September 3, 2025 • 26 mins
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Positive habits are the secret weapons of exceptional leaders. In this transformative episode, Harold Milby unpacks how small, consistent actions create compound interest in your leadership effectiveness and business success.
Research shows nearly half of what we do daily stems from habit rather than conscious choice. For business leaders navigating high-pressure environments where decisions impact stakeholders and agility is crucial, developing the right habits becomes a game-changer. As Vince Lombardi wisely noted, "Winning is not a sometimes thing, it's an all-the-time thing."
Drawing from both biblical wisdom and modern science, Harold reveals how habits follow a three-part loop: cue, routine, and reward. Scripture reinforces this understanding—from Proverbs' emphasis on starting children right to Romans' call for mind renewal and Hebrews' focus on disciplined perseverance. These principles align perfectly with today's habit formation research.
You'll discover a practical six-step process for building leadership habits that stick: clarify your goals, design your environment, start small, create powerful cues, stack new habits onto existing ones, and track your progress consistently. Harold emphasizes starting with just one habit—perhaps daily prioritizing, active listening, dedicated deep work time, or swapping worry for prayer—and committing to a 21-day challenge.
The podcast spotlights Barnhart Crane and Rigging, whose owners decided from day one to live modestly and give generously—eventually reaching $1 million in monthly charitable giving. Their story exemplifies how positive habits aligned with godly principles create extraordinary impact.
Ready to transform your leadership through the power of small, consistent actions? This episode provides the blueprint. As Bryant McGill notes, "The secret to permanently breaking any bad habit is to love something greater than the habit." For Christian leaders, that greater love is our calling to fulfill God's purpose in the marketplace. Start your transformation today.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host, harold Milby.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to guiding companies
and business owners in becomingeffective, efficient and
successful through God's Wordand godly principles.
Now, here's your host, haroldMilby.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thanks, kelly, and welcome everyone to this week's
Christian Business Conceptspodcast.
And you know, each week wediscuss godly business and
leadership principles and how toapply them to your lives.
I'm your host, harold Milby,and our goal at CBC is to help
(00:40):
you find true godly success, andevery week we pray that you'll
be encouraged and enlightenedand empowered by what you hear.
So please help us to grow theCBC family.
I would appreciate it if you'dgreatly, or greatly if you would
just share this podcast withfour or five other people this
week and be sure to post thelink on your Facebook and your
(01:01):
LinkedIn pages.
I just can't thank you enoughfor helping us to grow the CBC
family and appreciate yourlistening every week and being
so faithful and, moreimportantly, I hope that these
podcasts are helping you andhelping you find that true godly
success.
Now, this week, I want to givea big shout out to the country
(01:22):
of Turkey for being a newcountry that has started to
listen to the CBC podcast andthat are new to the CBC family.
So we thank you, those of youin Turkey who have been
downloading so many podcastsrecently, and we're just humbled
by your support and that thefact that there are so many of
(01:45):
you out there around the world.
You know, in the United States,obviously, we appreciate all of
you, but really, around theworld, we appreciate all of you
that are supporting this podcastand saying that, yes, we
believe in what you're doing andwe believe there's a need for
it in the world today.
And we believe there's a needfor it in the world today.
(02:05):
Now, in our business spotlight,I want to tell you a little bit
about this company calledBarnhart Crane and Rigging.
It's in Memphis, tennessee, andthey basically lift and
transport extremely heavy things.
It could be equipment, it couldbe, you know, wind turbines or
(02:26):
jumbotrons.
They've even transported andlifted the walls of dams, and so
they gross hundreds of millionsof dollars every year.
And Eric and Alan took overthis business from their father
in the late 80s, but theydecided to start with the end in
(02:48):
mind and then work backwards.
So what they did is they firstdetermined how much money that
they thought their familieswould need to live in reasonable
comfort, you know, and oncethey had that number established
, they decided at that pointthat they wanted to give
everything else away, and sothat's so important that that's
(03:12):
how they began, you know, whenthey took over the business.
That's what they wanted to do,and so by 2005, they had gave
away and were giving away $1million a year and just a few
years later the company wasreally blessed and that moved to
$1 million a month and theygave to lots of different
(03:35):
charities and lots of differentorganizations that were out
there that were helping people,and we thank God for companies
like Barnhart Crane and Rigging.
So you guys there, we justthank you, we love you, we
appreciate what you're doing andthe heart behind what you're
doing as a Christian businessand as Christian business owners
(03:56):
.
So keep up the good work thereat Barnhart Crane and Rigging.
All right Today.
As a business leader ricking Allright Today.
As a business leader, you know,or organizational leader,
department leader, you know,your daily actions are going to
shape your success.
Your daily actions are going toinfluence your team and your
(04:17):
daily actions are going to driveyour organization's growth.
And so we're talking abouttoday in the world of business.
