Habit-Propelled
Momentum for your day, and momentum for your mission, all start with the right habits
Momentum for your day, and momentum for your mission, all start with the right habits
Short-term Momentum
I had reached a point in my Microsoft career where my day demanded a lot out of me. From managing my team to supporting our partners, along with driving several independent initiatives, it was important that I was "all on" and "all in" every work day.
The earlier years of my career were plagued with irregularity in my own execution. Reflecting back on my journey from unpredictability to dialed in delivery, the single biggest performance improvement came from building and honing a morning routine that energized my "whole self"1.
The in-the-moment demands for my time began at 9am, which was when most people arrived at the office and when the rhythm of meetings usually started. I treated my role from 9am on as supporting my team and my partners, which meant that whatever time I wanted for my own agenda had to come before 9am. At peak performance, this is what my morning routine looked like:
6:00 10min stretch
6:10 10min shower & get ready
6:20 10min drive to work, listen to news
6:30 60min write
7:30 30min check email and dashboards
8:00 60min morning project block
By 9am, I had furthered my writing, caught up on all mail and status, and knocked out at least a couple of items from my to-do list. I had found my groove, I had already accomplished something on my own, and I was now at the ready for whatever others needed from me.
Long-term Momentum
In addition to energizing my day, this morning routine steadily advanced my larger goals. Here is how each activity contributed to the bigger picture for me.
Stretch: maintain my physical health as an enabler for many activities
Listen to news: stay informed
Write: articulate my synthesis
Check email and dashboards: be responsive; be prepared; stay informed
Morning project block: model "can do" by ensuring steady execution
As I witnessed the short-term and long-term payoff of this routine, I became more and more convicted on maintaining this rhythm, and adding other habits throughout my day. For me, the more habits I established, the more my day-over-day momentum built, propelling me through any challenge I encountered … and allowing me to predictably be "all in" for others.
I want to share the approach I have used to construct my habits. It is a synthesis (part of my grand synthesis) of Stephen Covey, James Doerr, and James Clear.
Personal Mission Statement
In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey talks about the importance of creating your Personal Mission Statement. This becomes your own unique North Star. You look at the actions you're taking and the priorities you're following and you check them against this North Star to ensure you are heading in the right direction.
The three questions that get you into the right mindset for discovering and refining your mission are:
Who do you want to be?
Where do you want to go?
What do you want to achieve?
Your North Star is the star you can always make out, but with varying degrees of sharpness. Advancing in your life brings this star more in focus. You can make out more of the details as you progress. You don't need a fully realized mission. You just need enough definition to get you started. If the classic "where do you see yourself in five years" question is too daunting, then try two years, or even one year. John D. Rockefeller said it well: “Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you'll be able to see farther.”
OKRs
With a larger goal in place, what are the next few steps that you can accomplish in the next 3-6 months to advance your mission? By articulating these, you're defining your Objectives, from John Doerr's OKRs concept in Measure What Matters. Then, take it one step further and state what success looks like for each step, concretely. When that 3-6 month window is up, how will you validate that you have achieved your objectives? What metrics in your environment will signal success? These are your Key Results.
Atomic Habits
You won't accomplish your Objectives and hit your Key Results with an 11th hour cram session at the end of your 3-6 month window. You need regular behaviors that will ensure steady progress towards your key results.
Will Durant captures this mindset perfectly: "Excellence is an art won by training and habituation: we do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have these because we have acted rightly; these virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit: the good of man is a working of the soul in the way of excellence in a complete life;... for as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy."
In Atomic Habits, James Clear says, "It's remarkable what you can build if you just don't stop." Combine that with Durant's framing, and build the right daily and weekly habits that, in aggregate, will contribute to these key results.
Habits ➡️ Key Results ➡️ Objectives ➡️ Mission
Done this way, you don't have to second guess your habits, or convince yourself that they're worthwhile. You see how they ladder up. Your habits are principle-based. Your Atomic Habits are your regular activities that will move you towards your Key Results, which will move you towards your Objectives, which will advance your Personal Mission.
Having this progression from the simple to the significant is a huge motivator for me to stick to my habits.
Rebuilding My Habits
When my Microsoft career ended, as part of my "play the pause"2 break, I intentionally let go of my habit tracking. I wanted a fresh start. Many of my habits were understandably intertwined with Microsoft demands (another "whole self"1 example), and I didn't just want to be continuing my habits out of habit. 🙂
The break was good, but after having used habits so effectively to propel me, I found myself very bothered by the meandering of my day. It was way too reminiscent -- and not in a good way -- of my younger years when I was less intentional about how I spent my time. For all the joy and learning of my formative years, I never liked the feeling of uncertainty about whether or not my day was going to turn out productive or not.
Now, on the other side of that break, I'm happy to report that my new set of habits are in place, propelling me towards my goals.
Ever-Present Resistance
Before closing, I want to spend a minute on the topic of resistance.
There are, not surprisingly, several habits from my Microsoft era that have transferred over into my current era. The best example of this is that I still start the day with stretching. I would love to say that after stretching daily for over five years, it is an easy habit that I don't think twice about. But, sadly, that's not the case. I would estimate that over half of the mornings, before I even lay on the floor to begin stretching, I am greeted with a voice in my head, questioning if I really need to do this.
The first habit of the day is the hardest habit to keep. Your daily speedometer is at 0mph. You have no momentum yet. In this state, what you do have plenty of is resistance. Keep this in mind when you're designing your daily habits. The first few habits of the day need to be your recipe for beating resistance and establishing momentum.
Every single time you start your day by powering through this resistance, you are reminding yourself that you can overcome obstacles, and that you can persevere. And as you check off habit after habit, you are building more momentum, and facing less and less resistance. Success begets more success. So line your habits up, and fight hard to maintain them, reminding yourself of Will Durant's words: "we are what we repeatedly do."
Footnotes
See the intro of You Are A Grand Synthesis