“We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”  Aristotle

 

Habits are formed in 21 days . . . so I am told.  What are your habits?  What do you want your habits to be?

 

If I reflect on my dad’s life there were two habits that rose above the rest – they were really quite powerful.  The daily walk and the noon time nap.  These were apart of my dad’s entire life.  I can hardly think of a day that he missed.

 

If a person can create a habit that is a compound-habit, wow, this can be incredibly powerful.  A compound-habit is something that you want to accomplish, but it is a large amount of work.  The idea is to do a “little every day,” or every other, so that the large amount of work is slowly getting smaller.

 

Typical mountains that compound-habits love to tackle:

 

• Mountain of debt
• Mountain of weight
• Mountain of home improvement
• Mountain of a book to write
• Mountain of money to save
• Mountain of maintaining a lot of relationships

 

“A little each day.”  You already know these things, as do I, but for the sake of being inspired –

 

• A person that pays off a debt a little each month will get there eventually.
• A person who sets the goal of losing 1 pound a week will be 52 pounds lighter by year’s end.
• A person who tackles a home project – 3 hours every Saturday will eventually finish.
• A person who writes 4 pages per week on a book will have a 208 page manuscript by year’s end.
• A person who saves $500 per month will have $6000 ready for something in a year.
• A person who writes letters, texts, calls, and emails with a daily strategy can maintain hundreds of relationships.

 

What is it that you would like to accomplish this summer?  You have July and August still to be lived out.  This is a week to prepare and 60 days to live out!  What habits are you wanting to form, and more importantly, what compound-habits are you wanting to live out this summer?

 

There are many things that you want to achieve that are neither art or science, but purely discipline.  Disciplines are formed by practice, and practice is developed by habits.  I am so impressed right now with a couple of my friends.

 

One of them I was with last week and he has lost a great deal of weight. He did it by developing the habit of no sugar.  (Or, a lot less sugar than normal.)  I saw him two months ago and then last week.  He is a visual reminder of how powerful it is to string 60 days together of a new habit.

 

Another friend sent an email about a year ago saying, “A book is coming.”  Last month I received that book in the mail.  This happened because he did a little each day toward his goal.  Now, he gets to enjoy the fruit of his labor and his new title – Author!

 

What do you want to see in your life next month, this fall, by 2014, or one year from today?

 

Take some time to write them down, and then, the one or two that are really important you will want to come up with a daily/weekly game plan for.  This is where a life coach could come in for sure – here is a reminder of that process.

 

https://ericscofield.com/2012/09/11/5-things-a-life-coach-did-for-me-andcouldforyou/

 

Hope you have a great week!  Hope you take some time to reflect on some new habits you want in your life.  I am going to do just that today . . . after I take my morning walk!

 

Eric