172: Build One Powerful Habit at a Time

Success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.

Achieving extraordinary results doesn’t require you to be a full-time disciplined person or team, where your every action is trained and where control is the solution to every situation.

Instead, the trick is to choose the right habit and bring just enough discipline to establish it. Use selected discipline to build a powerful habit. Habits require much less energy and effort to maintain than to begin.

However, no one has the discipline to acquire multiple new habits at the same time. That’s why it’s key to build one powerful habit at a time. Once a habit is solidly established, you can either build on that habit or, if appropriate, build another one.   

In this episode, Jesse shares what he’s learned from chapter 6 of the book The ONE Thing and provides examples of applying the lessons. His personal tips include:

Figure out the one right habit using reflection, reading, discussion, journaling, meditation, prayer, and/or experimentation.

Give each habit enough time to stick; don’t give up too soon. Apply selected discipline long enough for it to become routine. On average, habits take 66 days to form (three times as long as the often-quoted 21 days). Lock in one habit so it becomes part of your life.

Trust the process and keep doing one right thing at a time.

Focus on developing a positive habit, rather than stopping a negative habit.

Imagine how great things will be in one year after you’ve locked in 1-6 powerful habits.

Build momentum by noticing how a powerful habit also simplifies your life. Your life gets clearer, less complicated, and less stressful, because you know what you have to do well and you know what you don’t. Not only does the habit become easier, but so do other things as well.

Harness the power of selected discipline to build the right habit, and extraordinary results will find you.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Book: The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller

Podcast episode 164: The ONE Thing to Do This Week for Extraordinary Results

Podcast episode 165: Using the Domino Effect for Extraordinary Results

Podcast episode 168: Singleness of Purpose

Podcast episode 169: Use a Success List (Instead of a To-do List)

Podcast episode 171: Stop Trying to Multitask — It’s Making You Dumb and Ineffective

Subscription Links

iTunes

Stitcher

RSS

Your Feedback

If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it.