I am sitting on my patio today overlooking the lake at our home and the fact that I’m sitting in 60 plus degrees in the winter is awesome. In this part of Texas in the winter we never know what our weather is going to be like so it’s hard to plan for it. In my life I have several weekly things I do. One is taking a Friday night dinner ride with my fellow Harley riders. This time of year I miss some of the rides due to cold temperatures and the distance to ride back home in the cold after dark.
It got me to think this week about the habits I keep. The birds are on the lake and they seem to have their own world each day no matter what the temperature is; they do what they do by instinct. But we need to form habits that will carry us through whatever happens. So what are the things that we should keep in mind when forming the habits that will bring us success? I thought of three of them and want to share them today.
1. Know the success you’re aiming for. We plan out a habit to bring success in our lives. So if you know what success you want, you know where you are and where you are going. You have to know the good that is coming from these changes. We all look at the goals we want to achieve but forget about the great things in our lives that the growth process brings on the way to the goals. So you need to know the success and the good that comes from changing your habits.
2. Know the Struggle. In life when you make a change that is for the better it will often be a struggle. I once heard the description that when you set a goal you automatically set in front of yourself an obstacle as well. It’s not part of what we were thinking about when we set the goal but it will come. We never know what obstacles we’ll find, but we know they are coming. The key is to be prepared for a struggle and never take your eyes off the goal by putting them on the obstacle because that will divert you away.
3. Do this for yourself. No matter what you are trying to change in your life it will not work until you do it for yourself. Too many people in life start to work on the problems, work on changing habits but do it for the wrong reasons. If you set your goals this year because someone else wants you to or if you are changing your habits to make someone else happy it will eventually fail. We have to make changes in our lives for ourselves. When you make those changes in life for yourself because you want to improve, it will bring you joy going through the challenges and struggles to reach a goal that is your own.
I hope this week has given you hope. Creating new habits and changing old ones to make your life better is another step on the journey to your success in 2012.
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time to live your dream, to love what you do and those you share life with. Forming good habits in life will make you the RockStar in your world.
