Creatures of habit - What is right or wrong?

By Georgia Holton

The good news is there is no right or wrong when it comes to habits. We are all creatures of habit; in our personal lives, work and the things that matter most to us. What most don’t realise is that we can take control of the tasks we need to do- whether it’s a work project, school homework, a weight loss program, compete in a bodybuilding show or quit smoking. How you choose to control your task(s) is your habit.

I was fortunate enough to have been invited to a seminar that challenged my way of thinking. Things that I rushed around trying to do or complete suddenly became a non urgent task. For example, sitting down at dinner if the mobile phone would ring I would stop eating and get up to answer it. Did I have to? Why do so many of us feel we must stop what we are doing to answer the phone during dinner? This is the “7 Habits”. The seminar highlighted 7 habits we should be encouraging of.

1. 1.Being proactive - Take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with life's principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the subsequent consequences that follow.

1. 2.Begin with the end in mind - Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life.

1. 3.Put first things first - Plan, prioritize, and execute your week's tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluate whether your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you toward goals, and enrich the roles and relationships that were elaborated in Habit 2.

1. 4.Think win-win - Genuinely strive for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way.

1. 5.Seek first to understand, Then be understood - Use empathetic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, respect, and positive problem solving.

1. 6.Synergize - Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone. Get the best performance out of a group of people through encouraging meaningful contribution, and modeling inspirational and supportive leadership

1. 7.Sharpen the saw - Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle

We all have urgent and non urgent matters. But can you distinguish what’s most important to act upon first? Below are two ‘time matrix’ which illustrates two ‘urgent’ boxes and two ‘non urgent’ in each example. Some of these are highlighted as more important than the others. Not all things below will reflect what you do on a daily basis, but from my experience I can say this- When I look at the examples below, I know that sitting down when I turn up to work and check my emails is NOT urgent. Instead, I could be doing one of the tasks that really is important, like a report for my manager. Or, when I am exercising I should be focusing on my techniques but it was just this morning I was thinking of an issue that I knew I had to deal with at work instead of enjoying my workout. There was nothing I could do about the issues whilst working out was there? So, as a consequence I finished my workout feeling stressed instead of dealing with the issue when it would have been the right time to do so.

What this all means really is TIME MANAGEMENT. If you have to go back to basics to get into a routine (habit) then do it. Jot down what tasks you need to do, then prioritize the list. THEN you act upon it! Remember that you have the following things available to ensure you don’t miss a thing:

• Message bank
• Emails
• Calendars etc…

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least”

-          Johann Goethe

Written by, Georgia Holton- Personal Trainer-

Ultimate Performance Supplements sponsored athlete www.ultimateperformance.net.au

SunTanOn sponsored athlete www.suntanon.com.au

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