As Ops Bosses, we are used to being the integrators – the ones who execute the vision. We make things happen. It’s how we’re wired. It’s what we do. In order to go where we want to go and do what we want to do, it’s important to step back and ask ourselves who we need to BE first.
There’s a LOT that goes into who we need to be. Habits are one small – yet very powerful – ingredient. Think of how a squeeze of lemon flavors lemonade. Without lemon, it’s just sugar water. Lemonade’s identity comes from the lemon. Likewise with habits, YOUR habits determine who YOU are. Who YOU are determines everything else.
What habit can you put in place that will make everything easier or unnecessary? (That’s a variation of the focusing question from the book The One Thing, which we highly recommend.) The list of possibilities is endless. There’s no right or wrong answer. There’s just what’s right for YOU.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
• Develop an attitude of gratitude – journal daily. Gratitude is the highest form of energy.
• Bring value to each person you come in contact with. You either take energy or give energy from people. Learn to be an energy giver. Giving doesn’t deplete your energy, it actually raises it.
• Pray/meditate before you start the day.
• Look at your annual goals when you start your work day and at the end of your work day.
• Exercise 5 times a week.
• Get 7-8 hours of quality sleep.
• Hug 3 people before each day ends.
• Make your bed daily.
• Plan & pay for next year’s vacation by Dec 31st this year.
• Write down your goals and plot the activities on your calendar weekly.
• Practice Minimalism – Marie Kondo your closet, your house, your office, your life. KISS.
• Create a morning routine.
• Give something up (coffee, gossip, dessert).
• Make someone’s day by 10AM – do random acts of kindness or call someone you love and tell them how you appreciate them.
• Read 15 minutes a day.
• Disconnect from your phone an hour a day or one day a week.
• Eat the frog – do your most important task first every day.
• Drink water as soon as you wake up.
• Journal daily – what was your “moment closest to Christ”, when were you “Christ’s hands & feet” today, or where did you “see Christ in others”?
• Establish a nighttime routine – today’s success starts yesterday.
• Implement “10 minute treats” – ten minutes a day to work on something “fun” (doodle, create a spreadsheet, film a video, color, journal, create a meme).
• Do affirmations each morning (we recommend the app “Think Up”).
• Ask more questions than you answer each day.
• Always take the stairs.
• Respond to all invitations with: I’ll check my calendar and get back to you. That way you can be more purposeful about how you spend your time instead of being caught in the moment and feeling like you have to say “yes” to everything.
• Send one handwritten thank you note daily.
• Text one family member or close friend each morning.
• If you don’t have the money to pay for it now, don’t buy it.
• Talk to yourself the way you talk to your friends. If you wouldn’t say it to your friends, don’t say it to yourself.
• Time block. Time block working “on the business” and working “in the business”. Time block family time, vacations, “me time” and anything else that is a priority BEFORE you time block business time.
• Make a rule: No phone/laptop/tablet/iPad in bed.
• Respond instead of react.
• Do something that scares you every day. Make stepping outside your comfort zone a daily habit.
So what habit are YOU going to work on today?
(If you’d like to have more conversation around creating habits for success, you should know this is just one of the things we talk about in coaching. We’d love to chat more about how we can help you reach your goals! Schedule a FREE exploratory call.)