To change your life, change your habits

American writer and historian William Durant said: We are what we do day in and day out. In this case, mastery is not an act, but a habit. This is true not only of skill, but also of its opposite. Ordinary, the result of ordinary habits. This means that you can develop to the level of mastery by changing your habits. However, they do not guarantee success. If you just copy the habits of Elon Musk, you will not become the second Elon Musk. You need to completely change your behavior.

Entrepreneur Darius Foroux posted on his blog how to develop and stick to the habits you need.

1. Decide what habits you need

We hear about some useful habit and immediately decide to include it in our life. But consider if you really need it. Do you really need to wake up at five in the morning, run or eat raw vegetables?

It may really be helpful for you to get up early. Or maybe you feel angry and grumpy in the morning, and it ruins your whole day. So ask yourself if this habit will improve your quality of life.

Plus, there must be a compelling reason for change. For example, you want to read one book a week, but why do you need it? What will it give you? What goal will help you achieve? Consider this and choose the habits that will bring you closer to the desired result.

2. Work on habits one at a time

Sometimes you want to change everything in yourself at once. You decide to read more, work more productively, eat healthy, exercise. In this case, it is better to slow down your enthusiasm. Tackling a lot of habits at once will only create unnecessary stress for yourself.

We overestimate ourselves. We think we can achieve a lot in a short time. This is not true. But over a long period of time it is quite doable. So focus on one habit, reinforce it. And only then tackle the next one.

3. Don't overstate the bar

Don't try to change quickly. Start small:

• Want to go jogging? Start by walking.
• Want to write a book? Write one sentence at a time.
• Do you want to start your own business? Find at least one customer.
• Want to read two books a week? Start with one page a day.
• Do you want to save money? Don't buy clothes that you only wear once.

4. Use checklists

It also happens that you started to develop a new habit, but soon forgot about it. There are many unforeseen situations in life. Seems okay if you miss a day or two. But it’s not that simple. If you neglect regularity, a habit will never form. Use checklists to remind yourself what you are aiming for and to observe your progress.

Remember, you are developing habits to get better. Check the checklist on a daily basis. And one day you will be surprised how much your life has changed due to a couple of simple habits.