It's a very high pressure world.
It's where decisions impactstakeholders and competition
kind of demands that you beagile, you know.
(04:37):
You want to make sure thatyou're cultivating a positive,
positive environment which takespositive habits.
Positive habits are really agame changer in a person's life
and in the organization in whichthey lead, and today what we
(04:57):
want to do is we want to providesome practical, evidence-based
type of building habits thatenhance your leadership and your
effectiveness as a leadershipand hopefully it'll also boost a
lot of productivity and it'llfoster a great workplace culture
(05:19):
.
You know, habits are the small,repeatable actions that they
kind of have a compoundinginterest kind of a thing over
time and it really creates asignificant outcome.
Whether you're a CEO or anentrepreneur or a manager.
(05:40):
I just want to help you andequip you to create these
sustainable habits, theseroutines, and to help you to
eliminate those behaviors thatare counterproductive and
that'll help you, I believe,will help you lead with a lot of
clarity and a lot of purpose.
(06:00):
And a lot of purpose Now, whyhabits matter in business
relationship?
First of all, it's really thebackbone if you're going to have
consistent performance, becausewhat they do is they reduce the
(06:21):
mental effort that you need for, just say, routine tasks.
It frees your mind for more,let's say, strategic thinking
and innovation.
You know, research from DukeUniversity indicates that 40 to
45 percent of daily actions arehabitual.
They're not conscious decisions.
For a business leader, thismeans that habits can make or
(06:44):
break your ability to navigatechallenges and inspire teams and
achieve long-term goals.
You know, winning, according toVince Lombardi, a great coach,
he said winning is not asometimes thing, it's an
all-the-time thing.
You don't win once in a while.
You don't do things right oncein a while, you do them right
(07:05):
all the time.
Winning is a habit.
And so we know the power ofhabits and how important they
are.
You know, because they're goingto lead to improved
decision-making, as I said, it'sgoing to enhance productivity,
you're going to have a lot morestronger team dynamics and it's
(07:29):
going to help build inresilience.
Now, according to science, thescience of habit formation, the
science of habit formation, it'sreally a three-part loop, and I
get this from Charles Duhigg inthe Power of Habit.
(07:53):
He says that there's threethings.
First, there's a cue, there's atrigger that initiates the
behavior, either a calendarnotification for a planning
session or something.
But there's a cue, there's atrigger.
The second thing is a routine,the action, in other words, the
action that you take.
Maybe it's reviewing your goalsfor 10 minutes every day.
(08:16):
And the third thing is thereward, the benefit that
reinforces the habit, it's asense of clarity and control.
And so you have the cue, youcesthe habit, it's a sense of
clarity and control.
And so you have the cue, youhave the routine, and then you
have the reward.
And that's basically how thathabits operate.
(08:37):
Now, you know, I know thatyou're thinking.
Well, how do you you knowwhat's the word of God say about
habits?
But really, habits are notreally a modern invention, you
know, they're woven really intothe fabric of God's design for
our life as human beings.
And the Bible emphasizesdiscipline, it emphasizes
(08:57):
renewal and transformation aspathways to successful godly
life, as pathways to successfulgodly life.
You know, in Proverbs 22 and 6,it says start children off on
the way they should go and evenwhen they're old they'll not
turn from it.
Again, habits, we're talkingabout habits.
Romans 12, 2 says do notconform to the pattern of this
(09:22):
world, but be transformed by therenewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to testand approve what God's will is,
his good, pleasing and perfectwill.
Again, we're talking abouthabits.
Whatever.
In Philippians 4 and 9, it sayswhatever you have learned or
received or heard from me orseen in me, put it into practice
and the God of peace will bewith you.
(09:44):
Again, he's talking abouthabits.
And then Hebrews 12, verse 1,it says Therefore, since we are
surrounded by such a great cloudof witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and thesin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverancethe race marked out before us.
(10:05):
You know, any great runner, anygreat athlete, will tell you
that their success is in theirhabits their habits in training,
their habits in preparation,their habits in thinking through
whatever that sport is.
It could be the runner, itcould be the golfer, and they
(10:27):
have a habit or multiple habitsthat they have for training, for
preparing, and so that's whathe was talking about in Hebrews.
So what are the steps to buildpositive habits?
I'm going to give you asix-step process that's really
inspired by James Clear's AtomicHabits Great book.
(10:50):
You need to get it.
It really will help you tocreate some really good, lasting
habits that kind of aretailored towards leadership.
So the step one in thissix-step process is you need to
clarify what you want to achieveas a leader, what you want to
(11:12):
improve.
In other words, you may say Iwant to improve decision-making,
or I want to boost team morale,or write a clear vision
statement or just have a goal.
Maybe it's I want to makedata-driven decisions, to grow
revenue by 10%.
That's a great goal.
(11:32):
So that's the step one.
