You don’t need to be the best, the smartest, the most intelligent, the most talented to be successful.
The key to being successful at any given thing is in the amount of time you invest into learning and developing your skill.
In his book “The Compound Effect”, Darren Hardy explains this concept as “the principle of reaping huge rewards from consistently taking small, seemingly insignificant actions over a long period of time”. This is echoed in Kaufman’s 20 hour rule whereby “a person can learn any new skill by dedicating 20 hours of planned practice time to that skill.” Learning a new language, becoming a better leader, whatever your chosen skill is, dedicating time and effort will have a compounding effect over time.
Darren Hardy refers to his formula for success as; Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = Radical Difference.
The challenge here is that nothing provides instant gratification. In order to become really successful at something, the process involves discipline over time. THe process can be mundane, long and dull. And the compounding effects take a long time to be felt. Much like if you were investing a small amount of money consistently over a long period of time. It’s not as exciting as buying new shiny things, and does not give instant gratification, but over time, it is worth it and more satisfying, setting you up for greater success.
The process begins with making the right or wrong choices. Each choice you make initiates a certain behaviour which over time, turns into a habit. Bad habits usually stem from our want of instant gratification. So breaking those habits and creating positive ones takes discipline and is driven by having very strong goals. By envisioning what you want, where you see yourself, you are in a better position to create the behaviours and habits you need to reach them, and eliminate the ones that are holding you back. Outlining his definition of a goal, Hardy refers to this formula;
You → Choice (decision) + Behavior (Action) + Habit (repeated action) + Compounded (time) = Goals
So our choices and habits over time should be driven by our set goals. Which ought to be crystal clear.
Because our habits can be so ingrained in us, and can even be quite subconscious, it takes an enormous effort to change them for the better. It’s worth remembering that developing habits requires a lot of time and patience, as we have to change the neuro pathways in our brains in order to form new habits that become second nature. Here are some tips of breaking bad habits and forming good ones;
Eliminating Bad Habits
Here are five practical ways to help you eliminate bad habits:
- Recognise your triggers: List your bad habits and identify the specific triggers—who, what, where, and when—that prompt these behaviors.
- Declutter your environment: Remove anything from your surroundings that supports these habits, even if others may not agree with your actions.
- Replace with better options: Try to substitute or eliminate harmful habits by integrating healthier or less damaging alternatives.
- Take gradual steps: Work on dismantling your ingrained habits by making small, gradual changes over time.
- Commit fully: Alternatively, make a strong commitment to change multiple habits simultaneously to overhaul your lifestyle.
- Conduct a vice check: Every few months, challenge yourself by abstaining from a particular vice for thirty days to confirm that you still have control over it. If abstaining proves difficult, it might be a habit worth removing from your life.
Developing Good Habits
Here are six ways to build positive new habits:
- Create a supportive environment: Set up a positive atmosphere and lifestyle that fosters the development of your new behaviors.
- Focus on addition: Instead of eliminating negative actions, add positive behaviors to enrich your routine and replace the old habits.
- Public accountability: Share your new habits with friends, family, and coworkers to increase your accountability.
- Find an accountability partner: Partner with someone who can encourage you and work on building good habits together.
- Encourage friendly competition: Initiate a friendly competition among friends, family, or colleagues to track and improve a specific habit.
- Celebrate achievements: Reward yourself when you successfully maintain your habits for a week, month, or quarter to acknowledge your progress and keep motivated.
Do you make the choices and have the habits required to lead you to be successful and reach your goals? Have you set the right goals to achieve your personal best? I’d love to hear from you. If your leadership team could do with my help get in touch today,