Child care business owners have huge hearts and big dreams of making a difference in the lives of the families they serve. We’ve worked closely with so many of you, and we know that your desire to make an impact is one of your greatest motivators.
We know how important it is to keep feeding your mindset with positivity and fuel for your soul, as well as creating daily habits or routines that will give you the consistency you need to become truly successful.
And consistency is truly key. Consistency in the form of daily habits will truly make the biggest difference when it comes to your overall success.
Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally. It doesn’t come from what you do once in a while. It comes from what you do consistently – your daily routines and habits will influence your mindset and drive your growth and success.
The secret to building good habits is repetition. When we create a personal routine that works for us, these good habits are automatically reinforced through the new routines we’ve created. And, as an added bonus, developing good habits helps us to eliminate or replace our bad habits as we get used to the new actions we’ve adopted.
Sometimes, you might not feel like doing some of these things, but the more consistent you can be with developing daily habits for success, the more likely you will truly become successful.
“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”
Carol and I have created this free eBook to help child care business owners develop some of the most important habits that will help you grow a positive mindset, but we thought we’d share a few more success habits in this blog.
Daily habits of the most successful people in the world have been studied at length, and there are a few common threads. Try making a commitment to add a few of these into your daily routine, as well as the Mindset Habits you find in our FREE eBook, and you will be on your way to a happier, more successful you.
Daily Habits For Success:
Take Advantage of Early Morning Quiet Time
Waking up early simply gives you a little extra time in your day to make room for the things you might be neglecting, but will make a huge difference to your success. Try spending a little time focusing on your goals, going to the gym or doing an at home workout, meditating, or reading a book while enjoying a healthy breakfast before the whole house wakes up. Taking advantage of the early morning quiet time just might allow you to fit in the most important things before your day gets away from you.
Move Your Muscles or Take a Walk
To keep your mind active, you’ll need to keep your body active too. Some people like to exercise in the morning, others prefer after work. Others seem to have a pretty packed schedule and haven’t set a regular workout schedule. That’s still no excuse. It is important to take some time each day to get moving and wake up your muscles. If you don’t have time to fit in a regular exercise routine, be sure to take a 10-15 minute break each day for a walk or a stretching session. Studies show that quick daily walks will help increase productivity, improve brain function, and reduce depression and stress for many people. This is because physical movement lowers the stress causing hormone cortisol and releases endorphins.
Time Block and Remove Distractions
Be sure to set aside time in your calendar to focus on your high-level tasks. Time blocking, or setting “meetings” with yourself to work on your important projects, will ensure that no one schedules a meeting with you during those hours. It will also allow you to have time to actually get your work done, rather than answer a boat load of emails and attend meetings all day.
You may need to set up some expectations with your team about your availability during blocked time. And you may need to turn off your email and text notifications so you arent constantly interrupting your work flow to check messages. Try setting up an autoresponder letting people know you’ll be checking messages at 9am and 3pm (for example), and then stick to that so people get used to your communication style. Responding immediately to every message will eat at your attention span and reduce productivity and focus.
A place for everything and everything in it’s place.
Easier said than done – especially for a busy business owner, however, they say that a clean space coincides with a clean mind. You are more likely to feel productive if you aren’t distracted by stacks of papers, piles of folders, or other general clutter in your workspace. Be sure to take a few minutes each day to straighten up your desk, wipe down your keyboard, and organize your space to foster a productive work environment. Do what you can to carry this philosophy into your home as well. Try not to let dishes or laundry pile up, make your bed, take out the recycling, etc. Keeping your spaces clean and organized will reduce overwhelm and help keep you focused on your priorities.
Surround Yourself with People that Inspire You
If you have a growth mindset, not only do you need to surround yourself with people who also have a growth mindset, but you should be looking for mentors and friends who inspire you to keep growing and doing better. It’s been said that you are a combination of the five people that you surround yourself with most. This is so true; birds of a feather flock together. People impact each other’s moods and behaviors. If you spend your day with a bunch of negative Nellies who complain and gossip, you’ll likely exhibit some of the same behaviors and stay stuck in negativity with a poor mindset.
However, if you seek out people that inspire you and motivate you to do better and be better, soon you will pick up many of the thoughts, attitudes, and actions of those people. If your closest companions are genuinely happy, excited, motivated, and inspiring, this will certainly rub off on you. Add people to your life that will help you be at your best, encourage personal growth, and celebrate your successes with you.
Prioritize the Top Three Tasks and Do the Hardest Task First
Our to-do lists can often be pages long, leaving us feeling overwhelmed and unaccopmplished. Spending a few minutes at the start of each day and choosing the three most important priorities for the day will allow you to focus on tasks that will make the biggest impact for your business (or personal life.) Also when you are accomplishing things that are making a difference, your mindset is usually positive.
Take your prioritizing one step further, and decide to tackle your hardest challenge first. People tend to spend so much time procrastinating and worrying about about hard tasks, big problems, and tricky situations that they stall and put off to-do’s that might possibly be unpleasant. This cycle just repeats itself as procrastination continues and the “problem” tasks remain on your list, clouding your mind and distracting your focus. Instead, kick productivity into high gear by “eating that frog for breakfast.” Meaning, get the not-fun thing out of the way first to open up your day to increased productivity and a focused head space.
