It's the Little Things That Lead to Success
It's the Little Things That Lead to Success
By Patricia Kirkcaldy
Everybody knows that good habits need to be cultivated while bad habits seem to grow like weeds. Habits like self-discipline, self-control, order, and perseverance, are all habits that require a conscious effort to create and maintain. Procrastination on the other hand, is a behavior takes no effort at all. For better or worse, it's your habits that make or break you.
The amount of self-help information available today is virtually unlimited, but it is of little value without first learning to direct your focus and attention. The mind moves constantly from one idea to the next with amazing speed, rarely giving its sole attention to one subject for any length of time. Yet success in anything depends largely on the ability to direct your mind; not only where it goes, but also how long it stays there.
Success, like anything else, must be learned and practiced. A habit starts out as no more than a thought. When this thought is pursued it turns into action. If repeated often enough this action will impress itself on the subconscious mind. Statistics show that an action or behavior repeated for at least 30 days becomes a habit, good or bad. Once a habit is formed it becomes automatic and no longer requires the attention of your conscious mind.
Take a close look at your routines. Routines are what form your habits. Examine what is working for you and what is not. Just as with a garden cultivating good habits will also take time and attention. You need to nurture the flowers in your life and start pulling the weeds. If something is not working for you, get rid of it! Your time and energy are too precious to waste on uneccessary thoughts and routines.
If you wish to be successful in anything you do, follow the clues.
Study the habits of successful people. It is the habits we create that make us who we are. One habit all successful people have in common is the ability to focus their attention for extended periods of time.
How do you make focus a habit? Start small and work up.
Resist the impulse to jump from one unfinished project to another. Write out a priority list and pay particular attention to the order of that list. Do not let petty distractions interfere with working through each task in the order you have established. When you overcome the temptation to let your focus and efforts become scattered, you are creating the habit of finishing projects and seeing them through to the end.
Situations will always arise over which we have no control but we can choose how we react to them. When you are thrown off course make a habit of returning to the task at hand as quickly as possible.
Learn to use your imagination and create a mental image of your end goal. The importance of mental imaging in attaining your goals cannot be over-stated. This mental image will act as a blueprint for your action plan, bringing your thoughts one step closer to reality.
When you consistently focus on your mental image it will manifest in the physical world. Regardless of whether you are trying to lose weight, succeed in business, or simply trying to improve your life, the more detailed your image, the better your chances of achieving your ultimate goal.
Acknowledge the small things.
Recognize and acknowledge each little success as it comes along. As one success leads to another they add up and you gain confidence in your ability to reach even larger goals. What you're doing is actively engaging in healthy "behavior modification". That puts you way ahead of most people who are not very conscious or awake!
Everything is learned by degree. Start small and practice daily focusing your attention for ever longer periods of time. As you learn to calmly focus and concentrate success will start to become a lifelong habit.
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