You've got to define your goals.
And then step two is you've gotto design your environment.
So you've got to removetemptations and add positive
cues.
Remember, we talked about that,there's the cue.
So you've got to removetemptations and add positive
cues.
Remember, we talked about that,there's the cue.
So you've got to have somepositive cues.
For example, if you really wantto spend time in the Bible, at
(11:57):
least five minutes a day, or tenminutes a day, whatever it may
be maybe you need to place aBible on your desk.
That's your cue for yourmorning devotions and you can do
that.
You can put it on your calendarso that it pops up hey, you're
going to study the Bible forfive minutes.
You can have Scripture versesin your office on Post-it notes
(12:22):
or on 3x5 cards, on post-itnotes or on three-by-five cards.
You just want something to cueyou into some ethical reminders
for you to develop these habitsthat you're doing these actions,
and as you continue to do them,they become habits.
So the second thing is designyour environment.
(12:42):
Now the third thing start small.
Break your goal into tiny,actionable habits.
Instead of overhaul my schedule, start with, for example, spend
five minutes daily prioritizingyour task.
Okay, so you're just startingsmall, because small wins will
build momentum.
(13:03):
Instead of read the Bible foran hour, start with read one
verse and reflect for fiveminutes, and then you can begin
to scale up, because that againit builds this momentum.
You know, zechariah 4.10 saysdo not despise small beginnings.
It's okay to start small, butjust start.
(13:23):
You know, the journey of athousand miles starts with the
first step.
So you've got to be mindful ofthat.
So you've got to start small.
You know, robert Collier saidsuccess is the sum of small
efforts repeated day in and dayout.
Success is the sum of smallefforts repeated day in and day
(13:49):
out.
All right, step four you needto create cues in your
environment.
So begin to create those cues.
Design your workspace totrigger positive habits.
Keep a notepad on your desk fordaily goal setting, or set
phone reminders for breaks, orremove any kind of distractions
(14:13):
that you have there.
Step five would be to stackhabits.
And what do I mean by that?
I mean link new habits toexisting good habits.
So, for example, after yourmorning coffee that's an
existing habit Review your topthree priorities that's a new
(14:34):
habit.
So what you've done is you'vestacked this new habit with a
current habit, which is gettingthat cup of coffee in the
morning.
So you begin to try to stackthese habits together and this
leverages you know the neuralpathways in your brain and it
(14:54):
makes the new habit a lot easierto adopt into your lifestyle
because you're stacking it upwith habits that you already
have, your existing habits.
And then, number six, you needto track your progress so you
can use like a habit tracker oran app or paper to monitor how
(15:17):
consistent you are and mark eachday that you've completed that
habit and then have weeklyreviews and celebrate your
progress and then adjust it asneeded.
So I'm going to add another onehere.
Step seven you need to rewardyourself, reward yourself,
(15:39):
reinforce those habits with goodrewards.
Maybe, after completing areally focused work session,
take a short walk, go enjoymaybe your favorite snack,
whatever it may be, and overtime the habit itself becomes
rewarding.
And you implement this with,say, a 21-day challenge.
(16:02):
So you choose one habit and youapply, apply all these steps
and then you track your progressfor 21 days.
So what's the key to positivehabits for business leaders?
I think the key is just tostart, just to begin to start
some habits.
But what are some key thingsthat you need to do?
(16:26):
Well, first of all, you've gotto have some kind of daily
prioritizing.
You need to spend five to 10minutes each morning listing
your top three priorities.
Stephen Covey said the key isnot to prioritize what's on your
schedule, but to schedule yourpriorities.
(16:46):
Let me say it again the key isnot to prioritize what's on your
schedule, but to schedule yourpriorities.
He goes on and he says you haveto decide what your highest
priorities are and then have thecourage to pleasantly,
smilingly, non-apologetically,to say no to other things.
(17:06):
And the way that you do that isby having a bigger yes that's
burning inside of you.
So you got to find out whatyour daily priorities are.
And then you've got to listenactively.
In meetings, you got topractice summarizing what other
people are saying or what theirpoints are before you respond,
(17:28):
and that kind of helps you buildtrust and it improves the
ability and the desire tocollaborate.
So all of your team memberswill begin to do that.
But you've got to show someactive listening.
The next thing that you can dothat will help you is to block
your time.
Block your time that will helpyou is to block your time, block
(17:50):
your time, scheduleuninterrupted blocks of time for
especially what I wouldconsider the deep work, the deep
work, and try to do that atleast an hour and a half a day
and watch how that boosts yourproductivity and your innovation
.
The next thing you do is youneed to gratitude practice.
In other words, each day, tryto see and identify three things
(18:10):
that you're grateful for,because that'll really enhance
resilience and so that's a verygood thing to foster in your
life.
And then make sure you have aself-care routine.
