796 - Are you on a merry-go-round or a vicious cycle?

We are all creatures of habit.

The question is, what habits are we unaware of that are holding us back? I found the book, Atomic Habits, by James Clear, helpful in setting up some powerful habits.

James Clear is right. "True behavior change is identity change."

When I identify with my goals and what I want to do, I'm back on that amusement park ride.

When 'life gets in the way', I tend to fall back, unless those new habits are engrained in me.

I find myself fighting against old habits from time to time, and I am glad I now catch myself before I slip too far back into the old habit.

When we are doing well, it feels as if we are on a merry-go-round.

Life is good and everything is moving in a direction that makes you feel like you are accomplishing your goals. You can see the results.

But, when your old habits get the better of you, you start to feel like you are in a vicious cycle. It's difficult to break out.

I love being an entrepreneur and the fact that I have no boss but myself. But, being your own boss is not for the faint-hearted.

It takes constant course correction and the ability to handle objections. I don't want to fall into a vicious cycle of old habits.

Maintaining new habits requires intentionality. It's something I must remind myself of every day until the old habits don't exist anymore.

This could be why so many people who reach out for coaching and consultation don't continue with the excellent advice they have been given.

The old habits take over.

There are a few steps you can take to keep that forward momentum toward your goals.

1) Decide who you want to be. How do you want to be identified? No, I'm not talking about gender here, although the same process would apply.

2) Decide on clear and concise goals you want to achieve to become that person, knowing that it won't happen overnight. This is a journey.

3) Form habits that coincide with those goals. Keep working on them until they are unconsciously engrained in your mind (and heart).

Be mindful in forming habits of what stage you are in the levels of consciousness.

Level 1, Unconscious Incompetence, you don't know what you don't know.

Level 2, Conscious Incompetence. You know what you can't do.

Level 3, Conscious Competence, you know what you know, which is where we all are in most of what we do. We are in level 3 after getting a degree, for example.

Level 4, Unconscious Competence, is where we no longer have to think about what we know. It is ingrained in us.

A brain surgeon no longer opens a textbook to see what to do next, at least we would hope not!

Be prepared to set new goals each time one goal is achieved.

This is a never-ending process but it doesn't have to be a vicious cycle. It can feel like a new merry-go-round each time you reach a new level.

It's the middle of the year.

Which one are you on, a merry-go-round or a vicious cycle?