Have Success Habits

The EMJ/TSD division had their sales retreat in Niagara Falls on the weekend. It was very inspirational. Good spirit. Good ideas. We have great vendors and great people.

The following is an article I wrote for Synnergy Magazine (SYNNEX's internal newsletter). (In keeping with good time management - fair re-use of material is OK)

Success Habits - by Jim Estill

We are a product of what we repeatedly do. We are all going to have habits so I figure we might as well make them good ones.

If you sit on the couch and watch TV drinking beer and eating chips, it is obvious what the results are.

It is easier to substitute a habit than to stop one. The best way to stop a habit is to replace it with a better or healthier habit.

It is critical to recognize that we choose our habits, either consciously or unconsciously.

Habit #1
Have clear goals. The clearer you know where you want to go and what your goals are, the more likely you are to get there. Have a vision. Everything happens first in the mind.

Habit #2
Be a constant learner, change and evolve as required. This means attending seminars, reading, and listening to audiobooks. By making learning a habit, this could be one of your competitive advantages.

It is not only the strong that survive; it is the adapters that win.

Habit #3
Sense of urgency wins. Do it now; have a propensity for action; make decisions quickly. I have found in business that the successful people are those who have a huge sense of urgency. They always want to get it done sooner and now cultivates the habit of doing it now.

Habit #4
Set a pace that you can maintain forever. Although I am a big believer in the sense of urgency, you need to figure out what gives you strength and energy and focus some time doing Stephen Covey's Seventh Habit that is sharpening the saw.

Habit #5
I like to have a number of success mantras; for example, "What the heck go for it anyways". I use this mantra whenever I am getting cold feet about doing something or need to negotiate something.

Another mantra that I use is, "Successful people do tough things". I repeat this to myself when I am doing something that I consider to be difficult like getting up at 4:30 a.m. to catch a flight.

Habit #6
Be Fit. I am a firm believer that fitness gives energy and energy is what allows us to get things done.

Fitness in itself can involve a number of habits and is a key topic in itself. What are your fitness habits?

Habit #7
Study time management. OK - a plug for my eBook, book and CD.

We all have the same amount of time; it is a matter of how we use it and how much we get done.

Habit #8
Nurture a network. I am constantly adding to my address book, reviewing it, keeping in touch with people and trying to add value to them. The more I nurture this network, the more I get things done.

Habit #9
Fail often, fail fast, fail cheap. In order to move forward, sometimes we have to fail. Don't let failure stand in the way of trying to move forward. You are not a failure if you fail; you are a failure if you don’t try.

Think about and decide what your success habits will be. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.