Moving the Needle: Get Clear, Get Free, and Get Going in Your Career, Business, and Life!

Chapter 10Habits and Getting Free

Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.

—MAHATMA GANDHI, Indian leader

Your habits are great predictors of what your life will become because what you do and how you act speak volumes—much more than words.

We all have habits—mannerisms and idiosyncrasies that define what we do and who we are. The habits we choose to nurture are very important because, as Gandhi so eloquently said, they are a reflection of our beliefs, our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

If you want to be in a different place from where you are today in a year, look at and figure out how to change your habits in areas such as your health, your attitude, and your mind. It helps to start by asking the right questions:

• Where am I now?
• Where do I want to go?
• Where do I want to be one year from now? Five years from now?
• What things do I need to change from where I am right now to get where I want to go?

Our habits affect the direction we take and help create clarity in our lives. Whereas bad habits can limit us, good habits set us free because they establish routine, develop a sense of order, and produce efficiency. If you really want to change your life, you start by changing your habits.

If you want to study people with ...