Got a habit that is it holding you back from becoming your highest and best?
The highest-achieving and most successful entrepreneurs are also, generally speaking, successful in life. After all, building a successful business is a metaphor for building a successful life.
Habits are automatic mental short-cuts for rewarding ourselves, negatively or positively. James Clear says in his book Atomic Habits, breaking bad habits and creating better habits is a matter of rewiring the brain.
Clear’s book outlines the “habit loop” as a four-step sequence:
- Cue. A cue is a trigger that kicks off the bad habit. A cue indicates a reward is nearby. When we enter the living room and see the tv remote, we know that R&R is a click away.
- Craving. This is the feeling of relief that results when we click the remote and plop onto the sofa.
- Response. This is the easy thought or action that results in a reward. If something is hard to do, we don’t easily do it. Picking up the tv remote is simple – and then we find ourselves mindlessly watching tv.
- Reward. The reward satisfies the craving and shows us what is worth repeating. After a long day, the relief that comes from relaxing on the sofa watching tv is worth repeating.
Or is it?!
Clear gives this prescription for breaking bad habits:
- Make it invisible. Remove the tv remote so you don’t see it in the living room.
- Make it unattractive. Turn the volume up so when you do turn on the tv, the volume is not a relief and does not reward the desire for R&R.
- Make it difficult. By removing the remote (and maybe rearranging the room or removing the tv altogether), make it difficult to associate the habit with the reward.
- Make it unsatisfying. Set the tv to a station that you dislike or that you would not associate with R&R. Make it hard to reward your craving.
This was an overview of breaking bad habits. To learn how to create good habits, pick up the book. It’s a best-seller and a great read!
At Executive on the Go, we love hearing your success stories! And we know that you are serious about being your best as a leader. Business is indeed a metaphor for successful living.
P.S. Speaking of good habits for a successful business, have you heard that we will soon launch a new service for business builders?! Follow us on our Facebook Page and learn more about the Accelerated Business Launch!