You need to make sure that youdedicate at least 30 minutes a
day to exercise, to meditationor reading, and that really
(18:31):
helps you to prevent burnout inyour life and it really helps
you to continue to have a lot ofenergy.
And then you need to have afeedback loop.
You know that's weekly.
You'll ask one of your teammembers for some constructive
feedback and that really kind ofpromotes growth and team
(18:52):
alignment.
And the next, you need to have alearning habit.
A learning habit, in otherwords, read or listen maybe to
10 minutes a day of somethingthat's related to your industry,
a podcast or a book orsomething that you're actually
learning every single day.
(19:13):
It doesn't matter how much, itjust matters that you are
learning every day and it keepsyou ahead of a lot of the trends
.
Also, what about daily devotionand prayer?
I think you should try todevelop a habit to start your
day with about 15 to 30 minutes,depending upon your time of
(19:34):
Bible study and prayer.
It just helps you in thedecisions that you make.
And then along, that is, swapworry with prayer.
Don't worry, don't spend timeworrying.
You know you can worry aboutthings but that doesn't fix
anything.
So you swap the worry withprayer.
You know the Bible says inPhilippians 4, 6, and 7, it says
(19:57):
do not be anxious, do not beworried about anything, but in
every situation, by prayer andpetition, with thanksgiving,
present your request to God andthe peace of God, which
(20:18):
transcends all understanding.
So you've got to trade in thatworry for prayer.
Now you're going to have toovercome some negative habits.
You're going to have toovercome those habits.
See negative habits like, say,for example, procrastination or
overworking.
They stem a lot of times fromstress or just having a poor
system in place.
(20:38):
So you've got to overcome somenegative habits.
You need to replace them.
You know, I heard someone saythat you can't occupy the space,
that the good things can'toccupy the space that bad things
are already occupying.
So you've got to route out thenegative habits and begin to
(21:00):
fill that time and fill yourlife with the positive habits.
So the first thing you have todo is identify the triggers.
So log, if you can write out,take a week and log when a bad
habit occurs.
Is it a stress trigger?
Maybe late night emails orwhatever it may be.
But you've got to identify them.
That's the first thing thatyou've got to do.
(21:21):
And then you've got to replacethe routine so you swap that
negative action for somepositive actions.
So you journal, maybe take sometime to journal instead of
overworking.
And then, the next thing you'vegot to do, you've got to change
your environment.
(21:41):
You know, remove the cues thatenable the bad habits.
Maybe you have to mute yournotification after so many hours
so that your notificationsdon't keep popping up on your
phone, your Apple Watch orwhatever the device is, but you
mute them after so many hours ina day.
You've got to begin to changeyour environment.
(22:03):
And then this is very importantyou hear me say this a lot, but
it's so apropos to what we'retalking about today and that is,
you've got to findaccountability.
So share your goals with maybea trusted friend or colleague or
coach for support.
And then, lastly, make sure youreframe your mindset.
(22:25):
So focus on your identity Inother words, I'm a focus leader
To make sure then, when you dothat, you align your actions
with your goals.
So focus on your identity.
Where you're wanting to go,what is it that you're wanting
to be?
You want to be a focused leader.
So then, as you focus on that,as you reframe your mindset,
(22:49):
then your actions and your goalswill come along with you.
You know, persistence is thekey.
That's the thing, persistence.
Now, if you slip up, you make amistake or you don't do it, or
maybe you've got some negativehabits that start to creep back
in, you know you can restart.
Just don't self-criticizeyourself.
(23:09):
What you've got to do is focuson the progress and not
perfection, because perfectionis the enemy of progress.
If you think that you've got towait until you're perfect, then
it never happens, becausenobody's ever perfect.
You're not perfect, you know,bryant McGill said the secret to
permanently breaking any badhabit is to love something
(23:31):
greater than the habit.
So that's key.
That is so, so, very, veryimportant.
So positive habits are thefoundation of exceptional
leadership.
You've got to begin to developpositive habits, and by starting
small, by leveraging science.
(23:54):
You know, we talked about whattriggers it, what are the three
parts of habits?
And staying consistent.
I believe that you can buildroutines in your life that drive
personal success andorganizational success.
And, if nothing else, justchoose one habit today and then
(24:15):
commit to a 21-day challengewhere you do that habit every
day for 21 days and I tell youyou'll see a compounding effect
that will transform yourleadership.
But just start with one.
Just start with one.
You know, as Christian businessleaders, I believe that
positive habits are tools.
They're tools to help you tofulfill your calling, to fulfill
(24:38):
your purpose, to lead withexcellence, to love other people
and to advance God's kingdom.
To love other people and toadvance God's kingdom.
So start today, take some smallsteps, because I believe
they're going to yield aneternal impact.
Commit to that one habit thisweek and watch God multiply your
efforts.
