Let them serve as a constant reminder of what you've determined is important in your life. These subtle reminders are an incredibly big bang for the buck. This small investment will simply change your life if you will let it.

Affirm your ability to succeed (constantly) - Every chance you get, develop the confidence that you will succeed. By creating a constant stream of positive messages, you'll quickly develop a winning attitude. You'll be a lot of fun to be around, and you'll see a change in your ability to make progress toward your goals as a result.

Now, you may be wondering if I do all of these things all of the time. Admittedly I don't do them all as well as I would like. But if you ask me if I believe you and I will be more successful in life if we do, then my answer is an emphatic "Heck, yeah!"

So what do you say we give it a try and find out for ourselves? Let's resolve to make these types of habits a regular part of our pursuit of a better tomorrow. There's no doubt that constructive habits lead to successful outcomes, so let's make them work for us. (Can I get a "Heck, yeah!"?)

And if you need a reminder about the positive outcome of habits, we'll see you here again next week. (And the week after that.)

email: contact@icanthrive.com

web: http://www.icanthrive.com