This talk was originally given for Coach Josh. He runs a Facebook group called TwelveTwo, which exists to empower entrepreneurs to pursue excellence in their finances and relationships. I had been working on this exercise after attending the Growth Now Summit Live in Lititz, PA with Justin Schenck. During this conference, my friend and Movement Influencer Andre Young taught me a simple exercise to help board rooms narrow down their company values to core values. What does that mean? Andre runs "You Evolving Now" and explained that leadership teams can think of many words to explain what the organization believes in. However, this exercise helped the teams he has coached to force their long list of values down to the vital few that were truly core. They are the ones that capture the essence of WHY the company exists, HOW they operate, and WHAT they do. I just pulled in a little Golden Circle by Simon Sinek too. Anyway, I borrowed this exercise from Andre along with Simon's mindset and adapted it to creating better habits.  

I have been a student of habit-building for years. There are 4 books that are all foundational and well-worth the read. 

1. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
2. The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
3. Atomic Habits by James Clear
4. The Power of Habit  by Charles Duhigg

Each of these books takes a different angle, but have a common message. You can change your habits. And when you change your habits, you'll change your life. The Slight Edge and the Compound Effect teach us that small incremental changes made daily and consistently add up to mind-blowing changes down the road. Atomic Habits teaches that some habits inspire you to be stronger in others. They are called Keystone Habits. The Power of Habit was actually the first audio book I ever listened to on Audible. This book is for the ones who would like to understand the psychology and anatomy of a habit and how to create new ones. It's fascinating.

Once I built this workshop, I tested it on me, my wife, my friend John Schuchman on the plane to Podfest, the Smart Cleaning Tribe, and my Total Life Freedom Mastermind. I learned from each and found something out. People were choosing their health as the #1 thing they wanted to change in their life at a high rate. Coach Josh helped me add a major component to this talk on the grip FEAR has on us. Once we realize that we'll never be perfect and the only way to overcome fear is with action, we'll begin making the changes in our lives needed to become all that we desire to become. I recorded this talk for TwelveTwo and later adapted it to fit for the 2022 Maid Service Success Summit. 

Now, it's time for class! I want each and every one of you to complete this exercise. Please email me at ken@smartcleaningschool with the subject, "My #1 Change" and then share your #1. I will personally respond to each email with encouragement! Also, if you would like to collaborate with other cleaning companies nationally on your goals and habits.  Check out the Smart Cleaning Tribe. We are a family of cleaning company owners who connect every week via Zoom to brainstorm, solve problems, set goals, hold each other accountable, and support each other.