Have you ever encountered someone in your business or in life that when challenged to do something new or a bit different than the way they’ve always done it, will respond with the statement- I already know that?
Sometimes after a really great meal I’m offered a high calorie, sugary dessert. While I “know” I should probably pass on this, I order it anyway.
Have you ever told yourself “I really should get to the gym or get some exercise today” but instead lay on the couch all day, binging on a Netflix series with a bag of chips? We “know” that exercise and staying healthy are important, but we avoid it anyway.
Knowing then, simply isn’t enough. We can know just about everything we need to, but if we are unwilling to take action and actually put what we know into practice, then knowing is just another trivial piece of knowledge we store in our brains.
Think about all the information you can recite on que when asked about it, but much like those random facts we somehow can recall during a game of Jeopardy or trivial pursuit we aren’t using the information for anything meaningful.
I “know” for a fact that if I choose to start my day with fresh cup of coffee, get in some sort or exercise and then sit down and write for an hour that my day will start exactly the way I want it to. I will be energized and feel as though I can accomplish anything else that comes my way during the day. Yet for some reason there are still days where I choose to jump on my email, or social media or some other low value task that starts my day off on the wrong foot.
Why would I do that? Why would I knowingly do something that isn’t good for me? Somewhere along the line we all started accepting the idea that “knowing is half the battle” and what I’ve learned is that knowing isn’t even close to being one quarter of the battle.
Sometimes knowing actually hinders the battle as it brings in feelings of guilt, failure and despair because we know we aren’t doing something we probably should be doing. Since we are emotional creatures and our internal hard wiring causes us to avoid pain, we can start to create a habit of avoiding the things we “know” we should be doing and just like that we’ve created a habit that leads us down the path to nowhere.
The good news is that we have this amazing thing and it costs us nothing. It’s called CHOICE. When we start to make choices that we “know” are good for us, we start to remember that we actually have some CONTROL over our outcomes and daily experiences. As we exert this control, we develop good feelings towards our good choices and voila- just like that we’ve now created a new habit that is more in line with where we want to go and the person we know we can become.
Sounds easy, right? But in the real world creating new and productive habits is much harder. If you plan to create these new habits, do yourself a favor and identity some people to help hold you accountable to your new commitments. This work is hard enough even with support from others, and virtually impossible if you plan to go it alone.
A wise man once said. “Successful people have simply made it a habit to do those things that other aren’t willing to do”
Know that you are the sum of your habits. Start identifying those things that you “know” create success for you in your business and in your life. Write them down and schedule them into your daily routines. Start small “One Quarter Turn” and build your momentum as you start to see the success of your behaviors. Avoid getting discouraged when things don’t work out perfectly the first time, stay focused and most importantly remember…
Knowing something and taking action are two very different things. Decide today to do what you know creates your success, commit to the process and allow the universe to conspire towards your desired outcomes.
Cheers to you, your health, your habits and your success…
One Quarter Turn at a Time
Thoughts for the week:
Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going. – Jim Rohn
Practice isn’t the thing you do once you are good, it’s the thing you do that makes you good. -Malcolm Gladwell
Bad habits are easy to develop and hard to live with. Good habits are hard to develop and easy to live with. – Unknown
It’s the small habits- How you spend you mornings. How you talk to yourself. What you read and what you watch. Who you share you energy with. Who has access to you. That will change your life. – Michael Tonge
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