5 Intentional Habits to Be a Better You and Achieve Success

By Dr. Nels Lindberg, Production Animal Consultation

Habits are an important part of our lives that we do every single day. We all have habits, good and bad. I certainly have some bad habits to work on, including reacting (or overreacting) instead of responding to my wife and kids; not letting go of my ego with business partners; being on my phone too much; not giving thanks often enough; not recognizing others for their hard work; cussing too much; not being “present”; and overserving myself at times!

We must set aside our egos and have a humble attitude and heart to learn. We must also make sure our learning leads not only to knowledge but to action as well.

We all have habits, whether we have been intentional in making them or letting them simply happen based on what feels good. Our greatest opportunity as an individual, leader, or parent is the intentional creation of healthy habits. We can utilize a two-step process to create healthy habits: first, we start with the destruction of old habits, and then we integrate new, healthy habits. It takes 66 days to wire in a new habit into a neural pathway into our brains. The intentional development of the following five habits will help you achieve greater success in your individual, work, and family life!

Creating Value

When I am consulting at a feedyard, I must be intentional about creating value for them. My actions, words, and recommendations must help the yard, the cattle, or their people improve. This creates value, and I become a “linchpin” in their operation. If I, a “linchpin”, was to be removed, they would miss me given the value I created. If I do not create value, then I can be removed and they can separate their train from my caboose without any loss and perhaps even with gain. You are no different. You must create value at work or at home to make yourself a necessary “linchpin”. Your value may lie in your skillset, attitude, work ethic, concern for animals and people, desire to learn, personality, coachability, positive effect on those around you, integrity, grit, self-awareness, or passion. If you are intentional about creating undeniable value, you will be a “linchpin” for everything you are involved in.

Touching Other People’s Lives

Every human interaction we have is either positive, negative, or neutral. If we are unhappy, uptight, upset, or in a bad mood, the effect on the other person will be negative. However, if we are in good spirits, happy, grateful, and looking to help, that interaction will be positive. We have the ability with each interaction to be positive and make a difference for that person. I want you to take just a minute and think about three people that have touched your life. Think about what they did to touch your life and why it made a difference to you. Now begin to imitate them! Identify a behavior or an emotional skill you can develop to help you touch the life of someone around you today and every day.

I promise you, if you do that 365 days a year, you will begin to see a massive effect in your own life. You will go from being forgettable to most people to being unforgettable to most of the people whose lives you touch. I expect you to be unforgettable to most people!

Putting Other People’s Interests First

We begin our lives as babies where everything is done for us. Everything is about us and for us. As we grow up, we have to do things for ourselves. As life continues to transition, some choose to serve others. The amount of success we achieve is directly correlated to the number of people we serve. The more people we serve, the greater level of success we achieve. Do not ask for more money; instead ask for an opportunity to serve. Ask for an opportunity to get better or do more. The purpose of the business is not to bring value to you; it is to bring value to the customer and to serve our mission. The best part is anybody can be successful because anybody can serve. Who are you serving today? If you can intentionally serve someone 365 days a year, you will enjoy greater success.

Being Real

Authenticity is a must. The world we live in is more fake, dishonest, insincere, and synthetic than ever before. Most all people on the planet are in search of real, honest, sincere, authentic, and caring people. As you become more caring, open, sincere, and transparent, as you become better at communicating, as you confess more of your own faults, you become more real to those around you each day. Authenticity is bred by owning and talking about your mistakes and failures. Not owning them breeds dishonesty and insincerity. You must look to create authenticity, because authenticity builds relationships, relationships build trust, and trust builds loyalty. Aren’t we all looking for loyal friends, family, coworkers, team members, and relationships? We know what it takes. Be intentional about being real and authentic!

Having the Humility to Stay Open to Receiving and Learning

I am a highly decorated, over-educated fool! I am also an arrogant, egotistical consultant. (I think most of us consultants could fall into that category!) But I also believe most humans are prideful with a vast working knowledge and the capacity to learn more. I routinely tell people that I do not know it all, but I am willing to learn more and to reach out to others for their knowledge and help. We must set aside our egos and have a humble attitude and heart to learn. We must also make sure our learning leads not only to knowledge but to action as well. It is what we learn after we know it all that becomes important because learners create the future for the learned. As Dr. Tom Noffsinger says, “We create learners and leaders, not laborers.” If we are not open to learning, we are only hurting ourselves.

Anyone reading this is a leader, whether you are a tank washer, feedyard manager, veterinarian, or rancher. Leadership is simply serving others by being a positive influence and helping make the people around us better each day. Our daily habits are our greatest opportunity to be a leader through our actions. Companies with average leaders give their people something to work on. Companies with innovative leaders give their people something to work toward. What are you and your people working toward? Have you communicated opportunities or objectives for your people to work toward? I am not talking about just the daily action of going from point A to point B; I am talking about deep actionable behaviors and habits to work on. It is a simple fact that we imitate the habits of those around us. By shaping the tribe or team you belong to, you often shape your habits just by imitation or by being the example. If you focus on the daily processes and habits, the outcomes you desire will happen. Forget your focus on outcomes, and instead focus on your daily processes, habits, and behaviors!

Success is the result of specific habits of action. Creating value, touching other people’s lives, putting other people’s interests first, being real, and having the humility to stay open to receiving and learning are five habits to create success in your life. We are only as sick as our secrets, but I also believe we are only as healthy as our habits. Destroy your bad habits and integrate your new ones for at least 66 days. We can all wire in new habits; we often just do not stick with it long enough! A feedyard manager recently repeated to me a quote that nutritionist Twig Marston shared with him: “The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth!” Get out of your rut of old habits and integrate these 5 intentional habits to enjoy even greater success!