The secret ingredient to Success

What makes successful people so successful? Talent? Hard work? Luck? Privileged circumstances…?

NO! It’s their ACTIONS! What they DO consistently and repeatedly! THEIR HABITS!!

There are many habits that separate successful people from the rest in their field. They have managed to develop certain habits of thinking, habits of being highly effective, and habits of how to approach people. This is the secret ingredient to success, the one thing that can make the difference between being ordinary and being extraordinary: cultivating the right habits.

Habits are powerful beyond what you might realise! They can help you to change or direct your behaviour. The trick is to make them work for you, instead of you becoming a slave to your habits! Unfortunately when we think about habits, we tend to view them negatively. Usually the first thing that comes to mind is all our “bad” habits we have accumulated over the years (don’t worry, I will not ask you to tell someone what they are)! We’ve all experienced how destructive bad habits can be. You have probably seen how it can lead to addictions and other destructive behaviours. Before you realise, bad habits can send you on a downward spiral that is hard to break…

So, it’s safe to say: Habits are powerful, and the real power lies in the fact that it turns any behaviour into an automatic action, something you don’t have to think about, you just do it!

Imagine for a second that all those painful little tasks such as washing the dishes or taking out the trash or calling sales clients or writing your weekly report could happen on autopilot… Effortless, without the ever present back and forward negotiation in your head on if you really want to and should…

Have you ever considered how our lives could change for the better if you could manage to harness this amazing power in a positive way? What if you could use habits to put you on an upward spiral, instead of leading you down? What if you could use habits constructively instead of destructively? What if you could develop habits that will lead to success and help us to stay true to your deepest inner values?

This is possible! This is what all successful people do! All of us have access to this incredible resource that so many successful people use. The GOOD news is that you can also start to apply this wonderful resource right NOW! Here are three steps to take to cultivate powerful habits:

1. Have a clear goal
If you want to consciously create positive habits, you will first need to know what your goals are. What do you want to achieve? Where do you want to be in 5 years..?

Write down very clearly what you would like to achieve, be or acquire, and use all the goal setting tools you know to make it as clear as possible. Write it in the present tense, e.g. I am an airplane pilot. Make sure it is positive; this means that you state what you want instead of what you don’t want.

Use the SMART goal criteria to help you make your dream into a goal:
Specific: write down exactly what you want.
Measurable: how will you know when you’ve achieved it?
Achievable: is it within your control to do it?
Realistic: given your resources, can it be done?
Time-bound: when will you do it?

After you have established clearly what you want, ask yourself WHY you want it. This will provide the motivation and drive for you to reach your goal and create the correct new habits. Make sure you have strong reasons.

2. Take small steps
In order to create powerful habits, you need to know what action steps are required! Think of your goal as the first floor in your house or apartment block. Your action plan would be the steps that would take you up to the first floor. List these smaller steps in precise detail! Remember that the smaller and more exact your action steps are, the bigger the chances are that you will follow through and do them. When you are clear about your small action steps, it will be a lot easier to form powerful habits. Small steps make a BIG difference! Try it!

3. Establish a routine
This is where habits are created. Now that you know where you want to be, as well as how to get there, list which positive actions you could take on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to support your action steps. For instance if your goal is to build excellent contacts through networking and one of your action steps is to attend networking events, you could create several habits that would support this action step.

Some examples:

• Every month you could look at all the upcoming networking events and book them, every week prior to the event you could look at the profiles of other attendees and decide who you need to speak to and
• Every morning after you’ve been to the event you could follow-up on your contacts by sending them an e-mail. You thus set up strong routines to support your action plan.

Eventually these routines will become automatic, part of the way you operate, and thus habits are born that will help you to reach your goals.

Consistently ask yourself what you could do on a regular basis that will help you to achieve your action steps. These regular habits will set you apart from the rest and will lead you to the success you would like to achieve!