Your outward behavior is the truth, whereas your inner perception of your behavior is often an illusion.

Greetings! 

Topic: The Impact of “Bad” Habits

Your outward behavior is the truth, whereas your inner perception of your behavior is often an illusion.

Many of our habits and quirks are invisible so we need to periodically examine them and see if we need to make adjustments. What habits do you have that may be holding you back? Holding you back from that promotion you want, holding you back from the relationship you want, and holding you back from achieving success, however you define it, in your life.

Once a new habit is well developed, it becomes own new normal behavior. Do we not want those habits to be beneficial to our image and brand?

You are probably conscious of a few right away and there may be others you do not even see. Let’s explore some common habits that have been observed.

• Not returning phone calls on time.
• Being late for meetings and appointments.
• Poor communication among your colleagues and staff.
• A lack of clarity about expected outcomes, monthly targets, goals, etc.
• Not attending to paperwork quickly and efficiently.
• Handling the mail more than once.
• Not following through consistently on overdue receivables.
• Talking instead of listening.
• Hitting the snooze alarm several times in the morning before getting out of bed.
• Not spending enough time with your family.
• Eating at irregular times of the day.
• Taking work home with you.
• Socializing too much on the telephone.
• Having you cell phone on ALL the time and placing it on the table in meetings and lunches.
• Procrastinating on everything from filing taxes to cleaning out the garage.

I am sure you have others to add to the list, but you get the drift of my message.

So what is one to do about these “bad” habits? First we must identify what habits we have which are holding us back. This exercise takes a commitment of one hour (or longer) without interruptions. It is a worthy exercise and will give us a strong foundation for improving results. Take a blank piece of paper and analyze habits listing those that are considered “bad”. Beside each that is listed write what the impact of that habit is on your image, brand and ability to move forward. Once you have completed the list circle 3-5 habits that you want to eliminate and/or diminish. What can you do to achieve this goal? Make an action plan for each and work on them for the rest of this year. Just think how far you will have advanced in eliminating or lessening them by the end of the year and how great you will feel beginning the New Year without them coming along for the journey.

Let me know what habits you selected, your plans and the outcome. I am most interested in hearing from you.

If you wish to watch this blog presented personally, check out www.TheMagnolia.TV.

Until next month, Nyda