A First Look At Business Habits
When you’re starting something new, there’s an air of excitement. The dreams are big, the plans are achievable, and delicious results are within your grasp. Then, things don’t go right. Things start to suck. Without the right habits in place, the boredom of the daily tasks drags the business down.
Power of the Parking Lot–The Motivation Suck
One of my mentors liked to talk about the Power of the Parking Lot.
We’ve all experienced this power, usually without even realizing it.
Think back to the last time you were really inspired. It could happen anywhere, but for this example, think of the last time you heard a really great motivational speaker.
You can feel the energy of the speaker’s message. You’re absolutely going to change. You’re committed.
Then, by the time you get out of the building and to your car, all that motivation is gone.
My mentor’s explanation? The motivation is sucked away by the parking lot.
This same thing happens in all aspect of life. The question is how do you keep the dream alive when the passion is gone?
Overcoming The Power by Forming Good Habits
As a young CPA, networking events intimidated me. It was me, lame accountant, surrounded by roomfuls of successful entrepreneurs. These people has built amazing businesses from the ground up. How could I even compare?
As I got to know them, though, I realized they were just people. What set this group apart was three things: (1) A bit of luck, (2) taking a risk, and (3) habits.
All three were important. But it was that last one–their habit–that put them in the right place at the right time. They keep up with their project even when things looked down. They push forward even when the passion is gone.
Goals are great. They give you a direction. Without habits, you’ll get lost on the way to your goal. Habits are the daily and weekly tasks that you do no matter what. It’s through developing these good habits that you move in the right direction. This is like the real life version of a way point guidance system to get you where you want to go.
So often easier it’s to do something every day than every month. Some times it’ll be painful, but once it becomes something you do, it becomes much easier.
The 4 Laws of Habits
I know I’ve mentioned James Clear and his Atomic Habits before, and there’s a good reason for that. The book lays out in clear fashion how to make good habits and break bad ones. He calls this “The Four Laws of Behavior Change.” They are as follows:
- Make it obvious
- Make it attractive
- make it easy, and
- make it satisfying
NOTE: Breaking bad habits takes those four rules and turn them in reverse.
Since this is just a short blog post on habits, I’m not going in depth on the four laws. I’ll refer you to James Clear if you want a really in depth discussion (it is the central thesis for Atomic Habits). But looking at it from a high level, you’re doing everything in your power to set yourself up for success.
If you’re only counting on goals, then you’re counting on your daily willpower to be enough to make you do the right choices. Willpower and motivation are in limited supply, though, especially with powerful things all around us like Parking Lots trying to sap it away.
Set up your life in a way that it’ll make it easy to do the good things and hard to do the bad. Even when the good thing is super boring, like recording expenses.
Do it every day. Set reminders. Set up people to hold you accountable. Anything that will help you take those little steps.
Oh, and when you mess up (and you will mess up), just pick yourself up and start again.
NOTE: The image is from an old article on Engadget. But since I’m old now, that’s how my mind works.
