Habits set your course for success.

Our daily lives are interfused with individual habits. These habits influence the levels of success which we achieve in the long run, while at work, playing sports, or following a weight-loss plan. It sounds somehow over exaggerated, but take a closer look at the topic the connection becomes obvious.

Our lives are based on habits

Nearly 40 to 50% [1] of things which we do daily are not based on conscious decision making but on habits. These habits determine the first things that we do after getting up in the morning, where we buy our groceries, what we eat if we are practicing any sports, if we are punctual, thrifty, or if we are masters of procrastination.

Our brain wants to save energy

Reducing the number of decisions we make daily supports this tendency quite well. If you want to make a decision you would need to weigh different options. That’s tiring. It is much more convenient to order the same food in the restaurant over and over again or to make yourself comfortable on the sofa after work with some snacks while you flick through the TV channels.

One habit clears the path over time and it gets easier and easier to walk the way (practice the habit) without having to think about it. This can be either a good thing or a bad thing.

Success Habits create great momentum

The sum of numerous small daily decisions bears great momentousness: it can mean the difference between being overweight or in shape, having a successful carrier in sports or producing just average performances, as well as having more or less success in your job.

In which area would you like to achieve success? To reach your goal it is quite helpful to assess those of your habits which are connected to this part of your life. To put these habits under a microscope means to check whether they help you to succeed, or if they are the reasons why you are still waiting for your big break-through.

Changing one main habit can be the first step to your future success!

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Here are more habit-related articles from my site:

• Are we at the mercy of our habits?
• Some Habits are easier to change.
• 3 Incredible Strategies to finally lose Weight successfully (Part 1)
• Tiny habits to get back in shape (Part 2)
• Less sugar is the recipe for success (Tiny habits – Part 3)

Source:

[1] Bas Verplanken & Wendy Wood (2006): Interventions to Break and Create Consumer Habits“. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 25: No. 1, p. 90-103

Recommended Book:

DUHIGG, Charles (2013): The Power of Habit. Why we do what we do, and How to Change. Random Book House.

Here you can read more on my page about habits:

• Are we at the mercy of our habits?
• Some Habits are easier to change