Are you struggling to find the time, energy or focus to get you career and life dreams off the ground?
I’m sharing 4 power habits that I started to develop, and action, when I was still in my corporate career, that helped me keep on track and focused on doing all that was needed to get my new business ‘off the ground’, while I made sure to also give 100% in the job that was paying the bills!
Whether you’re building a business on the side, planning to go freelance or are set on changing to a different type of career specialism, country or industry, listen up as these habits can help you get there!
Are you ready? Tap play and let's get those habits started!
Links mentioned in this episode:
Atomic Habits - James Clear - https://amzn.to/3zcBMY4
The Power Of Habit - Charles Duhigg - https://amzn.to/3CfyWTT
7 Habits Of Highly Successful People - Stephen Covey - https://amzn.to/3lK0muL
Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker - https://amzn.to/3AhgABh
The Miracle Morning - Hal Elrod - https://amzn.to/3hEnl95
I invite you to check out my FREE guide ‘How to find your Burning Passion (& Re-ignite your career and life). Find out more and download the FREE guide here...
https://www.nicholaohara.com/burningpassion
To get my FREE cheat sheet ‘Passion To a Side Hustle: 15 ideas to convert doing what you love into profit’ go to: www.nicholaohara.com/sidehustle
(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.)
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Can’t listen right now?
Don’t worry, I have you covered...here are some of the key points!
Do you despair of ever having time to focus on your passion project that you want to turn into a new career because you don’t have the time or are too exhausted? This is a really common problem for those wanting to change careers, so you are not alone if this resonates with you. What I discovered was that by focussing on introducing some positive habits and changing some that were not working for me, I could gain some extra time and energy to spend on what mattered. They’re what I now call my Power Habits! And even if some habits slip, I make sure to keep these on track.
Power Habit 1: Positive Morning Routine
Creating a morning routine sets you up for the day, in mind and body which means you have enough mind power and energy to focus on both your job and your career change project, without dropping the ball on either.
Even if you are not a morning person it is worth doing! It may be easier to put in place for an early bird, but those night owls should also have a routine, even if it’s short and sweet.
That’s the key point, it’s not ‘one size fits all’. You’ll only be able to create this habit AND make it stick if it is bespoke to what works for you.
So, how can you develop your morning routine? As I said, find out what others do and then create a simple routine for yourself. The routine should cover three elements, which are:
- Mind space time - This means give your brain some time for reflection and peace before the busyness of the day begins
- Moving your body - This is super important and you will find all the people who talk about a successful morning routine will include exercise of some kind. It could be steteches, a gentle walk or a full on HITT session but move your body in some way to get the blood pumping.
- Feed your body and mind - We all know it's important to eat well first thing and to ensure we’re hydrated. However it's also important to feed your mind and your creativity. So include something in your morning routine that lets you learn new things.
As long as you include these elements in some way, exactly what you do, how you do it and how long you take is up to you. It can be 10 mins to an hour depending on how much time you can carve out.
Power Habit 2 - Plan your Passion Power time and stick to it
As I said, I know what it’s like to be working full time and having so much to do outside of your job. I remember thinking about setting up my business on the side and wondering where on earth I would find the time. But, I knew that if I was going to be able to have the life I craved I would have to find it somehow. Working on my business just at the weekend was not enough, so I decided to get up an hour early at 5am so I could get at least an hour of work in before I went to catch my train at 7.15. I called it my power time because it was when I had the power to direct my future and I was not giving up that time for anyone or anything.
When will your power time be? It doesn't have to be every day, maybe start with an hour a week and then work up from there when you are more comfortable. So plan when you will work on your dream career (what days, what time of day), where you will work (where in your home or if you can’t get peace at home will it be a coffee shop or maybe in a meeting room at the office before the working day starts) and for how long you will work.
The most important thing is that you schedule this in your diary and tell anyone you are living with that it is non-negotiable. It’s not something you fit in around other things or forget about if something else pops up. Unless it's an emergency, that time is sacred. Only by having the time set aside can you make sure you can keep moving forward towards your new career goals.
The 3rd Power Habit is : Confident Communication
This habit is about always being confident when talking about your career leap plans to yourself and others. It took a little over two years for me to bring my plans to fruition and in the beginning I used to play them down with myself and others. If someone asked me about the business I was creating, I would play it down, make it sound like a hobby and not something important. So I started to create a habit, that when anyone asked me about my plans, I responded to them with confidence, excitement and enthusiasm so they could see that I was serious about this change and that I had a plan. Which meant that both I and they were excited about what I was going to achieve.
I also introduced positive internal self talk and communication to increase my self belief and stop allowing self doubt to creep in and stop me doing the work I needed to do. I am not great at affirmations but I did choose a few simple ones that I would repeat to myself in my head or out loud if no one was around when I felt challenges. I also wrote them down and left them around my house. Just things like ‘Trust Yourself’ or ‘You can do hard things,’ nothing too elaborate.
So, when speaking about your career change plans, get into the habit of confidently telling people exactly what you plan, why and when you will do it. If you believe it, they will too and it will move from being a one day dream to a definite plan!
Power Habit 4: Sleep
The 4th and final power habit is getting enough quality sleep. This really made a huge difference to me. For years I had not been getting enough sleep and the quality of sleep I did have meant I was not resting enough.
I thought it was impossible to change my habits around sleep until I heard sleep expert Professor Matthew Walker on a podcast. He had written a book called ‘Why We Sleep’, and explained some of the workings of the body in relation to sleep and how you can prevent mental and physical illnesses by improving the amount of quality of sleep. I realised that it was not just about getting more energy but the lack of sleep could really impact my health negatively. So in order to break the cycle I needed to make some changes, or I would never have the energy or brain power to put in all the effort that went into making my career leap happen. Putting effort into changing my bad sleep habits made a huge difference, I had more energy and was far more creative in the morning and felt able to cope with the work of my day job and my side hustle. I was still arriving and leaving my house at the same time but with a few new evening habits in place, I made the most of the time I had to relax and optimised the time I was asleep.
I can’t emphasise this one enough, it really was a game changer!!
So there you are, my power habits! I can hand on heart say they made a huge difference to my mental and physical health and kept me focussed and energised on my path towards launching my business.
We get so busy in our jobs that we convince ourselves that we can’t do things any other way, when actually we do have control over ourselves but we allow excuses to hold us back. If you're serious about this career change, then there are some sacrifices needed to gain the energy and time you need.
Remember, you don’t need to tackle all these habits at once. Make it easy on yourself.
Choose one habit to start working on today. Then when that is bedded in, start working on the next one. According to a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, it takes 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit and on average it takes 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic. You will need to keep persevering for a while, but I find after two weeks it or so it starts to feel more natural.
The Bottom Line is...
Creating habits that give you more energy, time, focus, confidence and motivation are essential to your career change journey. By sticking to these habits you will build belief in yourself, you prove to yourself that you have what it takes to get stuff done, to take action and to make those ‘one day’ dreams a reality. So re-set the dial and create positive habits that will take you to from the career and life you have to the career and life you want
That’s all for now, join me in the next episode and remember, everyone deserves to live their passion, so get started this is your time!
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