It’s time for the monthly update on the April results of the 30 Day Success Habits Series. (A monthly column where I discuss the habits that I’m trying to develop for the next 30 days)
As I said in my introduction of the April success habit, my goal was to use a doorknob as a quick reminder to take a pause and think about whatever I’m thankful for at that very moment.
Also when evaluating the “success” of a habit I like to use what I call the C.E.E.P. formula. This helps me determine how I should treat the habit after the 30 day trial:
Continue- Do you need another 30 or 60 days to continue evaluating this habit?
Eliminate-Was the habit a failure? If so, it’s time to eliminate it.
Evolve– Could you take the habit one step further? Maybe it should evolve into another habit that stretches your comfort zone.
Permanent-Was the habit a success? If so, keep it on a permanent basis.
Well, since I only focused on one habit for this month, this will be a quick post…
Success Habit #1- Developing a Positive Mental Attitude
The idea behind this habit is simple. Whenever I approach a door, I pause for a few seconds and think about what I’m thankful at that very moment. The idea here is to help create a more positive attitude about life and remind myself about what really matters.
Overall I think this habit went pretty well. Sure, I got a few strange looks from my friends as I didn’t immediately walk through a door. However I learned a little trick where I hold the door open for the people with me and I use these few seconds to quickly think about what really matters in my life.
What are some of things I learned?
I learned that I’m thankful for the great people in my life. I’m thankful for having a great family who supports me. I’m thankful that I’m able to live life on my own terms. I’m thankful that I’m able to travel and visit the many places that I’ve dreamed of seeing. And I’m thankful that I’m simply alive and in relatively healthy condition.
Again, I know this sounds like a weird, hippy way of looking at things. But I think we often forget that most of us have it pretty good when it comes to life. By implementing this exercise, I was able to consistently recognize those moments where I should take pause and become more thankful about all that life has to offer.
The verdict? This habit will be continued. While I can’t make the promise that I’ll do this every time I walk through a doorway, I do like the idea of giving thanks to the people and things that mean the most.
Conclusion
Overall, this habit wasn’t particularly challenging. However, I do feel that it helped me become a more positive, thankful person. For May’s challenge, I’m going to do something that’ll really push my comfort zone. So stay tuned…
Take Action. Get Results.
Sometimes it is the little things that make all the difference in life, like being thankful for what you have.
.-= David Black´s last blog ..How To Date An Older Woman (Cougar Dating) =-.
I agree with that. This little exercise helped me become more thankful for the little things in life.
Hi! I just found your site today. Good stuff. I too have just started doing some 30 Day Habits. The 1st habit was started in May: Use a daily planner & to-do list (contained in the same notebook) to aid in productivity. The 2nd was started in June: Do at least 15 min of cardio exercise each day. The 1st was fun & completed w/o a hitch. The 2nd is going very well. Haven’t missed a day.
I’ve experimented with various things to include in my planner. I have a section for a to-do list (including my daily workout), appointments (natch), & meals. And I just recently added a small section called”Good things that happened today”.
I haven’t read your entire site so don’t know if you use a planner or notebook… but if you do, you might want to try this idea to boost your positive attitude. List all the good, fortuitous, postive things that happened to you that particular day, say… you got a big client/account, someone special you haven’t heard from in a while contacted you, you found a really helpful product, a stranger did something nice for you, etc…
I think this is a helpful habit that puts emphasis on the good stuff in life (as opposed to the bad stuff) and promotes the feeling of gratitude. Good luck. ~Laura
Thanks Laura. Glad you found this to be useful… Unfortunately, I’m currently traveling trough Europe till November. So I had to ditch the monthly habit series because I had very little time to devote to it.
When I’m home I do use planners/notebooks and pretty elaborate to-do-list, but now I have to make do with a rough list of stuff on a piece of paper.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with!