- Know and embrace the
proven fact that habits and routines are hard to change.
Existing habits and routines will not change by thinking about them for a
minute, 10 minutes, a half-hour or a day; nor will they change by wanting,
wishing and/or hoping they change. It takes conscious, methodical effort
over time to change habits or embed new habits into your routine as
described below.
- Realize, accept and
embrace the fact that 90% of effective business development starts and
lives in your mind. In your mind lies your level of
personal self-discipline, your self-control over your use of time, and your
self-control and choices in response to external cues and situations and how
you handle/respond to distractions. Much of effective business development
consists of self-discipline, taking action, and committing sweat/effort
even when you do not want to or don’t feel like it.
- First, you must commit.
If you are only somewhat interested in changing a habit or embedding a
new, upgraded habit into your routine, studies show you will likely not
accomplish it. You must COMMIT.
The difference between interest and commitment is intensity of will –
which lies in your mind. If you are committed, you will do whatever it
takes; no hurdle/distraction will stand in your way, you will make it
happen and you will do it. On the other hand, if you are mildly
interested, you may do it when you think of it or have extra time, but
because you are really not 100% committed, you will likely blow it off for
various reasons. So commit!
- Plan ahead.
Multiple studies show that the more thoughtfully and thoroughly you plan
ahead, the greater are your chances of success. Other studies show that
reducing a plan to writing more than doubles your chance of success. A
lengthy plan is not necessary; a simple list and/or recurring
auto-reminders in Outlook about what you want to do and when will suffice.
Periodically, at least once a year, you should review your plan and
progress against your original goals and objectives and adjust
accordingly.
- Know and impress reasonable expectations in your
mind. To embed any new habit into your routine such that it
becomes second nature – something you automatically do without much extra
effort – multiple studies show that it takes (on average) 60-90 days of
consistent, conscious effort. Know this ahead of time and plan for it.
- Create and use external
and/or visual cues. Have a list in writing. Program
your mobile device(s)/Outlook to auto-remind you, and use Outlook
categories. Put a “sticky note” note on your phone. Do whatever works for
you to visually remind you/cue you about your commitment.
- Plan ahead for challenges,
hurdles, distractions, and weak motivation and have a plan in place to
handle them. For example, every Thursday after
lunch close your office door and ask your assistant to hold all calls for
half an hour while you review and get in touch with clients, referral
sources and/or contacts. If you are interrupted or distracted, discipline
yourself to complete the efforts/tasks another time and mark it in your
schedule.
- Realize, accept and
embrace that repetition is
the force of habit. Hundreds of studies prove
this. So build into your plan, for a period of at least 90 days, a cadence
of repetition that works for you. For example, if you want to become a
huge rainmaker, build at least 15-30 minutes of business development time
into each day. Or discipline yourself to review and stay in touch with
select contacts as appropriate every Thursday after lunch, for example.
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