Leadership Thought #326 – Daily Habits Make A Difference
Your habits end up defining you as a person.
A career and life are just a series of interconnected days. Success comes about by developing constructive daily habits. Most people tend to “wing it” instead of creating some sense of consistency and discipline in their lives. As a result, they regularly end up dealing with the consequences of undisciplined behavior. Sure, some people get lucky, but this is a small number and not a good life strategy. I’ve observed the following successful behaviors in my clients, colleagues, and friends:
- Get up and go to bed around the same time every day during the workweek to ensure you get enough sleep.
- Wake up early to get a good jump on the day – avoid rushing around early in the morning.
- Do your best to eat healthily whenever possible.
- Do some level of physical exercise every day – stay fit.
- Start your day by planning it and identifying specific action items.
- Only check your email/voicemail a few set times a day—don’t become addicted to instantaneous reviews or responses.
- Try having at least one business development conversation/meeting every day.
- Spend 15 to 20 minutes walking around the four corners of the office and interacting with your colleagues and employees.
- Briefly check in with direct reports every morning with a more substantial conversation on a weekly basis.
- Whenever you touch a piece of paper, deal with it, file it, or forget it.
- Commit to daily reading of materials relevant to your industry/business/position.
- If you have a family, establish healthy, consistent boundaries regarding when you will be home and committed to the family.
- When you are at work, focus on work; when you are not at work, focus on something else.
- Look for an opportunity to do something nice for someone else close to you, either personally or professionally.
- Keep a journal and spend a few minutes at the end of your day debriefing your day.
How would you evaluate the way you spend your days? How many of these items could you check off? Do you feel in control of your days, or are they controlling you? Don’t bite off more than you can chew all at once, but slowly add these habits over time, and I believe you will end up pleased with the results.
Related articles
- How to harness bad habits to help your career (cbsnews.com)
- Willpower (mylittleblackpen.wordpress.com)
- Changing Habits (simplysaidbysaucy.com)
- 9 Habits of Highly Productive Leaders (lifehack.org)
- What are your Habits? (startupiceland.wordpress.com)
- How You Can Harness ‘The Power Of Habit’ (npr.org)
- 17 Habits For Prosperous Life 2012 (slideshare.net)
- We Are a Collection of Our Habits (ducttapemarketing.com)
