Habit Creation For Entrepreneurs Part 2

Today I am sharing part two of habit creation for entrepreneurs. In case you missed the first video you can check it out here.  This video is all about tracking your progress, staying committed in spite of what comes up and enjoying the process. 

TRACKING YOUR HABITS

One of the most important pieces we entrepreneurs forget to do is track. We neglect to track our progress when it comes to creating habits. One tool I use for tracking is the Best Self Planner. This is a great tool because you can literally put the habits you want to create into their weekly tracking, make a commitment to how many times you want to do the habit then track it. This makes habit creation become really real. When you track you can then see progress and make any necessary adjustments you might need to make to implement the habit according to your goals. Tracking brings clarity and commitment. 

FALLING OFF THE WAGON – STAYING COMMITTED TO HABITS WHEN LIFE HAPPENS

One thing for me that has historically been a challenge is falling off the wagon of the habit. Case in point, in early 2019 I meditated for 150 days in a row. I was super committed to daily meditation then one day I went to go see one of my favorite artists in concert and let just tell you I had way too much fun. The next day I totally missed my meditation like it didn’t even cross my mind. The following day when I woke up instead of jumping right into meditation again, I beat myself up. I self sabotaged. I dwelled on the fact that I missed a day. I went down this cycle of shame and gave myself a super hard time. I didn’t meditate for like 30 or 45 days after that event. Perhaps you can relate? 

Sure, perhaps I went a bit to the extreme but that is the truth about what happened. I didn’t give myself grace. Why did I go through this cycle of self sabotage? All because I missed one day of meditation. WOWZA. Totally not worth the downward cycle of shame. Lesson learned. To this day, I no longer beat myself like that. I give myself grace on days when I have an oops. 

We are all going to have an opps day every now and again. It doesn’t make you or I a bad person. It doesn’t mean we aren’t worthy or that we suck. It means that we are human. Sure there will be days when you don’t feel like showing up but you know you should. Show up anyways. But there will also be days when life happens. Something comes up. You have a bit too much fun at a concert like I did. Or you just miss it. Simply say to yourself, I will try again tomorrow. Give yourself the grace to move forward even when you drop the ball because after all we are human. 

I see this happen a lot with entrepreneurs like you and me because we hold ourselves to such a high standard and have these super high expectations for ourselves. Let me remind you, you are human. It’s not a matter of if you fall off a habit, it’s a matter of when. It will inevitably happen. Gracefully and effortlessly move forward. 

ENJOY THE PROCESS OF HABIT CREATION

I think a lot of entrepreneurs suffer from the mentality of when I get to x I will enjoy myself. The problem with that is that you are prolonging your happiness. You are putting off enjoying the now. I bring this up in relation to habits because enjoying the process is critical to creating habits that stick. If you aren’t enjoying the habit and therefore the process, then it won’t hang around and become automatic. 

Now full disclosure here, in my 16 years in business I have not always enjoyed the process. I very much had the mindset like many entrepreneurs that I will be happy when I get to X level. I will spend more time with my family when I get here. I will feel satisfied once I’ve reached a million dollars a year. Sound familiar?  

The trouble with living like that is that we’re not at all being present and we’re not at all enjoying the process. Ultimately some of the most successful people in the world are people who have revealed in the process. Think about Michael Phelps as an example. He has spent hundreds of thousands of hours in the pool. 

When you think about the success he has achieved that doesn’t happen by accident. That doesn’t happen because he doesn’t enjoy swimming. I am certain he has had those hard days when he didn’t feel like showing up but showed up anyway.  When you can find joy in the process of creating a habit and the process of achieving your goals and in the process of moving from here to there, then you are way more likely to actually stick with the habit. 

Ultimately the goal is just like one tiny part of this bigger thing we call life. I think it’s total bullshit that so many of us live to just reach another goal. We live to get to the next level and ultimately we sacrifice our own happiness and enjoyment because we aren’t where we want to be yet. The destination isn’t the goal. The idea is to enjoy the journey. 

Let me know about the habits you want to create in your business.

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