Category Archives: setting and tracking goals

Your Habits Will Make or Break You: The Definitive Guide To Success

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Welcome back everyone!  I have been very busy the last couple of months and have put writing on the back burner.

Yesterday (8/7/2011) I finished up my self proclaimed “28 Day Challenge”.

markRockwellRunning Your Habits Will Make or Break You: The Definitive Guide To Success

Mark Rockwell

This challenge was basically me training for the Kelly LeBare 5K Race. Roughly 28 days ago my long time friend Mark Rockwell challenged me on Facebook to compete in this race.  He is having a fantastic journey, (click on his name above and READ it. It’s a true story of guts and determination!) and has motivated me to step out of my physical comfort zone to shock my system. (It couldn’t have come at a better time!)

Stepping out of your comfort zone

I have never been a big time runner, and my view of running was something you did to train for wrestling. Short sprints, and running to failure and exhaustion was the basis of running. Sure, I ran 5Ks during the triathlons I competed in, but I never took running seriously, and never trained consistently at it.  This was going to be a major shift in my physical paradigm, and really required a different way of thinking from me.  (Thus the shift in comfort zone).

SMART goals are not as smart as your habits.

Along with this 28 day challenge I decided to try a mental challenge as well.  I realized there is a correlation to achieving goals and forming supporting habits.  Now, this is by no means a new idea and the goal setting “experts” have been talking about habits and goals for quite some time.  I believe these experts just delivered the idea in the wrong order. I think the traditional concept of SMART goal setting is too complicated and clunky to be successful.  In addition to the “clunkyness”, I feel it assumes that once the idea and the steps are identified, it will be done on shear “WILL”.  Willpower is an exhaustible resource in my eyes because forcing yourself to do something will eventually return less and less positive results as time goes on.  (Think New Years Resolutions!)  I believe cultivating the habits that will support your goal pursuit are far more effective than any super complicated goal achievement plan.

Worry about perfecting only after you get started!

So I decided to put my theory to the test by creating a 28 day challenge.  I did not spend any time planning or structuring it.  I just started doing whatever felt right and adjusted my course to fit my needs.  I basically made it up as I went along and here is what I discovered.

Habits are solely the greatest tool you can cultivate in order to achieve success!

I have been fighting a losing battle to an addiction to tobacco for the majority of my life. Addictions are basically habits coupled with physical dependence.  I wanted to put the theory of using a habit to change a habit to the test and decided to consciously quit nicotine and replace it with exercise by linking both habits in my mind and tracking the results daily.

Parallel to my “habit for habit” theory, I began testing another habit theory based on task

list Your Habits Will Make or Break You: The Definitive Guide To Success

My Daily List

planning.  Have you ever heard the saying, “Plan your work and work you plan”?  If not, it’s extremely powerful to spend a few minutes planning out your day in advance.  By planning I mean figuring out the most important tasks that move you further in your life’s goals.  I know we all have daily tasks that require our attention, but many end up making those the bulk of their day and never make the important “moving forward” tasks a priority. According to Anthony Robbins, ”Most people fail in life because they major in minor things.”

Every morning I woke up, just after brewing my morning coffee, I would sit down and write down my daily task list.  At first, I had to consciously remind myself to do this, to put pen to paper and “think about the important stuff”. Luckily is was very easy to do, and it was fun for me to do it (I am a notorious list maker by nature).  After about 6-7 days I realized that instinctively I was reaching for my list without even thinking about it.  I became very excited that a positive habit could take hold so quickly.  I attribute the success to a couple of factors:

  1. Consistent, daily practice of the habit:  I did it directly after making my coffee (also a habit) and…
  2. I would reward myself by checking that off the list every day.  (Habit forming should be part of your daily list of tasks to do.
Every time I wrote that habit on my daily list it would add strength to that habit.  I guess it was a visious cycle that keeps feeding on itself.
For the nicotine habit and the running habit, I treated them the same way as the list habit. Each morning I would write these two tasks at the bottom of my list:
  • No Nicotine
  • Run
I also consciously linked the two in hopes of replacing the nicotine habit with a running habit.  It was a major success, as the craving from nicotine began to subside over a couple of days, and a craving for running began to grow.  After around 6-7 days I no longer craved nicotine and the craving for running became almost overwhelming. So much so that I feared getting an injury from progressing so quickly.

After the second full week of my daily list habit, I felt I needed a “recap”, a review of my progress, so I decided to incorporate a weekly review/look ahead habit.  This habit has been quick to develop because I think it “piggy backs” the list habit and gets absorbed and included.  (Piggy backing may be another strategy that I am going to experiment with). The reviews allow me to track my progress, and it sparks ideas for the future.  It essentially gets me to plan the future by recalling what I finished in the past.  While reviewing and planning, I can begin to see if any future habits will need to be created, or quite possibly eliminating bad habits I already possess.

I can safely say that 28 days later I have developed 4 distinct positive habits that, although in infancy stage and require daily conditioning, are indeed on auto-pilot and support the behaviors I will need to succeed in any goal I decide to pursue.

In summary, when your goal has been decided on:

  1. Begin by working from a list every day. (First and greatest habit in my opinion, and will support any goal you have in life!)
  2. Determine what habits (unconscious behavior) will best support your goals.  If you have bad habits (smoking, drinking, junk food), consciously replace that habit with a healthy positive habit (running, walking, biking).  All you have to do is mentally tell yourself, “I want to replace smoking with running, and tell yourself that every time you find yourself craving a smoke, or you decide to feel like running.
  3. Write those habits on your daily list, and cross them off every time you complete them. (Don’t forget to include the “list habit” as well!)
  4. Create the weekly review/look ahead habit and do it once a week.
  5. Most of all enjoy the progress, and the challenge.  Also remember to focus on the big picture and if you hick-up one day acknowledge it, blow it off and move on. These are lifelong habits and one day here and there are not going to destroy the grand scheme of things.
Be good,
Gerry

 

 

Your Habits Will Make or Break You: The Definitive Guide To Success

One Key Ingredient That Is A Necessity In Setting And Achieving Your Goals!

