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by Rick Baker
On Jan 21, 2010
People only do 3 things: (1) Good Habits, (2) Bad Habits, and (3) New Things.
This is the 2nd blog in a 10-blog series about Habits, doing New Things, and Change.
Change often meets resistance.
Here's an example of what I mean:
Why?
Why do people often fear and resist Change?
To answer that question we must first understand Habits.
Some facts about the word 'Habit':
- The English word dates back to the 13th century
- From the Latin word habitus…'condition, demeanor, appearance, dress'
- Has both an internal and an external connotation…'what we wear'
- Today, we still refer to certain religious apparel as 'habit'
So, for centuries, the word Habit has described what other folks see when they look at us and our internal [psychological/physiological] workings.
Our Habits show what we are because they are very closely bonded to what we are.
While that may come across as too much detail or too much theory, the fact is if we do not understand the roots of Habits then we will have difficulty effecting Changes For The Better.
Successful people from all walks of life have recognized the extreme importance of Habits.
Here's a few samples of their thinking:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. Aristotle
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits. Mark Twain
The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do. Thomas Edison
One word of caution…the subconscious is just as apt to pick up a bad habit as a good one. Thomas D. Willhite
A change in bad habits leads to a change in life. Jenny Craig
In the next blog I will begin to look at ways to create Good Habits and Change For The Better.
by Rick Baker
On Jan 19, 2010
This is the first blog of a 10-blog series about Changing For The Better.
The Purpose: (1) to introduce the important role habits play in performance and (2) to provide some examples of ideas and 'tools' to help people create success-directed habits.
People only do 3 things: (1) Good Habits, (2) Bad Habits, and (3) New Things.
Some may argue that's an oversimplification…however, as yet, I have not felt the need to expand the list.
Good Habits contribute to our betterment.
New Things may or may not contribute to our betterment.
When we set goals defining what 'our betterment' means we generally wish to use our Good Habits, reduce our Bad Habits, and perhaps do some New Things.
When we do New Things we end up either turning them into Good Habits or Bad Habits or we stop doing them.
It makes sense to try doing New Things to create new Good Habits.
Often, and this is important to this blog series, we choose to do New Things in a conscious effort to remove Bad Habits and replace them with Good Habits.
New Things are often the only mechanisms that will help us to move from Bad Habits to Good Habits.
Enough theoretical stuff…at least for now.
Here's a video clip of how I picture Good Habits, Bad Habits, and New Things…
Some things to think about…
- There's a 'thin line' between Good Habits and Bad Habits
- One good way to move from Bad Habits to Good Habits is - Doing New Things
- Doing New Things: the choices are essentially infinite
- Doing New Things = Change
- Doing New Things that lead to our betterment = Changing For The Better
Changing For The Better…that's what this 10-blog series is about. The next blog will talk about Habits and introduce some of the ways we can expand our Good Habits, effect Change, and achieve our goals.
by Rick Baker
On Jan 12, 2010
This is blog #7 in an 8-blog series about Powerful Answers to 7 important business questions. The series is intended to be an introduction to strategic intuition and planning.
Preamble: In blog #3 of this Powerful Answers series I wrote, Business is about People and Process. And I wrote, People do only 3 things: good habits, bad habits, and new things. Considering the 3 things People do, business leaders want their People to do Good Habits and New Things to help the company accomplish its Vision , Mission, and Goals…and do those things in a manner aligned with the Corporate Culture.
This is a broad topic so I will limit this to two examples: the first is a tool designed to promote a Good Habit and the second is a written statement intended to guide how people should act and make decisions.
- P=2S+O©, covered in earlier blogs, is a tool we designed to promote both Good Habits and ideas about New Things [P=2S+O blog]
- At Spirited Investors, our Corporate Values are - Courage, Confidence, Conviction, & Creativity - were selected to promote Good Habits and New Things [Spirited's Corporate Statement]
Question 6: How do you prove your people do the RIGHT things EVERY day?
Powerful Answer:
'Let me show you. Here, on my BlackBerry . This web-link takes me to my Daily Vitals Journal. I can access this web-based journal from my BlackBerry, my desktop, my laptop, and my notebook. My Daily Vitals Journal keeps my actions organized and aimed at my goals. Everyone at our company has a Daily Vitals Journal, customized to help them achieve his/her goals.'
Postamble: John Medina* said people have about 5,000 thoughts per day. While listening to the audio CD, I did the quick math. Rounding it off I calculated that's about one thought every 10 seconds, every waking hour, every day. That little voice, which for most of us sounds just like our voice, is active all day long…perhaps, presenting a different thought about every 10 seconds. Even if that's half-right, that's an awful lot of distraction. No wonder we have trouble concentrating. No wonder things slip from our memories.
Processes and tools can help.
We recommend processes like Monthly Vital Signs, Weekly Vital Signs, and Daily Vital Signs and tools like the PlanBudget© and the web-based Daily Vitals Journal©.
The next blog will consider Question 7:
How do you manage your CRITICAL risk factors every day?
by Rick Baker
On Dec 29, 2009
This is blog #3 in an 8-blog series about Powerful Answers to 7 important business questions. The series is intended to be an introduction to strategic intuition and planning.
Preamble: Business is about People and Process. Since People design the Process, when you boil it down business is about People. People do only 3 things: good habits, bad habits, and new things. There is a relationship between actions and strengths. I like the way Marcus Buckingham and Tom Rath [former Gallup folks] have written about strengths. While I know this doesn't do justice to what they have written, I summarize their message this way:
Strengths = innate talent themes + knowledge + skill
Contribution = strengths + the influence of personal value systems [attributes of character]
As business leaders, we should understand the Strengths our People possess and we should understand the Values or attributes of character we desire. These combine to become our corporate culture, whether planned or not planned.
Question 2: What HUMAN strengths will you use to build your business?
Powerful Answer: an excerpt from Conestoga-Rovers & Associates website, www.craworld.com
'Mentoring - One area that is continually emphasized is the responsibility that all senior employees have to mentor junior staff. Mentoring is key to the continued success of CRA into the future.'
The next blog will consider Question 3:
What do you do BETTER and DIFFERENT than anyone else?
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