FOCUS: Habits DISCIPLINE: Personal Mastery, Mental Models, Systems Thinking “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” —Aristotle Thoughts According to the dictionary, a habit is “an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.” Since we repeatedly think and do many of the same things every day, each of us has developed a lot of habits, some comforting and supportive, others negative and destructive. A few examples are: The way we treat people The way we eat The way we spend our free time Our usual response to stress How we organize thoughts, tasks, stuff The Good News The really good news about habits comes from the study of the brain. Scientists have discovered that what happens in the brain when we repeat something over and over is that a pathway called a neural circuit is formed, and it gets stronger every time we think or do the same thing. Like a river cutting through a valley, the longer it flows in the same path, the deeper and stronger that path becomes. That’s how habits are made. So all we have to do to create a new habit is to do something else repeatedly. We’ve all heard that it takes three weeks to create a habit. Science now has the evidence. It takes the brain about three weeks to create strong new neural circuits, a new path for the river to take. Things That Help Don’t spend a lot of time resisting the old pattern or trying to drop it. Brain research shows that focusing on something strengthens it – so better to put your energy into the new behavior. Here’s a super tip: simply thinking about the new habit – imagining it in your mind’s eye – thinking of yourself already having it – helps build the new habit. So when you’re committed to a new habit, spend a lot of time rehearsing it in your mind. Deal with feelings that threaten to derail you by mental note taking. If feelings of frustration or anger, annoyance or fear knock you off balance – brain research offers this: Label what you’re feeling. Either silently or outloud, saying “I am nervous,” or “I am frustrated,” calms the brain so it can get back on track. Sometimes we can develop new habits that get us what we want indirectly. An exercise habit can improve our health, a savings habit can finance a dream vacation, and building simple habits like hugging six times a day can enhance a marriage. (See how to improve your marriage without talking about it, by Patricia Love, and Steven Stosny.) The best discovery of the recent research is that our brains have the ability to change – dramatically – throughout our lives – until the day we die. As simplistic as all this sounds, it is truly based on neuroscience, the study of how the brain works. Coaching Questions Look at your habits of thought, attitude and behavior. Which ones do you want to reinforce and which would you rather replace? What’s a new thought or attitude habit you want to develop? What will you practice to make sure it sticks? What’s a new behavior you want to cultivate? How can you see that it reroutes a river in your brain? Why not make excellence a habit in your life, as Aristotle suggested? INVITATIONS Please join me for a 45-minute telegathering to explore creating new habits. Call Thursday, June 7 at noon Eastern (11:00 a.m. Central, 10:00 a.m. MT, 9:00 a.m. Pacific) 1-641-678-3400 x912 No need to register…just call at that time! Read an excerpt from Liberating Greatness, the Whole Brain Guide to an Extraordinary Life, the book Hal and I wrote, at www.LiberatingGreatness.com. Reach me: 1-888-907-HOPE (4673)or e-mail sharon@hopellc.com. I am a personal and executive coach and would be happy to offer you a complimentary coaching session by phone. Each month FRESH VIEWS focuses on a single topic, relates it to one of the five disciplines of a learning community, and offers a coaching tip and a follow-up telegathering. Please forward it to friends and colleagues. My purpose in writing FRESH VIEWS is to nurture, prod and encourage readers to think and talk about these topics with their families, friends and colleagues. Mine is only one view. Multiple conversations may deliver us to insights only hinted at here. Such a process sustains the vitality of learning relationships, learning families, learning organizations and learning communities. Sharon Eakes | 720 Maple Lane | Sewickley, PA 15143