In This Episode…
In yesterday’s episode, I hinted I knew where I would go to find information about conditioning my recently declared (for the second time) intention of keeping a daily journal and reflecting on my wins and improvements.
Well that source is an excellent book by Social Psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson. In this episode I review it and summarise the key findings from it that I’ll explore to help me instil my new habit.
Episode Show Notes
00:40 – I have talked about this book before when I discussed the concept of Mental Contrasting in the post about the Brain Friendly Goal Setting Process I had found..
01:03 – This book is an expansion of a very popular article on the Harvard Business Review website.
01:38 – Here are the 9 Things That Successful People Do Differently:
- 01:46 – (1) – Get specific on exactly what it is you want to achieve and what obstacles will get in the way.
- 03:10 – (2) – Seize the moment by deciding in advance when and where you will take the actions necessary to achieve your goal (use IF-THEN planning).
- 05:01 – (3) – Know how far you have left to go. Frequently monitor your progress and compare it with where you intend to go.
- 06:00 – (4) – Be a realistic optimist – believe you will succeed but realise you’ll encounter obstacles along the way.
- 07:28 – (5) – Focus on getting better rather than proving how good you are. This is about the growth mindset.
- 08:17 – (6) – Have persistence and commitment towards your long term goals (she uses the term “Grit”).
- 08:49 – (7) – Develop your willpower
- 09:25 – (8) – Don’t tempt fate. If you know there are things that will distract you or even derail you from achieving your goal, then avoid those things.
- 10:11 – (9) – Focus on what you will do rather than what you won’t do.
Dr Halvorson ends her book rather elegantly with this simple summary of the behaviours of successful people:
Successful people set very specific goals and seize opportunities to act on them. Using strategies like “if-then” planning, they always know how far they have to go and stay focused on what still needs to be done.
They believe they will succeed but embrace the fact that success will not come easily. They remember that it’s about making progress rather than doing everything perfectly right out of the gate.
They believe that they can develop their abilities through efforts which makes them gritty in the face of setbacks and challenges.
They build their willpower through frequent exercise, make plans for how to cope when willpower is low and try not to put themselves in situations where temptations are bound.
They focus on what they will do rather than what they won’t do
Dr Heidi Grant Halvorson, 9 Things Successful People Do Differently
This book is an excellent read, it will only take you 30 minutes, and the information it contains is priceless. Highly recommended.
