The 30-second daily habit that will change your business life

Want to live a happy and enriched life while working in an exciting and fulfilling business? This super-quick, daily habit will get you there. On any given morning I ask myself questions like, ‘When should I schedule my nap given I’ve only just woken up?’ and ‘Should I go to the gym or just walk briskly to the kitchen?’ and ‘Why hasn’t anyone invented a pyjama-pantry-fridge-combo yet?’ While some of my enquiries are useful, most of them don’t significantly contribute to the fullness of my business and life. Until now. You see, I’ve discovered two life-changing daily questions.  

The two important questions

The two questions are deceptively simple but deliriously effective. They are:

• Where do I want to be?
• What will I do today to get there?

Question one refers to where you see yourself in the future, whether that’s in five weeks or five years’ time. And question two refers to the little or big action/s you can take during the day to get there.    

How to implement this life-changing daily habit

It’s sooooooo easy to start and sustain the habit. You don’t even have to get out of bed or write anything down. As soon as you wake up and feel reasonably alert, just picture where you see yourself in the future, and make a mental note of one action you’ll implement during the day to get there. It’s that simple. For example, people who are employed in full-time work may picture themselves working in their own business, starting a part-time business or retiring early. People who already work in their own business may imagine specific improvements to their business. This habit relates to non-business goals as well, such as learning a new language, losing weight, finding a life partner, decluttering the house, being more positive and so on.  

A hypothetical example

Jamie is a solo operator who runs a computer-fixing business in his local area. He has no defined target market and works with home users and businesses alike. He loves his solo business but there are aspects he wants to change. He doesn’t want to fix computers at all hours of the day and night any more, and he’s tired of the urgent, stressful calls from frantic clients. When asking the question, ‘Where do I want to be?’, he visualises an image of himself working calmly and proactively with a number of businesses who’ve hired him on a monthly retainer to ensure their computers and information are protected before there’s a problem. He sees himself finishing work at 3pm every day, picking up his kids and spending time with his family at night. In answer to the question, ‘What will I do today to get there?’ he decides that for today, he’s going to brainstorm ideas about what the service package might include. Tomorrow he visualises the same image and decides to research at least one competitor who offers a similar service.  In three days’ time he decides to crunch the numbers to find out how to price this service. The day after that, he comes up with a name for the service. And so the sequence continues.    

Consistency is key

The daily action can be miniscule or massive, the key is consistency. If Jamie ever stops his two-question daily habit, he may end up right back where he started: dog paddling aimlessly and unhappily rather than swimming powerfully and purposefully toward his preferred island.  

There’s nothing new or revolutionary about this idea

Visualisation and goal setting are well-known strategies for getting from A to B, and the questions themselves are similar to two questions Oprah shared with me in Sydney last December. This is just another useful tool to use in conjunction with other strategies, or if you prefer, to use entirely on its own. It takes just 30 seconds a day, costs absolutely nothing and could radically change the direction of your life. So what are you waiting for? Where do you want to be? And what will you do today to help you get there?   This article first appeared on flyingsolo.com.au and is republished here with permission.