We all have our own habits, both good and bad. 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?

 

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.

For years, my husband, Mike, has walked three or four miles a day. It was a practice I admired but only joined him in doing occasionally – until recently.

After watching some of my loved ones grapple with serious health issues this year, I made a commitment to myself: I would get up and walk every day. And it was not always easy to convince myself to lace up my sneakers and head out the door, especially in the beginning.

But something exciting has happened – going on my daily walks has become a habit! Walking is part of my daily routine now, just like responding to emails and returning phone calls and making the morning coffee.

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 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 a new 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.

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 the 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.

Another way to visualize your new habit is making a note for yourself and leaving it somewhere prominent. For example, if you want to make prospect calls every morning, leave a note on your computer to remind you not to check emails until your calls are made.

 

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 Good Habits.

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.

To go back to our initial 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 Coaching, I work one on one with entrepreneurs and sales professionals to develop the daily habits that will generate the results they seek THIS year.

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 still have it within your power to make 2023 a productive and prosperous year.

 

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Celeste Giordano’s mission is to help business owners develop the skills, knowledge and attitude necessary to “DoublePlus™” their income and become effective and inspirational leaders in their fields. Whether it’s taking your successful business to the next level or starting a new venture, she will teach you the exact skills and strategies you need to enroll more quality prospects, build a rock-solid team, and break through obstacles to achieve real profit and lasting success. Celeste is a professional business growth specialist, a master sales strategist, and dynamic speaker with more than 40 years experience in direct sales and managing high-performing teams.

To learn more about Celeste, click here.

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