Your Habits Predict Your Future
When you turn on your computer, you probably think you’re in control of what happens next. You maneuver the cursor using your mouse or track pad, and you can make the computer do just about anything you like—play music, browse the Internet, write words, even play games. Most of us don’t pay attention to the fact that we’re not really operating the computer. All we do is point and click. The task of displaying Web pages, streaming music, or switching from one application to another is carried out by something behind the screen, or rather on the hard drive. The real work of the computer is done by the computer’s operating system.
Most PCs operate on Microsoft Windows. Macintosh computers use OS X, and some business computers use Linux or UNIX. These systems are the software that make your computer applications (the programs you use) function. The operating systems organize and control both the hardware and software on your computer, tablet, or even your phone, so that it actually does what you want it to do when you point and click. You never see or think about the operating system. It’s just there in your computer, like a central nervous system, carrying out your commands without you thinking about it.
You may also not realize that your brain has an “operating system,” a preloaded “software” that carries out your commands without you thinking about them. Every day this operating system jumps into action, carrying out dozens of tasks behind the scene so that your day goes as you intend. What is this operating system?
Habits are like the operating system of the mind, the thoughts, attitudes, and actions that drive daily life. Many people are unaware of their many habits or the power they have to drive their lives in a given direction. Like thoughts, words, and actions, your habits exert tremendous control over your life. And, just like those other three powerful forces, your habits stem from your attitude, your basic outlook on life. Habits are the natural conclusion of the chain reaction that begins with your attitude, then leads to thought, then to speech and to actions. Those actions, if repeated over time, become habits. Then, without you even thinking about it, those habits kick into action every day, handling dozens of routine tasks for you. Your habits set the tone and direction for your days, your weeks, and your life. Your habits predict your future.
In this chapter you’ll see the powerful effect that habits have on your life. You’ll identify some common negative—and positive—habits of mind, and you’ll become aware of patterns in your life that you must either break or build.
Your Habits Rule Your Life
A habit is any rote action you take based on a stimulus and leading to a reward. For example, when the alarm clock goes off, you get out of bed. Within a few minutes, you’re eating breakfast. After a while, you no longer think about it, you just do it.
It’s no exaggeration to say that habits are hardwired into your brain. Scientific research validates that your habits are stored in a part of your brain called the basal ganglia.1 That’s why, when asked what you had for breakfast today or whether you brushed your teeth, you likely can’t answer. You do these things without thinking about them.
When we talk about habits, we often think about daily personal routines like grooming and eating. But you probably have lots of other habits too. The way you settle in for your workday, the first website you open on your computer, reaching for the peanut butter in your cupboard—all these things are likely done by habit. If asked, you probably couldn’t remember any of them, but when you need the peanut butter, you walk into the kitchen and put your hands on it immediately. Your brain just takes over. You no longer think about how to make a phone call, when to turn on the turn signal while driving, or locking the front door of your house before going to bed. These are habits.
My friend Bill was a pastor for many years and used a wireless microphone on Sunday mornings. The battery pack required two batteries, and the battery recharger held four batteries at a time. Bill rotated the batteries to ensure long life, but he faced a problem—how to remember which of the four batteries in the charger had been used the last week. After a few weeks, Bill noticed something unusual—he just knew. One week he took the batteries on the left, and the next week those on the right. He never had to remember it, and on any given weekday he couldn’t have told you which set was used last. But on Sunday, he simply knew which batteries to use that week. Your habits are your autopilot.
Over time, your habits take on tremendous power. We all know this at some level, which is why we use the phrase “the force of habit.” When we do something repeatedly and without thought, the effects of those actions take on tremendous weight and are difficult to stop. Habits have a compounding effect, similar to money invested at a rate of interest. For example, if you were to invest $5000 annually at an interest rate of 7 percent from age 25 to 35, that amount would grow to well over $1.4 million by the time you reached age 65 because of the compounding interest, even if you never added another penny yourself. You put in the money to get started, and the compounding effect multiplies that investment over time. Similarly, cultivating a good habit like brushing your teeth every day may take a few weeks to get started, but once established, it will ensure good dental health for years to come, though you barely think of it again.
That’s the power your habits have in your life. These repeated actions, taken over days, months, years, become an almost unstoppable force. They have the power to contribute to your good health, mental well-being, success, and happiness—or to virtually ensure that you’ll be unhealthy, unproductive, and miserable. And that’s the one problem with habits, as MIT scientist Ann Grabiel points out: “Your brain can’t tell the difference between good habits and bad habits.”2
Negative Habits Put You on Course for Failure
When you hear the words bad habit, what comes to mind? Many people would think of tobacco use or biting fingernails or obsessively checking social media. Certainly, these are all things people do habitually and they all have detrimental effects. Let me push your thinking beyond these rather obvious bad habits to think about some things you may do habitually that drive your life in a negative direction. In each case, we’ll trace that bad habit all the way back to see how it originates from your basic attitude about life. These certainly aren’t the only possible bad habits that stem from a negative outlook, but they’re some of the most common.
