People have shared many great tips and advice for how to establish new habits. It could be writing habits or work habits to be more productive or health habits to be healthier. The tips and advice generally focus on actions. Perform actions every day as part of a routine to establish habits. There is a dark side to habits, however, where habits can be tied to inaction.

World-renowned bar and nightlife expert Jon Taffer has explained how he hires people. Bars are a cash business, so it is particularly important to hire trustworthy people who are not going to steal. He said you can ask certain questions in the interview, give personality tests, but there is one indicator that is the greatest predictor of whether a potential hire would steal from him. The single best indicator of whether someone will steal is how they behaved in the previous jobs. If someone stole from his employer in the previous job or a job before that one, there is a high likelihood he will steal again. 

Once a stealer, always a stealer. Once a cheater, always a cheater. Once a quitter, always a quitter. This may sound harsh in that it’s writing people off after bad behavior with the assumption that they cannot change. People can change but many don’t. They have established habits that are difficult to break. Stealing, cheating, quitting are actions that are easy to see. What’s more difficult to see are all the things we are NOT doing that are also deeply-ingrained habits. 

Inaction becomes a habit.

How many books have I bought that sit on my bookshelf never opened? Too many to count I’m embarrassed to say. I get fired up to read a book and buy it, and then I get distracted or get fired up about another book. It happens once. It happens again. The more times it happens the easier it is to let it happen. Next thing I know I have a bookshelf full of books that I claimed to want to read but never did. 

Inaction becomes a habit.

How many online courses have I bought and never even started? Or maybe I watched one or two lessons and stopped. I’m guilty of that one too. It’s one thing to do this with free courses, but it’s a complete waste for courses I paid for.

Inaction becomes a habit.

“I just don’t feel like working out today.” Welcome to every day of my life! Guilty as charged on this one. Throw one of my unread books (probably on a health topic) at me. But one day becomes the next day becomes a week and a month and you end up morbidly obese with health issues. 

Inaction becomes a habit.

Just as taking action to establish good habits is important, so too is breaking the bad habits of inaction. These are harder to see but if you look hard enough you will find them. 

What are the things you are NOT doing that you know you SHOULD be doing? How long have you been NOT doing them? Have your inactions become habits? That’s fine. Forget the past. Each day is a new day. Now you can’t say you’ve never heard of this concept. Knowledge is not power. It’s what you do with the knowledge that makes all the difference. So what are you going to do?

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now. –Chinese proverb

5-3-20

I continue to surprise myself digging up gems I wrote a year ago.

I think momentum is a powerful force and it can work for you or against you.

I know there are people who are legitimately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. People have been losing jobs, struggling with health challenges, or having disrupted schedules that throw family life into chaos. I’m not talking to those people.

I’m mainly talking to myself. I’m also talking to people like me who are relatively unaffected by what’s been happening. People who still have jobs and are working from home. People who have good health and whose families are still intact. 

Stop using the coronavirus as an excuse for inaction and not moving forward with your goals. Stop worrying about the things you cannot control. Trust in your habits. Keep doing what’s working. Stop doing what’s not working. Now is the time to double down on improving yourself.

• Make sleep a top priority. No negotiation on this one. It is the fundamental health habit that is the foundation for everything else.
• Improve your brain. For tips on this, see my Brain Health series. 
• Pay attention to your diet. You may not have the approach of food as fuel, but that’s what it is. Garbage in, garbage out. And you don’t have to make radical changes. You can start small.
• Figure out some way of getting regular physical activity. This one is my least favorite, but I know I need to do it. Even after my first week of working out and all the soreness, I’m still committed to moving forward.

I have a new favorite phrase. “What’s this coronavirus everyone’s been talking about??” I’m fortunate to have that attitude because it has not directly affected me. If you are counted among the fortunate ones, express gratitude. After that, it’s time to get to work on yourself so that you can become the person you need to be to fulfill your purpose.