WHAT WILL YOU STOP DOING NEXT YEAR?
If bad habits were easy to change, we would have so much more success. Unfortunately, that is not the case. In fact, bad habits and bad behaviors are the biggest obstacles to success in business. We need to be spending more time on attitudes and behaviors and at least as much time as we spend on developing skills and knowledge.
Are there some habits or behaviors that you hope to eliminate next year? It is good to eliminate bad habits but be committed to working on it.
If bad habits were easy to change, we would have so much more success. Unfortunately, that is not the case. In fact, bad habits and bad behaviors are the biggest obstacles to success in business. We need to be spending more time on attitudes and behaviors and at least as much time as we spend on developing skills and knowledge. That is because most employee terminations and business failures occur because of habits and behaviors.
If any of you have ever done an assessment with a coach or you have had a developmental assessment for your job you probably saw a section on the worksheet that is titled “I will stop doing…” If you are doing things that are harmful to your business, why do you keep doing them? In most cases we are in a comfort zone and we don’t want to change because making any change will be uncomfortable. However, when we set up a goal achievement plan, we will need to stop doing some things and begin doing others.
First, start by looking at your activities that have produced little or nothing and may have kept you from doing more productive things. How do you spend your day? You could start by doing a time matrix outlining how you spent every hour in a given day. Now look at how much time was wasted and how many important things did not get done?
When you set goals but you will need to eliminate some harmful behaviors in order to achieve your goals. You may enjoy those behaviors but, of course, you remember that someone once told you there is no gain without pain. But who can be in pain all the time? You need to create a new comfort zone or new normal. Here is how:
- Recognize that your attitudes and habits you currently hold give you some level of satisfaction.
- Ask yourself why you have the bad habit and what comfort or pleasure you receive from having that habit.
- Substitute a new pleasure or comfort for changing that habit.
Let’s say you have a habit of coming into the office, getting coffee, chatting with others, reading emails and then you discover half the day is gone. You are used to that and it is a comfortable part of your day. But now it is almost afternoon and you are fretting about your scheduled the work that has not been done or the appointments that have not been made. Now substitute the pleasure of spending time at the end of the day doing what you want with the pleasure of knowing that you finished all those projects and knowing that you have a full appointment calendar. What will less stress about unfinished work do for you? What will additional sales which will come from full appointments do for your lifestyle? Before long, you have a new productive habit and you and that will be your new normal.
You will have eliminated bad habits and increased your success. For a similar post on our web site see IT IS NOT THAT EASY TO ELIMINATE THOSE BAD HABITS.
Are you interested in eliminating your bad habits?
or call 914-953-4458.
Business Coach - Strategic Plans - Sales and Marketing Coach
Grant Schneider - Leadership and Business Coach Creating Successful Business Outcomes
President Performance Development Strategies
- Business Performance and Strategic Business Plans
- Organizational Effectiveness
- Time Effectiveness and Organization
914-953-4458, Armonk NY 10504 grant@pdstrategies.com
Visit my website www.pdstrategies.com for information on how you can obtain quantum leaps in your business performance.
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