The power of habits

the power of habits - by Marcia Francois
first published in Feb 2003

I’m going to start off with a really powerful quote by Mike Murdock, which goes, “the secret of your success is hidden in your daily routine”. I saw another good one too the other day that said, “successful people do what unsuccessful people are not prepared to do”. And that’s exactly my point; there are hundreds of little things we either are doing or not doing that affect the degree of success that we’ve achieved.

A habit is an action done so many times that we don’t even have to think consciously about doing it anymore.

Most people agree that it takes 21 days to form a habit and only 3 days to break it. For example, when we were very small, we were all trained to brush our teeth every morning. The toothbrush with toothpaste was given to us and we dutifully brushed our teeth every day. Now, I don’t know anyone at my age (!) who has to really think about brushing his or her teeth. I know that I stumble to the bathroom, half-asleep, and brush my teeth automatically. Why? It’s a habit.

If you take time to think about your daily routine, you’ll notice lots of good habits like driving within the speed limit, drinking 2L of water daily, etc. A few years ago, I decided that I needed to start drinking more water. So on 1 January 1998, I started forcing myself to drink 2L of water every day. This habit took hold in only 14 days because after the first two weeks, it was easy and it’s been that way ever since.

Now, in the same way that good habits are formed, bad habits are also created just as easily. I know of people who start saving, say R100 every month, and everything goes well for three or four months. Then they decide to go on holiday and stop saving for one month. The snag is that it doesn’t end up being just one month, because the habit they were creating has been broken. The next month it’s easier to spend that R100 on clothes, and after the third month, they’re back to square one!

So this month, I want to encourage you to think about some good habits you want to start implementing and some bad habits that you need to replace with good ones.

If you currently have a bad habit at work of shuffling paper around and not dealing with it, start this month by being disciplined and either filing it, working on it or throwing it away. When you’re tempted to just throw it back into your in-tray or start making a pile on your desk, STOP!

Remember that you have the power to break that bad habit and start creating some good ones. And the same goes for driving – if you’re like me and let other drivers on the road irritate you, stop and tell yourself that you’re going to replace all that negative behaviour with something positive. Maybe you need to start saying things like, “I am perfectly calm and stress-free in traffic.”

Action challenge
1. Print out the habits worksheet.
2. If you work outside the home, copy it so that you have one at home and one at work.
3. Read through your list every day to remind yourself of the habits.
4. Start implementing it. Make like Nike and “just do it”


By the way, this ties in really nicely with a blog post I wrote recently, my daily steps to success. If you haven’t already read it, go on over and see what I wrote.

© Marcia Francois 2003-2007
Marcia Francois is a personal life coach and professional organiser who teaches people how to have more time, less stress and a more fulfilling life. Visit http://www.takechargesolutions.org/ for your free Organise your Home e-book and other helpful tips.

March - Setting good habits

This month’s theme is SETTING GOOD HABITS

Inspirational quotes
· We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle
· The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine. - Mike Murdock
· The door of opportunity won’t open unless you do some pushing. - Unknown


Habits are actions we perform continually until they become routines. When they become routines, we don’t even have to think about them anymore. When we were first learning to brush our teeth as children, at first we had to really concentrate to get it right. Soon, because we did it daily, it became a routine and is (hopefully) now second nature.
The key is to build up a series of good habits that you automatically do without having to really work at them. My voicemail message on my phone says, “successful people do what unsuccessful people are not prepared to do”. I get a lot of interesting comments from people phoning me and that’s good because I want people to start realising the truth of it – successful people create many good habits in their lives that unsuccessful people don’t have the discipline to do. Ouch! I know that’s tough – I’m talking to me too. I have some good habits like goal-setting, financial, time management but two really bad habits (reading too much and going to bed too late, and not being consistent with a healthy eating plan).

So! I have decided to join Weigh-Less tomorrow where I will create some good eating habits and in so doing, lose a couple of kilos.

What good habit will you commit to do this month? Go to the blog and let me know by posting your comments. I’m also going to post some feedback every week to let you know how I’m doing, and I encourage you to do the same. It will be good to have a whole community of like-minded people.

Let’s do this together!

Recommended reading on this topic: Today matters – John C Maxwell

(c) Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/