Heavenly Father, I thank youright now, today.
(24:59):
I thank you for calling us tolead in business, to lead our
organizations, lord.
Help us, lord, to begin to formthose habits that honor you,
that renew our minds and bearfruit.
Lord, give us discipline,through your spirit, you know.
Give us grace for our failuresand joy in that obedience.
(25:21):
Lord, help us to be the leadersthat you want us to be, and
Lord to do that.
Help us to have good habits.
And, lord, we thank you forthat and we praise you for it In
Jesus' name, amen and amen.
Well, thanks again for tuningin and downloading this week's
(25:42):
Christian Business Conceptspodcast and just continue to
help us podcast and justcontinue to help us to grow and
continue to help us to build thekingdom of God by building
godly businesses andorganizations.
Well, that's all the time wehave for today, so remember
until next time.
Jesus is Lord and he wants youblessed.
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host, harold Milby.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to guiding companies
and business owners in becomingeffective, efficient and
successful through God's Wordand godly principles.
Now, here's your host, haroldMilby.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thanks, kelly, and welcome everyone to this week's
Christian Business Conceptspodcast.
And you know, each week wediscuss godly business and
leadership principles and how toapply them to your lives.
I'm your host, harold Milby,and our goal at CBC is to help
(00:40):
you find true godly success, andevery week we pray that you'll
be encouraged and enlightenedand empowered by what you hear.
So please help us to grow theCBC family.
I would appreciate it if you'dgreatly, or greatly if you would
just share this podcast withfour or five other people this
week and be sure to post thelink on your Facebook and your
(01:01):
LinkedIn pages.
I just can't thank you enoughfor helping us to grow the CBC
family and appreciate yourlistening every week and being
so faithful and, moreimportantly, I hope that these
podcasts are helping you andhelping you find that true godly
success.
Now, this week, I want to givea big shout out to the country
(01:22):
of Turkey for being a newcountry that has started to
listen to the CBC podcast andthat are new to the CBC family.
So we thank you, those of youin Turkey who have been
downloading so many podcastsrecently, and we're just humbled
by your support and that thefact that there are so many of
(01:45):
you out there around the world.
You know, in the United States,obviously, we appreciate all of
you, but really, around theworld, we appreciate all of you
that are supporting this podcastand saying that, yes, we
believe in what you're doing andwe believe there's a need for
it in the world today.
And we believe there's a needfor it in the world today.
(02:05):
Now, in our business spotlight,I want to tell you a little bit
about this company calledBarnhart Crane and Rigging.
It's in Memphis, tennessee, andthey basically lift and
transport extremely heavy things.
It could be equipment, it couldbe, you know, wind turbines or
(02:26):
jumbotrons.
They've even transported andlifted the walls of dams, and so
they gross hundreds of millionsof dollars every year.
And Eric and Alan took overthis business from their father
in the late 80s, but theydecided to start with the end in
(02:48):
mind and then work backwards.
So what they did is they firstdetermined how much money that
they thought their familieswould need to live in reasonable
comfort, you know, and oncethey had that number established
, they decided at that pointthat they wanted to give
everything else away, and sothat's so important that that's
(03:12):
how they began, you know, whenthey took over the business.
That's what they wanted to do,and so by 2005, they had gave
away and were giving away $1million a year and just a few
years later the company wasreally blessed and that moved to
$1 million a month and theygave to lots of different
(03:35):
charities and lots of differentorganizations that were out
there that were helping people,and we thank God for companies
like Barnhart Crane and Rigging.
So you guys there, we justthank you, we love you, we
appreciate what you're doing andthe heart behind what you're
doing as a Christian businessand as Christian business owners
(03:56):
.
So keep up the good work thereat Barnhart Crane and Rigging.
All right Today.
As a business leader ricking Allright Today.
As a business leader, you know,or organizational leader,
department leader, you know,your daily actions are going to
shape your success.
Your daily actions are going toinfluence your team and your
(04:17):
daily actions are going to driveyour organization's growth.
And so we're talking abouttoday in the world of business.
It's a very high pressure world.
It's where decisions impactstakeholders and competition
kind of demands that you beagile, you know.
(04:37):
You want to make sure thatyou're cultivating a positive,
positive environment which takespositive habits.
Positive habits are really agame changer in a person's life
and in the organization in whichthey lead, and today what we
(04:57):
want to do is we want to providesome practical, evidence-based
type of building habits thatenhance your leadership and your
effectiveness as a leadershipand hopefully it'll also boost a
lot of productivity and it'llfoster a great workplace culture
(05:19):
.
You know, habits are the small,repeatable actions that they
kind of have a compoundinginterest kind of a thing over
time and it really creates asignificant outcome.
Whether you're a CEO or anentrepreneur or a manager.
