Happy New Year! Are you setting your New Year’s resolutions today? Will you keep them this time? How long will it be before you revert to your old habits?
Today is not about resolutions, it's about habits!
“Your life today is essentially the sum of your habits.
How in shape or out of shape you are? A result of your habits.
How happy or unhappy you are? A result of your habits.
How successful or unsuccessful you are? A result of your habits.” James Clear
Don’t underestimate what you need to do to create your new life. The secret to overnight success takes years of hard work! It takes time to create something great.
As John Heywood, the 16th century playwright said, “Rome was not built in one day”, but James Clear went on to add in his book ‘Atomic Habits’, “but they were laying bricks every hour. Rome is just the result; the bricks are the system. The system is greater than the goal. Focusing on your habits is far more important than worrying about your outcomes.”
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is your life. It takes time, patience, knowledge, successful habits, systemisation, enthusiasm and positivity. It requires action to be taken every day to achieve your goals.
Aristotle said, “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” You have the power to change your life by changing your choices. Your choices shape your actions until they become habits, where practice makes them permanent.
Your daily habits can work for you or against you. Small, imperceptible changes compound over time. Today on New Year’s Day, you have the opportunity to look at your habits and make those changes that will change the course of your life.
Start small. Focus on making small changes in your life knowing that if you focus on just one thing each day as a minimum, that action will take you closer to achieving your goals. That is why knowing your purpose and having a plan are so crucial. Otherwise there is no map, no direction, no focus.
The difference between those who make success, achieve their aim or purpose, and those who do not, lies in the fact that successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people are not. They keep going because they have a plan and a purpose. They build successful habits and they keep them.
"Your habits will determine your future." Jack Canfield
Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day! Build your Rome, one small habit at a time! Carpe Diem!
ACTION POINT
Build the habits that are right for you. Enjoy your habits. Allow them to bring you joy.
Happy New Year!
Amy