Welcome to the Own You Podcast, where we chat all things healthy habits and self-improvement.
I'm your host, Angela Jones, and my purpose is to remind you just how much control and
power you have over your life.
I've stepped into this by focusing on mastering my own daily habits, and I couldn't believe
the positive effects it had on life.
If you're ready to take the reins, surprise yourself by your own potential, and create
a life you've only dreamed of, then you've come to the right place.
Own your habits, own your life, own you.
Let's get started.
Hello and welcome back to the Own You Podcast.
This week's episode is going out to all those business owners, entrepreneurs, direct sellers,
or wannabe, any of the above, because we will be talking about how we can apply habits to
business.
Now you may think habits are just working out or brushing your teeth, and although you're
not wrong, they are so much more than that.
A habit is anything that you do repeatedly and automatic.
So how can we use this in business?
The possibilities are truly endless.
So if you're in business, can you think of any repeated action that could benefit you
and your business?
I'm guessing the answer is yes.
Think about income-producing activities for you.
How can we make those into automated habits?
Things like responding to emails, sending DMs, enhancing the customer experience, showing
up on social media, asking for feedback, selling, putting out consistent content, growing your
audience, batching tasks.
Honestly, the possibilities are truly, truly endless.
Maybe instead it's things like mindset habits, a positive mindset, consistently learning
and growing, not taking things too seriously, or even gracefully receiving feedback.
That can be really tough, especially when you're showing up online.
How can you make mindset habits into automated habits?
All of these are habits that can be practiced, modified, and perfected and automated to grow
and improve both you and your business.
You may be wondering how, and we do that exactly like we build any other habit.
Now, if you haven't listened to episode seven, I break down the ultimate guide to building
a new habit, and we can apply those to any habits, including those for business.
So I have a list of tips for you.
It is a list of eight tips, how you can incorporate habits into growing a business.
Now tip number one, I've said this before, and I'll say it a thousand times.
You should be focusing on one habit at a time.
So often we try to tackle everything all at once and then get frustrated or burnt out
when we can't juggle all of these balls in the air.
So focusing on one habit at a time increases your chances of success.
We like to think we can multitask some maybe are better than others, but really truly focusing
can only happen on one thing at a time.
So tip number one is one habit at a time.
Tip number two, and this is the unsexy thing I've said a million times, and that is to
practice daily.
Now not every habit will be a daily habit or not every habit will be something that
you can realistically practice every day.
However, practicing a habit daily gets you to that point of automation faster.
It helps us to incorporate it into our daily routines that much faster.
It's much harder to automate a habit that you are working on three times a week than
a habit that you're working on six or seven days a week.
So although it's not fun to hear, practice your habit daily or at least every workday,
every weekday that you work.
Tip number three is break it down to something simple.
Now to start a habit, it's much harder to automate a habit that takes three hours.
That doesn't feel easy to implement, that doesn't feel easy to consistently practice
every day.
Three hours is a big chunk of time.
However, if you focus on, like say the habit that you want to create does take three hours.
So instead, look at how you can break that down into something super simple.
Maybe focus on the starting action to those three hours and make that your habit.
Or maybe make the cue that leads you to doing those three hours of tasks, whatever that
is.
Make that cue the habit that you focus on.
You want to break down whatever habit it is into something bite size, something that takes
only minutes, something that's easy that your brain isn't going to fight against.
So tip number three, break it down to something simple.
Tip number four, try habit stacking.
And if you haven't listened to episode 11 on habit stacking, go check that out.
It's a awesome life hack that we can use to implement new habit.
So the gist of which you want to stack your desired habit onto something that is already
automatic in your daily routine.
So in that episode, I gave the example of how I started journaling consistently, and
it's because I stacked it onto a habit I already have.
So maybe that habit is drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, or maybe you have a habit
of going for a daily walk at 2 p.m., whatever it is, you want to tack on your desired habit
onto something that you already do during your day, that you don't have to think about
something easy that is already solidified into your daily routine.
So tip number four was habit stacking.
Tip number five, find a strong why behind your practice.
And that will differ for everybody, right?
Something that may be super important to me and super meaningful to me may mean nothing
to you.
