As we all progress through life we always learning new things.  Life is a constant learning experience.  And at the time of gaining these new bits of information or life enhancing techniques it is not unusual for us to be excited by them.  And there are many occasions that we definitely feel that what we have come across can be of use to us on our journey of life.

We also know that they could be of benefit to us if only we could implement some of them on a daily basis.

But instead every day goes by in the same old way and we forget to make those little changes that could make so much difference.  So often we feel frustrated with the fact that we achieved very little more today than we did yesterday.

Am I alone in experiencing these things.  I feel sure not.

There is an old saying that is often quoted  and goes something like…..

“If you keep on doing what you’ve been doing then you will keep on getting what you’ve been getting.”

So how can you change something in your life right now that will ensure that you start to get a different result and make life just that little bit better for yourself.

The easy way to bring it about is to change your routines – or as I like to think of them your habits – in a steady but progressive way.

If you start by just changing one of your present habits – one that may be having a negative effect on your life then ultimately that one change will have a major impact on your life.

Decide a habit that you want to change.  Decide to make that change today and then make sure that you stick at it, without a break, for the next seven days.  Even one you get to seven consecutive days on the bounce – sticking to your new habit -  you will notice that the change is gradually starting to feel permanent.

Keep it up because after a full 30 days without a break that new habit will have become natural and permanent.  You will be experiencing a new positive habit in your life.  And you will also feel the desire to work on the next habit and the next habit until life will take on a complete new meaning.

Its all about giving things a chance and believing that they will work for you.

If I could leave you with one rock solid suggestion of a new habit that will definitely make a change to your life that would be this…..

Plan tomorrow today.

I will openly admit that I had read this suggestion by other people more times than I dare to admit to.  Initially I would go through the process of planning what I needed to get done the next day before toddling off to bed.

In the bad old days way back I would probably stick with the idea for two or three days and then it would lapse and I would forget about it for a week or so.  Then I would come across some notes I had made about – planning tomorrow today – and try it again for a few more days and then stop.  Because I just couldn’t get into the routine – into the new habit

The result was – frustration.  I knew things had to change and when I practiced what I now preached then my world turned around.

Then one day it clicked.  Planning tomorrow today really started to work for me and what made the difference for me was when I started to BELIEVE that the technique would help me to move forward with my life.

It was when I made a total commitment – with belief – to sit for about 10 minutes just before bedtime and listed the jobs that I needed and wanted to get done the next day.

Try it and see how it can work for you.  Good luck.

I think I should open up this post with the clear statement that I am totally fascinated by HABITS and the effect that they have on our lives. In this instance I’m talking about everyone’s life.

I understand that at this stage you may find in difficult to accept the importance of my opening words but I am here to tell you that it is a fact – that virtually every aspect of your life is controlled by habits.

But don’t panic because the good news is the equally powerful fact that – we are able to control our habits.

That is if we really want to!

Over a number of years now I have made the time to study the many aspects of habits and the effect that they have on our everyday lives.

And I talk about this whole concept as – The Power Of Habits.

I have come to the conclusion that the major part, perhaps as much as 90% or maybe more, of our life is controlled by our habits – both good and bad.

You too will be amazed when you realize how many different areas of your life are controlled by your habits.

Armed with the knowledge that habits control your life – and with the added bonus that you are able to control your habits – then I think that it is fair to agree that if you want to change your life in any way then it is worth tasking the time to look at some of your habits and identify what effect they are having.

Following on from that it is essential that you learn methods that will allow you to control and change your habits.

And that means where necessary you will need to replace the habits that have a detrimental effect on your life with habits that are going to have a beneficial effect on your life.

For a long while I had the tendency to talk about habits in terms good habits and bad habits. In fact I referred to them in just that way earlier in this post.

And although we often hear people refer to bad habits it is very rare to hear the same use of the words “good habits” used. I felt that I needed a new way of referring to habits.

So more recently I have switched to referring to habits as positive habits and negative habits. This change of wording or expression gives a better indication of the impact that your habits have on your life.

The conclusion that I also have reached is as follows…..

NEGATIVE HABITS….. (Bad Habits) have the effect of slowing you down and holding you back from achieving your goals and dreams in life.

POSITIVE HABITS….. (Good Habits) on the other hand – have the effect of speeding you up and moving you forward towards achieving your goals and dreams in life.

I hope these two ways of describing habits help you to understand that habits in all shapes and forms can either help or hinder your progress in you chosen route in life.

We are all know that a positive mentality in all matters is what we all need in order to move forward towards our goals – positive habits are the fundamental building blocks of a happy, healthy and successful life.

Therefore, with all this in mind, together, we have to find a way to help you switch from any negative habits that may be affecting your life and build on a life of new positive habits. Focusing and building on positive habits will ensure that you move forward in life.

But at the same time as working on your habits it is also important to work on your belief system because there is no doubt in my mind that all things are easier to achieve if you believe in the process and in yourself.

So if you can work on the Power Of Belief at the same time as working on the Power Of Habits then the world will open up before you.

Are you one of those people who get to the end of a day and feel a little frustrated and slightly unfulfilled in that you haven’t got half the things done that you hoped to get done?  The result being that when you sit down to relax a little at the days-end you find your mind just keeps drifting off to things that you should be doing right now – things that you had hoped to get done during the day – rather than chilling out.

One of the biggest challenges many of us face is that there never seems to be enough hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the month or even months in the year to get everything done that we want to get done. Perhaps our time management sucks.

But why is at the same time we meet or read about people who have the same number of hours and days to work with yet they appear to be able to squeeze two lifetimes into their one life. Don’t you just marvel at them – maybe envy them a little?

Well maybe I can offer you some clues by outlining some techniques that have helped me – and I am sure will help you – to get to the end of each day with a good feeling. And content with the knowledge that I have got everything done that I planned to get done – and strangely enough not feel so tired at the end of each day and perhaps equally important I always find some spare quality time for myself.

A few years ago now I was fortunate enough to meet, become friends with, and occasionally work with one of these people.

Frank – my buddy – is someone who squeezes so much more into the standard 24 hours in a day  - the same 24 hours that I always seemed to get the end of and haven’t got half the things done that I had planned – or should I say hoped to get done.

In the tail end of that sentence is the clue – ‘hope’ and ‘plan’.

That is one of the prime differences in that so many of us ‘hope’ to get lots done in a day while others ‘plan’ to get a lot done in a day.

I have come to believe it is because they plan what they want to get done.  But probably more important they start the whole day and each individual part of that daily plan with the end in mind.

They see what they plan to achieve when they start the next task and believe that they will get it done in the time they have allocated to it.

So I adopted his strategy sometime ago now and the difference that it has made is unbelievable.  And it is one that I can highly recommend to you.

It is important that you are aware that this is isn’t something that only has a benefit in your business or work time but also is a great help with the tasks that need to be done at home or even your relaxation time.

In fact you may well find – as I did – that it can result in you having more relaxation time just by applying the simplicity of this process to your life.

I suggest that you start by focusing on two aspects of this process and see how you go from there.

First you will need to make it a habit to plan tomorrow today.

Put aside a few minutes at the end of the day to write down what you want to get done the next day.  Write it down so it can be referred to as soon as you start the next day.

The second and most important thing to keep in mind is that when you first start to implement this strategy keep the list of things that you want to get done relatively short.

What you want to ensure is that everything on the list is completed at the days end. That way you will slowly but surely build the inner belief that the process works for you.

Give it a go and see the difference that it can make and I will be back with some more of my thoughts in a few days.

Remember always keep your thoughts on the end result – Start With The End In Mind – always!

Until Another Thought Comes My Way!!