To Be Is to Do—Unremittingly

 
 

“The hard must become habit. The habit must become easy. The easy must become beautiful.”_Doug Henning

 

In our brave modern world, continuous growth is the key to lasting progress, both individually and collectively.

However, no matter how much we desire growth and progress, our good intentions will take us nowhere, if we fail to embrace the habit of constructive action.  

Our habits—if they are predominantly wholesome— can bring us a life of growth and progress, but if they are predominantly unwholesome, they can keep us in a rut of mediocrity and stagnation.

So, if we want to take complete control of our destiny from here onward, building good habits is the right move to make—for personal and professional progress.

I understand that this may be easier said than done. Nonetheless, positive change is possible when we approach the process of change in the right way.

You see, the major reason we have problems at behavior change is not because we are too weak to change but too often it is because our approach to change is misguided.

Frankly, true change is hard and it takes time. So in this article, I am going to share a simple tip that I have used to make some positive changes in my own life.

I gleaned the idea from the Greek philosopher (Aristotle) truism that: “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.”

That’s where the title of this article emerges: to be is to unremittingly do; it means lasting changes happen through constructive habits.

In other words, to truly believe in a new possibility or a new identity, we have to prove it to ourselves through consistent actions.

You see, if we accumulate enough evidences for a desired outcome through relentless actions, then it will be easy for us and others around us not only to believe in its realization but also to expect its fulfillment.

Therefore, if we want to create a better outcome for ourselves, we need to create a new identity first.

And to create a new identity, we need to think and act differently than we are accustomed to.

To do this effectively, we need to follow a simple process.

And the process is in two-fold. First, we need to decide on who we want to become or what we want to achieve.

Then, the second and perhaps more important part is focusing on the behaviors we need to habituate to realize the transformational decision we have made.

The first part is on the results, while the second part is on the behavior. The results are about who we want to be; the behaviors are about what we have to do.

Remember, we do not get what we merely intend to get. We get what we commit ourselves to become.

Therefore, when we commit to better actions, we shall develop good habits, and when we develop good habits, we are already in the process of becoming the type of person who can achieve anything we may desire.

I sum it all up with the wisdom of Lewis Howes who authored, ‘the School of Greatness.’

He said: “I have learned that champions aren’t just born; champions can be made when they embrace and commit to life-changing positive habits.”

Finally, if you desire to be a champion in any area of life, just behave the way champions behave—consistently.

We are what we unremittingly do!