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Image by angietorres via Flickr

While doing some research, I stumbled upon an interview with a few wealthy individuals called “Conversations With Millionaires.  It was basically one man interviewing several millionaires about how they walk, talk, think, and act.

One interview really blew me away, and I had a major paradigm shift.  Since I was focusing on researching for my goals ebook, I was tuned into anything on the subject matter.  During this specific interview, the interviewed millionaire was talking about goal setting and what worked for him.  He spoke about the beginning of his journey, and how he had found a mentor to help him.  His mentor had told him to create a goal of being a “millionaire”, but not to create it to be rich like one, but to create it to develop the character of a millionaire.  That very thought was extremely huge to me, and I began to think about goal setting in a different perspective.  If you establish your goals with this mindset, of developing the character first, the results will come automatically.  That’s a huge paradigm shift.

So that began to get my mind rolling, and I started thinking about my character, and the character I need to develop to achieve my goals.  After some intense reflection I developed seven principles that I need to follow in order to achieve all of the goals I have set.  Now keep in mind, these principles are a very basic, boiled down set of rules that apply across all of the goals I have set.  I in no way telling you that these are life principles that everybody should adopt.

  1. Flexibility: If the weight becomes too intense for an Oak tree, its hardwood will eventually crack under the pressure.  A flexible bamboo tree will bend under the pressure and spring back stronger than before.  I will bend, but won’t break, and spring back stronger than before!
  2. Lead By Example:I cannot expect other people in my life to do what I am not willing to do myself.
  3. Focus: When I pick a direction, I need to focus on staying focused.  ”Your focus needs more focus.”- Jackie Chan, The Karate Kid
  4. “So What!”: A slogan the Navy SEALS instructors use when they hear a cadet make excuses.  No one cares about your excuse, all that matters is results.  The reason for success and failure does not matter, only the end result.  Whenever I feel like quitting, or the pressure is building, those two little words, “So What!”, real me back in and gets me refocused quickly.
  5. Tackle Problems When They’re Small: It’s easier to kill a monster when it’s small.  I am developing the habit of recognizing small problems that left unchecked could result in larger problems, and slaying them up front.
  6. Recognizing Breakthroughs Are Just On The Other Side Of Great Resistance: I am developing an acute sense of recognizing my ruts and plateaus in order to realize that a major breakthrough is just around the corner.  With this awareness I focus on my plan and stick to my guns knowing that I am on the verge of breakthrough.
  7. Be Like Water: This is a characteristic of Tao that talks of “flowing”, both in mind and body.  Allowing thoughts and actions to come and go naturally, and not be “stuck” on any one thing.  Water can take the shape of any container, can permeate the hardest of materials, and is the life blood of all living things.

What life principles do you need to create in order to achieve your goals?  Let me know in the comments section, as I want everyone to reach their goals.

One Key Ingredient That Is A Necessity In Setting And Achieving Your Goals!

Risk assessment and return on investments

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A lot has transpired the last few weeks.  While training I jammed my neck and herniated a disk between my shoulder blades and pinching a nerve.  The pain and numbness in my hand and elbow brought my training to a screeching halt.  I became pretty frustrated at first, but over the last couple weeks I have started to think about “risk assessment” and “return on investments” and how I subconsciously apply them to my goals.

  • “Return on Investments” or ROI is a business term usually targeted to invested money or capital.  I tend to use it quite regularly in life as well.  If you think about it, what is our greatest commodity?  What is the one thing we never have enough of?  I believe it to be time.  Once it’s gone, it’s gone never to be made up and many sacrifice it without thought.
  • “Risk Assessment” is another business term I use a lot in life situations.  Risk Assessment forces forward thinking to learn exactly what the reward is, when it will be delivered and is it greater than the initial investment?  Basically it’s asking the question, “If I do this certain action, when can I expect to see results and will they be greater than what I put in?”

I have begun to evaluate my goal of a debut cage fight in MMA next July.  This injury triggered me to think about the risk and ROI.

  • The risk: I am a husband and a father of 3 children and I am the sole financial provider.  My career as a commercial electrician is very physical.  What will happen if I become seriously injured and cannot work?  How will we live?
    • The Investment:
      • Spend many hours at the gym training, and possibly sacrifice my body with nagging injuries that are inherent with this type of sport.
      • Spending more time away from my family and missing my children grow up.
    • The ROI:
      • Adding a new reference to the belief that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to.

Since I also believe that there are countless other ways to stretch my belief system, and the investment and the risk far exceed the return, then I think the wise choice for me is to bail on the goal and find another avenue to achieve the same results.  Plus, as a matter of fact I think I had a distorted view that somehow being a “fighter” would impress other people as well.  I am not here to impress others, as the ones who are truly my friends and family will always support me in anything I do.

One last thing to keep in mind is that logic must sometimes give way to heart.  Many have pursued dreams that defy all logic and make absolutely no sense at all.  These “feel” type goals that come straight from the heart are immeasurable in ROI and ignore even the greatest of risks.  These types of goals MUST be followed and completed because if not, the regrets they bring will haunt you for eternity.  With that said, my heart was never really invested in my goal of fighting anyway.