Five Habits to Thrive

Happy New Year everyone! With 2022 upon us it’s time to build plans, create goals, set our intentions, and make our resolutions. Personally, I’ve never really been one to share a New Year’s resolution but maybe that’s because I’ve never been the type that’s really ever made one. For most of my adult life, I’ve typically addressed things as I see them, and while this might have worked to some degree, I’m starting to believe I've probably been looking at this wrong way. Recently, I’ve come to see that at times this can be far too reactive and pretty incomplete and there has to be a better approach. Throughout 2021, I spent more time than ever reflecting on what I was doing well and what I wanted to improve, constantly addressing so many of these things without clear direction or enough intention. Because I’ve always been one to address things head on, and often in the moment, I have grown, but now I’m challenging myself to look at this differently so I can grow faster and have a bigger impact. 

For more than 20 years self-improvement has always been something I’ve valued, embraced and held myself accountable to, but over the last two years my consistency hasn’t been very consistent. In this search for more personal growth, I found the need put pen to paper this time around to write out more of what I will improve and accomplish in 2022. I figured, if the thought is important enough write and share, it must be important enough to practice, and I know doing this will keep most of these priorities in focus. 

With that said, I’m sharing my daily practice in an effort to hold myself accountable and also to inspire anyone else looking to make changes that will improve their quality of life and performance. Everything I’ve listed below I’ve practiced on and off over the years but for some reason I’ve never managed to pull it all together in the form of a daily ritual. Today, that’s going to change! This year will be different, and I will create a habit from the promise I’m making now.

Feed Your Mind with Positive Thoughts

To live a more peaceful and productive life we need to feed our minds with positive thoughts every day. Prayer, affirmations, meditation, reading, music and practicing gratitude are all great ways to lift our spirits, learn new things and improve how we think. When we think more positively, we typically do more and have a bigger impact on all the people around us. This year I plan consistently practice more of the above so I can greet each day with a more positive and productive spirit.

Take Good Care of Your Body

Exercise, whether it’s walking, running, working out or stretching changes our physical appearance and our state of mind. Sure, it improves things like strength and endurance, but it also known to improve mood, self esteem and motivation all needed to accomplish the goals we’ve set for ourselves. In 2022, I’m committed to working out with more discipline and consistency!

 Follow People That Bring Out the Best in You

Throughout my leadership journey I’ve learned that even the best need someone to look up to, learn from, and follow. I’ve always followed other great leaders, fathers and coaches so I could get the answers and/or the inspiration I needed to be the best I could be in any role I decided to take on. Positive role models accelerate our growth, influence our actions and motivate us to uncover more of our true potential. That said, I plan to spend more time with the people that can help me become the best me!

 Give More Than You Expect to Receive

Life isn’t about what we have, it’s about what we share, and every one of us has something that someone else needs. When I really think about it, we all have time, knowledge, experience, feedback, money, homes, love and so much more to offer another when see value in ourselves and these gifts. Giving is good for all of us! It creates connection, evokes happiness, and it’s contagious so I’ll be giving more in 2022!

Take Action on Your Vision

A plan without action is just a wish and while wishes are great, I’m not sure how often they come true. If we want to realize our best life, we must take intentional action in pursuit of this dream. Action creates momentum and momentum generates wins that will build confidence in the vision you want to realize. Once you have the plan built, there’s not much left to do but to execute. I’m pretty action oriented but now that my goals are set and my priorities are aligned, the action I take this year will have a bigger impact.  

2022 will be a different year, hopefully better than the last few for everyone, but no one really knows what unforeseen obstacles we’ll all have to navigate. What I do know is that I’ll be much more prepared because I’ve spent time writing out many of the things I want to improve and accomplish. I believe these changes will make me a better husband, father, son, brother, and leader. I’m confident they’ll support all the goals I’m committed to hitting and the improvements we’ll need to make to our business. I’m confident because every one of them has already been proven to improve quality of life and in turn performance.

All the best to all of you in 2022!