Today we are going to look at another factor regarding success. We know that persistence and discipline are key. So let’s take a quick peek at habits as this pertains to persistence and discipline.
So success is about persistence. And persistence is about having good habits. I think Stephen Covey was on to something when he wrote the book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. A must read.
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
Jim Rohn
You already know how difficult it is to stay continually motivated, particularly during difficult times and when it appears that no progress is being made. As a business owner, I can not tell you how many times over the years I wanted to just give up. I wanted to just get rid of it, to just not have to deal with it any longer.
In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precedeth all others is – I will form good habits and become their slave.
Og Mandino
You must rely upon your self-discipline and developing habits you can count on (and trust in) to continue down the path toward your dreams and goals. You have to know the efforts of today will most likely not be seen for a long time. Priscilla Shirer tells about taking on the mundane task of finding the donkey that leads you to your destiny – 1 Samuel 9:3 niv.
Last year I had a goal of losing 30 lbs. The first six months I just tried to make it happen by half way eating right and working out when I could. That got me to about 10 lbs of my goal over 6 months. As you can tell by my words there was not much discipline, I did not make any habits of what I was doing.
But July 1 I put a rigid routine in place for both eating (counting to the gram my macros) and working out (4 mornings a week and 4 evenings a week). In the next 3 months I lost 20 lbs – half the time and twice the results of the first 6 months.
I was persistent and disciplined with my routine. I formed good habits. Wash, rinse, repeat. Then do it all over again the next day. As my friend Chris would say, “How bad do you want it?”
God’s word talks about our focus (habits). You literally have to change your mindset. Create a new or different way of thinking. Create habits. I love the Message Bible transliteration of the following verse:
Romans 12:2
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
And I can’t help but use the strict training verse as it goes straight to the heart of creating a habit and the discipline of following it (strict training):
I Corinthians 9:24-25 The Message Bible
You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.
Challenge of the day: Be confident in who you are, in whose you are. Form good habits and become their slave. Trust that your daily habits are leading you closer to your dream, whether it seems like it, feels like it, sounds like it or not! So be it.
