We have all made New Year’s resolutions, and we have all broken them (usually before January 2nd). But have you ever heard of a Before New Year’s Resolution?
Psychologists tell us that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Today is January 8th and there are 24 days left in 2010. If this Saturday, December 11th, you started doing something every day it would be a habit by January 1st. This means that you have 2 days to decide what habit you want to start.
It is usually so easy for us to find a habit we want to break, but a habit we want to start is so much harder a decision to make. First decide if you want to start a personal habit, like exercising, reading more books, or eating healthier. Or you may want to develop a business habit like sending out thank you notes, doing more demos, or holding your price better. Once you decide if you should start a business or personal habit you then need to decide what the habit will be. The ideas above are all good habits to start but they may not have anything to do with you. The reason I am writing this post today is I want to give you a few days to think about it but not so long as to have you forget to do it! Let’s say you decide to start a business habit, the next step is which one? Start by making a list of all the things you have said you were going to start doing over the past year.
I remember when I was in the sales field, I would hear ideas from reps and customers all the time and say to myself, that’s a good idea I need to start doing that… yep just like a lot of you, I never got around to it.
What were those things you heard or said you wanted to start doing? Write them all down, who knows you might find that 2 or 3 fit together nicely and one habit can cover them all!
After you select what it is you want to do, start to think about what you will need to do to create the habit. This may be simple like starting to read 30 minutes a day or it may be very complex like starting a better filing system or tracking your orders better. Be specific, a habit isn’t a generality, it is a specific task that you will start to perform everyday for the next 21 days. A little suggestion, make it something that can be done in as little time as possible. The longer it takes to perform, the more likely it is you will stop doing it before it becomes a habit.
Once you have the task and the method you are going to use to accomplish starting the habit, DO IT! Don’t forget the time frame I set up, YOU NEED TO START BY SATURDAY TO GIVE YOURSELF THE 21 DAYS NESSISARY!
Don’t quit, don’t skip a day, and don’t take short cuts. Do it every day, do it the same way, try and do it the same time if possible, the more structure you put into it the deeper the habit will take root in your everyday life.
Making a before New Year’s resolution will help you get 2011 started off right!
Lorin
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