I love my habits and routines as much as anyone. In fact, the consistency of some of my habits is a big factor in the success I have had in my life. Some of the structure I have in place even gives me a lot of comfort when things get hectic. However, at times the routine can get too routine. Have you ever felt this way?
Building a solid foundation of consistent habits is key to long-term success in business and in life. You are not getting into shape by going to the gym or eating well one day a week. Same thing with business. If you want to build a sustainable business, one good week or one good month, or one good year for that matter, isn’t going to do it. You have to put the structure in place to deliver results on a constant basis or you will be on a never ending rollercoaster ride that won’t end well.
So great, we can just do the same thing day after day and be successful, right. Nope. One habit we need to be successful is the habit of breaking our habits. There is no habit that I can think of that will last forever. Even if we eat well and get exercise regularly, we need to change it up from time to time. If we eat the same thing and do the same workout all of the time eventually our bodies will adapt to that and we won’t see the results we saw when we first started. This is true for all our habits. What leads to success today will most likely change over time.
So, how do we know when we need to make a change? For me, there are two ways this tends to happen. Sometimes I start feeling it. Meaning, the habit that used to feel great now feels like drudgery. Our reaction here is often to push through this feeling. That mindset works for a short amount of time, but it is not sustainable. What is happening here is that our intuition is telling us it is time for something new. Often it can be something in the same general category, but slightly different. For instance, still working out, but changing the type of workout. Even changing the time of a weekly meeting or changing the structure of that meeting. So, I have learned that when I start feeling this way I need to start exploring a bit to find something new, but maybe not drastically new.
The second way I discover and incorporate changes into my habits is to make sure I am doing non-routine activities. This can be small, like taking an evening walk along a different path that you haven’t gone before or driving a different way to work. Or, it can be bigger like taking a trip somewhere new. I know it sounds a little silly to say driving a different way to work breaks you out of a routine, but even minor changes can have a big impact on our thought process. Anything new in our routine is literally creating new neural pathways in our brain. The smallest change can trigger something bigger. The trick is that we have to be open to the changes as they start appearing.
One Small Step
What is feeling too routine right now? I know there is something. Really, think about it for a minute. This month find one routine that is not working for you and try something different. It might be a workout routine, a standing meeting you have, what you are eating for breakfast. If it doesn’t feel right what is the harm of trying something different? You may be surprised how much creativity can come from a small change.
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Thanks for reading!