The problem with habits

…. they actually work😲

The problems with habits, is they actually work. Image Source.

I’m living proof of that this year, as Q1 begins to wind down.

I made a point in Q1 of trying to create the systems/processes that will help me thrive — and help me with the new business ideas I’m pursuing. And while all the snow days, COVID days and other bumps along the way in Q1 haven’t made it easy, I know that when I feel my best, it’s when I’m sticking to my systems/habits (and they work!)

A lot of the conversation around habits was inspired by a two-part @brenebrown @jamesclear podcast — Part I and Part II — that I’ve now listened too a dozen times.

You may find some of these takeaway lessons I wrote down and review often, valuable too:

• 💥 Your habits can either build you up or cut you down

• 💥 Your current habits deliver your current results

• 💥 Habits compound over time. Consistency > intensity, not the other way around

• 💥 Identity based habits — what habits does the person I want to be, have? Every action we take is like a vote for the person we want to become. Habits reinforce the type of person your being. You embody the identify of that person with your habits. Their (your habits) are casting votes for the story you’re telling yourself

• 💥You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.

• 💥 Focus on building a system rather then try to achieve a goal or outcome. You can influence the outcome, you can’t control the outcome. Goals for one time wins. Systems are for people who want to win repeatedly.

• 💥 Your system is a collection of your daily habits. Process oriented > goal oriented

• 💥 If you have an idea you can’t execute on, it’s just a dream. If you have an idea that you can draw a plan for, then you have a great idea and you just need patience and consistency.

• 💥 Habits don’t restrict freedom, they create it