The habits we have in our lives shape us, our lives, and our success.  I once asked Zig Ziglar's son, Tom Ziglar, "What is the fastest way to success?"  His answer was, "The fastest path to success is to replace a bad habit with a good habit."  It's that simple.  You pick a bad habit, replace it with a good habit, and then cement.  You can then move on to the next.  Think about if you did this multiple times in the course of a year - where would you be?  You'd be in a completely different place that you are today.

So, with all that said, here are 3 habits you can start doing today that will make a major difference in your life.

Journaling

You've no doubt heard about the power of writing things down and journaling.  Many of the most successful people in their fields do this every day.  Why?  Because it works.  When you write things down and get your thoughts out of you on paper - it helps you to crystalize them and get them in order so they aren't just bouncing around in your head.  Taking 5-10 mins a day to write your thoughts down will help you be better organized, know what to prioritize, help you to know yourself better, and help you be more successful.  My favorite tool for helping someone do this is the 5 Minute Journal.  It makes it easy by giving you the structure, so you don't even have to think.  And it takes 5 minutes to do each day!  Click Here to Get a Copy! 

​Consistent Sleep

This is an easy.  Start going to bed and waking up at the same times each day.  Set your times and adhere to them, even on weekends if you can.  Studies have shown that your quality of sleep directly affects your energy levels and mental capacity.  By going to bed and waking up at the same times each day, you create a habit of consistency for your body and its sleep rhythms that will help you be more rested, have more energy, and be more alert and on your game each day.

Commit to Personal Growth

You know this one, but it bears repeating because you can do it today.  They say you are the sum of the 5 people you hang out with.  I like to take that further by saying you are not just the sum of those you hang out with, but of the books you read and the things you put into your mind.  And if you don't take the time to put anything into it, you cannot learn, grow, and get better.  If you want to increase your success levels, you must grow yourself.  Start small - pick one new book to read a quarter.  Then maybe one per month, and go from there.  Listen to podcasts like the Misfit Entrepreneur or take courses on things like Udemy.  Whatever you do, commit to a personal growth plan.  As Jim Rohn said, "Formal education will make you a living, self-education will make you rich!" 

There is just no substitute for great customer service and taking care of people.  I was recently reminded of this when dealing with a provider in one of my businesses.  They lost their relationship with me because of how poorly they treated me.

The company offered a service I use to help manage my business and then one stopped access to it for the business.  I checked and everything was up to date, there had been no issues or anything that we could find.  I then got a cryptic message saying they had suspended service and to get service back up, I needed to provide more detail about my business.

I thought this was odd, so I got on the phone with their support and discussed why they needed the detail they needed.  They were less than helpful and would not give me a good answer.  Instead, they said that in order to re-instate services, I would need to provide the requested details.  They told that if I did so, in 24 hours things would be resolved and that it would be restored.  I obliged and gave them the detail they asked.

3 days later I got a message back from them stating they needed even more detail and wanted things that didn't even make sense for the services they were providing.  At that point, I was done.  They were rude, not forthcoming, and did not live up to their promise in that if I provided what they originally wanted, things would be re-instated.  

This company lost a long-time customer simply because of their service and the way they treated me and my business.  It today's age, it can month's to find a customer and seconds to lose one.  It is much easier and less costly to keep a customer and care for them than it is to lose them.  This company forgot that rule.  

In any business, customers are your lifeblood and you should love them and do everything you can to take care of them.  It's a simple lesson that gets forgotten more and more - There is no substitute for great service, period!

The Halloween season wouldn't be complete without a post about skeletons!  

But the skeletons I want to talk about today are different.  They are your business' skeletons.

Business skeletons?  What are those?

Your business skeletons are the things that you know have needed fixed or done in your business for a long time, but you have not gotten around to or keep putting off because you can continue operating with them the way they are.  They might a lack of processes or not being buttoned up legally or in accounting.  They could be keeping a line of business that should be removed.  They could also be something that is embarrassing and to confront it would bring it to light.

Business skeletons exist in a lot of different ways and if not dealt with will eventually cause issues and come out.  It's best to confront them head on now, than to wait til later.

What kind of issues can they cause?  Well, let's say you've built a nice business, but have been lax in your contracting with clients and thus have no consistency or even records of contracts in some cases.  If you have a problem with a client you have nothing to go back - no clear set of rules for your relationship.  Or worse yet, maybe you go to sell the business, but have no record of contracts with your clients - the buyer would definitely red flag that and your value would probably not be what you expect.  

Another example is not delegating and creating processes with systems for others to follow.  As your business grows, you will reach a breaking point and could get crushed under the weight of tasks that fall only to you making you a giant bottleneck and limiting the growth of the business.

Every business has skeletons.  The key is to admit it and fix them long before they can become an issue.  Yes, they are often things we don't want to deal with or don't seem as important as the day to day in the business - until they are.  Deal with them now and you'll find it much easier to grow, scale, and succeed!

A friend of mine sent me the video above.  It won an Oscar for Best Animation.  And as I watched it, it made me think about an old adage I used to talk about, called R.A.K.  

It stands for Random Act of Kindness.  As you watch, think about how you can incorporate R.A.K. into your life daily and make a difference - Because YOU CAN.

What a world it would be if we all practiced R.A.K daily!