HABITS
You could argue our habits determine our success. Consider this:
According to NY Times reporter Charles Duhigg, author of a new book
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
, 40% of our daily actions are based on our
habits
rather than
intentional decision-making.
Duhigg says: "This process (habits) within our brains is a three-step loop. First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which behavior to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is the reward . . ." (19)
The trick is to analyze the habit and then change the routine.
For instance, here is his story: "...Take, for instance, a bad habit I had of eating a cookie every afternoon. By learning how to analyze my habit, I figured out that the reason I walked to the cafeteria each day wasn't because I was craving a chocolate chip cookie. It was because I was craving socialization, the company of talking to my colleagues while munching. That was the habit's real reward. And the cue for my behavior - the trigger that caused me to automatically stand up and wander to the cafeteria, was a certain time of day.
So, I reconstructed the habit: now, at about 3:30 each day, I absentmindedly stand up from my desk, look around for someone to talk with, and then gossip for about 10 minutes. I don't even think about it at this point. It's automatic. It's a habit. I haven't had a cookie in six months."
This book will be our April Business Book Club choice. For now, I suggest you start developing a list of the three top habits you want to change in:
1. You
2. One of your employees or peers
3. One or more clients
David Russell, CEO
Success With People, Inc.
MANAGEtoWIN, Inc.
| MEETING IDEAS |
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I encourage you to discuss this concept with your team. Grab a couple of the reviews from Amazon's page on the book to peak their interest.
Agree to identify three habits of your clients that if you could motivate a change in those habits, your company would increase client satisfaction and sales.
You can also ask them to identify 1-3 of their own habits, or habits within your organization that would benefit from a change...
Have fun!
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