As things wind down for the year, I’m sure some of you are
already starting to do some strategic planning for next year.  While reflection on the events of the previous
year and hope for improvement are foundational pieces of any good planning process, I think many of us wonder if we truly have the capacity to make and sustain significant change. 

I’ve personally pondered this question even more than usual in the last few months
after reading Charles Duhigg’s best selling book titled The Power of Habit: Why
We Do What We Do in Life and Business.  Why?  Because I’m
starting to understand the powerful grip that habit has on my life—especially
as I get older.

The researchers have been making this point for a
while.  In fact, I even wrote a blog on
this topic a couple of years ago where I highlighted the work of Tony
Schwartz.  Schwartz made this statement
in his book Be Excellent at Anything:

“Fully 95% of our behavior occurs out of habit, either
unconsciously or in reaction to external demands.  We’re run by the automatic processes of the
primitive parts of the brain far more than we rely on the complex conscious
capacities of our prefrontal cortex—we think we’re in charge of our lives, but
we’re not.”

If this is true, then mastering habits is one of the most
important components to making positive changes in our lives.  

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be sharing some of the
lessons that I learned from Duhigg’s book.  
The information I’ll share will not only impact your personal performance,
your ability to coach, and your effectiveness as a recruiter, but it will also help you understand your customers
better.  It really is amazing how the science of habit
infiltrates nearly every part of a person’s life.

To get you thinking about this topic, I’d like to share a movie clip of Meryl
Streep playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron
Lady.  This performance won Streep both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for best actress in 2011. 

This clip shows Margaret Thatcher, long after retiring from political office , reflecting on the importance of "thoughts" over "feelings" during a tense doctor's visit.   Notice what she says about
habit.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.