Excerpt from Breakthrough Courage: 9 Habits to Conquer Fear and Build a Brave Heart
A habit is a routine, a behavior, or action that is performed regularly and, over time, becomes automatic. Our days largely consist of habits. Most of us probably have a daily ritual we diligently follow. We drink our morning coffee, take our kids to school, go to work, go to the gym, make the same dinner we did last week, and predictably stare into the freezer trying to decide to eat the ice-cream or not before bed. In a Duke University study, it found that 40 percent of our daily actions are a reflection of learned habits.[1] Justin Early writes, “We are all living according to a specific regimen of habits, and those habits shape most of our life.”[2]
Habits harness time and energy. And time is the currency of our purpose. This means that our purpose and destiny are largely determined by the habits we develop.
Habits make us more time effective: doing something repeatedly the same or in a similar way means that we don’t have to think about all the intricate details of our actions. We know how to do it because we’ve already done it before—many times. Have you ever pulled into your house and not remembered how you got there? That’s the power of a habit.
Our use of time will determine the quality of our lives. James Clear, the New York Times bestselling author of Atomic Habits writes,
“The quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits. With the same habits, you’ll end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible.”[3]
We Become What We Repeatedly Do
We become what we repeatedly do. So, our lives will not improve until we transform our daily habits. And it is in this restructuring of our habits that we transform our character as well. The legendary football coach Vince Lombardi once said,
Watch your actions, they become your habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
We will never change our lives unless we change something we do daily. Habits have little to do with feelings, inspiration, or enthusiasm. Habits are actions repeatedly done based on our purpose. Actions build habits and habits determine our character and character determines our future.
Developing the right habits in our lives has compounding effects. Think about the compounding interest principle in economics. At first, interest accrues only on the principle of our investment. But quickly, interest begins accruing on the already accumulated interest—and suddenly, the investment reaps exponential benefits far beyond what was initially invested. It is the same with habits. Habits accrue interest and accumulated habits over time bring breakthrough. As you will discover in this book, I will share 9 habits that each have a compounding exponential increase in your life. Each habit builds on the other.
These 9 habits will be deposits in the bank of courage that incrementally empower you to master fears in your life and build a brave heart. Each habit is another investment into the compound interest of changing your life!
Do a Little a Lot
It’s not as hard as you may think. Too often we think that success will only come from monumental shifts in our life. We tend to think slight changes have little or no effect. It’s easy to have such a mindset considering we are inundated with news stories of nobodies hitting stardom or fame overnight. Though these stories are usually inspiring, they trick us into thinking that only cosmic changes in our life will lead to transformation. But don’t be deceived. Research on habits shows that it’s the small incremental habits over a long period of time that makes the greatest difference,
The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.[4]
A little done often makes a big difference. Small habitual changes over time can bring massive breakthrough!
Dr. Steve Holt
[1] Justin Whitmel Early, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction, IVP Books, page 7.
[2] Ibid.
[3] David Maraniss, When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, Simon & Schuster, 1997, page 365.
[4] Justin Whitmel, ibid, page 8.