Developing positive habits

Who are you? Now there’s a big question to start the day… Take a moment to ask yourself who you are, how do you spend your time and what makes you, you.We’ve all got an ideal of ourselves. A best version. What does that person look like? Do they exercise? Read? Volunteer?Thegood news is that the only difference between who you are right now andthe best version of yourself that you’d like to be are your habits.Weare the sum of our daily habits, so it stands to reason that we canbecome whoever we want to be if we can just develop the habits that willempower our success. Don’t believe me? Here’s a practical example… Howmuch more knowledgeable would you be if you read 27 books on the subjectevery year? Well, here’s the habit to get you there – read for 20minutes every day. Do that, without fail, and you’ll read around 27average-size books every year. And that’s just one empowering habit.Givensome time, we can all identify the habits that will make us better. Thetrick lies in understanding how habits work, so let me tell you a fewthings about habits:1. It takes between 21 and 66 days of consistent process to form a habit2. 45% of our daily behaviours are automatic 3. You are more likely to build a habit if you focus on one at a time4. It is easier to create a new habit than overcome an existing one5. Habits are a three-part process; reminder, routine and reward. You need to master all three.Habitsare simple, but not easy.  The key lies in starting with small stepsevery day. No matter how big the goal or dream, you can develop smallhabits that will get you there. Ready for your challenge?Thinkof one habit that would take you closer to the best version of yourselfand break it down. Consciously identify how you’re going to remindyourself to act, what the routine will be, and what reward you’ll getwhen you complete it – and then do it. Consistently. For a month. Seewhat happens!I want to leave you with this quote by F. M. Alexander: “People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.”* S Zuhair Naqvi is the Managing Director of DicoTech Qatar WLL, and an EMBA alumnus of HEC Paris, Class of 2016.