(05:40):
I just want to help you andequip you to create these
sustainable habits, theseroutines, and to help you to
eliminate those behaviors thatare counterproductive and
that'll help you, I believe,will help you lead with a lot of
clarity and a lot of purpose.
(06:00):
And a lot of purpose Now, whyhabits matter in business
relationship?
First of all, it's really thebackbone if you're going to have
consistent performance, becausewhat they do is they reduce the
(06:21):
mental effort that you need for, just say, routine tasks.
It frees your mind for more,let's say, strategic thinking
and innovation.
You know, research from DukeUniversity indicates that 40 to
45 percent of daily actions arehabitual.
They're not conscious decisions.
For a business leader, thismeans that habits can make or
(06:44):
break your ability to navigatechallenges and inspire teams and
achieve long-term goals.
You know, winning, according toVince Lombardi, a great coach,
he said winning is not asometimes thing, it's an
all-the-time thing.
You don't win once in a while.
You don't do things right oncein a while, you do them right
(07:05):
all the time.
Winning is a habit.
And so we know the power ofhabits and how important they
are.
You know, because they're goingto lead to improved
decision-making, as I said, it'sgoing to enhance productivity,
you're going to have a lot morestronger team dynamics and it's
(07:29):
going to help build inresilience.
Now, according to science, thescience of habit formation, the
science of habit formation, it'sreally a three-part loop, and I
get this from Charles Duhigg inthe Power of Habit.
(07:53):
He says that there's threethings.
First, there's a cue, there's atrigger that initiates the
behavior, either a calendarnotification for a planning
session or something.
But there's a cue, there's atrigger.
The second thing is a routine,the action, in other words, the
action that you take.
Maybe it's reviewing your goalsfor 10 minutes every day.
(08:16):
And the third thing is thereward, the benefit that
reinforces the habit, it's asense of clarity and control.
And so you have the cue, youcesthe habit, it's a sense of
clarity and control.
And so you have the cue, youhave the routine, and then you
have the reward.
And that's basically how thathabits operate.
(08:37):
Now, you know, I know thatyou're thinking.
Well, how do you you knowwhat's the word of God say about
habits?
But really, habits are notreally a modern invention, you
know, they're woven really intothe fabric of God's design for
our life as human beings.
And the Bible emphasizesdiscipline, it emphasizes
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renewal and transformation aspathways to successful godly
life, as pathways to successfulgodly life.
You know, in Proverbs 22 and 6,it says start children off on
the way they should go and evenwhen they're old they'll not
turn from it.
Again, habits, we're talkingabout habits.
Romans 12, 2 says do notconform to the pattern of this
(09:22):
world, but be transformed by therenewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to testand approve what God's will is,
his good, pleasing and perfectwill.
Again, we're talking abouthabits.
Whatever.
In Philippians 4 and 9, it sayswhatever you have learned or
received or heard from me orseen in me, put it into practice
and the God of peace will bewith you.
(09:44):
Again, he's talking abouthabits.
And then Hebrews 12, verse 1,it says Therefore, since we are
surrounded by such a great cloudof witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and thesin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverancethe race marked out before us.
(10:05):
You know, any great runner, anygreat athlete, will tell you
that their success is in theirhabits their habits in training,
their habits in preparation,their habits in thinking through
whatever that sport is.
It could be the runner, itcould be the golfer, and they
(10:27):
have a habit or multiple habitsthat they have for training, for
preparing, and so that's whathe was talking about in Hebrews.
So what are the steps to buildpositive habits?
I'm going to give you asix-step process that's really
inspired by James Clear's AtomicHabits Great book.
(10:50):
You need to get it.
It really will help you tocreate some really good, lasting
habits that kind of aretailored towards leadership.
So the step one in thissix-step process is you need to
clarify what you want to achieveas a leader, what you want to
(11:12):
improve.
In other words, you may say Iwant to improve decision-making,
or I want to boost team morale,or write a clear vision
statement or just have a goal.
Maybe it's I want to makedata-driven decisions, to grow
revenue by 10%.
That's a great goal.
(11:32):
So that's the step one.
You've got to define your goals.
And then step two is you've gotto design your environment.
So you've got to removetemptations and add positive
cues.
Remember, we talked about that,there's the cue.
So you've got to removetemptations and add positive
cues.
Remember, we talked about that,there's the cue.
So you've got to have somepositive cues.
For example, if you really wantto spend time in the Bible, at
(11:57):
least five minutes a day, or tenminutes a day, whatever it may
be maybe you need to place aBible on your desk.
That's your cue for yourmorning devotions and you can do
that.
You can put it on your calendarso that it pops up hey, you're
going to study the Bible forfive minutes.
You can have Scripture versesin your office on Post-it notes
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or on 3x5 cards, on post-itnotes or on three-by-five cards.
You just want something to cueyou into some ethical reminders
for you to develop these habitsthat you're doing these actions,
and as you continue to do them,they become habits.
