Mastery of Your HABITS

HABITS

If you’re of a “certain age” you may be familiar with a really popular program from back in the day “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” There were books, training courses and all types of opportunities to take advantage of the recommendations and insights of Stephen Covey, a highly respected author in the leadership and personal development genre. I’ll leave it to Mr. Covey’s products to present his perspective on habits but I will offer you mine. I want to stress to you first that your habits are a huge part of what you’re able to accomplish in life. If you have a habit of doing little, chances are you’re life is going to result in little. If your habit is to spend your days in front of the TV, your result will be whatever (mindless) entertainment it provides for you while the hours and days zoom by you with little to show for it. Whatever you invest most in is what is going to manifest the most in your life. For just about anything you want or need to accomplish, you will need to have a SYSTEM in place that governs your habits. (Please see my video about the importance of implementing systems to help keep you on track when working toward accomplishment or achieving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRkId1eNByI&t=29s). Good habits don’t come easy and often require a shift in mindset before a change in behavior can take place. They require MASTERY.

Remember… it’s Mastery Month. We are learning to shift the balance of power from the things that have been in control in your life that have limited you and held you back. That includes your habits. I am helping you to gain mastery over what has weighed you down, caused you to question yourself and kept you from moving forward. In terms of your habits, I want you to consider the following this week:

Time Mastery – how do you spend it? Are you intentional about making the most of the hours you have available?

How well do you differentiate between “the must-do’s” vs. “the want to’s?” It’s more fun, of course, to focus on the things that you choose to do as opposed to what you are required to do. There must be a balance, however — or even better yet, a healthy sense of priority when it comes to how you spend your time. Children prefer play time over

It’s much easier to “find” the time on things you find enjoyable or less difficult. Working out for me, for example, is NOT something I enjoy. It takes discipline for me to commit time to working out on a regular basis. If you struggle with finding the motivation, identify strong why’s (my health, losing weight, being around as long as possible for my family, for example). Find strong enough motivators in whatever area you need to focus on to help you be better about committing the time to it.

Remember, Beyonce, Oprah, Elon Musk, Tyler Perry and every other celebrity and/or successful person has the same number of hours in a day that you do. Yes, they may have help but it is still crucial for you manage the time you have available, with the resources you have available, to accomplish what you need to accomplish. Mastery is a possibility for everyone!

Money Mastery – how do you spend it? Are you more focused on keeping up with the latest trends that figuring out how to make your money work for you?

Society and culture have almost brainwashed us into thinking that THINGS are the key to happiness. Accumulating stuff, buying the best and the most and going in debt or failing to plan for emergencies or the future actually have the opposite effect of “creating” happiness when your life is turned upside down because something unexpected happens. How about you use some of your hard-earned dollars to help you pay for some therapy that will help you overcome whatever it is that compels you financially self-medicate so you can develop positive habits with your money. Contentment. THAT’S the key to long-term happiness and satisfaction.

Thought Mastery – what are your thought habits? Are they self-deprecating, negative and non-productive?

One of my all-time favorite quotes is “change your thoughts, change your world.” It’s SO true that whatever consumes your thoughts is what consumes your life. If negative thoughts of yourself are what take up the most space in your mind, your life is going to reflect it. Your decisions, your pursuits, your boundaries (or lack thereof) will all reflect your thought habits. There’s a scripture in the Bible that says “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” That applies to women to, of course. If you think you are something, basically you are. It’s of the utmost importance that you recognize negative thought patterns and self-talk so you’re able to take those thoughts captive, again as the Bible says, and to evict them from your head and your heart space. What we are doing this month is identifying the lies that you have either told yourself or that you have believed when others have “told” them to you, either in word or with their actions. The TRUTH of your beauty, your value and your worth override those lies EVERY TIME. Please know it and BELIEVE it.

I want to encourage you to take this week to be intentional about all of the above. I have mentioned throughout this Mastery Month “challenge” how beneficial journaling is. This week is particularly important as I encourage you to be intentional about focusing on how you spend your time, money and thoughts. Intentional focus can help you be more mindful in these particular areas and track what consumes them the most. Data is powerful and facts don’t lie. They tell the true story. Once you have the facts in front of you, you can decide what to do with them. In this case, I want you to decide for you. Figure out why you spend (or waste!) your time the way you do. The same goes for your money. In
terms of your thoughts, figure out why you think the way you do about yourself – what lies you have believed – and then begin to fight against them with the truth!

Self-mastery is all about developing the ability, the skill, to take control of the negative and self-limiting factors, often that show up as HABITS, that too often have controlled you. When these things control you, they are in the driver’s seat of your life leaving you as a passenger subject to wherever they lead you. Aren’t you tired of the detours and dead ends that you’ve experienced over and over??? It’s all about your habits this week. Identifying the non-productive ones and replacing them with what’s going to make you the hero in your own life. True success is the ability to do what you want to do when you want to. Overcoming your destructive habits is going to help you do just that.