Creating good life habits can be a struggle at first, especially if you grew up in a home that wasn’t very consistent. That said, it’s such an important part of growing up. Good habits lead to success and happiness. Today I’m going to talk about what good habits are and how to develop them. I’ll talk about work habits as well as overall life habits that you should cultivate. I’ll touch on the habits of highly successful people as well. Once I’ve gone into good habits to start, I’ll share some inspirational quotes to help motivate you.
What Are Good Habits?
Good habits are behaviors that are beneficial to your mental or physical health. They can also be linked to a high level of discipline or self-control. To put it simply, good habits are positive things you can do to live a more successful and fulfilling life. Working is a huge part of life. In fact, according to HuffPost Australia, the average person spends over 13 years of their life at work. That is why I’d like to focus on work specifically before I touch on overall life habits.
What Are Good Work Habits?
Here I’ll talk about some of the things you can do to cultivate good work habits.
Be professional and arrive to work a bit early. Chronically late employees annoy their bosses. If you can come on time (or 10 minutes early), it will show your employer that you care about the work. Dress professionally and stay late when the situation calls for it.
Meet deadlines. Being able to meet can show how professional and trustworthy you are as an employee. When you meet deadlines, you make your boss look good. This is good for both of you, as a great manager will reward their team for working hard.
Anticipate the needs of the department/team. If you foresee imminent issues, share those with your manager. You’ll demonstrate your insight and showcase that you can see the overall business strategy.
Proactively learn work skills. Seek out and gain new skills and professional certifications. This helps you ensure you maintain industry standards as they change. As I said earlier, you should also study those who have more advanced positions than you do. Find out what skills are required of you in order to advance, and develop those skills. You can also consider studying areas that are knowledge gaps in your department.
Take initiative on projects. Once a need has been identified, you can take initiative to volunteer for assignments when you’re less busy. You can start work on tasks that may be allocated to you or pitch a project to help gain new skills. Ultimately, just be enthusiastic about the work.
Study successful people in the field you desire to work in. What do they do differently? What does an average day look like for them? Being able to answer these questions can provide a jumping-off point for you.
Ask smart questions. When you ask a few smart questions, it demonstrates your desire to learn and interest in your job. Don’t ask too many questions, however. Bosses don’t like needing to answer the same questions over and over, so document the answers you get so you can refer back to them later. Also, be aware of your manager’s time. Ask urgent questions right away and keep the others on a notepad or document for you to ask when they’re not as busy.
Communicate well. Communication is important everywhere, but in your workplace, it can mean the difference between keeping your job or losing it. Communication is one of the most valued soft skills by employers, so be sure to engage during meetings.
Admit your mistakes. Instead of pretending like the mistake wasn’t your fault, you can be proactive about how you handle them. Let your boss know when mistakes are made and come up with a plan to keep it from happening again. Apologize, but don’t waste time dwelling on it. You and your boss will do better if you move on.
Show a positive attitude and be respectful. If you can display good character and deal with people with respect, it will get you far in life. Having a positive attitude can be extremely helpful as well since most bosses would rather feel like their employees are enjoying their work. This means being willing to work on a team with people who are different from you and treating everyone with equal respect. This also means taking criticism well and not gossiping.
Be willing to help, and to ask for help. Try to pitch in where you’re needed, even if it’s not your job. Demonstrate how flexible you can be instead. Roll up your sleeves and get to work. You may learn invaluable skills in the process that can give you a leg up over the competition.
Quotes About Good Work Habits
“Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.” – Twyla Tharp
“Developing a good work ethic is a key (to success). Apply yourself at whatever you do, whether you’re a janitor or taking your first summer job because that work ethic will be reflected in everything you do in life.” – Tyler Perry
“Good work habits help develop an internal toughness and self-confident attitude that will sustain you through every adversity…” – Paul J. Fleyer
What are Good Life Habits?
In my article on physical health, I stressed the importance of:
- Exercise
- Eating right
- Getting plenty of sleep
- Staying hydrated
- Taking care of your teeth
In my article on mental health, I stressed the importance of:
- Stress management
- Time management
In addition to the above, here are a few more tips.
Regularly challenge yourself. When you find yourself becoming bored with where you are in life, give yourself a challenge. Perhaps you can try to meet more fitness goals, or tap into your creative side by taking some art lessons. Maybe you want to learn a new language or play an instrument. Whatever you do, don’t allow yourself to become complacent. Every day offers you a new opportunity to find something you love.
Laugh. Even forced laughter can release endorphins to you, resulting in a happier overall outlook.
Stand up straight. Standing up straight will reflect well in your workplace and your personal life. Not only that – it allows you to align your body the way it was intended to be. This means reduced muscle stress and tension for you.
You will pick up on the habits of your friends. If your friends make it a habit to stay up all night drinking till the wee hours so they’re exhausted on Monday morning, you’ll be tempted to do the same. If your friends are positive and outgoing, you’ll pick up that same positive attitude.
Learn to take an honest look at yourself. Where are your strong areas? Where are some areas that you need to improve? How can you achieve the goals you want to achieve?
Want more awesome habits? Check out this list for more ideas.
Quotes About Good Life Habits
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit” – Will Durant
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryun
“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.” – Aristotle
“Positivity is like a muscle: keep exercising it, and it becomes a habit.” -Natalie Massenet
Habits of Highly Successful People
Steven R. Covey likely wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People before you were born. The principles still apply today. I’ll go over his list and explain a bit more about it.
- Be proactive. Instead of blaming your problems on others or feeling like the world is happening to you, choose your response. Don’t blame outside forces for things within your control. (For example, instead of saying that a person makes you mad, say that you control your own feelings.)
- Begin with the end in mind. Start with a clear destination and vision. It gives you something to strive toward. Once you’ve got a clear goal, you can make sure you’re working toward it. If you can define your roles in life and the goals you want to achieve for each, you’ll be better equipped to do so. Define what scares you and visualize how you’d handle it. Live by the priorities you’d have if you only had 30 more days to live.
- Put first things first. This section is all about better time maintenance. Steven Covey’s book comes with a chart divided into four quadrants to help you determine where your priorities ought to be.
- Think win-win. This section deals with interpersonal relationships and conflict management. He focuses on the idea of an abundance mindset.
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Here’s another great tip. Before you can effectively communicate with someone, you first need to understand them. Work to build empathy. Realize that there is much more to what you say than simply words coming out of your mouth. A lot of it is also body language, sounds, and facial expressions.
- Synergize. Be comfortable with others sharing their opinions. Realize that people who are different from you can offer valuable insights you wouldn’t have. Sidestep negativity and look for the good in others. Be creative and courageous. Be open and encourage others to be open as well.
- Sharpen the saw. Renew yourself physically, spiritually, mentally, and socially. Continually improve yourself. Never tire of learning.
Good Habits are Key to Your Well-Being
Habits are so important, and the ones you form today will follow you for the rest of your life. Start off with a solid foundation of good habits that will carry you through everything life throws at you. Once you’ve developed positive habits, you will be more successful and happy. For more great tips, check out my blog. Or, if you have a question you’d like to ask, I’m here for you. I created Stewart Publishing with your needs in mind. Contact me if you need anything.
