Every victory makes it easier to achieve the next.

Here is today’s Game and what’s going on.

Here is what I discovered today in our Dadly Daily Declaration reading from The Perfect Day Formula by Craig Ballantyne.

The title of today’s reading is “Seven Steps to Build Habits of Steel.”  Let’s jump in with a few highlights first:

• How to we break bad habits? The solution is in having a trigger that reminds you to get back on track. Triggers are little tricks that interrupt your bad habits. For example, turning off your phone or disconnecting from the Internet stops you from repeatedly checking your email or text messages. Brushing your teeth can get you back on track and help you avoid mindless eating at night. Turning on loud, energetic music can be the trigger you need to finally start the exercise session you’ve been delaying all morning.
• Here’s what you need to do:
  • Step #1 – Figure Out What Matters…and Focus On It
    • Success requires us to do the first things first. Choose to use your time wisely. Figure out what really matters to you and then use the rest of the steps to build habits that allow you to focus your time on it.
  • Step #2 – Identify Steps to Success and Rules for Your Life
    • No one will ever be perfect at keeping to their rules, but you will be better for trying, and you will have stronger habits that allow you to avoid the disappointment, guilt, and regret of wasted days.
  • Step #3 – Create a Checklist for New Habits
• • • Connecting a positive action, like meditation, with a daily trigger, such as the sunrise, is a great way to create new habits.
    • Each habit needs to be broken down into action items for you to get started.
  • Step #4 – Prepare the Night Before
    • Winning habits begin with proper planning. Prepare your checklist. Lay out an easy-to-follow pathway for success. Set out any tools you will need to do the first things first.
  • Step #5 – Remove All Obstacles 
    • Removing obstacles, temptations, and bad habits is one of the most important changes you can make in life. Eliminating the negatives is often more important for success than relying on willpower for the creation of new habits. When you remove temptations from your day, it becomes much easier to make and stick to the right decisions.
    • No matter what your number one priority in the morning, whether it is writing, Bible study, or exercise, make sure that you are prepared so that nothing else gets in your way. You must remove temptations that allow procrastination. For example, make sure your Bible is opened to the correct page and place it on your desk, so you see it there rather than your phone or computer. Or lay out your exercise clothes so that you don’t have to search through your drawers to find them.
  • Step #6 – Take Massive Action
    • We can control what time we wake up, what habits we start the day with, what temptations enter—and are eliminated—from our lives, and what systems we have in place for dealing with all of these. We can believe in ourselves or we can have doubt. It’s our choice.
    • Practice what you preach, take action on what you teach. Oh, and a little incentive never hurts. Give yourself a prize for taking action and following through. We repeat what we reward. It can be as simple as enjoying the beauty of a sunrise as you meditate. Find what you need to trigger your new habit.
  • Step #7 – Learn & Improve 
    • Few days will be easy. Most days will require you to fight tooth-and-nail to stick to your habits and achieve your goals. On those days, take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes and struggles. They will make you stronger. That’s the power of routine, the importance of habit. Each day that we make the right decisions and take the right actions will make it a little easier to repeat in the future. When you follow these seven steps, you’ll find a way to build the right habits in all areas of your life.

Tweets by craigballantyne

Those gems lead us to today’s Dadly Daily Declaration:

Every victory makes it easier to achieve the next.

Action begets action. And it all starts with a simple trigger.

Identify a trigger to get you into action mode and out of temptation. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. It doesn’t need to cost money or require another person to help you. It just needs to be an easy, yet effective, reminder that triggers you to get back to the task at hand.