Making a new habit can be complicated for people. On one hand you know you’ll have to do the thing over and over, and depending on to whom you talk, for 7 or 30 or 60 days. But what if you don’t really know what habit you’re trying to get? What if you think it’s getting up on time, but really, its about getting to work on time. They might be related. But they’re not necessarily the same thing.
Sometimes the new habit really means you get out of doing the thing all together.
Check this out:
Margaret Rome is an extremely busy realtor friend of mine. We had some down time together over the last couple days (OK, Yep, she’s helping me look at a house) and, as it often does, conversation turned to marketing. She’s had a blog for about a year and posts faithfully every Sunday. “How do you do that, Margaret – be so consistent?â€
“I hired a writer to do the actually writing and posting for me.â€
While Margaret is away at a conference, she emails short ideas to Peg Silloway who gathers them up for future reference. When Margaret notices something in the news or at a conference, or she hears other realtors talking or even just has her own brilliant thought, she sends an email to Peg. Peg makes the blog post happen using something Margaret sent her. Peg can write like Margaret talks so no one’s the wiser.
How cool is that? Who do you know that can take over a part of your job that you don’t like.. or that just gets away from you?
But what if you choose to write your own post?
Here’s another interesting bit worth noticing. There’s a schedule. When Sunday rolls around Peg and Margaret know that there has to be something new. Funny thing about Sundays. They come every week! Tie the new habit – the blog post – to an existing habit – Sunday! Maybe that’s not the right thing to which you’ll tie your new habit. But days of the week are sure dependable. Maybe you’ll pick trash day. Oh, imagine what might pop up for you then? Do your kids have a half day on Monday? You could promise yourself you’ll always post on Mondays before they get home.
Here’s the secret. You just gotta DECIDE what to tie the new habit to.
What do you think would be the easiest habit for you to tie a new habit to?
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Kerch, you’ve brought something into focus for me – the idea of tying a habit to some kind of mental anchor such as day of the week, time of day, maybe even some other habit like a morning walk. I never thought of it that way before, but it makes a lot of sense. Thanks, too, for the link to The WordLens and I Blog For You. “A Map In My Own Mind” just joined my must-read list!
Wow, Kerch what a terrific blog! Of course, I expect that from someone with such great energy and enthusiasm. Having Peg write my blog works so well, and now we’re posting more than one a week – at least trying to! I really believe in doing what I’m good at, which is listing and selling homes, and letting someone else do the rest.