There’s Leverage in Them Thar Habits

The following quote is one of my favorites: “If you always do what you’ve always done — You will always get what you’ve always gotten.”

As humans, we get set in our ways to the point that we are not conscious of some things we do.  Our brain is wired to enable us to free up bandwidth by sending a lot of the things we do to “run in the background” or the “subconscious”.  If our brain did not do that, we would need to keep track of way too many things.  If that were the case, we would become overwhelmed and perhaps unable to operate properly as human beings.

This is why changing is so hard!  Habit changes are difficult because when habits form, they are literally wired in our brain and rewiring our habits requires significant effort and persistence.  Some studies show that it takes at least 21 days to do so. However, there is no precise number, because our circumstances and stage of life will most likely affect our ability to break habits.

Unless you realize and accept the fact that you must rewire your brain to change your habits, you will most likely keep doing what you’ve always done and continue to get the same results you got last year, last week, and today. As Einstein famously said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

I’ve been there and done that!  Many of us get frustrated when we cannot get away from certain types of results no matter how ‘hard’ we try.  I would bet that there is a habit or two behind most of those situations.  If you explore the habitual patterns that lead to the results, you may uncover the key levers to the most efficient and effective change.

Peter Senge, author of the best-selling book Fifth Discipline wrote: “Small changes can produce big results—but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious.”

I believe “habits” are one of those “least obvious, high-leverage” areas that Senge refers to.  If you really want to get different/better results than the ones you’ve been getting, you need to stop, look and listen for the habitual patterns that lead to the results you get.  Focus on the ones that make the biggest difference and work to change them.  Create routines and follow them religiously for at least 21 days.  Then, and only then, you may start to get the results you’ve wanted:  Better relationships, better fitness and health, more wealth, etc.

HINT:  Many of our habits emerge over time from observations we made and/or beliefs we hold.  Exploring these can go a long way in getting to the bottom of a habit faster.

First, test my theory on some simple results.  If it works, move on to the bigger fish!!

To get started, follow these three steps:

• Identify one result you want to change/improve
• Figure out the habitual patterns and related observations/beliefs that lead to them
• Focus your attention and sustained effort on changing the key ones

Good Luck!!!

The BEST is Yet to Come!

Epi Torres, CEO