“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
~Malcolm X
Every time I read this quote it gives me chills, I am reminded about the legacy that Malcolm X left behind. He believed that education and enlightenment were the tools that were needed to create the future. This quote also for me speaks about how our habits today, create our tomorrow.
Our habits today, create our tomorrow
In the last blog post Developing Habits, we discussed some of the research behind habit creation. We focused on power curve which represented the willpower expended as a function of time when it comes to habit creation.
Creating your future, starts with a vision. Vision is different from eye-sight in that it requires you to see what doesn’t yet exist. Our vision needs to be strong enough to penetrate our current limitations.
Like building muscle creating a vision for your future is requires multiple reps and a whole lot of work. Every vision becomes a reality through well executed strategy, which further focuses our energy. This I believe is where our habits enter the picture.
Regardless of what you do, it’s how and moreover why you do it that matters.
One of my favorite books that I read last year was “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek. A lot of times we focus on the how or what we need to accomplish, but we never look at why it matters in the first place. Why do you want to lose weight, pay off debt, buy that new home, get married or anything else?
That may be a hard question to answer at times for ourselves and it’s necessary for us to do that hard work to find our “why.” What, How and Why are different parts of making a great vision a reality. Our WHY is like a calling card, our WHAT is our goal, our HOW is the strategy we are seeking to execute on.
In Find Your Reason For Being, we discuss the “why” through a story about Ikigai, a Japanese word which means “a reason for being.” This “Why” is our North Star, it will be the reason behind our reasons. We make progress toward our goals through our habits.
Habits are fundamental pieces of fabric in the quilt of our lives.
The beauty about being human is that we aren’t restricted by our past when it comes to becoming ourselves. Do you want to become a new person? Just start a new habit. Don’t just pick any habit though, pick something that supports the vision you have for your future.
If you want to start working out simply start with 5 push-ups in the morning right after you wake up. Gradually overtime you will build physical strength and confidence, you’ll start to notice your arms are getting stronger along with your chest. With time increase this number and allow yourself to take baby steps toward your greatness.
Regardless, of the future that you want to create. It starts with habits, identify one habit you would like to add into your life. Start now! If you’ve enjoyed this post, please do me a favor, share it and sign up to be notified of future posts.