Success is a habit before it is an achievement. Your current daily routine is the surest predictor of your future.
For a moment, try to imagine your heart stopping to beat for about 5 minutes because it is bored and needs some variety by being involved in some “more interesting activity” like hearing! Unthinkable, right? Think of how many activities you have given up because you became bored with doing them.
The boredom we usually associate with routine is a product of activity without purpose. When routine meets with purpose, power for daily living is the outcome. A man is in a rut or living an exciting life because of his routine. Simply put, your status quo reflects your daily routine. Consistency of purposeful activity is the bedrock of CREDIBILITY and success. Psychologists tell us that it takes about three to four weeks of practice for a habit to form. Highly successful people may appear enigmatic or mercurial in nature or unpredictable in their responses to situations, but they are almost always predictable in their routine.
Jesus Christ had a daily routine that kept Him constantly aligned with His purpose. If they wanted to see Him early in the morning, His disciples knew where to check: the countryside or any quiet environment nearby where they knew He would have gone to pray before most people woke up. On the Sabbath, the synagogue was it. “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day…” – Luke 4:16.
He held regular mentoring sessions with His disciples, but he regularly separated Himself from people to better help people. People will help you to fill the unplanned moments of your life with activities that do not lead to productivity. Can you recall how many times you have come to the end of a day wondering what you did with the day? Yet you had the company of several people and you were very busy and actively engaged.
Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, Mark Zuckerberg, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola in enterprise, Tiger Woods, David Beckham, Didier Drogba, Ronaldinho, Nwankwo Kanu, Jay Jay Okocha in sports, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Obafemi Awolowo, Herbert Macaulay, Marin Luther King Jr. in politics and statesmanship, Oprah Winfrey, Trevor Noah, Ali Baba, Davido, Burna Boy in entertainment, Enoch Adeboye, Tunde Bakare, Kenneth Hagin, David Oyedepo in the Christian ministry, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Adichie in African literature, and many others all over the world who have succeeded in their chosen fields could not have done so without power routines. They didn’t evolve those routines because they succeeded. They succeeded because ever before anyone knew them, they had already developed those habits. They simply learnt to manage themselves and their activities within the time frame of the twenty-four hours given to every man. All time management is self-management.
Today’s acts are a seed into tomorrow’s realities. Today is the canvas on which tomorrow’s pictures are painted. It is the darkroom in which tomorrow’s photos are processed.
The first thing around which you must build your power routine is your LIFE ASSIGNMENT. Purpose is the fulcrum on which the load of life rests. Set targets and goals around your discovered purpose. Those goals become lofty objectives that birth action plans for attainment. Without the discipline of routine however, the best of goals will remain a mirage and a daydream.
Design a routine of the DAILY disciplines required to move you in the direction of the achievement of your goals. This should entail the development of a vision around the discovery. Myles Munroe has defined discipline as decisions dictated by destination. I have yet to see a better definition.
The second thing around which a power routine must revolve is RELATIONSHIP. We were created for relationships and every man’s success is a function of the quality of relationships behind his story. Your power routine should create time for relationships at three fundamental levels.
The first is spiritual. This involves your relationship with your Creator. Your Manufacturer holds the ace in respect of the issues of your destiny. You ignore him at your own peril. Spend quality time daily in receiving and meditating on His instructions. He is more real than you think and no matter how much you try to snuff Him out of your life, He still holds the ace! With Him on your side, you will arrive faster! If He ever takes a stand against you, you are toast!
The second level is the family. If we celebrate you publicly as a great man or woman, your spouse and children should be able to agree with us! If they are not your cheerleaders, then something is terribly wrong. Create ample time in your routine for them.
The third level has to do with people relevant to the fulfillment of your assignment. People are your surest leverage to the next level. Your current dream is already someone else’s reality. Therefore, spend time with mentors, associates and even subordinates whose relationship with you will significantly advance your life pursuit.
Develop a routine around TIME. Time is the only capital that I know that is daily given to everyone in twenty-four-hour doses, irrespective of our status. Use it productively.
What is your discipline around material RESOURCES? When you have money, do you spend impulsively or according to a budget? Keeping a money diary that monitors the inflow and outflow of money to and from you is one of the most revealing things about a man’s spending pattern. Kept faithfully, it can help you identify areas of leakage in your life as well as areas where you need to channel more resources.
Winners build power routines around their CORE VALUES. Effective people subscribe to some fundamental core values that are the irreducible acceptable standards of morality or behavior they subscribe to. Values help to set meaningful boundaries.
Develop power routines around your LIFESTYLE. Obesity is the harvest of an undisciplined appetite and diet. Several physiological and psychosomatic diseases are harvests of a frenetic, stressful, and restless lifestyle. Take time to rest. Your brain will be the better for it – and so will the rest of your body. Exercise regularly. You can start with a few minutes on a few days of the week.
Write things down. Document agreements. If you can, keep a notebook where you document notable events in your day. Your brain may forget but your notebook doesn’t. The shortest pencil is better than the longest memory. According to Anthony Robbins, “If your life is worth living, it is worth recording”.
Keep a record of your daily appointments in a diary/calendar so that you can appropriately set priorities for your day instead of living a life of emergencies. With the advent of smart phones, you don’t have to ever forget an appointment. Learn to return calls, especially if you promised to call someone back.
When you have developed your own power routine, stick to it. You don’t have to be rigid, but you need to be consistent.
If the prize of a desirable and desired outcome is worth winning, then the price of discipline is worth paying.
Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
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