Research has shown that it takes approximately twenty-one days to form a habit.  Some say it’s longer but twenty-one days is a good average.  We spend the early part of our life’s developing habits and the later part of our lives being controlled by those habits.

Some people have formed great habits like eating healthy, getting 7-8 hours of sleep, rising early in the morning to starting their day early and exercising.  Others may have the opposite set of habits! They may sleep in, get up and rush out the door, eat no breakfast and get to work late.   Everyone has some good habits and some habits that are not as favorable.   One of my observations on habits is when people have not as favorable habits; it can have an adverse impact on his or her personal and professional life.  On the other hand, when he or she has good habits it can positively impact their lives.

Good habits are hard to form and easy to live with, bad habits are easy to form and difficult to live with.

We are what we repeatedly do!   If you have good habits we would benefit more from life than having poor habits or habits that do not serve you as well. It can have severe consequences.

Some basic favorable habits that are good to have as foundation habits are:

1)    Healthy eating habits.

2)    Rise earlier in the morning and plan your day ahead of time.  Plan your day ahead of time.  It may take a few 5-10 minutes but it is a great habit.  This way you are not rushing into the day but you have a plan in place.

3)    Exercise or meditation is a great way to start the day.

4)    Being on time for appointments and even for work can go a long way.  Often people are watching and judging you by how you show up.  After a while, it becomes a part of your brand.

5) Focus is critical to success, but creating and maintaining focus is a hard habit to start. Distractions are everywhere in our lives, from the small scale to the large scale (with competing for offers, other projects, and “easier” routes).  Staying true to your most important goals is important if you want to eventually achieve those goals. Each moment you spend doing something unrelated to those goals can be considered a moment wasted.  Focus is critical to accomplishing an important task.  When you focus you can get it now in less time than when you scatter your thoughts and resources.

6) Stay positive: There is enough negative stuff going on in the world that is weighing us down.  The most you can do is to stay positive and upbeat about your projects, your life, etc.  No one wants to be around people that are negative all the time.  One quality of Productive successful people is they are grateful for what they have and know that things will get better.

Pick one or two that you think would be valuable for your life and give it a try!