So the second thing is designyour environment.
(12:42):
Now the third thing start small.
Break your goal into tiny,actionable habits.
Instead of overhaul my schedule, start with, for example, spend
five minutes daily prioritizingyour task.
Okay, so you're just startingsmall, because small wins will
build momentum.
(13:03):
Instead of read the Bible foran hour, start with read one
verse and reflect for fiveminutes, and then you can begin
to scale up, because that againit builds this momentum.
You know, zechariah 4.10 saysdo not despise small beginnings.
It's okay to start small, butjust start.
(13:23):
You know, the journey of athousand miles starts with the
first step.
So you've got to be mindful ofthat.
So you've got to start small.
You know, robert Collier saidsuccess is the sum of small
efforts repeated day in and dayout.
Success is the sum of smallefforts repeated day in and day
(13:49):
out.
All right, step four you needto create cues in your
environment.
So begin to create those cues.
Design your workspace totrigger positive habits.
Keep a notepad on your desk fordaily goal setting, or set
phone reminders for breaks, orremove any kind of distractions
(14:13):
that you have there.
Step five would be to stackhabits.
And what do I mean by that?
I mean link new habits toexisting good habits.
So, for example, after yourmorning coffee that's an
existing habit Review your topthree priorities that's a new
(14:34):
habit.
So what you've done is you'vestacked this new habit with a
current habit, which is gettingthat cup of coffee in the
morning.
So you begin to try to stackthese habits together and this
leverages you know the neuralpathways in your brain and it
(14:54):
makes the new habit a lot easierto adopt into your lifestyle
because you're stacking it upwith habits that you already
have, your existing habits.
And then, number six, you needto track your progress so you
can use like a habit tracker oran app or paper to monitor how
(15:17):
consistent you are and mark eachday that you've completed that
habit and then have weeklyreviews and celebrate your
progress and then adjust it asneeded.
So I'm going to add another onehere.
Step seven you need to rewardyourself, reward yourself,
(15:39):
reinforce those habits with goodrewards.
Maybe, after completing areally focused work session,
take a short walk, go enjoymaybe your favorite snack,
whatever it may be, and overtime the habit itself becomes
rewarding.
And you implement this with,say, a 21-day challenge.
(16:02):
So you choose one habit and youapply, apply all these steps
and then you track your progressfor 21 days.
So what's the key to positivehabits for business leaders?
I think the key is just tostart, just to begin to start
some habits.
But what are some key thingsthat you need to do?
(16:26):
Well, first of all, you've gotto have some kind of daily
prioritizing.
You need to spend five to 10minutes each morning listing
your top three priorities.
Stephen Covey said the key isnot to prioritize what's on your
schedule, but to schedule yourpriorities.
(16:46):
Let me say it again the key isnot to prioritize what's on your
schedule, but to schedule yourpriorities.
He goes on and he says you haveto decide what your highest
priorities are and then have thecourage to pleasantly,
smilingly, non-apologetically,to say no to other things.
(17:06):
And the way that you do that isby having a bigger yes that's
burning inside of you.
So you got to find out whatyour daily priorities are.
And then you've got to listenactively.
In meetings, you got topractice summarizing what other
people are saying or what theirpoints are before you respond,
(17:28):
and that kind of helps you buildtrust and it improves the
ability and the desire tocollaborate.
So all of your team memberswill begin to do that.
But you've got to show someactive listening.
The next thing that you can dothat will help you is to block
your time.
Block your time that will helpyou is to block your time, block
(17:50):
your time, scheduleuninterrupted blocks of time for
especially what I wouldconsider the deep work, the deep
work, and try to do that atleast an hour and a half a day
and watch how that boosts yourproductivity and your innovation
.
The next thing you do is youneed to gratitude practice.
In other words, each day, tryto see and identify three things
(18:10):
that you're grateful for,because that'll really enhance
resilience and so that's a verygood thing to foster in your
life.
And then make sure you have aself-care routine.
You need to make sure that youdedicate at least 30 minutes a
day to exercise, to meditationor reading, and that really
(18:31):
helps you to prevent burnout inyour life and it really helps
you to continue to have a lot ofenergy.
And then you need to have afeedback loop.
You know that's weekly.
You'll ask one of your teammembers for some constructive
feedback and that really kind ofpromotes growth and team
(18:52):
alignment.
And the next, you need to have alearning habit.
A learning habit, in otherwords, read or listen maybe to
10 minutes a day of somethingthat's related to your industry,
a podcast or a book orsomething that you're actually
learning every single day.
(19:13):
It doesn't matter how much, itjust matters that you are
learning every day and it keepsyou ahead of a lot of the trends
.
Also, what about daily devotionand prayer?
I think you should try todevelop a habit to start your
day with about 15 to 30 minutes,depending upon your time of
(19:34):
Bible study and prayer.