Procrastinating
Procrastination is putting off an unpleasant task until it becomes difficult or impossible to complete, or its incompletion causes another problem. This is a habit that begins early in life when we put off cleaning our room until it causes a problem with Mom and Dad, or we put off working on a school assignment until it’s overdue. Later in life, you may procrastinate having a difficult conversation or applying for college or a job opportunity that could advance your career. Why do we do that? Most people would say they procrastinate because they find the task boring or distasteful, which may be accurate in some cases. However, I’m convinced that procrastination goes deeper than simply wanting to avoid an unpleasant task. It has roots in the way we think about the world and about ourselves.
Psychologist Pamela Wiegartz has identified nine questions that help diagnose the reasons people procrastinate. Review this list and notice how what we think drives us to procrastinate.
1. When faced with a task, do you think of all the ways it could go wrong?
2. Do you picture the reaction of important people in your life if you failed at this task?
3. Do you believe it’s better to not try at all than to try your best and fail?
4. Are you overwhelmed by the possibility of new responsibilities if you succeed at the task?
5. If you do well at this task, do you anticipate that others will then expect more of you?
6. Do you feel your success will lead to other people finding out the “real you”?
7. Do you believe that what you do should be done perfectly?
8. Do you find it difficult to persist when things aren’t going just right?
9. Would you rather avoid doing something than do it imperfectly?
According to Wiegartz, positive responses on questions one through three may indicate a fear of failure, four through six could be indicative of a fear of success, while seven through nine are tied to perfectionism.3
Do you see how our basic attitude toward life can drive this extremely unproductive habit? Fear of failure, fear of success, and perfectionism all stem from a negative outlook. We don’t believe in ourselves, we’re unsure how to follow up on a win, we fear that others won’t be pleased with us—all this stems from negative thinking. A negative attitude drives the negative habit of procrastination, which is a strong indicator of impending success or failure. Your habits predict your future.
Overworking
The average American adult spends 8.9 hours on a typical workday.4 However, according to a Gallup poll, 39 percent of Americans work more than 50 hours per week, with 18 percent working more than 60 hours.5 In addition, American workers take less time off than their European counterparts.6
So why do we work so much? Is it because we’re all struggling to put food on the table? Certainly there are American workers who put in long hours because they’re barely making it. However, I suspect that for most of us, our work habits stem from our basic outlook on life, our attitude. We work too much and take too little time off because we believe either that we must achieve a certain level of success to prove our worth, or that we must have buying power in order to be happy. Without examining these assumptions, which stem from negative ideas of low self-worth or a scarcity mindset, we default into overworking, to the detriment of our health and family relationships. That’s the very definition of a bad habit.
Eating or Exercising Poorly
Closely related to our habit of overworking is the extremely bad habit of neglecting our health by eating or exercising poorly. Ask a hundred people how many of them want to lose weight or get in better physical shape, and the overwhelming majority will say yes. Now ask them why they don’t, and you’ll get the same answer in nearly every case: “I just don’t have time.”
In fact, we all get the same number of minutes in a day, so everyone has time to eat and exercise properly. We simply develop poor habits in this area because we procrastinate and because we overwork. Hitting the drive-through for a fast-food lunch is easier than getting up a few minutes early to prepare a balanced meal, so it becomes a habit. Watching television after supper rather than going for a walk is another habit. Remember, a habit consists of a prompt, a rote action, and a reward. Sit on the couch, pick up the remote control, watch your favorite show—that’s a habit.
Defaulting to Yes or No
Before we go any further, would you do me a favor? My guess is that you would say either yes or no to that question without thinking about it. The same would be true if I’d asked to borrow money, invited you to dinner, or offered a new opportunity. We generally default to either a yes or no response to these kinds of requests, regardless of the circumstances. In either case, the habit develops from the way we think.
For example, those who default to no generally do so because they feel either overwhelmed, too busy, suspicious, or selfish. All those negative thought patterns stem from a negative outlook. So they say no without thinking about it. They default to “I’m too busy” or “I can’t right now” or some other rote response. There’s no real consideration involved. As a result, they miss out on opportunities and make their world smaller.
Those who default to yes may be a bit more likeable, but their response may also flow from a negative outlook. They feel they’re responsible for everyone, they have to say yes, they want people to like them, or they’re afraid to say no. As a result, they say “Sure” or “No problem” without thinking about how the request impacts them. Their negative thoughts drive them to be overcommitted, overstressed, and unhappy.
Now that we’ve identified a few bad habits that can develop from a negative attitude, let’s take a step back and look at the whole picture. What is life like for someone who holds a negative outlook on life and therefore develops poor habits? Putting this all together, we would get a picture of a person who’s always running a bit behind on projects or ideas, never really able to accomplish dreams and plans. Such people would likely be stuck in a job they don’t like, while working at it so much that their family relationships begin to strain. They’re probably a bit overweight and out of shape because they never seem to have time for themselves. To top it off, they’re either so closed off to others that they seldom do new or interesting things, or so overcommitted that it seems they’re always accomplishing other people’s agendas but never their own.
