If you talk to a lot of successful people, they will tell you that success is reached by developing a good routine. You may be thinking that a routine sounds boring. Well, routines are only boring if you build a boring routine. At this sentence, many people will stop reading and leave the page. But that is not you. You want success, but for some reason you haven’t established a daily routine to get you there. Perhaps you don’t believe in routines, but I can tell you I live by mine. And living by routine makes all the difference in the world.
Check out how establishing a routine can get you closer to success…
1. Provides A Structure For Focus
That’s right. If you plan your day properly and do the same things every day, you can plan for focus. You can schedule specific times in your day where you need to work, uninterrupted, towards the most important thing for the day. Each day, you should have a list of three things you want to accomplish, ordered by what would make the biggest impact on your day. Take them one at a time, starting at the top. Work in the timeframes you have set up to focus and watch these tasks get knocked out!!!
2. Gets You In A Groove
When you can turn over the details of your life to automation, you will find your body getting into a groove. You will catch yourself in flow. Everything will just seem to work because it is what you are use to doing. When you automate some of the trivial things in life, you set your mind free to work on the biggest things in your life. Pretty soon each day flies by and you are that much closer to success.
3. Done Long Enough, A Ritual Is Established
Yes, that’s right. A ritual. No, it doesn’t have to be religious in nature, but a routine done long enough will become a ritual that allows you to get into the zone of what you are about to do. Let’s say a baseball player, who is on deck, likes to take three practice swings before he goes up to the plate. He or she has done it for so long, it is now ritual. It puts their mind and body into a zone. They tend to hit better this way. But what happens if you break that ritual and rush them? For most, it doesn’t work out well. Do the same kind of things every day and establish a ritual for success. A ritual can be very powerful.
4. Limit The Decisions You Need To Make
By planning and living by a routine, you can reduce the number of decisions you need to make in a day and you can beat decision fatigue. Let’s say you know it is a good idea to work out in the morning, so you make that a part of your routine. But in the morning, you decide you don’t feel like working out. If you live by your routine, you do it anyway. If you don’t live by a routine, you quickly and easily talk yourself out of the work out. By having a routine, and doing the same types of things everyday, you don’t have to battle with decision making. You have already decided that what is in your routine is the best use of your time. Just go on autopilot and follow your routine. If you are questioning your routine, schedule a time to improve it. The time to change it is not when you are in the middle of it. Beat decision fatigue with a routine.
5. Establishes A System
Ask anyone who is successful at something and they will tell you that they have a system. They have a way they do things that they have perfected over the years. And these systems start with routine. You first establish a routine that you believe will work for you. Then you live by this routine, tweaking it here and there until you have a fine tuned machine that helps you be the most productive you can be. Once you reach this point, you have established a system by which you live. Our success is determined by the systems we have in place. Show me someone who is not successful, I will show you someone without a system.
The Takeaway
Although the thought of a routine may sound boring, it is exactly what you need to be successful. You have wasted too may days, just getting up and living by the routine that life gives you. You need to change things. You need to make life happen and establish a routine that you can work by. Optimize that routine over time and establish systems. Watch those systems change your life. If you have bad systems, you will have bad outcomes. If you have good systems, you will have good outcomes. Review these advantages of establishing a productive routine and your life will definitely change for the better. Good luck!!!