DAILY ROUTINE FOR A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME

DAILY ROUTINE FOR A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME

A friend once told me that the reason I became so successful was because I had the quality of being consistent. In my career, although there were many ups and downs, I never gave up on the bigger picture. Consistency is the key to success.

Consistency involves building a routine, which can often be hard to do. The Power of Habit is a book by Charles Duhigg that explains that it’s much easier to change bad habits than to gain new ones. He explains what he calls the habit loop; the three step process in which habits work. The first step is the cue, the trigger that reminds you of your routine. The second step is the routine itself, and the third step is the reward. As time passes, and this process repeats itself on loop, the more it becomes cemented in your brain. It becomes a habit. Duhigg explains that the way to change the habit is simply to keep the cue and reward, but change the second step: the routine.

For example, lets say you want to lose ten pounds, but have gotten stuck in a routine of coming home after work and sitting on the couch, watching T.V. The cue here is the time of day when you have free time. The routine is sitting on the couch, watching T.V. The reward is the relaxation. To change this routine, the cue and reward can stay the same, you just change your routine and instead of sitting on the couch, you go to the gym. The reward increases exponentially; you can still relax after the gym, but you’re also staying healthy and losing weight.

The habit loop applies to your career as well. To build a routine and execute your vision, get up everyday with the mindset to work hard. If you’re doing this everyday, and constantly knocking on every door, one of them will eventually knock down. Success is out there, and can be achieved; you just have to keep trying. The key to keeping up the routine is to never lose faith in your self, and to never give up hope. Keep in mind that the best rewards are never immediate; they come with time.

Good habits can be really hard to accomplish. But the most successful people are able to maintain them. Take a look at Olympic athletes who train on 10,000 hours of practice. For the normal person who wants to lose ten pounds, that sounds pretty daunting. But these 10,000 hours of diligence and perseverance are what got them that tangible reward. And the reward stretches far beyond the hunk of gold, bronze, or silver. They have made their country proud; the people they love, their friends and family. And above all else, they have done it for themselves. They will forever live with that accomplishment. And that is what makes it all worth it.