Does that sound like anyone you know? You might even see yourself in that picture. Notice the way poor habits—the things you do on autopilot—can drive your life in negative ways. Your negative thinking will produce negative patterns of behavior, which will in turn drive you toward a negative future.
But there’s hope! Good habits have equal power in your life, and they can drive you to success. It all begins with a change in your attitude.
Positive Habits Predict Success
In 1989, Stephen R. Covey published the bestselling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey may have been the first person to point out the link between our outlook and the habits they engender, habits that can set us up for success. These habits require little explanation. Notice how many of them are the opposite of the poor habits noted above.7
1. Be proactive.
2. Begin with the end in mind.
3. Put first things first.
4. Think win-win.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
6. Synergize (work together).
7. Sharpen the saw (replenish yourself).
What a different picture these habits draw than the negative habits we’ve discussed. Imagine the people who live this way. They have a positive idea of what they’d like to accomplish, and they take action on it. They don’t procrastinate but have a bias for taking action. Far from being fearful of people and opportunities, they have an abundance mindset and gladly share with others, listen to others, and work together. Finally, they take care of themselves because they realize that their own well-being is their best resource.
Notice, too, that each of these habits stems from a positive outlook. To begin behaving in these ways by habit—that is, without thinking further about them—you must believe something positive about yourself, about others, and about the world. Positive habits set you up to achieve. They’re the best predictor of your future success and happiness.
Covey’s seven habits are quite well known, but there are many other positive habits that stem from a positive outlook. If you think positively, you’ll almost certainly develop some of these good habits, which will in turn put you on a course for a better future.
Morning and Evening Routines
Successful people nearly always have daily routines that automate important aspects of life. They get to bed early enough to get a good night’s sleep. They begin their days in a predictable way, often with exercise, reading, or devotional time. They’re prepared for the challenges of the day; they’ve routinely selected their clothing, eaten properly, and taken care of other personal needs so they can be well-focused and have good energy.
Punctuality
It now seems fashionable to arrive a few minutes late, and tardiness is sometimes used as a badge of honor or a power move (“I’m so busy today!”). But it’s a poor habit that stems from a scarcity mindset (“I don’t have enough time”). Successful people almost always arrive a few minutes early. They’re respectful of their own time and that of others because they’re focused on achievement.
Politeness
Politeness stems from a basic attitude of respect for others. We’re polite when we see others as having equal value—or even greater value—than ourselves. Using words like please, thank you, yes sir, and no ma’am is a habit. It springs from a positive attitude, and it soon becomes second nature.
Physical Fitness
“I’m tired” is the most frequent complaint that a primary-care physician hears. Much of the fatigue we feel stems from our poor habits with regard to self-care. We don’t eat properly or exercise enough. Success in any area of life, including personal life, depends on having adequate energy. When you get consistent sleep, eat properly, maintain a healthy weight, and exercise regularly—you feel better! These positive habits don’t guarantee happiness, but a good health regimen is a great predictor of future well-being.
Spiritual Practices
My belief is that there’s far more to a human being than meets the eye. We’re not just flesh and bone, or even intellect. We have an eternal soul that must also be cared for. Worship, prayer, inspirational reading, self-examination—these are all positive spiritual habits that contribute to your well-being at a level you may be unaware of.
We could list dozens more positive habits that grow organically from a positive attitude, things like writing your goals, planning your day, smiling, taking consistent time away from work, spending time outdoors, saving money, reading, and taking breaks during the day. You get the idea. Happy and successful people do positive things by routine, almost without thinking. These positive habits become the best predictor of their ongoing success.
Learn the Secret of Benjamin Franklin
People today think of Benjamin Franklin as the person on the US 100-dollar bill. Few perhaps realize that this founding father of the country was also one of the most successful and renowned people of his day. Franklin was an author, printer, politician, scientist, inventor, statesman, and diplomat. He was the British postmaster of the American colonies, establishing what was the first communication system in the country. He served as governor of Pennsylvania, and is the only person to sign all four of these documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance enlisting France’s help in the American Revolution, the Treaty of Paris that ended the revolution, and the Constitution of the United States. He invented bifocals, established the first fire department in Philadelphia, and founded a university.
What made Franklin so prolific and successful? He was blessed with an amazing intellect, but that alone doesn’t explain Franklin’s incredible achievements. He had a tremendously positive outlook on life, and that showed up in his daily habits. Franklin observed a routine that included rising at five a.m. for a three-hour morning routine that included personal grooming, prayer, breakfast, study, and planning the day. He worked from eight a.m. to noon and then took two hours to eat lunch and either read or review his accounts. He worked again from two to six p.m. and then spent the evening doing chores, having dinner, and engaging in conversation or other diversions. He was in bed promptly at ten p.m. Each morning Franklin began the day by asking himself, “What good shall I do this day?” and each evening he ended the day asking, “What good have I done today?”8
Your daily habits have incredible power to shape your life. The things you do every day—well, they become the things you spend your life doing. If you have a positive outlook on life and a positive attitude toward yourself and others, you’ll develop strong, constructive habits that will virtually ensure your future success and happiness. The things you do day in and day out become the building blocks of your life. Choose them wisely.