Time is a flat circle. I read that quote just the other day and it made a lot of sense to me. In other words, patterns get repeated. We are in an infinite loop. We are bound to repeat our behaviors over and over again. That may be why, good or bad, we struggle to accomplish more in our lives. I have also read studies that suggest that 95% of our thoughts on a daily basis are the same thoughts we had yesterday. That’s a scary thought. The point is, if we want to change our course, we need to build some new habits and perhaps look at things differently. It is pretty easy to get in a rut, then make that groove deeper and deeper, repeating bad behavior. Protecting the mind, at least in my life, is an ever-ending battle. That is why we teach our clients to work on their minds daily. This could be through journaling, meditation, positive self-talk and other systems we use to defeat the mind. When the mind can be controlled more, even slightly, on a daily basis, we can often achieve much more than we ever thought possible.
Sometimes my family thinks I’m crazy when I leave in the dark and in the cold to go on a long run during the winter. For me, it’s not simply the exercise I crave. It is the mastery over the mind. Once I decide that every other day will be a run, regardless of the weather or other environmental conditions, it happens. My quote to myself, in fact, is “Once decided, it happens”. This control over your mind gives you confidence that you can do it with other more important things. Building any good habit can be achieved with this simple notion. Once it becomes a habit, it sticks. Your mind no longer waivers and it becomes a pre-gone conclusion that the new behavior will occur. You have literally created new “grooves” in your timeline that are likely to repeat, in a positive way, over and over again.
Another factor in this is that many people take the easy path and continue to go down paths that haven’t worked before. It’s not necessarily a bad behavior, it’s more that the behavior is not working. The “groove” is deep and they easily repeat the behavior or behaviors that are costing them. Since there is a sales slant to these articles, let’s look at typical salespeople and notice some of the behaviors that don’t necessarily work, but are repeated over and over again. Voicemail: many salespeople have been leaving similar voicemails to prospects for years. It might sound something like, “Hello John. This is Bill. I’m calling to follow-up on the proposal. If you could call me back, I’d appreciate it”. Anyone that has gone through good sales training will tell you that this method of “following-up” simply has very poor results. It’s over-used, sounds amateurish and just doesn't work well to get a response. However, those that have used it have probably used it over and over again through the years, despite that it doesn't work. It has simply become a habit. How about someone that struggles contacting new prospects for their business. Many have not built up the good habit of doing it, so they don’t do it, don’t do it enough or do it poorly. The result? Their new business suffers. One more: they are asked to talk a little bit about what makes their company different. Their answer is something they have probably used for years and is also ineffective at compelling the prospect to want to hear more.
If we truly want to grow, make improvements in our professional and personal lives and be more successful we can and we should build new habits. One way to do this is by taking the tough path less traveled or at least not being afraid of trying new things. Because there are so few people that do it, you become the exception. The exception, just like products that are rare, become more valuable. And, perhaps the new way of doing things gets a different, more exceptional result. If you have not read the book, “Who Moved My Cheese”, it talks about this very issue. When the “cheese” is moved in your life do you simply accept it and move on, hoping it will return some day, or do you go out onto untraveled paths to hopefully find even a larger cache’ of “cheese”. I hope you get the metaphor.
Let’s look at some easy to understand but difficult paths one can take in order to make huge positive change in their lives.
Start small. Find some small habits that you can change, just to change them. This will help your mind understand that starting something new is ok. This will help you resist change later when you want to change a larger behavior. As example, brush your teeth with your opposite hand. Drive a different way to work. Change up your morning or evening routines. Studies show that simply by changing these small behaviors can literally create new neuron pathways within your brain.
Meditate and journal. There are tons of studies on how meditation can help your mind grow. One recent study showed that a master meditator likely reversed some of the aging characteristics of his brain, making his brain look 10 years younger. Mind control through meditation is a powerful tool that can absolutely change habits from bad to good. If you have ever listened to podcasts with David Goggins, known as the toughest man on the planet, you will hear him profess that meditation has been his #1 tool for growth in his own life. His ability to continually push himself outside of his comfort zones is frankly, astounding.
Go outside of your comfort zones. Look for small ways to push yourself outside of your normal routines, so you can create new time “grooves” for yourself. As examples, say hello to anyone you come within 5 feet of. Ask a customer out to lunch, dinner or other social event (virtual for now?). Ask a good customer who else they know that could benefit from your services (I am reluctant to use the word ‘referral’ because many are afraid to ask for one of these). Experiment with doing new things you don’t think you can do, but that would make a huge difference in your life if you did them.
Limit negative self-talk. There are some excellent books on the topic that help you to not talk negatively to yourself. This self-limiting behavior, over time, can be the reason why you aren’t where you want to be in life. One suggestion is to treat the negative self-talk like a gremlin. “Taming your Gremlins” by Rick Carson is one book that discusses this technique. In other words, when you hear your mind talking negatively in your head about yourself, treat it like a gremlin that you don’t want to listen to. You may have to develop scripts to use in your head, such as, “I don’t really need you right now. I hear what you’re saying, and I’m putting you on the shelf right now”. You acknowledge then compartmentalize. It can be a very effective strategy to build healthier messages in our own heads.
From a sales perspective, do those behaviors that you know you should do, even if you don’t want to do them. Do the behaviors and don’t initially measure the results. Otherwise, you won’t do the behaviors. Instead, pick the behaviors that you know would make a difference and stick with it until the behavior sticks. This could mean cold-call phone calls, drop-ins on potential customers or even asking pro-actively for referrals. As Nike would have you do, Just Do It. If we know that by doing these types of behaviors our business would flourish, we must do them. It may take building up a habit first, but if you know what needs to be done, stop planning, stop researching, stop procrastinating and DO THE BEHAVIOR.
Once we make the decision that we are going to do something, it becomes a pre-conceived notion that it will happen. If we can stick to it for a couple months (66 days to make or break a habit recommended) it will likely become a habit. That new habit will create positive change. When done over and over again you will start to see different outcomes and deep “grooves” of positive behaviors that have led to the change. Outcomes that might just have you look at time differently forever. It is no secret that the some of the most successful people use their time the most wisely. Master this skill and that might just be you.