Good Morning!
Beginning our third week of the shutdown was a little tough mentally for me this morning. For a second, as the alarm went off, I had my first feeling since this began of what’s the point of still getting up so early? I shook it off and got my coffee.
A thought crossed my mind of a speech I heard from Zig Ziglar early in my career. He talked about after hours and hours of delays flying home, he walked in his door well after midnight and didn’t get to sleep until after 1 or so. He was very rigid in his discipline of sleep and getting up. He said when that alarm sounded, he didn’t want to move, but he knew slipping on his discipline once could start a trend. So, he went through the day tired, knowing he would catch up the next night.
I’m not as disciplined as Zig, as I will flex my schedule a little based on workload and meeting schedule. The difference was, I set my alarm to get up for a reason today. To get some writing done, to put my work plan together, and review financing documents for the SBA loan programs many of us are working on. I had a choice, like every day, to choose to move forward, or succumb to another 30 minutes or so rest. What made this one important is it could have been the beginning of the turning point. Even though everything is done via video conference, I still get dressed the same as if I had a full schedule of face to face meetings. I got teased about it by a team member and I made the statement that even Saturday before I sit at my computer to work, I put on work clothes. The routine helps set the mindset for me. It is one of my habits I hope will lead me toward success.
During a sales rally at IBS years ago, Roland Nairnsey stated a poem that stuck with me. “Be careful of your thoughts, because your thoughts become your words. Be careful of your words, because your words become actions. Be careful of your actions, because your actions become your habits. Be careful of your habits, because your habits become your destiny.”
What are your habits for success? Have you stuck to them? Almost all success is a few small disciplines executed daily. My message for the week is I hope we all keep our head focused on our task at hand, and have the most success we can in our current circumstances.