There goes the shortcut...#CreatingHabits

I'm coming to the grudging realization that I can't selectively apply success principles. Quite frankly, their application is difficult because it requires discipline and consistency. Entropy and the rules of the universe dictate that all things move naturally towards chaos and that energy is required to create order. Creating productive habits requires energy - consistently. It's why most people don't develop new habits.

I, on the other hand, unlike most people, have valiantly been slaving away at perfecting myself and developing all the magnificent and productive habits necessary to skyrocket me to success. With the utmost discipline and strictness if I might add. Sometimes. Sort of. Okay! Alright...forget the valiant anything, if we're being real here if I've been doing anything it's been attempting to get away implementing this with a minimalist mentality.

Lately, for example, I've been trying to apply these principles to a very selective area of my life.  If there is one thing I've learned about achieving success, minimalist thinking never gets you anywhere productive. So why do something so contrary to a fact I know so well? Sorry to bum you out, but I'm still human, far from perfect, and I unfortunately don't always apply everything I know. Otherwise I'd already be a millionaire and this would have been, "The Trained Entrepreneur" blog.

This is the way I have come to see it. If you know how the brain works, anytime we say or do something, a neural pathway is either created or strengthened in the brain. If it's something we've already done, that neural pathway is strengthened by the action being repeated. What we do most has the strongest neural connection in our brain. So let's break this down.

Developing New Habits

"The time period can be any length from a single second to several years. The speed of new habit pattern development is largely determined by the intensity of the emotion that accompanies the decision to begin acting in a particular way." - Brian Tracy

I love Brian Tracy - if you aren't familiar with him, check him out. But he's written a lot of great books on habit creation. So have many others, but this is where I found myself while seeking some reminders. The kicker about developing new habits is that it requires consistent daily action.  In fact, depending on how deeply ingrained the habit is you are trying to override it can take anywhere from 21-90 days to develop a new habit. Here is my version of his 7 steps to create a new habit.

1. Make a decision
   Decisions that are emotional tend to be more motivating.  Why do you want to change?  If you figure out what is really driving you and attach that to your goal, it's much easier to be effective.
2. Never allow for an exception with your new habit...
   If you skip a day your counting starts over.  It takes 21 consecutive days at minimum to develop a new habit.  And if you struggle with that...
3. Get an Accountability Buddy Find someone your respect and tell them what you're doing.  It helps to know someone is going to be checking in on me.  And if it's someone I respect, I'm not going to want to let them down. Or maybe you state it publicly with people that it kill you to fail with them watching, maybe that's the kick you need.
4. Visualize
   If you aren't familiar with visualization, it might seem silly to you, but there's a fair amount of science behind it.  Why do you think coaches always tell their players to visualize their shot? Their jump? Their throw?  When we vividly imagine the successful end result, our brain neurologically responds and we perform better.  With that being said, one cannot just sit there on the couch and imagine running a 4 minute mile over and over and over again and expect to just be able to get up one day and do it.  This only works when it's done in parallel to productive action. 
5. Create an Affirmation
   Dr. Shad Helmstetter has a phenomenal book titled, "What To Say When You Talk To Yourself." It's an amazing insight into the way the human mind works.  The words we speak shape what happens in our brain.  When you are constantly repeating, "I am great at finding my way and great with directions.  I am great with directions. I am great with directions," your brain starts to adjust what it is paying attention to.  The Parable of The Homemade Millionaire is a great story-teaching book that illustrates this.  Really helped this concept click for me.  What we say most often we come to believe.  What we believe becomes are reality, regardless of whether or not it is true and accurate. 
6. Resolve to PersistKeep at it until it becomes second nature. Whether it is 21 days or 90 days.
7. Reward YourselfDoing this progressively is awesome.  Set little goals.  Smaller goals are easier to track and more motivating.  It's easier to set a goal for 3 days or a week than for a month.  The time span is too big. "Soon you begin to associate, at an unconscious level, the pleasure of the reward with the behavior. You set up your own force field of positive consequences that you unconsciously look forward to as the result of engaging in the behavior or habit that you have decided upon," - Brian Tracy

For me personally, when it comes to the application of success principles, or really just developing more successful habits, I've been trying to apply them selectively to my business venture, not to my 'job'.  Also recognize that these principles are relatively new habits for me i.e. they don't have strong neural pathways yet. But I'm excited about what I'm working on and I want to be successful so I push myself.  I exert energy to do more, be more, and become more. Conversely at my job, I feel no such inclination to push myself.  I do just enough.  You see where this going right?

There's a reason that authenticity requires that everything we say and everything we do aligns with what we say we believe. If I believe that I want to change and become better, which I do, then EVERYTHING I do and say must align with that.  When I make a decision to change something and I say "Brain, this is important and we need to change this because of xyz!"  And then I only work to change it sometimes?  What message does that send? A confusing one.

...which means no short cuts. Neurologically speaking, change requires an all in commitment.  So the take away?  Change is hard.  It takes work, it takes discipline, and often it takes a motivating reason why it's being done.  So my challenge is, if you're going to take the time and exert the energy to make a new habit, do it right.  Be consistent and authentic.  And don't wait until January to make changes. Make a decision, tie to an emotional reason why you need to change, and persist.  If you mess up, start again and keep going.  You are worth changing for and you are worth becoming better for.