Do you ever skip those nagging things you know you need to do, and then blame yourself for being lazy?

If I know one thing about entrepreneurs, it’s that you are not lazy.

And yet, you don’t do important things like backing up your data despite understanding that losing key documents could damage your business. Or you check Facebook again instead of working on the budget. Or you skip your morning workout, intending to go later, but you never get to the gym as the day wears on.

So if you’re not lazy, what’s behind these stumbling blocks to success? Habits.

We all have our own habits. While one habit alone may have little impact, the collection of our habits creates patterns that directly and dramatically impact our successes or lack thereof.

It’s important to ask yourself: Are my daily habits setting me up for success? Will they help or hold me back from achieving my goals?

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

Successful entrepreneurs understand the critical importance of their daily habits.

Even more importantly, they know that their habits aren’t set in stone. You can break bad habits – even habits that feel like second nature – and replace them with productive habits you never thought you could master.

Often, the difference in time, effort, and mental energy it takes to break a bad habit depends on the power of the emotion behind your choice.

You likely know someone who kept a bad habit for many decades but changed it very quickly at the advice of a doctor. When life itself is on the line, the emotional impact is so strong that they immediately make major changes to improve their physical health.

On the other hand, small changes such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, eating dinner across the table from your spouse instead of in front of the television, or putting down your phone and enjoying the present moment don’t carry the same emotional importance. But those simple habits can improve the quality of your life.

So how can you develop simple, productive habits – and ditch your destructive habits – in order to reach your weekly, monthly, and annual goals?

Here are 7 practical tips to form these healthy habits for your business and your life.

1. Make a Choice and a Routine.

First and foremost, you have to make a clear, conscious choice, preferably recorded in writing, to adopt the habit on a daily basis.

Once you’ve decided to start a new habit, create a routine that makes it a reality.

For instance, let’s say your goal is to send an email to your prospects list at least once each week. Mark the time it will take to write it on your calendar every Monday morning. When you sit down at your desk on Mondays, don’t take up another task – even checking emails or voicemails – until you’ve written your weekly prospects email and set it up to send.

2. Don’t Give Yourself An Out.

One way to ensure your new habit sticks is to tell yourself there are no exceptions or excuses anytime, for any reason. Don’t let your mood or schedule impact your commitment to sticking to your habit.

Discipline yourself to perform the actions you chose to adopt. Repeat the behavior long enough and it will become second nature.

3. Make it Public.

Another strategy that will help you stay on course is telling someone you trust, such as an accountability partner with business expertise, about your plan to adopt the habit, as we talked about last week.

With the example above of your weekly prospects email, let them know you’ll be contacting them every Monday. Because you conduct your business with integrity, you won’t want to let down your prospects by neglecting to email them.

4. Picture Your Way to Success.

Visualization is a powerful tool that will help you stick to your new habit. Visualize yourself performing each of action steps that comprise the habit. The more you do this, the more your subconscious mind accepts it and it becomes easier to consistently perform those steps.

5. Speak Your Way to Success.

Words have tremendous power. When you create a positive affirmation and repeat it again and again, you accelerate the speed with which you adopt your desired habit.

Experts say it takes about 21 days to make or break an average habit, whether you want to kick-start your day by tackling your most difficult task, listen to educational business podcasts in your car instead of tuning into the radio, or get to bed before 11pm. With the right affirmation and sufficient repetition, you boost your ability to make it stick.

6. Commit to Staying the Course.

This strategy seems obvious, but it isn’t easy to stay on track. We have bad habits for a reason! Creating positive and productive habits requires resolve.

Commit to staying on track even when the going gets tough and you’ll eventually feel “off kilter” if ever you skip out on the responsibility you took upon yourself.

7. Celebrate

When you stick to performing your new behavior, it’s important to reward yourself. This will reinforce the behavior at an unconscious level, as you begin to associate pleasure with the behavior itself.

For example, after you successfully send your weekly prospects email before responding to your emails or checking Facebook, take a short break to indulge in a cup of your favorite gourmet coffee. Soon, Monday mornings will be your favorite part of the week!

At Celeste Giordano Consulting, I work one-on-one with entrepreneurs and sales professionals to develop the daily habits that will generate the RESULTS they seek.

If destructive habits or a lack of positive habits are holding you back from reaching your goals, it’s time to make a change. With the right habits, you can make 2019 a productive and prosperous year.