It just helps you in thedecisions that you make.
And then along, that is, swapworry with prayer.
Don't worry, don't spend timeworrying.
You know you can worry aboutthings but that doesn't fix
anything.
So you swap the worry withprayer.
You know the Bible says inPhilippians 4, 6, and 7, it says
(19:57):
do not be anxious, do not beworried about anything, but in
every situation, by prayer andpetition, with thanksgiving,
present your request to God andthe peace of God, which
(20:18):
transcends all understanding.
So you've got to trade in thatworry for prayer.
Now you're going to have toovercome some negative habits.
You're going to have toovercome those habits.
See negative habits like, say,for example, procrastination or
overworking.
They stem a lot of times fromstress or just having a poor
system in place.
(20:38):
So you've got to overcome somenegative habits.
You need to replace them.
You know, I heard someone saythat you can't occupy the space,
that the good things can'toccupy the space that bad things
are already occupying.
So you've got to route out thenegative habits and begin to
(21:00):
fill that time and fill yourlife with the positive habits.
So the first thing you have todo is identify the triggers.
So log, if you can write out,take a week and log when a bad
habit occurs.
Is it a stress trigger?
Maybe late night emails orwhatever it may be.
But you've got to identify them.
That's the first thing thatyou've got to do.
(21:21):
And then you've got to replacethe routine so you swap that
negative action for somepositive actions.
So you journal, maybe take sometime to journal instead of
overworking.
And then, the next thing you'vegot to do, you've got to change
your environment.
(21:41):
You know, remove the cues thatenable the bad habits.
Maybe you have to mute yournotification after so many hours
so that your notificationsdon't keep popping up on your
phone, your Apple Watch orwhatever the device is, but you
mute them after so many hours ina day.
You've got to begin to changeyour environment.
(22:03):
And then this is very importantyou hear me say this a lot, but
it's so apropos to what we'retalking about today and that is,
you've got to findaccountability.
So share your goals with maybea trusted friend or colleague or
coach for support.
And then, lastly, make sure youreframe your mindset.
(22:25):
So focus on your identity Inother words, I'm a focus leader
To make sure then, when you dothat, you align your actions
with your goals.
So focus on your identity.
Where you're wanting to go,what is it that you're wanting
to be?
You want to be a focused leader.
So then, as you focus on that,as you reframe your mindset,
(22:49):
then your actions and your goalswill come along with you.
You know, persistence is thekey.
That's the thing, persistence.
Now, if you slip up, you make amistake or you don't do it, or
maybe you've got some negativehabits that start to creep back
in, you know you can restart.
Just don't self-criticizeyourself.
(23:09):
What you've got to do is focuson the progress and not
perfection, because perfectionis the enemy of progress.
If you think that you've got towait until you're perfect, then
it never happens, becausenobody's ever perfect.
You're not perfect, you know,bryant McGill said the secret to
permanently breaking any badhabit is to love something
(23:31):
greater than the habit.
So that's key.
That is so, so, very, veryimportant.
So positive habits are thefoundation of exceptional
leadership.
You've got to begin to developpositive habits, and by starting
small, by leveraging science.
(23:54):
You know, we talked about whattriggers it, what are the three
parts of habits?
And staying consistent.
I believe that you can buildroutines in your life that drive
personal success andorganizational success.
And, if nothing else, justchoose one habit today and then
(24:15):
commit to a 21-day challengewhere you do that habit every
day for 21 days and I tell youyou'll see a compounding effect
that will transform yourleadership.
But just start with one.
Just start with one.
You know, as Christian businessleaders, I believe that
positive habits are tools.
They're tools to help you tofulfill your calling, to fulfill
(24:38):
your purpose, to lead withexcellence, to love other people
and to advance God's kingdom.
To love other people and toadvance God's kingdom.
So start today, take some smallsteps, because I believe
they're going to yield aneternal impact.
Commit to that one habit thisweek and watch God multiply your
efforts.
Heavenly Father, I thank youright now, today.
(24:59):
I thank you for calling us tolead in business, to lead our
organizations, lord.
Help us, lord, to begin to formthose habits that honor you,
that renew our minds and bearfruit.
Lord, give us discipline,through your spirit, you know.
Give us grace for our failuresand joy in that obedience.
(25:21):
Lord, help us to be the leadersthat you want us to be, and
Lord to do that.
Help us to have good habits.
And, lord, we thank you forthat and we praise you for it In
Jesus' name, amen and amen.
Well, thanks again for tuningin and downloading this week's
(25:42):
Christian Business Conceptspodcast and just continue to
help us podcast and justcontinue to help us to grow and
continue to help us to build thekingdom of God by building
godly businesses andorganizations.
Well, that's all the time wehave for today, so remember
until next time.
Jesus is Lord and he wants youblessed.
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