Like most everyone else, the Muntean household has been hunkered for a while. The disruption was jarring at first. But now, while I’m not fond of most of it, we’ve got a rhythm going.

My wife has been a champ when it comes to homeschooling and managing our kids. This has largely been accomplished by establishing new routines for them.

Kids, if you don’t know, thrive on routine. Most grown-ups do too. These help both.

A couple that I think are particularly ingenious and effective:

• Snacks management: My kids are like baby birds. Always hungry and noisy about food.

Solution: She bought each of them a little basket. Every morning she fills the basket full of their allotted snacks for the day. They can self-serve and ration. I was surprised, it works. If she misses a morning of snack basket management, there is near-instant confusion and chaos. The routine of the snack basket matters.

• Homeschooling: We are both still working. It’s difficult to constantly provide direction to the kiddos all day regarding schoolwork.

Solution: My wife uses a whiteboard to write daily assignments and chores, with a little affirming note on a whiteboard. They check them as they get them done. This little tool, just makes everything easier. The kids self-manage to a much higher degree and it is easier to keep track of what is going on.

Children have very little power. But routines allow them to plan, anticipate and prepare. It also, interestingly, allows for more autonomy. When you shake up routines for children, bad things happen. These routines help produce success in our household. Success being defined as sanity.

This is also true for leaders and organizations. Routines help produce success. It’s rare that success just falls out of the sky. Or failure, for that matter.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act but a habit.”

This quote is often misattributed to Aristotle. It was, in fact, the historian Will Durant who wrote this, summing up some of Aristotle’s thoughts.

The results you experience are largely due to the habits that you have. The results of your organization’s experiences are largely due to its habits. Some people don’t like this – because it smells of ownership.

I find it to be freeing. I hope you do too. Because if I’m not experiencing the results that I want, I can change a habit.

Don’t Change Your Success Habits

To the degree that you experience repeatable or sustainable success, it is likely due to habits. Success habits. It also means that when my overall circumstances are changed, successful leaders and organizations need to be very careful to preserve their success habits. They may need to be reinterpreted. But rarely should they be abandoned.

What Are Success Habits? Success habits are specific behaviors that you regularly do that directly contribute to success. I’ll give you two personal examples:

My Business Development: In growing my business, building relationships with customers is the result of certain habits. For myself, I’ve dialed this down to two things:

• Meet with two potential clients or referral sources a week.
• Publish new content (new value) regularly. Right now, this means:
  o A weekly article (you are reading it here!)
  o A weekly podcast episode (listen to it here!)

When I do those two things, my business grows. I do more than this. But those two are the core success habits.

My Personal Development:

• Be grateful
• Pray/meditate
• Review my personal vision
• Appreciate my wife
• Move my body
• Learn something

When I do these things I’m nicer, people around me are happier, I grow. It works.

Four Key Characteristics of a Success Habit

All success habits are simple, impactful, flexible and perishable.

Simple: There is nothing complicated about any of my habits. The ones that might seem complicated (like publishing) really aren’t. I’ve learned to simplify them.

Impactful: They are “active ingredients.” They matter, they actually produce something. I notice a decline in the success I’m pursuing when I don’t do them.

Flexible: They don’t have to be done exactly the same way. I conditions, situations or needs change, I can adapt the habit. If I can’t go to the gym, I can work out at home. If I can’t meet with potential clients, I can host a webinar.

Perishable: None of these habits happen without effort. All of them need to be maintained. Perhaps paradoxically, the more effort I put into maintaining them the less effort is required. But when I begin to back off, it takes even more effort to maintain the success I want.

How to Identify Or Create Your Success Habits

Reflection: When you succeed at something, when things are working right, ask, “What is about what we just did that resulted in this success?”

Observation: When you see that someone else is succeeding, ask, “What are they doing differently that creates those results?”

Education: Sometimes success habits are unique. But often they are “best practices.” Someone, somewhere has asked the questions above and figured it out. Go learn from them.

Experiment with them. Give them time. Figure them out. Then double down.

Years ago, when I first started writing a weekly article, it didn’t seem like I saw any results. About six months later, I was so busy with client work I didn’t feel like I had time to write. So I quit.

Six months after that, I didn’t have enough work. Since writing was the only thing I changed, I started writing again. After about six months, I was busy again. I didn’t feel like I’d be able to write a book. But then I did – and the business grew.

I didn’t think I had time to create a podcast, but I did, and business nearly doubled.

You can believe I’m convinced that creating content is a success habit. As a result, my second book is with the publisher and I’m working on my third. I’m also preparing to begin publishing video content on YouTube and Instagram.

Your Success Habits Will Carry You Through

In times of disruption, confusion or crisis – your success habits are what will carry you through. If you know what they are and have just gotten off your game – get back on it. Get into your success routine.

If you know them but can’t do them in the same way, find or create options. I can’t meet, one-on-one, with two potential clients a week right now. But I can still call and see how they are doing.

If you’ve never defined them, now is the time. Waiting won’t help anything. Don’t be the person who wants to get in shape before they join the gym.

Wrapping Up

Take a look at the organizations around you.

There are a ton of good reasons to be struggling and derailed right now. The ones who hopelessly are – are also ones who never knew or have let go of their success habits. The ones who have gotten back on track or were never that shaken – are still using their success habits.

Coincidence?

Keep well,

Christian

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