Consistency is everything. But successful people aren't just consistent. They are persistently consistent. At first glance, this may sound redundant, but when you get into the challenge of being consistent at anything, you really start to feel just how persistence comes into play.
And this is where habits come in. The dictionary defines habits as:
"an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary: the habit of looking both ways before crossing the street."
In short, it's really, really hard to be persistently consistent at anything unless you turn those things into habits.
Sure you can get stuff done through will power, but every human being has a limited supply of will power, so you cannot depend on will power in the long run. Eventually it will run out and you'll fall into the dead end trap of waiting till you "feel like it." We need good habits to carry us through.
So I have "bad" news and good news. The "bad" news is that building a good habit can be really challenging. The good news is that it takes only 21 days for your brain to accept and implement a new habit - a new, automatic mode of operation. In other words, after 21 days, it won't hurt anymore!
But there's one thing you need to remember. 21 days means 21 days straight. No breaks. Studies have shown that if you even take a day off from practicing your habit, you have to go back to the beginning and start from day 1 again. Your brain knows you're cheating and won't settle for anything less than 21 "perfect" days.
Successful people will tell you that you are only a few key habits away from living a successful life. Now that's a pretty significant piece of information and I plan on taking it very seriously!!!
So, identify your "success habits" and let's get to work implementing one at a time.
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