The Power of Habit
Happy one-year anniversary to the Afterburner Success Partners Blog! What better time than to talk about the habits of successful people!
Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!
If you’ve been reading my blogs, you will know that July 31 marks the one-year anniversary! Yea! Happy Birthday to me! I hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I hope you have shared them with people you love and care about. Please encourage them to subscribe to the blogs, take the course, and buy my book (in final editing now-due out in mid-2025!). Who does not want to achieve their dreams and live their best life? We all do, of course, and Afterburner Success Partners can help!
Habits
Because you read last week’s post, you know that I recently returned from a trip to Europe. Long airplane rides are a perfect opportunity for me to read and study uninterrupted. The book Factfulness (Note 1), which was highlighted last week, was one of the books I read. I also read a fascinating and entertaining book called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist is a fictional international bestseller and tells a compelling story about the importance of following our dreams to discover our treasure. While I probably won’t highlight The Alchemist in a post, it’s an easy and enjoyable read full of life lessons, and it ties directly into the mission of Afterburner Success Partners, which is to help each of us achieve our dreams. Therefore, I would recommend purchasing and reading it (Note 2).
The third book was right at the top of the most important books, along with the associated lessons, I’ve ever read, and the timing is perfect to highlight the important lessons along with the importance of my blog’s one-year anniversary. Let me restate that again, just to ensure we understand the gravity of the statement: I have read (probably) hundreds of books on self-improvement, and this is among the top five best I have ever read. The title of the book is The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg (Note 2). I’ve always known that good habits equate to success, and conversely, bad habits equate to, let’s say, not as successful. Inherently, you know that as well. Let me break it down for you, and as I do, see if you can envision the lessons we want to learn this week.
The habit loop
Mr. Duhigg begins by explaining that a habit is simply a cue to act, followed by a routine (more on that in a minute) and a reward. This loop, performed often over time, becomes a habit. The habit can be good or bad. Take a moment to reflect on the good habits you have that help you achieve the results you desire. Then also list the bad habits you wish you could change. Ponder what needs to happen. The book is a valuable resource for understanding habits better and will help you develop good ones.
A bad habit example would be an alcoholic desiring a drink (the cue), then buying a bottle (the routine), and taking a drink (the reward). We all understand the negative consequences of this habit. Choose any bad behavior you can think of and fill in the blanks. Sleeping in late, overeating, biting our nails, etc., etc., and we easily understand what a bad habit is and the consequences of those bad habits.
Good habits, on the other hand, can enhance our lives and contribute to our success. Good habits can even save our lives. Let me provide you with a few examples to illustrate the point. We all understand the value of discipline, particularly in education. As children, if we realize that we must do our work (cue), then we know we need to study (routine), and we are rewarded with a good grade (reward). In the long term, these good study habits typically translate into effective work habits, which in turn lead to better job opportunities, higher paychecks, and an improved lifestyle. You get the point. If you are an athlete, you understand the need to work out and train, getting up and doing it, and being rewarded with success on the field. If you are a police officer or a soldier, you understand that you need to train, and when you are in a dangerous situation, your training and your habits developed through consistent training kick in automatically. This automatic reaction can save your life.
As I was reading this section of the book, I recalled a lesson we learned a few weeks ago from Mel Robbins called The Five Second Rule (Note 4), which is described in her book of the same name. In a literal sense, Ms. Robbins advocates that when you receive a cue to do something, you should act immediately, within 5 seconds, lest you second-guess yourself and not complete it. In turn, this action of acting on cues forms routines, which develop habits and, in turn, obtain good results and thus rewards.
Mr. Duhigg’s book goes on to describe how each of us can train ourselves and thus develop good habits. Inherently, I’ve known for a long time the value of habits, but reading this book was one of those ah-ha moments that brought it all together and made sense of what I already knew. I’m guessing you know it too, but reinforcement from subject matter experts is always beneficial for us. Remember your mother telling you to put on your hat, wipe your feet, be sure to eat breakfast, study hard, and later, when you began to drive, be safe and wear your seatbelt? Mom may not have known the reasoning behind it, but she knew what she was talking about. Good habits, learned early in life, are beneficial for a lifetime.
In a similar vein, I recently read an interesting article about newly developed techniques to enhance athletic performance. It’s called sports vision training. In a nutshell, it utilizes virtual reality, arcade-style games, and other technologies to strengthen the muscles around the eyes and enhance the connection between the eyes and the brain, resulting in faster decision-making and reaction times in response to rapidly changing information. This training can also be used by fighter pilots and for those suffering vision problems after a concussion. Since this research is relatively new, we don’t yet fully understand what may be possible, but just hearing about it opens one’s imagination to the potential. See Note 5 to learn more. It’s another example, at least to me, of developing good habits that come naturally because of training to improve outcomes.
Habits are not just for individuals
As Mr. Duhigg progresses, he describes not only the value to individuals, but to organizations and societies as well. I suggest that you read this critically important book, which has sold over 3 million copies, as it will also benefit your career. Later, Mr. Duhigg describes the effect of habits on society. His book primarily tells the positive impact of good habits in these three areas (individuals, businesses, and society). Still, it is equally clear how bad habits can have the opposite effect.
Afterburner Success Partners going forward, year two
As we enter year two of Afterburner Success Partners, I will continue to post weekly blogs that detail the course material and provide insights to help you and your loved ones achieve the success we all want and deserve. Occassionally, I’ll publish off-schedule blogs when find something interesting that I think will benefit you. And of course, my book, my second, Achieve Your Dreams: A Complete Guide to Live Your Best Life! will be out soon, so continue to follow these weekly blogs for that announcement!
Yes, you do deserve to be successful
You do know you deserve to be successful, don’t you? No matter where you’ve been, what you’ve done, and what you did or did not have growing up or otherwise, you can get on a path to living the life you want to. Believe that because it’s true. It’s simple. Oh, there he said that again. It’s simple. Yes, the formula is simple; it may just not be easy. But then again, nothing worthwhile in life is easy.
Success is a habit. If you don’t have good habits or perhaps want to improve on the ones you have, then read this book and start today. You will be glad you did! That’s all for this week!
What’s in it for Me
Good habits are for a lifetime and directly contribute to your success.
Call to Action
Assess the habits you possess today. Do they help you or hurt you? You likely have some of both, and if you want to eliminate bad habits, then I suggest making that decision today and getting started by reading the book.
Recommended Resources
The Power of Habit; Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business by Charles Duhigg (See Note 3 for link to purchase).
Up Next
The 10,000 rule.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Factfulness: by Hans Rosling: https://amzn.to/3ZcNLEN
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: https://amzn.to/3T55R8a
The Power of Habit; Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business by Charles Duhigg: https://amzn.to/4m6oCWg
The Five Second Rule by Mel Robbins: https://amzn.to/3YtmIoj
How Elite Athletes Train Their Eyes To See the World in Slow Motion: The Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2025