Do you want to predict your future health, wealth and happiness? Simple. Look at your habits.
Justin Cohen
In this week’s edition:
1) Inspirational Big Little Story video
2) The ultimate success tool.
3) Extract from ‘The Power of Positive Habits’
4) Feedback about ‘The Psychology of Success’ from Shell Oil Company
Most companies have a list of values but most of the time people don’t really know what they mean. When you tell stories about those values in action, you give staff a real life example that they can emulate. This week’s Big Little Story is about a packer at Tiger Brands, Africa’s largest package consumer goods company. It tells the story of the winner in the ‘Community Values’ category. Not only do stories like these serve as a powerful form of recognition, (the person in this story is now famous throughout the company) they enable everyone to emulate the same key performance behaviours. But this particular story goes beyond any one company it is nothing less than a triumph of the human spirit. Watch it here. For more Big Little Story videos go to www.biglittlestories.com .
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do might just as well be turned over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed–you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great people and, alas, of all failures, as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a person. You may run me for profit or run me for ruin — if makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
I am habit!
— Author Unknown
HOW TO USE THE POWER OF POSITIVE HABITS TO TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND
You’ve heard it before change is inevitable – except from a vending machine! What isn’t inevitable is whether we lead change, or change leads us. Charles Darwin didn’t say the fittest will survive, he said those who most responsive to change will survive. I say those who lead change will do more than survive, they’ll thrive.
To develop any area of your life you need to master the mechanics of change. Sometimes change will be dictated from the outside it will force itself on you. Like an illness, that you may have been able to prevent now that it’s happened all you can do is respond. Life mastery requires that we do more than adapt to change. Life mastery requires that we create change. This process of creation begins inside you but it manifests in what you do. The way to change your life is to change your behaviour. Yes it may start with our thoughts, beliefs and emotions but ultimately change is spelt – ACT, you got to take action.
If you don’t have what you want it’s because of what you’re doing or more likely, not doing. Nobody ever climbed Everest just by visualising, believing, thinking or conceiving it. That might be a start but you can’t finish something with a start. I don’t care if you can bend spoons with mind until you get up and do something, all you’re going to have is bent spoons.
In ‘How to use the power of positive habits to turn your life around’, the 3rd of the Life Coach Audio Books, you’re going to identify what you need to do to get where you want to go. You may also have to figure out what you need to stop doing. Once you have that awareness you’re going to get a method to enable you to take on the behaviors necessary for success. I call this method ‘The Habit Master’. It’s through our habits that we transform our lives. Aristotle famously said: ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.’ Our habits are responsible for more than our accomplishments; our habits are the basis of who we are. The word ‘habit’ comes from the Latin; Habitus meaning ‘Character’. Our habits aren’t determined by the quality of our character; our character is determined by the quality of our habits.
What I love about habits is that they’re automatic. Sure replacing a habit can be a challenge but once you have, you don’t need to think about it. Habits are the brains own autopilot system. When they kick in, what a pleasure, you can sit back and enjoy the ride.
In How to Use the Power of Positive Habits to Turn your Life Around you will:
· Discover the habits you need to achieve excellence
· Motivate yourself to turn one-off actions into lasting habits
· Program yourself out of bad habits like over-eating and over-spending
· Program yourself into good habits like exercising and investing
· Use the ‘Habit Master’ technique to drop or adopt any habit
Once again Justin Cohen beautifully crystallizes a powerful area of Psychology in a way that enhances even my understanding.
Professor C R Stones. Head of Psychology, RHODES UNIVERSITY
You can find out more about this and the other audio books in this series by going to Life Coach Audio Book system. Or visit your local Exclusive Books.
FEEDBACK
Justin recently presented ‘The Psychology of Success’ at a Shell strategy session.
“Inspirational! Thank you for a powerful presentation.”
Fatima Shaik
Country HSSE Manager
Shell Oil Company