Forming New Habits
As we near the end of 2009 and look forward to 2010 I thought it was appropriate to look at how we might form new habits to replace old ones. My inspiration this morning comes from reading a book called the seven habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey. This book has become a staple reference for me over the years as it contains such wisdom. If this book isn’t in your library yet treat yourself and buy it and read over the Christmas period.
For our purposes, we will define the habit is the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire.
Knowledge is the theoretical paradigm, the what to do and why. Skill is the how to do. And desire is the motivation, the want to do. In order to make something a habit in our lives, we have to have all three.
For example I may be effective in my interactions with my work Associates, my spouse, or my children to such constantly tell them what I think, I may not even know I need to listen.
Even if I didn’t know that in order to interact effectively others I really need to listen to them, I may not have the skill. I may not know how to really listen deeply to another human being.
But knowing I need to listen and then have to listen is not enough. Unless I want to listen, unless I have the desire, it won’t be the habit in my life. Creating a habit requires work in all three dimensions.
In our weekly team call we talked about what is important to each of us and the resultant discussion was profound in many ways. So what follows is a discussion around what keeps you “ON MESSAGE” AND “WHAT GETS YOU OUT OF BED ON A COLD WINTER MORNING”?
