Harnessing the Power of Habit The easy feedback cycle to use small changes to reach big goals

Grab a pen! There are a lot of questions asked, and ideas presented, so grab a napkin, legal pad or a friend’s arm and get scribbling. If you enjoy this blogentation, please comment and join the conversation! I’d love to hear your ideas, feedback or thoughts about this content. Was it helpful? Did you learn anything? Did this spark some reflection or writing of your own? Tell me at the end!

Presentation Preview Short-term, long-term and ideal desired outcomes The feedback loop of habits Thinking in the moment to simply make the one choice ahead of you, while still working towards long-term goals Examples of goals TRY SOMETHING NEW PRACTICE & REPETITION Achieve Desired Outcome Positive Reinforcement

What is your short-term desired outcome? A.I want to eat more nutritious food to manage my energy. B.I want to take a beneficial step in my career, and towards financial security. C.I need a vacation.

What are your long-term desired outcomes? A.I want to feel abundant energy by fueling my body with a nutritious and sustainable diet. B.I want to be published in the New York Times. C.I want to live and work in Thailand for a year.

What is your IDEAL desired outcome? The life that you want. The activities you want to spend your time on. The people you want to be surrounded by. The job and income that works for you. The level of health you wish you had.

Ideal Outcome Balance between our wants and needs Serendipitous circumstances Our ultimate vision for our life Fulfilling job Rewarding home life Ideal Financially comfortable Weekends off

Anyone can do the right thing once. It doesn’t take much willpower to get to work on time for one day, make one phone call, go to the gym once for 30 minutes. So… why can’t we do it more than once?

Q : What keeps us from getting from point A) our short-term goals to point B)our IDEAL desired outcomes?

A: Habits Only the things we incorporate as consistent actions in our life can truly contribute to forward momentum. Doing healthy, productive things every once in a while doesn’t really improve our life. (1 week diets? Once a year gym visits? Binge blogging and then blog neglect?) It’s the little things we choose every day that determine our end destination, and our enjoyment of the journey we take to arrive there.

A feedback cycle Check out the following diagram to better understand this cycle of creating habits and the motivating snowball effect of incorporating small positive actions into our life based on honest reflections of what our ideal outcomes are.

TRY SOMETHING NEW PRACTICE & REPETITION Achieve Desired Outcome Positive Reinforcement

Try Something New Remember, anyone can do something right once. Find that one thing that you want to start doing on a daily basis to achieve a short term goal. TRY SOMETHING NEW PRACTICE & REPETITION Achieve Desired Outcome Positive Reinforcement

How has this new habit (small daily action) changed your life for the better? How has it positively affected your mood, outlook or level of confidence? Allow yourself time to absorb the good feelings associated with even small milestones. TRY SOMETHING NEW PRACTICE & REPETITION Achieve Desired Outcome Positive Reinforcement

Practice & Repetition Focus on doing your best every moment. In addition to your new habit, what else can you use your building momentum to achieve? You might slip back into your old ways at times, the important thing is to start each day fresh. Think about your next step, related skills/knowledge you want to acquire TRY SOMETHING NEW PRACTICE & REPETITION Achieve Desired Outcome Positive Reinforcement

Achieving Desired Outcome As you check off the steps along your journey to your long term goals by incorporating positive habits and the knowledge of this feedback cycle, allow yourself to feel good about it. Success can be scary, because every level we reach brings more responsibility and more opportunities and more uncertainty. Remember, almost everything you are afraid to do, will only take 30 seconds of bravery to get out of your comfort zone! TRY SOMETHING NEW PRACTICE & REPETITION Achieve Desired Outcome Positive Reinforcement

Don’t listen to me…

Listen to the famous people… “Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” –Mahatma Gandhi

“We become what we repeatedly do.” -Sean Covey

“Sow a thought, and you reap an act, Sow and act, and you reap a habit, Sow a habit, and you reap a character, Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.” -Samuel Smiles

24/7 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you are creating habits. You can choose which habits to create. Each habit can lead to another, and you can build the life you want. Empower yourself with small choices every day that get you closer to your goals.

Consistency Our culture is so focused on fast-tracking and life hacking to realize the amount of work it takes to go far, and to produce top-notch content. People end up disappointed when they don’t get the results they want. Expectations of instant fame and fortune are rampant. Worse even, is the sense of entitlement I see. People think they deserve big things when they haven’t worked for big things. Small consistent steps is the best way to get there, and do it right!

Don’t forget… to comment and join in the conversation. What did you find helpful? Do you have advice of your own for forming habits and making changes in your life? Or, if you’re feeling critique-y, rate this blogentation somewhere on the scale between detention (the worst) and summer vacation (the best). Thanks for reading!