Maybe money in and of itself is motivating for some people.
Maybe that's not.
Maybe the why behind your action may initially be to grow your business, but really you want
to help people and serve people in whatever way your business provides.
So think about a strong why that you can link to your practice.
And I've talked about this on previous episodes where I've successfully kind of attached something
super meaningful to me.
That's actually how I started working out.
So really getting down to what matters to you, what is meaningful and motivating and
inspiring to you and your business.
So that's tip five, find a strong why.
Tip six is to utilize the habit loop.
And I've, I've pointed back to this episode, what feels like a hundred times, but I will
do it again.
Check out episode five on the habit loop.
It breaks down the sort of building blocks of a habit and how we can use that to our
advantage, knowing how habits are structured and repeated in the brain.
We can use the individual components of a habit to build something we desire.
So utilize the habit loop.
Think about the cue that reminds you of the habit.
Think about the habit itself, and then the possible reward that will keep you coming
back to practice it consistently.
So utilize the habit loop.
Tip number seven is to keep going until it's automatic.
We have heard, or I've heard at least so many rumors about habits taking 21 days or habits
taking 60 days or some set number of days.
And that is just not true.
The research tells us that it very much depends on the habit itself, our willingness to create
the habit, all kinds of things factor into how long it takes to automate a habit.
And I think we fall into that trap of committing to practicing for three weeks or a month or
whatever it is, thinking that that will be how long it takes.
And the reality is many habits take much, much longer instead of measuring in days or
weeks.
A lot of habits take months, if not years.
That doesn't mean we don't set out to conquer those habits.
It means our whole mindset and approach should be adjusted accordingly, knowing that sometimes
habits take longer.
Sometimes they're really fast.
Something that we've had resistance to for years will take us longer to sort of master,
or a habit that's more intricate and complicated will take us longer to master.
That doesn't mean we don't do it.
It just means going into the process with a better mindset, knowing that if we don't
have this solidified in 21 days, we don't give up.
We keep going.
So just remember that there is a point of automation out there for every habit, and
to keep going, keep practicing until we reach that.
Because until we reach that, it won't be an automatic action in our day.
And that's really the goal, right?
Is to practice something until we really don't have to think about it anymore.
You don't have to motivate yourself into that habit anymore.
It's just part of your day and your life, just naturally.
So keep going until your habit is automatic, no matter how long that may be.
And number eight is to go and download my free habit guide.
I have tons of tips and tricks in there.
I have a habit tracker that you can use, but that PDF can be utilized for any habit.
So that could be something personal or a business habit that you want to develop, whatever it
is.
It can be super helpful.
I've had great feedback on it.
I have someone that messaged me and said that they'd been trying to work out consistently
for what felt like forever and utilize the habit tracker and the guide, and they were
finally working out consistently and enjoying it.
So tip number eight is go and download the habit guide.
It is totally free.
I will link it in the show notes.
So real quick recap of my eight tips.
Number one, one habit at a time.
Number two, practice daily.
Number three, break it down to something simple.
Number four, try habit stacking, check out episode 11.
Number five, put a strong why behind your practice.
Number six, utilize the habit loop.
Check out episode five.
Number seven, keep going until it's automatic, no matter how long that is.
And number eight, go and download my free habit guide PDF with habit tracker.
You will love it.
So when it comes to habits in business, think about how much easier business can be when
you're showing up as your best, healthiest, and happiest self.
The better you feel, whether that's physically or emotionally, the more confident you can
show up for your business.
Maybe that's showing up on social media.
Maybe that's in a client meeting or networking with other business owners.
So think about what personal habits might help you show up as your ultimate confident
self.
So utilizing habits for your business may not necessarily be income producing activities.
It may not necessarily be specifically habits for your business that could be habits for
yourself and your personal life that help you to show up in a better way for you and
your business.
If that feels far away, maybe a personal habit goal is the place to start for you.
So think about how you can level up your business habits, of course.
Take one habit goal that you have and run with it.
Show yourself how much you can accomplish in your life and in your business by mastering
your habits.
Cheers to a successful business and growth, both as a person and an entrepreneur.
I hope this episode helps.
I will see you back here next week.
Thanks for watching.
