Winning Habits with Billy Lanford

Winning Habits with Billy Lanford

With the New Year underway we are, by-default, forced to look at our lives and decide whether we want to do things differently next year. In January, everywhere we look, people or brands are telling us how to be better or how to #WIN this year. I would argue, only if we are willing to be disciplined and intentional, will we be able to move towards a better life.

At A.K. Rikk’s, we focus on the NOW and the NEXT STEP for our staff. We use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and dive head first into the mundane of the day-to-day actions in all of our positions.

One way we teach the mundane is to encourage daily habits. Habits are created in the basal ganglia part of the brain. This part of the brain plays a role in the development of emotions, memories, and pattern recognition. We know that by helping our staff create positive daily habit(s) we are empowering our staff to become more autonomous. Here are three things to ask yourself when creating a daily habit:

1. What is an area of your life that needs a habit?

2. What can you do daily?

3. How can you do that “thing” daily?

One hack that I use is the 20 second rule from Shawn Achor, The Happiness Advantage. My habit was to to start waking up at 5am everyday. I struggled immensely with it at first and would continuously hit the snooze button and then have to make my coffee. I had to think of way of how I could make waking up early a habit and break the barrier so I started pre-making my coffee at night which forced me out of bed because I had something ready for me to enjoy. This allowed me to break the barrier that most habits have because the start of the habit only took me 20 seconds to accomplish. Let’s say you want to play the guitar. If you put your guitar in the living room, you will see it and realize it’s right there for you to enjoy. From sitting on the couch to then playing the guitar is 20 seconds or less. When you create a habit, it's a daily win! 

Habits are a HUGE topic with so many funnels to go down. Here are three book recommendations that will get your mind moving toward starting that habit you’ve been putting off: 

Shawn Achor The Happiness Advantage

Charles Duhigg The Power of Habit

Daniel Kahneman Thinking Fast and Slow 

Want to participate in #WINNINGATAKRIKKS all month long? Watch the video below and click HERE for more information. 

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